Features

1980s Bianchi ‘Adventure’ Mountain Bike Conversion / Restoration

November 17, 2025

Vintage mountain bikes can become great gravel bikes as the frame geometry is suitable, the tire clearances ample enough for large tires and mudguards and the frames resilient, comfortable and...

City Bike Restoration

November 17, 2025

Over the years we've collected many used parts and old frames in need of restoration. Much of the old vintage equipment is ideal for building up nice city bikes as...

The beauty and the practicality of a well designed city bicycle

October 16, 2025

By Michael Barry Old bikes often come in the shop, built from the 1930’s to the 70’s, for small repairs or complete restorations. From use they have developed a patina...

In The News, July 2025

July 18, 2025

Copenhagen, the bicycle-friendliest place on the planet, publishes a biannual Bicycle Account, and buried in its pages is a rather astonishing fact: One mile on a bike is a $.42...

The Concrete Bankings of Woodbridge

July 2, 2025

by Michael Barry In the early 1970’s Woodbridge Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, had its own outdoor velodrome. A 254 meter concrete oval, with 45 degree bankings large enough for...

Vintage Bicycle Feature: Lugano. Paris. 1950

November 29, 2022

In the seventies, we had a good number of regular visitors to our shop on King Street in downtown Toronto. One of the regulars was a Frenchman, named Jean, who...

Vintage Bicycle Feature: Praderio. Gallarate, Italy. 1950

August 11, 2022

Gino Bartali's frustrations with the Italian back-peddling derailleurs encouraged him to approach the Vittoria Company, makers of the Margherita derailleur, and propose that he finance the production of a derailleur...

Restoration Feature: 1963 Jack Taylor Super Clubman

May 4, 2022

Jack Taylor Cycles was the idea of three brothers, all involved with cycling -- Jack, Ken, and Norman Taylor -- starting in the 1930s. They produced a wide range of...

Restoration Feature: Provenance Of A New/Old Bianchi

April 28, 2021

I decided to get a bike to go on my smart trainer when I take my 2017 Mariposa gravel bike off to ride it outside. About 2008 or 2009, I...

Restoration Feature: A Ride On My Gios

April 6, 2021

In April the thoughts of the tifosi turn to the spring classics. The cobbled classic, Paris Roubaix would have been run last weekend if it hadn't been cancelled due...

In The News

November 12, 2020

A collection of stories, news and information that we thought you might find interesting and relevent. An interesting new study explores how the human neural network controls a bicycle: It...

Shifting Gears: A brief history of derailleurs

May 18, 2020

Multiple gears, whether they are the internal hub variety or the derailleur, are the most complex mechanisms on bicycles. An internal hub gear can be interesting enough, but to fully...