When I started at Bikes on the Drive I had a rebuilt 70’s era Norco mountain bike that had been converted to city use. It was a little small and quite heavy, but it did the job. I rode it about once a week with little need for anything more at the time. But realizing how mobile I could actually be on my bike, I decided I needed something more.

When I first tried a Tree it was a really smooth and well engineered bike. I quite enjoyed riding one to all the events we had around the city. I liked it so much I wanted to purchase my own. It took till about July before I got sized properly for my Tree.

Like some type of magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat, ilan found the last remaining X-Large Tree that wasn’t already spoken for and for some reason it had black spokes instead of silver.

“Hey Gang can anyone tell me how this Tree is different then the rest?” ilan bellowed across the sales floor. Lots of hums and haws, without a definitive answer back. “It has black spokes.” said ilan. “Which means it was the prototype from which all other Tree’s were assembled.”

Owning the first Tree every built was a pretty awesome surprise. If 001 had been a small sized biked. I certainly wouldn’t been riding it, it just so happen that the extra large was the first off the assembly floor.

Over the next month I had the opportunity (as all customers do) to add modifications to my bike. I added the disc brakes option as fast as I could, It is so hard stopping in the rain with caliper brakes on my older bike. The tree is the first bike I have owned that is disc brake upgradeable so I jumped at the chance to try it out.

My second option was an Abus Bordo 6500 lock. I have used U-Locks for years – for better and for worse.  I also looked at chain locks but hated the extra weight… and where does one store such a huge and unwieldy thing? The Bordo seemed to be the best of both worlds.

I then added some functional Roadrunner LX Trekk Fenders, nothing flashy but dependable, along with a Topeak Explorer Rack.

Being a web designer my 17” Macbook Pro is never to far from my side.  For years I have had an Incase Sling Pack and it could fit a lot for its size. I rode with that one shoulder bag for more then a month and then I made a trip to the chiropractor  because of the way the weight was positioned on my back. Needing a quick solution I first tried the Ortlieb Office Bag, and although the laptop fit, not much else did. It is a great bag, just not viable for my needs as I am usually carrying a notepad, cables, cords, and a small camera – not to mention where to put that litre of milk I usually pick on the way home.

I then took Autumn’s advice and tried the Arkel Commuter. The bag has a suspended laptop case inside so if it does drop or I if I crash the laptop isn’t the first thing to hit. I loaded it with everything I have from my previous bag and it still had room to spare. I gave it a real test and picked up 2000 business cards along with everything else and rode home. The bag passed the test, but I was certainly happy to rid myself of that extra luggage. Once I figured out how absolutely cool the cam-lock system is the bag just became part of my everyday transportation, seamlessly fitting into my daily wanderings.

With ilan’s advice I added the Ergon gp1 grips, because he saw my wrist were dropping. Then I got Darcy to add a left hand Axiom rear view mirror as the normal mount didn’t fit with the grips. But Darcy had a few tricks up his sleeve to attach the mirror and it has been working perfectly since.

Needless to say, I am loving the bike and the commute – rain or shine. I recently put on some Schwalbe marathon 700 x 28 tires which are a little skinner and a little faster then the Kenda Kwest 700 x 32’s that come standard with the bike. I also like the added protection of the puncture resistant tires that are needed for urban cycling.

Future additions to the bike over time may included peddles with clip-ins and shoes, and I’m still looking for a coffee cup holder that attaches to a 31.8 diameter handle bar, if I can ever find one in the city.

Category: Story

Tags: add-ons, bicycle, Bike Lock, commuter, disc brakes, equipment, Shimano Deore, Tree bike

After a day inside the bike shop I decided to bike along false creek,  and check out the new Burrard Street Bridge bike lane before heading the Bike-In-Movie at the MOV (Museum of Vancouver).

It was an awesome ride across the bridge with a great view of the inlet and plenty of space to safely maneuver my Tree.  It was so enjoyable that I forgot to take a photo while traveling over the bridge.  So once I got to the other side, I had a nice piece of cake from the girls of the VACC.  Then I had to ride over the bridge again, just to get a photo!

Arriving at Vanier Park I ran into David Niddrie, Photo Editor of Momentum Magazine and I joked about having to ride the bridge twice just to get the photo. Apparently I wasn’t the only as David had to travel the bridge twice as well.

We were both there for the Museum of Vancouver Bike-in-Movie, The Triplets of Belleville. It was a somewhat cool and cloudy night on the shores of English Bay, but I was impressed with the large crowd that showed up. Unlike car traffic that can only arrive from the parking lot, people on bikes were coming in from all directions – from the street, the seawall and of course from the Burrard Bridge.

I rented some blanket real estate from the VACC crew and enjoyed the movie. It was pretty awesome art flick with some inside bike jokes I wouldn’t have understood as little as a few months ago. I saw another Tree at the movie, and meant to ask the owner how he enjoyed it, but food had arrived and I was hungry!

Another strange occurrence happen when the movie was over and 300+ cyclist left all at once. There wasn’t a huge traffic jam. When I arrived at Burrard and Cypress there were 20 cyclists who were stopped at the light. Could you imagine what that would have been like with car traffic?

So I made my third trip over the bridge in as many hours, and even at this time of night I felt completely comfortable traveling over the bridge and realized how important this was to the future of bike commuting in Vancouver.

Category: Events, News

Tags: Advocacy, Burrard Street Bridge, car free, commuter, Kitsilano, Movie, museum

We have been having a blast this summer attending many of Vancouver’s bicycle events: bike to work week (VACC), bike month (BEST), critical mass rides, the Velo-City exhibit at the Museum of Vancouver, Commercial Drive Car-free Days and the opening of the Central Valley Greenway. Now it’s our turn…Bikes on the Drive has decided to organize some fun of our own!

When Robert first joined our team, as web designer extraordinaire, in the early summer we knew he was quite the coffee aficionado. But what we grew to learn about coffee and what Robert grew to learn about The Tree had a lot in common with each other.

One day over a couple of americanos Robert and I had this coffee tour idea that was done exclusively by bike. We hit a few coffee shops on Commercial Drive and then take the 10th avenue bike route to Main Street and finish up just off Broadway.

Both Robert and I thought this would be a great way to do some education and advocacy of coffee, showcase some excellent roasters, cool cafes and a great commuter bike.

Will be meeting outside Bikes on the Drive on the morning of Saturday July 11th and if you arrived with a flat will be able to fix any small problems you might have to get the tour underway.

Here are the Details:

The East Van Biking Coffee Tour

Sponsored by: Bikes on the Drive & Vancouver Indy Coffee Scene
Meet: 10:30 am at Bikes on the Drive 1350 Commercial Drive ~ Rain or Shine.
Day: Saturday July 11, 2009
Cost: Your choice of coffee beverage at cafes we will go to.
Distance Travelled: 9.5 kilometers
Finishing around: 2:00 pm give or take time taken at cafes.

Will have some funky door prizes at the last cafe and hope you can attend.

Category: News

Tags: bicycle, car free, coffee, commercial drive, culture, Tree bike