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

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

We at Bikes on the Drive had a very special event last Sunday, June 20th. Fawzia Ahmad of Canopy (formerly Markets Initiative) came to give a product knowledge session about her organization.
She came in to our regular Sunday staff meeting to talk about the mission of Canopy and how their mission coincides with what we are doing with The Tree.

Canopy has been a driving force in lobbying book, magazine and newspaper publishers to change from paper printed on old growth forest to post consumer paper product. Throughout our product knowledge session we found out that Canopy was behind the Canadian printing of Harry Potter series on Ancient Forest Friendly paper.

What does Harry Potter have to do with The Tree?

Well, we think The Tree is a pretty magical, but really, both are more sustainable products that were designed and implemented to improve and inform consumers of a more sustainable culture. With this being said, Bikes on the Drive is donating a portion of all Tree sales to further Canopy’s mission.

They have also been successful with newspapers too. Just last week The Globe and Mail committed to using Ancient Forest Friendly paper in the printing of their daily newspaper in plants across Canada. With the success of such successful campaigns, Markets Initiative decided to re-brand itself as Canopy and with the new name they decided to hold a bike scavenger hunt, and here are a few details:

The Great Paper Chase

• has been canceled. We at Bikes on the Drive look forward to the event in 201o

Well when we heard about this the entire staff wanted to drop everything and go!  Unfortunately for some of us we do have to keep the shop open, but we will certainly be sending a team of Tree-wheeling scavengers to take part.

Free for Tree’s

ilan did one better – for anyone who has purchased The Tree this summer, Bikes on the Drive will pay your entry fee to this event. This is our way of saying Thank You for making this first year of The Tree a success.  If you have purchased a Bikes on the Drive Tree from us this summer and you want to attend a scavenger hunt along with a wicked BBQ, here is your chance!

Not wanting to be out done by ilan, Autumn then suggested the staff donate our July tips to Canopy and with a unanimous raising of hands the deal was done. The product knowledge session ended with a round of applause, which by all accounts was a first in the history of our shop.

Test Ride

Fawzia then took out a Tree for a test ride.  She was used to riding an old heavy mountain bike and living in the heights of Burnaby she detested the hills on the ride home. But with one test ride, and a couple of hills under her belt, she liked our bike and decided to purchase one herself! She has been biking to work ever since.

We will be working more with Canopy in the months and years to come and we hope it fits as well as the Brookes saddle Fawzia likes so much.

You can read more about Fawzia’s little investment on the Canopy blog. Here is a excerpt.

I became aware of Bikes on the Drive’s new creation – The Tree – for some time now.  The first time I saw it in the shop I thought what a sensible bike – not flashy- but it stood for values that I believe in.  It’s a sustainable bike and that was enough to turn my eye.   Every time I walked by the shop for the past month or so I stopped and looked at it.  Did I fall in love with it at first sight?  No.  But the more I learned about it the more I wanted to give it a try. ~ Fawzia Ahmad ~

Category: News

Tags: Advocacy, bicycle, branding, charity, commercial drive, recycling, sustainable, Tree bike

The Tree was designed around being eco-friendly in so many aspects, from it’s concept to creation to it’s name. The colour we chose is directly associated with the name we chose, it was up to me to decide where we where going with the colour scheme.

We talked about browns and greens, very earthy colours the whole time. Eventually we decided on the matt black, by a combination of peoples interest and our needs as a far as what we wanted the bike to represent. It is not a sporty colour it is solid and dependable. They don’t say flash. The bike grabs your attention by what it is, not how nice it looks.

When I came along in the production of the bike we already had the name. The name kinda sells itself. In the end we found it a representation of our vision and the ethic of the shop.

When looking at a graphic we explored both rural and urban trees.  Coming from a rural island lifestyle I went with more of a mountain side tree at first but then through some feedback I decided to go for more an urban tree something you would see while biking to work.

The one graphic we finally choose was the single tree with a great silhouette. It was originally going to be on the top of the bike and have lines wrap around the bar, all designs change a little bit before production. There was a simplicity to it that everyone just really liked.

The bike is a workhorse.

If you know what your looking at. Your going to look at the bike and say that is really well made, it is really though out. I think all of the stuff we brainstormed about showed up in the end product really well.

I was unable to visit the factory with Darcy and ilan. But from what they told me the bike looked pretty sharp.

When I first saw it, I got to see it in the box all packed up. Living in a consumer culture you love opening new products some time your impressed, sometimes your not so much. This time it had a more personal touch, seeing something of mine on a pretty major product I was excited.

When it was built and realized that the simplicity of the design, the colours we chose and the placement of logo everything just turned out really wonderfully.

We aren’t really trying to brand the bike, we’re trying people to get people to look at the quality of the bike itself, not at who made it or who made the parts we wanted people to look at a quality that make it a nicely designed bike.

We styled the Tree logo much like Devinci’s current style, not out of any request, but I out of fairness to Devinci. They have their styles going and their branding. It helps us to work with them in that way to create something in their current styles, straight up it just looks good.

Category: Story

Tags: bicycle, branding, city, concept, design, handwelded, logo, sketches, sustainable, Tree bike

Ahh Car Free Days, Who doesn’t love when they close down the drive to motor vehicle traffic and open up the streets to entertainers, street vendors and community groups.

We at Bikes on the Drive will be giving away one of our Tree commuter hybrid bicycles. And you can either fill out a entry form in shop  or download the entry form at bikemonth.ca and drop it off at the shop, 630 Commercial Drive, before 6:45 PM on June 13, 2009.

The draw will take place at Bikes on the Drive at 12 Noon, June 14, 2009.

Along with the fab-tree give away we will have a table out front that might have a few specials for you to gander at and one of us will be out their talking about the Tree.

See for us The Tree is more then just a bike we sell it is about the ideology of what we see in a new urban commuter for Vancouver and being the advocates of sustainable culture that we are we’d really like talking about it. (Were total bike geeks, but you knew that)

So we hope you’ll stop by the shop amongst the Old School Roller Disco, knittervention, and street hockey and I what I am sure will be day full of merry mayhem (car free of course).

Category: Events, News

Tags: Advocacy, car free, commercial drive, sustainable, Tree bike