bike and coffee shops in new york (part 4)

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phil May 31, 2010

This is part 4 of the bike and coffee tour.

(part 1 of the tour and part 2 and part 3)

Abraco (86 East 7th Street New York) is a small space with a strong smell of coffee and a distinctive neon sign that is featured prominently as their logo on their website. The beans are from counter culture, and the guy apparently has Bay Area roots and had previous experience at blue bottle. For more information, there’s a good writeup in New York magazine.

Abraco’s website pushes some delicious looking pastries, but I only ended up getting an espresso:

The espresso, a ristretto, had a very “traditional” taste to me.

As claimed, the place was tiny and crowded. Nothing wrong with that.

Sam and I continued walking in the east village, headed towards brooklyn but in search of food.

We stopped by Dumpling Man for a snack:

I only ended up with a shot of the bathroom. “Please be good”

We took a little stroll through Tompkins Square Park and then came across Busy Bee Bikes (437 East 6th Street, New York, NY)

Nothing too crazy here. You can see a pretty big used part selection behind the glass on the right and a pretty bright paint job outside where some of the people from the shop were working on repairs.

Our next stop was Bike Works (106 Ridge Street, New York), just on the manhattan side of the Williamsburg bridge. they had a decent selection of cycling caps here, so I picked a couple up as souvenirs.

Also in front of Bike works:

big ring riding.

The city was painting new bike lanes on Rivington St as we approached the Williamsburg bridge. Fresh green paint!

new bike lines on rivington st! (or at least I think it was rivington)

Williamsburg bridge photos:

Heavily covered with graffiti good and bad:

williamsburg bridge: I don't think this needed to be covered up

aand plenty crowded with cyclists and pedestrians. It was cool to see the variety of styles. There were old beater bikes, fixies with chopped bars, cheapo mountain bikes and nice road bikes.

williamsburg bridge: a cyclist, eyeing me suspiciously

We took a break to sit down and rest our legs in Williamsburg. There was some group ride going on that looked more instructional than anything else:

we started walking in the general direction of park slope, feet and legs starting to get tired. I happened to spot Bicycle Station (171 Park Avenue, Brooklyn, NY). I went in for a bit. The shop seemed small, and relatively sparse possibly due to the fact that they had moved to this location not too long ago. A family came in with a bunch of bikes needing attention and they were starting the repair as I left.

I stopped into La Bagel Delight for some food and then took a quick peek into Bespoke Bicycles (64-B Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn) before meeting Sam for a beer at Mullanes across the street. It was well-lit with some beautiful signage.

replenished and rested, we continued towards park slope.

Saw this on Atlantic Ave:

worst prizes ever. but cool tape job.

This little amendment to the BNE sticker took some planning. I got a kick out of it:

"big nut eater". seriously, no love for BNE.

we had some time to spare before meeting up with Sam’s friend for dinner, so naturally we walked up and down 5th and 7th avenues.

Stopped into R&A Cycles (105 5th Avenue Brooklyn) for a second:

R&A has a big shop with many fancy road/tri/whatever bikes.

passed by Dixon’s (792 Union Street Brooklyn), so I stepped in for a second too:

dixon's bike shop wall. But this wasn't actually dixon's

Dixon’s is also a pretty large shop but their focus seemed to be used bikes and repairs:

We walked on to Tea Lounge (837 Union Street Brooklyn) where I didn’t get more coffee because I was already 2 espressos in for the day. Instead, we sat on a comfy couch and rested.

I tried making a google map of all of the places visited but am having a hard time embedding that onto this site. So, here’s a list of places that I visited (thanks again to Brooklyn by Bike and the New York Times Interactive Coffee Map! and the people who helped me along the way)

Part 1:

recycleabicycle
cafe grumpy
b’s bike shop
king kog
blue bottle coffee

Part 2:

oslo coffee
nycbikes
gimme! coffee
affinity cycles
velo brooklyn (bushwick bike shop)
lit fuse cyclery

Part 3:

recycleabicycle
stumptown roasters
conrad’s bike shop

Part 4:

abraco
busy bee bikes
bike works
bicycle station
bespoke bicycles
dixon’s bike shop
tea lounge

bike and coffee shops in new york (part 3)

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phil May 25, 2010

This is part 3 of the bike and coffee tour.

(part 1 of the tour and part 2)

the cruiser, parked across the street from lit fuse

my time for the rental was running out and I was meeting friends at pacifico for dinner. I left lit fuse and rode through downtown brooklyn to get back to recycle a bicycle.

there were a lot of bike lanes going on here under the manhattan bridge (sands st and jay st)

chris at recycleabicycle invited me in to take more pictures.

ridiculous amount of used bikes and parts.

I took the subway back to my sister’s place in manhattan. It was kind of sad to leave the cruiser behind.

I caught this before the end of the night:

your brake levers overlap! but I suppose it’s good to at least have brakes.

I had to work the next day but continued the bike shop and coffee tour the day after that, on foot with my friend sam.

first stop: stumptown.

