Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Circle A Cycles

probably the prettiest bikes ever. does anyone know how their pricing is? as far as i can tell there's no info on the website, but...damn. i might have to start saving up.

heres why.

http://www.circleacycles.com/gallery_detail.asp?id=15

custom fixed frames start at 800, a really good deal.

yeah. a friend of mine talked to one of the members and he said expect to pay somwehere around $1000 or so, depending on what you want. But be ready to wait. they've got something like a 4 month backup. and they just got a write-up in Dirt Rag so it'll probably be a 8 month backup before long.
damn pretty bikes though. I love those Paul fork ends.

tim

Wow, an 8 month backlog, sound like business isn't hurting. Guess you can succeed with quality made in America.

Yeah, I found these guys a while ago. DAMN nice frames. I e-mailed them at the time too and they were very helpful. Might be a while before I can afford one but definitely on my wish list.......

check out vanilla cycles from portland.

yeah, these are super nice bikes. and everyone i know who works there is great.
the hardest part about living in providence is seeing all these nice circle a's around town and not having one myself!

How can you pass up sweet frames with good politics? (I just hope that after capitalism has been brought down they'll make frames for free...)

Oh yeah and I live in Portland, my LBS constantly has Vanilas up in the windows *drool, drool* and old Strawberries! (hurray for tasty bike name themes)

(Strawberry, Vanilla)

After someone posted the vanilla link a while back I've been lusting over one. Now...can I justify taking out 1500 in student loans just for the frame?

I would take out those loans.... :D
You'll just be working for the rest of your life to pay off the bike and the rest of your education/tuition :D

http://www.vanillabicycles.com/bikes/track/bike_b/lrg/1.jpg

Beautiful.

its a sad day when I realize that adding $2000 to my loans to get my dream bike isn't going to make that big of a change in the total that I owe.

Maybe I'll just sell my soul to the corporate devil to pay it back. Either that, or I never leave school and they can never make me pay it all back. hehehe

If you don't pay they'll repossess your bike! :eek:
you don't want that!! :eek:

ahh...but payments don't start until six months after I leave school, and if I never leave school.....

you beat the system.... heheheh :p

I just saw a Cirle A at the Powell's coffeeshop on Hawthorne tonight. Pretttty. I think it might have had gears, though I was too busy staring at the frame to notice such things.

To think... Once was the time it would have occurred to me that a guy (or gal) could take out student loans to pay for consumer goods.

Welcome to the real world, ladies and gents.

To think... Once was the time it would have occurred to me that a guy (or gal) could take out student loans to pay for consumer goods.

Welcome to the real world, ladies and gents.


Well... with grad school looming around the corner, I think I'll live with my pos and wait until my net worth is back in (or near :D ) the black to buy a nicer bike.

New wheels ought to make it a better (read:safer) ride. $60 for a set with a real track hub isn't going to break me, but another stupid accident from stripped threads might.

I use to live in Providence, RI and I use to know the guy who runs Cycle A Cyclery. He actually taught a really good basic bicycle mechanic course at a local co-op/free bike program.

He's really smart and knows a helluva lot of bicycle know-how. I got most my bicycle bicycle knowledge from the dude so I really owe him this one good recommendation.

In one of the free bicycle classes we all went over to tour his Workshop and it was the first time I saw a custom bicycle workshop with all the specialized machines like jugs, sandblasters, and even a really cool old-school Chopper.

He really loves bicycles and it show with this work.

Joe

to bring this topic back to life, i have been looking at their website because me and a friend are setting up a bike coperative here in manchester UK. we've been involved in anarchism/activism for a while, so the bike project is an extension of our beliefs. weve got funding and are looking for spaces now, its all very exiting.
anyway i was looking at an old topic on circle a cycles http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-48597-p-1
and i was wondering what people thought of their politics.
I agree of course with their basic anarchist principles, but as some people stated in the old thread, they complain about the market yet sell things. but i dont think its right to complain about this, projects need money in society's current state..people cant just volunteer, as they need money; so we need money as it stands. an anarchist cooperative is the best way to make a living though i rekon.
oh and 'dminefield', when we live in a better world, people like circle a will be TEACHING us how to build frames for ourselves! :D how cool would that be :)

Can the wheel survive without the spoke? In other words, don't bag the system when you need the system to survive. Come to think of it, I think I'll go down to the coffee shop and see if I can trade my roll of breath mints for a cup of coffee. Should prove interesting......

