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.

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.