I was debating whether to post this. ok shepard fairey, you win.

I was really impressed with stumptown (18 West 27th Street New York, NY). It’s a really well done little spot attached to the swank ace hotel.

the line was about 8-10 deep, which was a bit long but manageable.

there was lots of fun stuff, coffee and not coffee related on the walls.

stumptown’s espresso was my favorite of the tour by far.

saw this guy parked outside stumptown:

is this comfortable? I kind of wanted to hop on and try it out.

has anyone ridden a no-nose saddle before?

next stop: conrad’s in tudor city.

conrad’s bike shop (25 Tudor City Place New York, NY) looked like they got pretty serious with the bike fitting:

conrad's interior. bike fit setup is the 2nd bike in

there was a decent selection of apparel and accessories as well as many fancy bikes on the floor.

sam and I walked down to the east village next, to hit abraco.

this guy had a good look:

and this note, hilarious:

“Don’t come crying when we cut your chain and remove your bicycle from the fence! THAT’S A BIG SIGN!”

one more to go. part 4 comes next.

ritual coffee at maker faire 2010

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phil May 24, 2010

here’s the coffee counter from the ritual trailer (‘sputnik’) at this year’s maker faire:

ritual trailer counter at maker faire, may 2010

here it was last year at the eat real festival in oakland:

ritual truck counter at eat real festival, august 2009

we got a flight of espresso. $7 got you a shot of each of these costa rican coffees:

five candles seasonal blend

el alto, grace calderon jimenez
los chachones, arturo chacon

the five candles was my favorite. I’m not big on tasting notes, but it tasted buttery.

I wasn’t very diligent with the pictures, so I present here 2/3 of a flight:

ritual coffee espresso flight at maker faire: five candles seasonal blend

ritual coffee espresso flight at maker faire: el alto, grace calderon jimenez single origin shot

and of course the bike cart (photos here as well) was there:

ritual coffee at maker faire: the ritual bike cart

bike and coffee shops in new york (part 2)

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phil May 22, 2010

(part 1 of the tour is here)

This is part 2 of my brooklyn bike and coffee tour.

My next stop after Blue Bottle was Oslo coffee (133 Roebling St, Brooklyn).

I took some shots along the way:

I couldn’t handle much more caffeine by the time I got to Oslo, so I skipped another espresso and had a cookie instead.

I told Eddie about the bike and coffee tour idea and he recommended a few places to check out in Manhattan. I was surprised that it was empty there, but I think it was mid-afternoon at this point, which isn’t exactly a prime coffee hour.

I visited NYCbikes (spokes and strings? 140 Havemeyer St. Brooklyn, NY) next.

I continued rolling around Williamsburg to Gimme! Coffee (495 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, NY)

It was pretty packed in here with quite a few people working on their laptops and it looked like some of the after-work crowd was coming in for a buzz. Friendly baristas.

I didn’t remember to take a picture of the espresso shot until I was almost done:

gimme! coffee: espresso, mostly finished.

affinity cycles (616 Grand Street Brooklyn, NY) was right around the corner.

The guys in the shop were pretty busy with repairs and they were doing some renovations to the interior:

onward. Grand St. was being resurfaced but the fatty cruiser tires didn’t really care.

I rode down to velo brooklyn (bushwick bike shop). (342 Dekalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY) This shop wasn’t part of my originally-scheduled tour, but I happened to be riding by, so…

super-friendly and laid back people here. One guy recommeded that I check out the biker cafe, boneshakers – but alas, I didn’t have time this trip. maybe next time. I browsed through their cycling cap selection and was surprised to see that they carried hats by local lady alloneword. She had graciously donated caps to my girlfriend and friends who are doing AIDS lifecycle this year.

velo brooklyn (bushwick bike shop): shop talk

velo brooklyn (bushwick bike shop): pretty sweet walls

I headed towards Lit fuse cyclery (409 Willoughby Avenue, Brooklyn, NY) next.

I was taking interior shots at every shop, but I had to get one from this angle because I have a soft spot for kleins. this Klein Rascal had the mission control integrated handlebars. (Side note: I’m happy someone put together www.oldklein.com – the official klein page is just a product registration form. boo trek.)

lit fuse cyclery: interior, alternate view

that’s a lot of photos. next post is the ride back to recycle a bicycle to return the bike.

bike and coffee shops in new york (part 1)

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phil May 19, 2010

I was in New York for work a couple of weeks ago and decided to take some time off to wander in the city. I embarked on a self-guided tour of bike shops and coffee shops in brooklyn and manhattan (with the much-appreciated help of Anita from Brooklyn by Bike who led me to the New York Times Interactive Coffee Map) and took a bunch of pictures. whenever possible, images were shot at ISO 50 and wide open, just because.

I asked about bike rentals and bikesnobnyc was kind enough to suggest that I check out recycle a bicycle. I went to their DUMBO location (Recycle A Bicycle, 35 Pearl St, Brooklyn) They had only two bikes available and this is the one I got:

Chris from the shop hooked me up with the free official NYC cycling map.

