Single speed project starting point

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm not sure that the mythical English village LBS is
any more real.

Mark South said:

They do exist. Infact, the classic example to me is in
central Cambridge: University Cycles. The parts pile
starts behind the counter and just keeps going.

They exist, just as ancient shops piles high with dusty
obsoletia may exist in Paris, but they're the exception
rather than the rule. I don't think most people would think
of Cambridge as a village, and in any case it has a
particular set of circumstances that make the local bicycle
market quite unusual.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Many of the shops that cater to the new utility cyclists
date from this period, and sell mainly Dutch bikes.

Quoted message said:

The Dutch being the people who never stopped making
utility roadsters like the now-famous Behemoth.

Right. My point was that the shops now serving the utility
cyclists of Paris will, in many cases, never have sold
bicycles based around French standards, just as many of the
British bike shops that emerged in the nineties have never
sold cotter pins or Sturmey-Archer toggle chains.

James Thomson

"James Thomson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm not sure that the mythical English village LBS is
any more real.

Mark South said:

They do exist. Infact, the classic example to me is in
central Cambridge: University Cycles. The parts pile
starts behind the counter and just keeps going.

They exist, just as ancient shops piles high with dusty
obsoletia may exist in Paris, but they're the exception
rather than the rule.

You only need to locate a couple though.

Quoted message said:

I don't think most people would think of Cambridge as a
village,

Ask people from Oxford ;-)

Quoted message said:

and in any case it has a particular set of circumstances
that make the local bicycle market quite unusual.

Yes indeed, the fact that nearly all of it is geared to
foreign students who want a bike like the ones where they
come from.

I picked Cambridge because I know the area well. There are
village bike shops around Cambridge, but University Cycles
has the champion collection of old bits.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Many of the shops that cater to the new utility
cyclists date from this period, and sell mainly Dutch
bikes.

Quoted message said:

The Dutch being the people who never stopped making
utility roadsters like the now-famous Behemoth.

Right. My point was that the shops now serving the utility
cyclists of Paris will, in many cases, never have sold
bicycles based around French standards, just as many of
the British bike shops that emerged in the nineties have
never sold cotter pins or Sturmey-Archer toggle chains.

Accepted.
--
Mark South: World Citizen, Net Denizen

Mark South said:

They do exist. Infact, the classic example to me is in
central Cambridge: University Cycles. The parts pile starts
behind the counter and just keeps going.

Although it has never been _quite_ clear to me how they make
any money.

Cambridge is rather unusual, though...
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]>
Distortion Field!

"David Damerell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mark South said:

They do exist. Infact, the classic example to me is in
central Cambridge: University Cycles. The parts pile
starts behind the counter and just keeps going.

Although it has never been _quite_ clear to me how they
make any money.

Fixing things that people in this group would never dream of
taking to the shop. Punctures, loose cables, new batteries
in the lights etc.

Quoted message said:

Cambridge is rather unusual, though...

Distinctly odd would be the core of my description. As I'm
sure you know from your days there.
--
Mark South: World Citizen, Net Denizen