Visiting We-Cycle

On the road to pick up some bicycles.

Since I've started working for the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective, I've had some pretty interesting days, but my favorites have been the two days this year that I was able to connect with two other "collectives" in Iowa that serve a similar mission to what our mission is at the CVBC. 

My first experience was with the Des Moines Street Collective, and that was a real eye-opening experience that taught me a lot. This time I got to visit We-Cycle in Ames, and that was a very different, but no less enlightening experience. 

The day started out cold, blustery, and with a little Sun out as we headed out to the South and West. Curt, a board member for the CVBC was driving again, as he had for the Des Moines trip. The countryside looked like it was in the grips of mid-Winter, not the beginnings of the season! Drifted in ditches with various wavy, overlapping folds of snow were everywhere and snow was even blowing across the roadway in spots. That along with the low temperatures made it feel more like January than late November. 

We actually did not go to We-Cycle first, but to a small town where the CEO/Director of We-Cycle Ames, Val Nehls, lives. She had an overflow of donated bicycles there which we were there to help clear out. We made a small dent in the pile, and then we moved on to Ames and the We-Cycle location, which was in part of an old grain elevator/co-op business.

We didn't pick up all the bikes from Val's house, but we made a dent!

The road from Val's home to We-Cycle was treacherous!

I'm not a big fan of heights, so when we arrived at We-Cycle I was a bit concerned about the exposed wire mesh staircase bolted to the side of the building which was the only way to access We-Cycle for us. Think "industrial" stair case and you'll get what I mean. I was amazed, by the way, at how Val just bounded up and down those stairs like it was no big deal. She could shoulder a bike, and almost run down the steps, light as an elf on her feet. I remarked to her that perhaps she should give cyclo cross a try!

We-Cycle is located in the second story of this warehouse above a coffee shop.

We-Cycle occupies a small corner of this sprawling space.

Val was very kind to us and her volunteer, Allen, who showed up to lend a hand, and bought us coffee from the coffee shop in the lower level. It was a bit of an odd place, since I could not really see any reason to suspect that there would be a coffee shop in that space. But there it was, and it was a bustling place Friday morning with college aged folks coming in and out on a regular basis as we were loading up bicycles. 

Then it was time to bid Val and Allen farewell as we headed back with our load of goods to Waterloo and the CVBC. I enjoyed getting another look at a place that is essentially doing the same thing as the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective and getting low-income and at-risk individuals on reliable two-wheeled transportation while helping the communities that we serve to move old bicycles from garages, sheds, and barns which might otherwise end up in a landfill someday. 

I know of one other place in Iowa like this that I have yet to visit, and that is the Iowa City Bike Library. I need to make a connection there as well. I think it would be pretty cool to have all these organizations interconnected in a relational way to help further our missions in Iowa.

Visiting We-Cycle

On the road to pick up some bicycles.

Since I've started working for the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective, I've had some pretty interesting days, but my favorites have been the two days this year that I was able to connect with two other "collectives" in Iowa that serve a similar mission to what our mission is at the CVBC. 

My first experience was with the Des Moines Street Collective, and that was a real eye-opening experience that taught me a lot. This time I got to visit We-Cycle in Ames, and that was a very different, but no less enlightening experience. 

The day started out cold, blustery, and with a little Sun out as we headed out to the South and West. Curt, a board member for the CVBC was driving again, as he had for the Des Moines trip. The countryside looked like it was in the grips of mid-Winter, not the beginnings of the season! Drifted in ditches with various wavy, overlapping folds of snow were everywhere and snow was even blowing across the roadway in spots. That along with the low temperatures made it feel more like January than late November. 

We actually did not go to We-Cycle first, but to a small town where the CEO/Director of We-Cycle Ames, Val Nehls, lives. She had an overflow of donated bicycles there which we were there to help clear out. We made a small dent in the pile, and then we moved on to Ames and the We-Cycle location, which was in part of an old grain elevator/co-op business.

We didn't pick up all the bikes from Val's house, but we made a dent!

The road from Val's home to We-Cycle was treacherous!

I'm not a big fan of heights, so when we arrived at We-Cycle I was a bit concerned about the exposed wire mesh staircase bolted to the side of the building which was the only way to access We-Cycle for us. Think "industrial" stair case and you'll get what I mean. I was amazed, by the way, at how Val just bounded up and down those stairs like it was no big deal. She could shoulder a bike, and almost run down the steps, light as an elf on her feet. I remarked to her that perhaps she should give cyclo cross a try!

We-Cycle is located in the second story of this warehouse above a coffee shop.

We-Cycle occupies a small corner of this sprawling space.