A friend of mine with a Masters in Political Science once said to me "Anarchism is stupid". "Oh yeah, why's that" I replied. "well" he said, "Anarchism is a guy holding a gun to your head while he rapes your girlfriend".

Interesting point.

What he was saying I guess in essense, is that people grossly misuse the term. When people say they are Anarchists, they've actually made up their own definition of what they 'think' Anarchy is, but have basically stuck their fingers in their ears and covered their eyes to the potentially negative aspects of the term, yet adopted it anyway.

Thankfully, just because you misuse a term doesn't mean your heart isn't in the right place, nor does it prevent you from making some sweet bikes, which Circle A clearly do. :)

A friend of mine with a Masters in Political Science once said to me "Anarchism is stupid". "Oh yeah, why's that" I replied. "well" he said, "Anarchism is a guy holding a gun to your head while he rapes your girlfriend".

Interesting point.

What he was saying I guess in essense, is that people grossly misuse the term.

What he was actually doing was grossly misusing the term. I guess an Australian masters in poly-sci isn't all that valuable if this is the sort of statement it produces.

Now I'm not naive enough to believe that the human race is advanced enough to try anrchism, hell, we aren't advanced enough to try capitalism or communism either without thouroughly screwing up each one.

Anarchy has alot more to do with people being socially responsible than it does with some sort of economic system. There's nothing anti-anarchist about trade or recieving value for your labor. These guys aren't getting rich. They're engaged in responsible trade, where in (I'm guessing) the people that build these bikes don't have to live in poverty. There's no contradiction there.

A friend of mine with a Masters in Political Science once said to me "Anarchism is stupid". "Oh yeah, why's that" I replied. "well" he said, "Anarchism is a guy holding a gun to your head while he rapes your girlfriend".

ummm anarcism is actualy far right politics, so far right it is almost left. read about the cnt, it is acctualy a viable form of politics and economics, as long as the communists will stop assassanting them. By the way, anarchy and anarchism were a political system before they ment 'no government" it dates to the mid 19th century.

What he was actually doing was grossly misusing the term. I guess an Australian masters in poly-sci isn't all that valuable if this is the sort of statement it produces.

Now I'm not naive enough to believe that the human race is advanced enough to try anrchism, hell, we aren't advanced enough to try capitalism or communism either without thouroughly screwing up each one.

Anarchy has alot more to do with people being socially responsible than it does with some sort of economic system. There's nothing anti-anarchist about trade or recieving value for your labor. These guys aren't getting rich. They're engaged in responsible trade, where in (I'm guessing) the people that build these bikes don't have to live in poverty. There's no contradiction there.

Actually, he's American. *points metaphoric gun to 'thechamps' foot* :)

Look up the term - what you and the Circle A people are describing is a self defined modernist definition of 'Anarchy', which has very little to do with the actual definition. There's nothing 'anarchistic' about being a humanist with idealistic philosophies. In a way it's ironic that people with such leaning inappropriately use the term 'Anarchist' because it does nothing except marginalise them and send the wrong message to the general public. But hey, why destroy a perfectly good little niche by making it popular, eh?

A people are describing is a self defined modernist definition of 'Anarchy hey ya look up the term, look up the word history. it comes from the socialist philosophy way before the ramifiactions of chaos.

look up the term? where, in a dictionary? that tells me (essentially) squat. it doesn't tell me how the concept is realized by real people living lives that have something to do with that concept. concepts are created by people who have a use for categorizing actions, beliefs, objects, etc. i have a concept of what "nachos" is--your concept of "nachos" is probably different. what does the dictionary say? who cares? same with democracy. same with anarchism.

the concept(s) of anarchism that many ararchists today espouse is/are similar to the concept(s) that anarchists of 100 years ago espoused (yeah, what alexi said). what does the "actual definition" have to say about that?


