This new bike shop opened back in December. Kudos to Marco for pointing it out to me :thumb: We've placed an order for a new wheelset that should be here by the end of this week. He mentioned you, by the way. ;)
The owner, Bryon, seems to be a very knowledgeable guy with more experience on tandems than most shops in the area. His shop is also highly tandem-centric, and carries a range from entry-level KHS to racy Co-Motions. He also carries the elusive DaVinci tandems, which are known for their ICS (http://www.davincitandems.com/dv2.html) (independent coasting system). In addition to tandems, he carries touring accessories and bikes.
The most outstanding feature, though, is their focus on women's cycling. With so much stock on hand, Crank-2 easily beats Left Coast Cyclery as the woman's bike shop. He carries the complete line of Terry Bicycles, apparel, and accessories.
If you're looking for a tandem, or just a cool place to hang out with a lot of stock that rivals Performance Bike, check out Crank-2 (http://www.crank-2.com/) in Pleasanton!
uspspro
05-10-08, 11:35 PM
cool.
rumbutter
05-10-08, 11:48 PM
Very friendly staff and good coffee too.
taxi777
05-11-08, 12:59 AM
Good for you guys, and keep July 4th open too...Plans in the making, geared for you.
Pete
Smooooth
05-11-08, 05:59 AM
We had a very nice experience there too :thumb:
Ty.S
05-11-08, 09:44 AM
I was in a discussion with my wife about Tandems recently, this might be a "random" stop fairly soon, with one of those "impluse" test rides :eek:
Thanks for passing the word along about this shop
sweetnsourbkr
05-11-08, 05:17 PM
Good for you guys, and keep July 4th open too...Plans in the making, geared for you.
Pete
:cry: I'm not in town that day. I'm on a coastal tour from Crescent City all that week. We should be back in the area by the 5th. :twitchy:
DiabloScott
05-14-08, 10:57 AM
He also carries the elusive DaVinci tandems, which are known for their ICS (http://www.davincitandems.com/dv2.html) (independent coasting system). !
Wow, I bet that's going to be the future of tandems.
uspspro
05-14-08, 11:07 AM
Wow, I bet that's going to be the future of tandems.
As cool as I think they are (especially from a gear-head engineering perspective), I like the traditional tandem better. It adds more to the experience i think.
uspspro
05-14-08, 11:11 AM
Another tidbit.
When I went to pick up our new wheelset it was Ruth's birthday.
Bryon gave her a complimentary T-shirt from Terry as a gift. It says: "Make mine a double" on the other side. ;)
As cool as I think they are (especially from a gear-head engineering perspective), I like the traditional tandem better. It adds more to the experience i think.
The ICS system really appeals to me. We are hoping to try it out when we get some free time. I would imagine stopping and starting is much easier for beginners and the gear range is huge. We are going into Tandems with a relatively open mind. I still cant get out of my head that 90% of tandems I see on doubles and centuries seem to be Co-Motion. Neither of us were convinced after our first ride that tandeming was for us.
We didnt really seem to be compatible :) example - We never noticed before but I always unclip with the right foot at junctions and my wife with her left so i typically start with my left foot and her the right. We got to a set of stop lights and confusion reigned supreme. We both have been riding singles for so long that a Tandem also felt utterly alien to us.
The beauty of Crank 2 is there are some many flavours to sample and perhaps the ICS drive system is just what we need to keep a bit of our individuality and join the tandem community.
Gee3
05-15-08, 09:39 AM
Sort of OT - Are there any shops near SF/Daly City/San Mateo that rent tandems? My wife would be more interested in a tandem than riding her own bike. (read: she can let me do all the pedaling when she gets tired!)
So instead of buying one and finding out she hates it I'd like to rent one and see how she likes it.
Thanks!
Gary
uspspro
05-15-08, 10:45 AM
Sort of OT - Are there any shops near SF/Daly City/San Mateo that rent tandems? My wife would be more interested in a tandem than riding her own bike. (read: she can let me do all the pedaling when she gets tired!)
So instead of buying one and finding out she hates it I'd like to rent one and see how she likes it.
Thanks!
Gary
What sizes are you guys? You could try ours out (but I guess that's no better than a test ride)...
ahpook
05-25-08, 10:33 AM
Hi Sweetnsour - nice to meet you guys in the shop yesterday! How did your fitting go?
Tips for potential tandem teams hoping to make the most out of crank2 -- and I know these because we did them both wrong yesterday:
1. Call first and make an appointment, preferably for a weekend evening when bryon will be able to focus attention on you.
2. leave the kidlets at home and be prepared to both pay attention and spend at least a couple of hours there.
We are going to try again in a few days, after complying with points 1 and 2.
It does seem like a great shop, with a ridiculous amount of gorgeous stock on the floor (bikes, clothes and parts).
sweetnsourbkr
05-26-08, 09:38 PM
Good to finally meet you ahpook! :D The fitting went well (Lisa no longer has knee pains), albeit took most of the day because of other issues with the tandem. This is by far the most complicated bicycle I've owned, and I seem to be having some growing pains. We're halfway there as far as wheels go, so hopefully we'll be riding again by the second half of June (white water rafting the next 2-3 weekends).