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 (the owner) is a sometimes poster here as well as on the Classic Rendezvous chat group.
He's a nice guy and certainly knows a lot about both the C&V stuff plus contemporary lines his shop sells.
He's running a business but strikes the balance of service with a smile while keeping the lights on and rent paid, not so easy a trick in SF these days!

BTW he has occasional sales to clear out the "old stuff' which accumulates especially in the downstairs basement. That's a good time for those of us who are looking for "something rare" to pay a visit.
Maybe if I get a heads-up that one is coming I'll try to make sure to add news to the "Swap meets in SF" thread

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

^^ Click on the “1961 Cinelli” link above and take notes. Awesome restoration. In my view, THAT is how a bike should be restored….There is plenty of authenticity, but with beautifully performed modifications for the bike to be ridden and enjoyed…

Thanks! One of my more satisfying restorations. That bike did Eroica in 2012, on those woodies with those same tires, and they are still on the bike. We did the middle distance, 81 miles I think it was. I don't think I've changed anything on the bike.
It was a spectacular 3-week trip, where we did lots of riding around Gaioli before the event, and some after including near Montalcino, Badia di Lucca, and around the wall at Lucca, and at the end of the ride we came back to Florence and rode for a day with Roberto Poggiali, a well-known racer from the 50s through 70s, and a gregario to Gimondi and Moser, and a Direttori Sportiv for a couple of teams, and he also had his own shop in Scandicci called Tutto Ciclismo. My friend Amy who was with me on the trip rode a Poggiali bike (Not Pogliaghi!). I had met Roberto through a fellow I found on flickr, Marco Borri, who had several of his bikes in pictures, and who supplied me with original decals. Turns out Roberto was his next door neighbor! Marco and I still chat on a regular basis. Especially during Covid. He was a great source of information about how bad it really was in Italy. Luckily he speaks very good English as my Italian is meager.
We also got to meet Antonio and Giovanni Cermenati, who made the Cerchio Ghisallo wood rims. They have just closed up shop, sadly.

Fun story - a couple days before Eroica, we were riding south of Gaiole, and we were about 10 miles away from the cars when my Regina freewheel started coming apart. It was the splined Regina body, and those sometimes crack all around through the splines. It had not quite spilled its guts yet, and I was able to lay the bike on its side, slide the wheel out, and keep it intact. I cut some leftover sewup boot material into the shape of washers that would fit over the axle and fill the space between the freewheel and the frame, and carefully slid the wheel back in, and rode the 10 miles back to the car. Then went to the Eroica swap meet and found a guy with a freewheel, and the tool to be able to swap my 13-31 cogs over onto it, as I really wanted those for the event.
Lots of pics here.
Collection: Italy 2012

Fabulous story. THAT is why we ride…..

Bob, I know for sure that you are the only person that I've ever met who could repair a freewheel using cut up remnants of an old sewup. Although I have gone on tours both with and without you present, I am completely aware that my non-Bob-present tours are far riskier than those with a Bob to pull off repair miracles on the side of the road.