Leaving Charlotte, the host city of NAHBS, behind and passing through West Virginia, which was unexpectedly hit by snow, the end of my 450-mile journey was Pittsburgh, a city that once thrived as a center of the steel industry. Visiting a friend because I had already come as far as Charlotte for my first-ever trip to the East Coast is a perfectly good reason to head out on a journey.
I went to visit the guys from “Urban Velo,” which we also carry at Circles.
“Hi!! Jeff and Brad!!”
※This bike magazine, which explores people and bicycles from a broad perspective of daily riding, is also available for purchase in our webshop.
With their reassuring guidance, I visited various places, but two spots left a particularly deep impression on me.
The keywords were "use it until it's gone" and "do it yourself."
The first was “Bicycle Heaven,” a museum where old Schwinns and Bowden bikes are on display.
I was simply stunned by the sheer volume of items, but what I really loved was that it wasn't just a museum—they also had a section for selling junk parts and doing repairs.
There were piles of cottered cranks and parts I never expected to see again, which made me think that you wouldn't have any trouble with repairs there. It’s a place where you can feel a strong determination to properly fix and continue using even the oldest of things.
The second was “Kraynick’s Bike Shop Inc.”
While it is a bike shop, it’s not the kind lined with the latest components or cool parts...
This place also deals in old parts, junk parts, and every conceivable type of small component. What’s truly amazing about this shop is in the backyard: they have a pit space where six bikes can be serviced at once, available for free.
When I visited, three cyclists were coming and going, building wheels or adjusting brakes, and asking Mr. Kraynick questions to solve the problems they couldn't figure out on their own.
Whenever someone said, "I'm missing a small part!",
he would say something like, "Go look in the back corner, I'm sure you'll find a part you can use," helping them solve the problem in a true Do-It-Yourself spirit.
He is truly like a saint. I was constantly moved by the number of cyclists who made full use of that space to fix their bikes with their own hands.
At Circles, we also provide a pit service.
We are still far from reaching the level of the predecessors I mentioned, but we do offer two plans: 1-day (1,000 yen) and yearly (12,000 yen).
Just the other day, someone tried their hand at wheel building,
and Mattsun from Alibaba was using the space well to service his own bike after work.
The premise, of course, is that you do the work yourself, but in doing so, questions and trouble are bound to arise.
The shop can be busy on weekends, making it difficult for us to offer advice, but on weekdays, we can definitely help guide you.
Please feel free to use the service.