Archive for the Advocacy category
Luminaries passing, riots and disaster in far-flung countries, and biting cold- another week passes in our quiet “post-industrial” metropolis. Here at OPEN, busily bustling away in the basement, we sometimes miss all of the chaos occurring at or above ground level.
In a dizzying turn of events, OPEN will be moving locations next month to become Sherman Cafe’s newest neighbor. We’re excitedly planning a fresh new build-out and cozy little storefront and looking forward to even-easier access to Union Square’s finest coffee and sandwiches. Chorus Gallery is going to be homeless for a bit, but a new benevolent conglomerate has been birthed and we’re looking forward to seeing the staggering variety of projects that will come from it.
Along with all of the exciting new initiatives, we continue to hunt for the finest products for your non-conspicuous cycling-related consumption.
Dana over at Recluse whipped by on his enviable Zunow last week and dropped off some of his newest creations. Seen here are his new updated tool roll with a hand-waxed construction ($25) and a nice assortment of his custom top tube pads ($30). And yes, that is the hotly anticipated re-released Campagnolo “peanut butter” 15mm wrench, all a-bling. $44 and it feels like love.
That blank spot on your wall where your compartmentalized record of 2009 used to hang is the perfect place to put the 2010 Thought You Knew calendar. Benefiting the Chicago Women’s Health Center, these calendars (featuring your choice of gender posed along with their bikes) feature some pro photography and pretty people. They also help you figure out what day it is and prevent the forgetting of loved ones’ birthdays.
We also keep some actual bike parts and accessories around. Popular this winter: Izumi chains, (bushingless techno-wizardry from the Isle of Japan, $26-$90) Chain-L no.5, (winter-proof chain lube in the coolest bottle ever, $12) Seedssewn winter caps, (up-cycled materials and cutting edge style, made in Medford, $30) Vittoria Randonneur tires, (utterly indestructible urban tires with subtle tread and double flat protection, $30) Ironclad Cold Condition Waterproof gloves, (without equal and short money at $40) and the performance-boosting and elegantly “bobo” Phil Wood bearing upgrade for your winter Formula wheels ($8 per cartridge, a decent six-pack for the install).
We’re saving much of the really cool stuff for the new store. Fresh lugged steel from some coastal connects, handmade courier bags, and a slew of bike-lust inducing vintage parts are in the pipeline for our grand (re-)opening. Details to follow, or just pop by and catch up on the gossip.
Every week, we are faced with the prospect of dozens of busted and rusted wheels, frames and components. Fodder for the dumpster, we sigh reluctantly. Today, our friend and benevolent landlady Wenzday over at Metro Pedal Power let us know that there were some folk close by that would collect the scrap metal parts for reuse and recycling. Hopefully, this will mean that the dumpster isn’t overflowing any longer and that we aren’t contributing to the equally overflowing landfill problem…
Everyone know recycling is a good thing. The ubiquitous green triangle arrow signs constantly remind us of the active role we play in a finite system. In considering our shop’s impact and position, both globally and locally, I was reminded of an Internet Manifesto (I know, I know…) that I ran across a bit back that is worth considering:
At times, we here in the OPEN shop find ourselves facing a dilemma. A component on a customers bike is broken or damaged, and we recognize two alternative paths of action. We could spend an hour or two disassembling the part, scrounging for a replacement pin or bushing, and inevitably one-off manufacturing something that will work (and often times work better than the original). It generally is easier (and more profitable, of course) to toss the broken mechanism in the trash and sell the customer a new, if perhaps lower quality, part. That sort of solution, however, lacks the personal satisfaction of the repair and the greater utilitarian good of reducing consumption.
Is it counter-productive of me to discourage consumption? In the end, I believe not- it’s not that I naively think that one can exist in our contemporary Western society without buying new things- the manic-depressive Massachusetts seasons require a closet full of gear and outerwear, your bike will wear through tires and chains as you put in the miles, etc. I don’t think that helping people spend less, consume less, and ultimately demand less production means that I’m shooting myself in the foot as a business owner- as I personally enjoy the meta-material relationship of a repairer to “repairee” more than the reductive relationship of the seller to consumer, and as people (re)learn to appreciate and support the craft and art of expert repair, I think that my business will flourish.
