Originally Posted by
ThomasOmalley
Last week I spent the day in San Francisco and had some time to kill. So of course, I searched for “bike shop near me”.
I’ve had a couple of really poor experiences at bike shops in San Francisco. I was really hoping this wouldn’t be another one of those cases. Finding community on the forums has been really fulfilling. Finding community within cycling in person has been something that I’ve been looking for - unfortunately, with a whole lot more strikeouts than home runs. I’m really happy to say that my trip to American Cyclery was a very positive experience and a serious breath of fresh air. They’ve got so much cool stuff and the staff is especially friendly. They are clearly people who are passionate about bikes. It seems like they are especially passionate and knowledgeable about the CnV bikes that we all love. I can’t wait to go back. I’m not very close but when I am in the city I certainly plan on stopping in. If anyone is in San Francisco or close, you should definitely stop in and support this shop. Even if you aren’t close, worth traveling to support them!
Bradley is dedicated to keeping the classic bikes alive. A labor of love I'm sure. His shop is classic too, having been started by Oscar Juner in 1941. Oscar was a 6-day racer in the 30s. I visit Bradley when I'm in the area.
Oscar Juner -- cyclist, bike-shop founder
Bradley has a good connection with Jim Porter at Merry Sales and hooked me up with him to manufacture the long cages for Campy derailleurs that I wanted to make about 13 years ago. They have sold very well. I hacked one out by hand but it was too much work. I modeled it after the Euclid cage. They are 15mm longer than a Rally cage and suck up more chain. Jim had them done by his people "over there" and sells them under his Soma brand. They fit NR, SR, and GS, but I can modify them to fit old GS and old Record too. I have them on a dozen bikes myself.
New long cages to fit Nuovo/Super Record, Nuovo Gran Sport, old Record, and old Gran Sport derailleur. | Flickr
My Cinelli with old Record with the long cages and a triplized 151 crank.
1961 Cinelli - see amazing new info in description below. | Flickr