Downtown Bike Hounds

Contest Extended!

Sean — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:52:26 +0000

Due to a very busy Sunday in the shop, followed by some great Mother’s Day celebrations, we did not get a chance to visit all of the cycling hot spots this weekend. Since the weather forecast is perfect, we are going to extend the contest so that we can showcase as much of Hamilton as we can this week.

A quick recap – you can enter as many times as you like – the easiest is by mentioning @bikehounds on twitter (each mention is an entry). The buttons below will make it easy for you to enter early and often and spread the word about how great Hamilton is for biking (and how it can be even better with a little bit of work!)

Follow @bikehounds Earn one entry by following us.
Tweet Earn one entry by tweeting a link to this page.
Tweet to @bikehounds Earn an entry every time you mention us or retweet us.
(Don’t forget to use the the #bikeham hashtag so everyone can follow our finds.)
Earn an entry by liking us on facebook, or commenting on our wall or posts.
Earn an entry by joining our email list.

For full details and prize lists, see the original contest page.

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Happy Mother’s Day! Closing at 5pm today.

Sean — Sun, 13 May 2012 20:45:41 +0000

We are closing an hour early to spend time with Mom today.

See you Monday!

– Memphis and the DBH team.

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Weekend giveaway! Tweet, Like and Forward your way to free stuff.

Sean — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:00:25 +0000

Hello pedallers and pals of pedallers,

We strongly believe that Hamilton is one of the finest places in the country to ride a bike, and we are certain that with a little bit of work, it can become the best cycling city in Canada.

To celebrate our great city, we are hosting a Hamilton Cycling Celebration contest this weekend. It’s really easy to participate and we are giving away some great prizes (scroll down if you want to skip to the good stuff). The ultimate goal is to get you out riding – but even if you can’t spend the weekend in the saddle, you can still participate from the comfort of your phone or computer.

Here’s how it works:

Bikehounds will be riding around the city tweeting about places where Hamilton has done a great job accommodating cyclists as well as places where there are challenges we still need to overcome. We’ll also post to our blog, email list and Facebook.

But we can’t possibly cover all the good and the bad in the city alone, so we need your help. Know of a great spot for cyclists? Let everyone know! It could be a business who is bike friendly, a bike lane that you use all the time, a secret short cut, or even a spot with a great view that’s easily bike-accessible.

You will earn contest entries for getting involved in the discussion, and there is no limit to the number of times you can enter. Entries will be accepted until the end of Sunday. Winners will be contacted and announced on our website next week.

To enter via twitter:

Every new @bikehounds follower is entered automatically.
Follow @bikehounds

Once you are following us, you can rack up additional entries:

Every time you tweet about something good (or bad) for bikes in Hamilton, you’ll be entered
Tweet to @bikehounds (We’ll retweet you too)
Every time you retweet us, you’ll be entered.
Tweet a link to this contest page, you’ll be entered. (Please don’t spam! Limit 3 per day.)
Tweet this page right now!

Be sure you mention @bikehounds otherwise we won’t be able to track your entries. Use the #bikeham hashtag so everyone can follow everything we find, too.

To enter via Facebook:

Like us on Facebook, you’ll be entered.
Comment on one of our posts, you’ll be entered.
Post to our wall, you’ll be entered.

No Twitter? No Facebook? No problem!

Join our email list, you’ll be entered.
Forward our email to a friend and they join, you’ll be entered.
Comment on any of our blog posts, you’ll be entered.

Note: If you forward our email to a friend, you’ll also have to email us to let us know who you sent it to, as we cannot track recipients automatically. If you comment on our blog, you must use an email address we can reach you at.

Prizes!

There will be ten winners chosen, with various prize levels, and you’ll be able to choose what you want the most:

Top Prize (One winner will be chosen):

$75 off any in-stock Linus bike

$50 gift card to spend on anything

Second Prize (Two winners will be chosen):

Free basic tune-up

Wald chrome front basket

Linus chrome front light

Third Prize (Three winners will be chosen):

Brass Velo Orange Bell

Silver Velo Orange Bell

Runners Up(Four winners will be chosen):

Mini “ding” bell

Mini LED light (red or white)

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Finally in: Front chrome “bullet style” headlamps!