To this end, we are offering, as is appropriate this time of year as we are all looking for something thoughtful and expressive for our loved ones, OPEN Shop gift certificates. These cards, unlike out standard certificates, are good only for labor and repair time. Here’s the deal: insofar as we want to promote the repair and utility of the bicycles we so dearly love, we’ll match you dollar for dollar on these certificates. Buy your guy a $100 card, we’ll pay $50. Get your wife credit for 2 tune-ups for her daily commuter and we’ll cover the cost of one. The idea here is give the gift of repair- we’re not going to look over your shoulder but we’re trying to encourage the growth of local personal human services over that of crude consumption of imported future landfill real estate.
There’s no expiration date on the certificates. Any denomination (US$ or equivalent) is fine with us. For the record, comprehensive tunes are $60, rebuilding your French BB about $25, and a complete service of your 55 year-old Sturmey Archer 3-speed hub about $50. Anything else you can think of / make-up / inspire us to try: $60/hr. E-mail me with any questions.
Michael Green, blogger supreme at BikeBlogNYC, just posted up a little interview we did last week about the BFF and Boston. If you’re not regularly reading his far-reaching insights into urban cycling, culture, events, and advocacy, you should be. Full text after the jump.
I saw this ingenious idea that’s being implemented in Barcelona- street sign bike rack converters. The two piece steel halves are bolted together with shear bolts and effectively transform an existent street sign post or meter into a secure bike locking point. The brightly powdercoated design stands out and signals the availability of bicycle parking spaces. As the Wired article notes, the most impressive feature of this very smart urban space hack is perhaps the fact that it legitimizes an activity that normally occupies a legally gray area, e.g. locking a bike to whatever permanent structure one can find on the street… Mayor Menino, Ms. Freedman: take note?
It’s time again for the International Film Festival to roll through our fair city, and this year we’re putting out an open call for volunteers. Below is the Google form that we’re using to track volunteer interest and get folks signed up, pleae consider filling it out if you’d like to participate!
More info on BFF Boston:
The official page
The Twitter page
The Facebook page
The Volunteer form:
I would never advocate stealing bikes. But sometimes people make it way to easy for anyone to walk up to a bike rack and steal a bike. Like this bike, the lock is around two spokes, and the fork can be taken right out.
Don’t let your bike be stolen by a bad lock job.
In the book, The Creative Habit, written by Twyla Tharp, there is an entire chapter on Where’s Your “Pencil”? The question refers to our American Express, Don’t Leave Home Without It, tools that fuel our creativity. In our everyday lives, there exists a metaphorical pencil, which is the necessary puzzle piece that drives our creative hustles.
Every time I visit OPEN, Joshua’s hands are perpetually covered in bike grease. When I see him, we dance through our customary social greeting which habitually begins with him saying, “Sorry man, my hands are dirty…” — followed by a hand slap that tightens into a tug-of-war style embrace, which leads into a shoulder-to-shoulder connect for the finish.
The fact that Joshua’s hands are always grimy is comforting to me. His greasy hands are symbolic of Joshua’s creative passion for what he and Zack, both, hope to bring to the familial and collaborative space they have created with OPEN.
For Joshua’s hands, gloved in filth, hardened and sometimes scarred from a day spent repairing and building bikes, the grease represents his pencil and is the one tool that feeds [your] creativity and is so essential that without it [you] feel naked and unprepared (Tharp, The Creative Habit).
What is the pencil for your creative habit? For me, quite literally, it is a pencil. True to my hustle, it is called the perfect pencil. As a writer, my pencil helps capture the world around me through finished narratives, or by sharing the fractured elements of stories without a voice.
Where’s your pencil? What creative spark to your habit will it bring to keep your fire burning? I suspect that once you discover the tool, the only thing left to pursue is your passion. Like Joshua, with his hands perpetually covered in bike grease, this is one habit you will never have a need to apologize.
