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

The second part of the inspiration for The Tree took over when the owner brought the bike home.

“A bike is designed to sell, it is made to look good on the showroom floor,” said Darcy McCord, the knowledgeable  service manager at the shop.

Much like anything, manufacturers up-scale parts on the bike that the consumer can see, and to save money downscale parts that have less visibility.

“It is really problematic from a service perspective, because we see a lot of bikes that are relatively new, and some of the better parts on the bike are in great shape and some of the less good parts are in really bad shape after not too much riding. In particular one of the worst cases of that is the hubs, which often they (manufacturers) will use off-brand hubs that are one, not very good quality and two, when they do fail you can’t get replacement parts for them.”

BOTD also found that manufacturers were trying to edge out each other in weight of their mid-range consumer bikes regardless of the quality of the Components in the bike.

“We decided to favour robustness over weight for the tree,” replied ilan.

BOTD decided to go with Shimano Deore on the entire drive train and many components because of the high degree to which component parts can be replaced and serviced. In short, a great balance between durability, performance and price.

“When your bike does need servicing, all parts are either repairable or replaceable,” said Darcy.

The headset is a FSA conventional headset with pressed-in cups as opposed to an integrated headset, which is harder to service and harder to replace.

“So instead of up-spec-ing some parts and down-spec-ing others. We went medium specifications on everything, and in the long run it will be a much better deal for the owner,” said Darcy.

One of the benefits to living on the West Coast is the ability for the general commuter to bike year round to work, but with all the wet weather we are used to in Vancouver over the winter the rims can take a real beating from the constant braking as a result of mucky/wet brake pads. The disc brakes upgrade does come as an option and is completely upgradeable after the fact. But we have included this opinion because over the long run it will save you from replacing rims.

BOTD also requested that the bike be painted by powder coating as opposed to spraying because it has a longer lasting finish and it is gentler on the environment. All the unused powder can be reused on the next bike.

“Power coating is a long lasting finish process than a liquid paint,” according to ilan. “It is a much better process for the environment.”

Category: Story

Tags: bicycle, Canadian, commuter, False Creek, handwelded, Shimano Deore, sustainable