Val was very kind to us and her volunteer, Allen, who showed up to lend a hand, and bought us coffee from the coffee shop in the lower level. It was a bit of an odd place, since I could not really see any reason to suspect that there would be a coffee shop in that space. But there it was, and it was a bustling place Friday morning with college aged folks coming in and out on a regular basis as we were loading up bicycles. 

Then it was time to bid Val and Allen farewell as we headed back with our load of goods to Waterloo and the CVBC. I enjoyed getting another look at a place that is essentially doing the same thing as the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective and getting low-income and at-risk individuals on reliable two-wheeled transportation while helping the communities that we serve to move old bicycles from garages, sheds, and barns which might otherwise end up in a landfill someday. 

I know of one other place in Iowa like this that I have yet to visit, and that is the Iowa City Bike Library. I need to make a connection there as well. I think it would be pretty cool to have all these organizations interconnected in a relational way to help further our missions in Iowa.

Friday News And Views

The Cotic eMTB prototype. (Image courtesy of Cotic social media)

One Example Of The "New Normal":

As time with this pandemic eases on it has become increasingly apparent that we are in an era, (however short or long it ends up being), of delays, shortages, and long lead times as a result. 

Case in point: Cotic, the UK based MTB brand, has announced that they are working on a motorized MTB rig. You can read all about the finer details here. That post on the Cotic site is a pretty good representation of what it takes for smaller brands to get things done during this 'new era' we find ourselves in.

Comments: So, if you place orders now you 'might' see product by the end of 2023? Did I get that right? Wow! Obviously larger brands will command better terms, but this is not a good sign for the consumer. That would indicate that this coming year will be a lot like the last two years- stuff will be hard to get. As I've said in the past, it wouldn't be a bad idea for consumers to stock up on spares: Chains, cassettes, brake pads, etc, whenever you see what you need in stock. Then you'll have it when you actually need it, instead of scrambling at the last minute to source parts.  

Just A Friendly Reminder:

This is the month of retrospect here on "Guitar Ted Productions". No doubt you've already noted some posts with that theme. Expect much of the same throughout the month of December.

I'll have limited space for 'regular posting' due to the volume of stuff I am working through, so if you are here jonesing for 'current events' then this month will have slim pickings. I'll return to a more familiar schedule here in January, which isn't all that far away! Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I'll point out that many days this month will have double postings. Two posts in one day- so to ensure you don't miss anything, scroll down the page, or consult the right column (on desk top versions of this blog) where my current posts for the month are listed individually. I'll double post if anything exciting or newsworthy (or both) comes up, so don't worry about missing anything in that regard due to my schedule of posts being so intense this month. 

By the way, I have four "Virtual Turkey Burn" reports to share starting with N.Y. Roll's submission tomorrow, which will be followed by the other three in a shot-gun style. So look for all four tomorrow. 

And the 'regularly scheduled posts', like the "FN&V" you are reading now, will still appear. Okay, that's enough about that! Thanks again for your patronage here and for your patience with me this month.

Mason Cycles Debuts New "RAW" MTB frame:

You just don't see many steel hardtail MTB debuts anymore, unless you count UK MTB purveyors. For whatever reason, the UK has never really abandoned steel MTB bikes. 

Mason Cycles just announced a new offering which seems pretty interesting as it is aimed at bikepacking/MTB all-around use, not just for DH/Enduro or go-fast XC-ing, which many times is the case with a hard tail offering from a US based designer. 

The RAW can take up to a 2.6" 29"er tire with a max 34T big ring. That's pretty good there, I think. Then you have the 66° head angle and short-ish chain stays. I've had my say on that here before and I seem to be outnumbered when it comes to that opinion, but I still think we're seeing the outer fringes of slack head angle design and at some point we're going to find a 'pulling back' on those numbers. Closer to 70° but not quite that, in the future. 

We'll see... 

So this is a pretty cool bike. The "Signal Yellow" paint is somewhat reminiscent of the "Fun Guy Green" Fargo coloration, but more yellow. I kind of like that as well. The frame comes with a Rock Shox SID Ultimate fork, so yeah......it's expensive. But what isn't these days compared to just a few years ago? Not that it matters to me, but if I were to get a MTB, this one would be high on the list.   

Recycling Rubber:

Getting rid of old, unwanted tires has been a plague on me since this whole reviewing process started up. What to do? The entire life cycle of tires has always really bothered me from an environmental aspect. There just was no really good options for recycling them at all. 

Well, now things may be changing in regard to this as I see an article on "Pink Bike" here that indicates Schwalbe, the German based tire manufacturer, is working to bring tire recycling for bicycle tires to reality. 