Actually, he's American. *points metaphoric gun to 'thechamps' foot* :)

Look up the term - what you and the Circle A people are describing is a self defined modernist definition of 'Anarchy', which has very little to do with the actual definition. There's nothing 'anarchistic' about being a humanist with idealistic philosophies. In a way it's ironic that people with such leaning inappropriately use the term 'Anarchist' because it does nothing except marginalise them and send the wrong message to the general public. But hey, why destroy a perfectly good little niche by making it popular, eh?

"Anarchism is a guy holding a gun to your head while he rapes your girlfriend".
Seriously, I can't figure out this analogy.
I imagine if we lived in an anarchist society, and someone was selling widgets, everyone would laugh and say;"he's just taking advantage of his freedom to do whatever he wants to sell stuff, what a hypocrite!" If you want to make the world a better place, you have to do it within the confines of the real world, that's just reality. It seems like the word "hypocrite" is the only ammunition that apathetic Wal-Martians have, in my opinion. Did I pay money for some of the things I own? Yep. Did I get a lot of it second hand? Yep. Do I sometimes throw recyclables in the trash absentmindedly? Yep. Am I a hypocrite? Maybe, but I DON'T CARE! I'lll keep doing what I think is right.

I perfectly understand what a 'concept' or an 'idea' is - I deal with them for a living. Now go read my second and third sentences.

I perfectly understand what a 'concept' or an 'idea' is - I deal with them for a living. Now go read my second and third sentences.
I read the whole post, and i wasn't trying to expound on your friend's (bad) metaphor, just some thoughts that came to mind. Put the knife down...

I was replying to Habitus, sorry. And it's not a knife, it's a Boomerang.

Hey look! Anarchy (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=anarchy&x=10&y=18) is defined thusly by Merriam Webster. Notice how it links to a seperate definition for "anarchism". This is kind of like when these young whippersnappers call each other "cool", but really mean hip, not cold. The word has more than one meaning!

This (http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~monkey/sunstruc.htm) is even cooler, though. An honest-to-gosh anarrchist dojo!

i read your whole paragraph.

in sentence #2, you contrast a "self-defined modernist definition" with "the actual definition." where does one find this "actual definition" of anarchism? they only "defintion" that has any relevance to anarchists is the one that includes autonomy and egalitatarianism as critical attributes of anarchism. so what's the (your) "actual definition"?

in sentence #3, you say that there's "nothing anarchistic about being a humanist with idealistic philosophies." ok. i agree. however, i think there's certainly something humanistic about being an anarchist (and what philosophy isn't based on ideals?).

Good job, Thylacine. I knew you was in for some trouble when you opened this can of worms. And for what it's worth, anarchists has always been idealists. But then I mean that in the way Marx meant it, so that's probably not got a lot of mileage in it with those folks. ;)

The 'actual definition' thalycine describes is def1B mentioned in that dictionary reference; "a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority", because it suits his buddy's definition, as opposed to 1a and 1c which are alot less politically loaded. It's this definition, the sid vicious type of anarchist, that is used to discredit more traditional arachism. I highly doubt that early anachist thinkers had in mind violent lawlessness and gutterpunks. Maybe Thalycine knows a few of these people, which is how he is privy to the 'real' definition. For him to suggest that the circle a definition is a "self-defined modernist definition" is just plain wrong. Circle A shouldn't be ashamed to use the word Anarchist to describe themself just because it's been co-opted by a-holes and redefined by the elite as dangerous. That would just be letting the terrorists win!


This whole argument is like arguing over philosophical communism vs practiced communism (soviet union, china, etc.) - which was in fact more of a state capitalism. It's a useless exercise. Even though the Soviets described themselves as communists, they weren't, but capitalists will always be able to point to them to discredit communism, even though it's never really been tried on a large scale.

