turd

hi y'all - so i'm gonna be in portland from may 27 - june 3 (with a swing up to seattle on june 1 for my friend's pedal/reload event: https://designcommission.com/pedalreloaded/ ) i'll have more touristy questions to ask when the time comes but for now..

Q1) i'm planning on having my bike out there for the week -- so can anyone recommend a LBS there to ship my bike to?
(for some reason, the LBS thread didn't turn up anything for pdx -- get on it, ppl!)

Q2) i'll be running solo while my host is working (atlas tattoo), would anyone wanna meet up? pdx/seattle roll call!!!

Q3) my host's place is on SE 78th Ave & Pine St -- what neighborhood is that and is bikeable to things? i don't know the lay of the (port)land at all..

mcatano

There's a sick, all-you-can-eat, vegan thai lunch buffet at a place called Araya in Seattle. Highly recommended. Bring friends and have a spring roll eating contest.

m.

humancongereel

you specifically want to ship to an lbs? veloshop. let me find the address for you. the website is: https://www.veloshop.org/shop.php

ah, here:

veloshop
211 SW 9th Ave
Portland, OR 97205

and kicking it, hell yes--i love showing people around, exploring with people, hitting portland's plethora of pubs for pabsts and/or pilsners (for the sake of alliteration)...all that sort of thing.

i'd say it's bikeable enough. with trips like that, i tend to stagger things like so: "i'll ride from 78th and pine to my pal's house and 38th and market. we will grab a beer at 27th and belmont, and go downtown and scope some sexy literature at powell's mega-bookstore. then we will ride to my house in north portland"...that sort of thing. but one thing to remember in portland is that 10 blocks = one mile. so you're 7 miles from downtown that way. probably not that bad to you, i'm guessing.

humancongereel

oh, yeah...vegan buffet...reminds me of vegetarian house in chinatown/old town (it used to be an area with mostly chinese residents, now it's mostly just chinese food restaurants--R.I.P. hung far low, the best-named eatery ever). ummm..anyhow, vegetarian house. all you can eat lunch buffet. some stuff is vegan, all vegetarian.

Sinfield

Veloshop is a fixed friendly shop here. Molly can be kind of an ******* at times though and the shop is very small so I'm not sure how willing he/she would be to let you ship your bike there.

River City is my favorite bike shop by far here in the city. Their staff is friendly and knowledgeable and the store is huge with a ton of nice bikes. They're not very fixed oriented, but my guess is that they would be the better shop to attempt to ship your bike to.

Since you are new to portland, I would go to Powell's books (Westside, Burnside and 10th St.) and pick up one of the Bike Portland maps. they are like 6 bucks, but well worth it in regards to finding your way around town.

Hit us up if you need help getting around the city or want to do some rides while you're out here. Any more questions, feel free to ask.

BTW, I just looked at my calender and I have May 27th off since it is a holidy. Let me know if you need help picking your bike up and I'd be happy to give you a ride to the bike shop you choose to send your bike to.

humancongereel

hmmm, yeah, veloshop is small, and anyone i've ever talked to there (not sure if it's molly or not) have all been cool to me...i dunno. river city, wait, isn't that the one on grand, just across the burnside bridge in southeast?

you might also try the bike gallery in the hollywood district (not sure of the exact location, but NE 40-something street), as it wouldn't be as far from 78th and pine as some other places.

i don't know how you feel about public transit, i tend mostly to only use it when i'm with others, but you might also want to know this site for picking your bike up and crap: https://www.trimet.org

edit: i just looked at pics. it is molly i've dealt with. good thing i've never said "thanks, man" to her or anything...heh.

zerobug

If yahoo maps is correct the Hollywood district Bike Gallery is only 3 miles away from where you are staying. The Division St Bike Gallery store is about the same distance.

Bike Gallery locations.

I don't know if I'd use Veloshop in this instance, I know Molly lost her mechanic but I haven't been to PDX in a few weeks and haven't been to Veloshop in a few months so that might have changed. So she might be short handed/busy.

As for bike shops to check out Bike Central... they are the track centric shop with all the drool worthy stuff but nothing an NYC resident hasn't seen before.

Other bike shop options to ship to:
Sellwood Cycle is 7 miles away but they're good people.
Veloce Bicycles is a little over 3 miles. Dude is hit or miss though.. sometimes snotty others cool.