Sean — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:46:18 +0000

We have been waiting what seems like years for these and they are finally here (thanks to Linus):

They run off of AAA batteries driving a bright LED which should give great battery life. They are $39 and should work on most bikes with a standard non-suspension front fork. We can also install it for you for $10.

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Basil Bag Blowout! Great deals on discontinued bags.

Sean — Sun, 06 May 2012 19:09:00 +0000

We have a few discontinued Basil bags and we want to give you a deal so that we can make space for new ones. Once these are gone they’re gone!

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SOLD: 5 speed step through city beater

Sean — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:41:06 +0000

Another “beater” perfect for city use. This 5 speed cruiser will get you there fast and will still be there when you come back to it from your destination. A bit of cosmetic rust keeps the price down and the thieves at bay while not affecting the smooth ride.

Size: 52cm

Price: $97 plus HST (approx $110)

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SOLD: CCM Imperial single speed coaster cruiser

Sean — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:34:44 +0000

This little blue demon is solid and speedy, but looks unassuming and is not going to be a target for theives. With the included basket, this makes for a perfect low cost city beater.

Size: 46cm

Price: $110 +HST (approx $125)

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SOLD Gleaming blue Supercycle three speed with ultimate vintage styling

Sean — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:08:10 +0000

This beauty is a sparkling example of 60s/70s cruiser bike goodness. It has a classic Sturmey 3 speed hub, shining chrome and even includes the saddle bag.

As with all of our consignment bikes, this is available as a cash sale, as-is and there’s no HST!

Size:
Seat Tube: 54cm
Top Tube: 56cm

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SOLD: Silver Medalist Road Racer

Sean — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:43:02 +0000

Got a need for speed? This bike will deliver. A super clean late 70′s or early 80′s mid range road specimen. The alloy cranks and levers are original, as well as the chrome centre pull brake calipers and wheels.

We installed a new chain, all new stainless cables, new tires and tubes and new bar tape to ensure it’ll run smooth right out of the gate.

Size:
Seat Tube: 59cm
Top Tube: 58cm

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City to install its first on-street bike parking corral

Sean — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 22:14:16 +0000

An example of an on-street bike parking corral from Portland Oregon

In July of 2011, we contacted the city in regards to on-street parking for bicycles. We identified that there were no bicycle racks on our block, and a general lack of bike racks throughout downtown. Additionally, the metered parking spaces in front of our shop were larger than standard, and we had two huge loading zones. This resulted in too much space for idling vehicles, and not enough opportunity for cyclists to lock their bikes up.

What we proposed was for Bikehounds to lease an on-street parking space from the city, in which we would “park” a bicycle rack instead of a car. This would not affect the city’s parking revenue and seemed like a fair way for us to approach it.

Much credit goes to the city for taking our idea seriously. In September, we received a formal reply stating that they would investigate the opportunity to install an on-street bike corral themselves. Maybe not directly in front of the bike shop, but somewhere within the vicinity.

After communicating about design ideas, a meeting was set up by Public Works in January with the Downtown BIA. We were humbled when we were invited along. After communicating with other businesses, the city gave the go ahead for a year-long trial.

Public Works prepares to install Hamilton's first bike corral

The corral will be on our block, just a few doors down from us and will use space taken from a nearby loading zone and some parking spaces. Luckily, this will all be accomplished simply by shrinking these existing oversize spaces and we won’t lose any of the car spaces nor the loading zones. This will ease other businesses into the idea, and if successful, we will hopefully see more of these throughout downtown.

This week the rough location markers went down in spray paint and we hope to see some construction very soon. We are crossing our fingers that this goes smoothly and we will report back when the racks are ready to use.

We plan to connect an outdoor camera to our security system to monitor these racks, providing a bit of extra peace of mind to those who lock up there.

Thanks to the Public Works department for giving this a go – we are sure that it will be well received by all downtown cyclists.

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