And really, circleA make great looking bikes. And that's what we should get back to.

thechamp, really good post.
you summed up what i was going to say.
someone said that anarchism was so far right it is far left? i see anarchism as more of a 'no wing' politics, since it dismisses politics all together. In spain in the 30's (get yer beards out) anarchism was truely in action, people took control on their workplaces, for example, the tram system was run by the CNT, and the trams were incidently 40% more efficient. the communists were finding it impossible to work with the CNT because they wouldnt accept orders from people with higher ranks, the organised in collectives, and were actually much more effective as a team because they didnt have to wait for orders, they all worked it out between themselves.
thats more like anarcho syndacalism. anarchism today takes many forms, and anarchists are even pretty split between themselves, you get primitavists who want the end of civialisation, you get anarcho communists who want to organise in their workplace, you get trendy anarchists who want to open coffee bars the use anarchism to sell coffee, you get eco action activists, you get 'crimethinc' anarchists (lets say the new romantic anarchists) who swan around dumpster diving...they all slag each other off, for example primitavists are hippys and crimethinc people are lifestylists.
my point is that at the end of the day, they are all working towards the same thing...more or less. Anarchism isnt far right (although there is such a thing as anarcho capitalism....the free market, but lets not go into that), its full of different diverse ideas. circle a cycles look like they are doing a real great thing,
as the champ said, the bikes are the most important thing, as people interests bring many different types of people together, im sure we have so many different views on this forum yet we all talk bikes.
and more importantly, circle a have design skills. i love their website!

you get 'crimethinc' anarchists (lets say the new romantic anarchists)
You mean Duran Duranarchists? :D champ, onelesscar, I couldn't have said it better.

I think Circle A cycles are great. I think what they are doing is great and one day I hope to get a frame from them. Their fix frames are sweet. Anyone have one? How does it hold up?

Now to the off topic that I know I should not get involved in. Anarchism is not Right Wing. I think you are thinking of Libertarianism. Libertarians are like Anarchist, but they like Capitalism and an actual free market. I think what was trying to be said before was that a group of folks trying to produce goods for people using an Anarchist model within a Capitalist system will fail balls out. Unless they were able to really build bikes from scratch, i.e. dig up iron, manufacture steel, etc. After the revolution, Circle A will rock it the way they really want to. So lay off.

I wish I could remember who said it, maybe someone can help me. “I’m a Marxist so we can all be Anarchist.”

Even though I studied political theory, I like what Bukoski wrote about politics. The essay was called “Politics is like Trying to Screw a Cat in the Ass.’ I think what he was trying to say is that neither are things he desires to be involved with.

I guess an Australian masters in poly-sci isn't all that valuable if this is the sort of statement it produces.

thechamp,

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you are a dumbass.

Last I heard, Vanilla's waiting list was about a year long...

Anarchy Burger!

What is this CNT, which you all speak of?

Labramatt I have to agree with you. Calling someone's education worthless because he holds a differing opinion is the intellectual equivalent of 'yo mamma'.

Anarchy Burger!

HOLD THE GOVERNMENT!!!!!!!

I don't thhink we're allowed to criticize anarchist framebuilders until we finally rid ourselves of all the anarcho-poseur pop punk bands who make ****loads of money beacuse singing about hating the government is cool right now.

tim

oh, and the CNT is an anarcho-syndicalist group in europe which faught the facists in the Spanish Civil War. I haven't really read a whole lot on them. I got bogged down in the first 3 chapters of Beevor's "The Spanish Civil War".
I know they're still around. I marched with them when I was in paris last year. Don't know what the march was about b/c I don't speak french. Today they seem a lot like the RCP (revolutionary communist party) and the Sparticusts (sp?), more interested in selling newspapers than really doing much of anything in local communities.

tim

http://www.circleacycles.com/images/gallery/16/4.jpg
Nice.

Cool. Thanks Tim.

probably the prettiest bikes ever. does anyone know how their pricing is? as far as i can tell there's no info on the website, but...damn. i might have to start saving up.

heres why.

http://www.circleacycles.com/gallery_detail.asp?id=15

I live about 15 minutes away from there. I have been there a couple of times just to look around.

A friend of mine Bought a touring bike frame and fork with cantilever bosses for about $700 I believe.
He built it up with an Ultegra triple with LX rear cassette and derailleur.

Compared to my Jamis Aurora steel RSX equipped touring bike. Which is 26 lbs.
His is 23 lbs. !!

Here are some photos..

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dad02915/album?.dir=/2f90&.src=ph&.tok=phjwrdCByQj57UBb

timarchy, read orwells 'homage to catalonia' about the CNT, its really easy to read and you learn stuff