I'd be down for city touring shenanigans if I can make it up to the big city.

turd

thanks, y'all.. i'll make some calls. make sure to throw all these LBS's in the sticky (https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/99587-lbs-obs-fixed-track-single-speed.html)

timmhaan

you'll have a great time in portland. it's a great city. really freakin nice in the summer.

humancongereel

yeah...portland weather sucks through the winter and fall, but once spring starts and goes into summer...it's possibly my favorite weather of any place. worth the **** weather for.

zerobug

+1

Aside from the freak January flooding almost taking out the downtown area where I live it was a mild winter... this summer is going to rock, everything is already kickass spring green. I want to dust off the mtb and take a trip up the coast range soon to scope out the wooded scenery.

marqueemoon

If you're in Seattle the 6/2 there's racing at the Marymoor Velodrome. Could be a good ride destination. Anyone up for it?

gh-ap

OH i miss portland in the summer. i miss portland anytime.

as far as guides, i don't think that that bike map from powell's is much help. just going on a ride with different people who know the city is the best way to get around and to get a feel for the place. also, there's a zine by the Urban Adventure League called "Portland Bicycle Culture Primer", and you can pick it up at Reading Frenzy (921 SW Oak, 'round the corner from Veloshop).

humancongereel

ah, reading frenzy...pretty cool little place. yeah, we have that bike map from powell's in the house here, and i've used it....ummmm...well, i spent 15 minutes reading it out of curiosity, and that's it.

i was also thinking, if you want a heads up bike events and music...

https://www.shift2bikes.org
https://www.portlandmessenger.org
https://www.zoobomb.org (i think it's sort of a pdx bike requirement to go zoobombing at least once)
https://www.portlandmercury.com (the best music listing for pdx you're likely to get. there are a few spots here to go and check coffee shop windows for house show flyers as well)

edit: looks like you'll be here for part of the west side invite. if you're not a west-of-the-mississippi messenger, you can't win prizes, but you can still play for fun. may 26-29.

Dogbait

Here is a local FORUM where you can ask questions etc.

Or, you might just want to read the Blog.

Call or email either of the Bike Galleries or River City about shipping the bike. I've always been treated fairly at both as well as at Bike Central. For me, the Hollywood Bike Gallery has the added attraction of good Teriyaki at Du's, just 3 doors up the hill.... ate a huge helping of dead chicken there just this afternoon, mmmmmmmm good.

Dogbait

mattonabike

wait. hung far low is gone?!!!?!? what will tourists take pictures of when they go to chinatown? the homeless guys?

humancongereel

ummmmmmm....the gigantic porn shop on 4th and burnside?

endform

Well if you actually wanna see a chinese person you're gonna have to go to SE 82nd.

SamHouston

I bet turd gotta brains to know you have to ask b4 shipping a bike ahead to a shop but do ask Molly, I've only communicated with her a little but she seemed real cool, also a superduper badass CX rider.

endform

Man, for living here for 3 years, you'd think I would have noticed something like that by now, giant porn store, for real? I think you're making this up.

Also in regards to the original intent of this thread, I'm gonna be up in the Seattle area for the whole summer, (starting may 10ish). So if there's gonna be any rides up there I'd be down. I could also lead a ride around Vashon Island (since that's where I'll be), it's beautiful as long as you don't mind hills.

humancongereel

it's right on the corner. a concrete, bunker-like buiding underneath the decorous arch that says "porn shop" or something. nothing that stands out, but i go by it a lot. never into it, though...i've thought about it, but no.

as far as going to SE 82nd to see a chinese person...i wouldn't know...but damn, there are a lot of japanese exchange students here. an ex used to go to PSU, and whenever i went on campus, i'd see huge groups of them here and there, and in the student housing and all. it just seemed sort of random to me...like portland is a destination for people in japan or something.

HexagonSun

+1 on bike central. i was shopping around for DA high flange hubs online about a month after the prices exploded, and i happened upon their website and they had yet to update the price from the old $180 retail. I called and spoke to jen and she hooked me up right over the phone. next day the site was updated; hubs arrived in about 4 days with a little card saying "thanks" (and here they hooked me up). anyway, she was super nice, super friendly and i can't say enough nice things about dealing with them. If you want to call and ask about shipping your bike to the shop the contact information i have is:

Jen Featheringhill
Bike Central
113 SW Naito Parkway
Portland, OR 97204
503-227-4439

www.bike-central.com

humancongereel

113 SW naito parkway? where exactly is that? i keep wanting to check them out, but all i know is their old 1st and yamhill location.

HexagonSun

i have no clue,


<--i live in san francisco.


but click on the weblink. they have a map to their location on the website.

humancongereel

ah, i'll do that.