Now how far this gets is anyone's guess, but it is a start. It would be nice to see a program where anywhere that sells tires (for anything) has to recycle them if they are dropped off to them, or something similar. I know we used to have a service come pick up used car tires once a month when I worked on automobiles. Yes- it would be a hassle for retailers, but it would be much better than filling our land fills with tires, or even worse, burning them, which is still done as well. 

That's a wrap for this week. Have a great weekend and get outside!

Friday News And Views

The Cotic eMTB prototype. (Image courtesy of Cotic social media)

One Example Of The "New Normal":

As time with this pandemic eases on it has become increasingly apparent that we are in an era, (however short or long it ends up being), of delays, shortages, and long lead times as a result. 

Case in point: Cotic, the UK based MTB brand, has announced that they are working on a motorized MTB rig. You can read all about the finer details here. That post on the Cotic site is a pretty good representation of what it takes for smaller brands to get things done during this 'new era' we find ourselves in.

Comments: So, if you place orders now you 'might' see product by the end of 2023? Did I get that right? Wow! Obviously larger brands will command better terms, but this is not a good sign for the consumer. That would indicate that this coming year will be a lot like the last two years- stuff will be hard to get. As I've said in the past, it wouldn't be a bad idea for consumers to stock up on spares: Chains, cassettes, brake pads, etc, whenever you see what you need in stock. Then you'll have it when you actually need it, instead of scrambling at the last minute to source parts.  

Just A Friendly Reminder:

This is the month of retrospect here on "Guitar Ted Productions". No doubt you've already noted some posts with that theme. Expect much of the same throughout the month of December.

I'll have limited space for 'regular posting' due to the volume of stuff I am working through, so if you are here jonesing for 'current events' then this month will have slim pickings. I'll return to a more familiar schedule here in January, which isn't all that far away! Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I'll point out that many days this month will have double postings. Two posts in one day- so to ensure you don't miss anything, scroll down the page, or consult the right column (on desk top versions of this blog) where my current posts for the month are listed individually. I'll double post if anything exciting or newsworthy (or both) comes up, so don't worry about missing anything in that regard due to my schedule of posts being so intense this month. 

By the way, I have four "Virtual Turkey Burn" reports to share starting with N.Y. Roll's submission tomorrow, which will be followed by the other three in a shot-gun style. So look for all four tomorrow. 

And the 'regularly scheduled posts', like the "FN&V" you are reading now, will still appear. Okay, that's enough about that! Thanks again for your patronage here and for your patience with me this month.

Mason Cycles Debuts New "RAW" MTB frame:

You just don't see many steel hardtail MTB debuts anymore, unless you count UK MTB purveyors. For whatever reason, the UK has never really abandoned steel MTB bikes. 

Mason Cycles just announced a new offering which seems pretty interesting as it is aimed at bikepacking/MTB all-around use, not just for DH/Enduro or go-fast XC-ing, which many times is the case with a hard tail offering from a US based designer. 

The RAW can take up to a 2.6" 29"er tire with a max 34T big ring. That's pretty good there, I think. Then you have the 66° head angle and short-ish chain stays. I've had my say on that here before and I seem to be outnumbered when it comes to that opinion, but I still think we're seeing the outer fringes of slack head angle design and at some point we're going to find a 'pulling back' on those numbers. Closer to 70° but not quite that, in the future. 

We'll see... 

So this is a pretty cool bike. The "Signal Yellow" paint is somewhat reminiscent of the "Fun Guy Green" Fargo coloration, but more yellow. I kind of like that as well. The frame comes with a Rock Shox SID Ultimate fork, so yeah......it's expensive. But what isn't these days compared to just a few years ago? Not that it matters to me, but if I were to get a MTB, this one would be high on the list.   

Recycling Rubber:

Getting rid of old, unwanted tires has been a plague on me since this whole reviewing process started up. What to do? The entire life cycle of tires has always really bothered me from an environmental aspect. There just was no really good options for recycling them at all. 

Well, now things may be changing in regard to this as I see an article on "Pink Bike" here that indicates Schwalbe, the German based tire manufacturer, is working to bring tire recycling for bicycle tires to reality. 

Now how far this gets is anyone's guess, but it is a start. It would be nice to see a program where anywhere that sells tires (for anything) has to recycle them if they are dropped off to them, or something similar. I know we used to have a service come pick up used car tires once a month when I worked on automobiles. Yes- it would be a hassle for retailers, but it would be much better than filling our land fills with tires, or even worse, burning them, which is still done as well. 

That's a wrap for this week. Have a great weekend and get outside!