I took a few pictures outside:

and along the way. It felt weird trying to balance on this bike – it had a coaster brake and I wasn’t used to the way-upright handlebars. Riding the cruiser kind of made the ride more enjoyable, though, because it allowed me to just kick back at a slower pace and enjoy the ride.

dalai lama stencil - and of course, a BNE sticker

and then pedaled towards Cafe Grumpy in Greenpoint.

kent ave bike lane. I've got to say, I'm really digging the bright green.

the weather was ridiculously beautiful.

the espresso at Cafe Grumpy (193 Meserole Avenue, Brooklyn, NY) was good and the people very friendly.

cafe grumpy (greenpoint) espresso. I couldn't resist and took a sip before taking the picture.

Cafe Grumpy was larger than I expected. It was relatively crowded with people working on their laptops and they had a beautiful bathroom window:

cafe grumpy bathroom window. it was pretty. I couldn't help it.

I headed towards B’s bike shop (262 Driggs Avenue, Brooklyn, NY) next in Williamsburg.

took a picture along the way:

B’s Bikes was a crowded little shop that seemed to be getting a lot of business. I told the people inside about my plans for the day and they happily mentioned a few neat bike shops in Manhattan to check out.

I rode the cruiser down to King Kog (455 Graham Avenue, Brooklyn, NY) next:

There was definitely a different vibe here with more bike-lifestyle items on the shelves including a hilarious “One Less Messenger” t-shirt.

Next stop: Blue Bottle (160 Berry Street, Brooklyn, NY). I live in Oakland, CA, and wanted to see what Blue Bottle was doing on the East Coast:

I was really impressed by the size of their space. The natural light was great. They roast in the back. I’ve been to their kiosk in Hayes Valley in SF, the Cafe at Mint Plaza, their Ferry Building location, their old roastery in Emeryville and their farmers market in Temescal. This space was absolutely huge in comparison.

There were quite a few people hanging outside too, enjoying the coffee and the weather:

Blue Bottle Coffee: hangin outside on Berry st

Part 2 to come.

peleng 8mm f/3.5 fisheye (and a 8mm computar c-mount lens) on the panasonic gf1

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phil March 26, 2010

After purchasing my Panasonic GF1, I thought it’d be fun to exploit the small form-factor and smaller sensor and try some of the c-mount lenses that are out there on the micro 4/3rds camera. I purchased an adapter off of ebay that had both c-mount and M42 threads. I tried it with a TV lens that I bought off of ebay, and then an 8mm lens that I already had for my canon.

computar 8mm f/1.6:

I tried the 8mm computar first:

It’s a fixed-aperture lens that only cost about $5 or $10 from ebay. I didn’t have high hopes – just wanted something to play with.

Here’s a sample image taken with that lens:

sample image taken with panasonic gf1 and computar 8mm f/1.6 tv lens

The image circle isn’t very large, and it’s not very sharp. oh well. The lens could still be useful for video – the GF1 gives a 2x or 4x digital zoom option, and with 2x digital zoom there’s no vignette. the 2x digital zoom results in an 32mm 35mm-equivalent focal length though, which isn’t much wider than the standard 20mm f/1.7 kit lens.

peleng 8mm f/3.5 fisheye:

The Peleng is a little larger than the computar. I had to buy some cheapo M42 extension tubes to get the flange/sensor distance within a correct range. I used the wikipedia table to guesstimate how much more distance I needed, and the 9mm + 16mm extension tubes did the trick just fine.

It’s a bulky lens, and turning the aperture and focusing rings isn’t so easy on such a small-bodied camera. You have to grip the body really tightly in order to turn the damped focusing ring and the detented aperture ring. Luckily, at 8mm and f/3.5, everything’s basically in focus.

Photos with the fisheye are still fun in a fisheye sort of way:

primo's parilla on the panasonic gf1 with the peleng 8mm f/3.5

and it’s still plenty-wide. The grill belongs to the Primo’s Parilla truck in Emeryville.

I think I took this photo near f/3.5, but I don’t remember. Sharpness is pretty much the same across the entire image, since the sensor is already only capturing part of the image circle. I’ll post 100% crops anyways:

primo's parilla panasonic gf1/peleng 8mm f/3.5 - center crop

There’s some standard sharpening and so on in lightroom.

here’s a corner crop:

primo's parilla panasonic gf1/peleng 8mm f/3.5 - corner crop

and I’ll throw in a shot with the peleng on a 5D Mark I for crop-factor comparison:

conclusion:

The 8mm computar lens isn’t very useful at all, but it was fun to play with. The peleng on the GF1 is a pretty interesting combination with fisheye distortion, a wide field of view and sort of cumbersome handling. The image quality looks fine to me.

peleng 8mm f/3.5 on a 5D mkI

photography, oakland, coffee, and bikes

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