We're Sorry!

We apologize for our absence from writing on our blog for these past few weeks! All of us have been so busy with various tasks that we forgot about including you, our friends. So without further adieu, we would like to update you on the many exciting things that we have been doing.

Firstly, the shop renovations are coming together nicely. The flooring is 3/4 complete, painting is complete and the cabinets are being made as we speak. Our logo has been finalized, business cards have been ordered, and next we will be ordering signage. We've ordered the first bit of Fort Langley Cyclery merchandise for sales and promos and we are getting very excited about seeing our name on our customers and hearing our name spoken around town!

As things are coming together it is easier for us to pin-point our soft opening date. Given no major issues arising in the next few weeks, we will be opening our doors on February 8th. It will be a very exciting day in the village of Fort Langley - the Township of Langley is even going to throw a party! We would love to say that it is all in honour of our little family shop opening its doors for business, but we would be misleading you if we didn't tell you what else is happening that day.... From 9:40am to 10:40 am, the Olympic torch will be making its way through the town and even past our shop! Cool eh? It will be a great family day with lots of activities planned and a great excuse to play hooky from work or school (in the case of our children! Shh, don't tell!) And as a bonus to us, it will be great exposure for our first day open.

We are very pleased with the progress of securing our distributors and brands. It was a bit slow for awhile trying to nail down contracts, but now the t's have been crossed and the i's have been dotted. We are waiting for the final word securing one other major bicycle brand and hopefully that will happen this coming week.

On a personal note, we are extremely excited to have puchased a home in Fort Langley and we look forward to moving back into town next week. It will be great to start feeling settled into a home and to start preparing for the newest addition of the family! It may be hard though to find a newborn cycling jersey! Oh well, a onesie it is!

OPUS - In Velo Veritas

     Things are coming along nicely for Fort Langley Cyclery. The shop is starting to look useable again – the ceiling is drywalled and the holes in the brick are patched – and we’re getting the rest of our product line in place.

     New to the lineup is Opus, a Canadian bicycle manufacturer celebrating its tenth year in production with an expanded line of bicycles. Opus has noticed the recent evolution of urban cycling, as bikes become a more common form of transportation and as people look for new ways to stay healthy. The 2010 line of bicycles includes 18 models for “urban cyclists,” in addition to their well-established road bikes.

     One of our favourite pairings is the classy men’s Lugano (charcoal grey) and the ultra-elegant women’s Nuovella (powder blue). They feature full fenders, chain guards, and an integrated rear rack, internal gearing, and roller brakes, for a clean, virtually maintenance-free bicycle. It’s a comfortable bike with a smooth, silky ride, and arguably the most beautiful bike you’ll ever sit on. You should come on by, once we’re open, and take one for a spin. 

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain....ugh!

Most of us are not fans of the rain and nearly all of us cyclists agree that rain can seriously dampen (pun intended) our spirits when we have an itch to hit the road. But wait no longer - Fort Langley Cyclery may have found the solution to the soggy dilemma of whether to ride or not to ride! While at Interbike this past September, we came across this great bicycle clothing company: Showers Pass, based in Portland Oregon, makes incredible rain gear for cyclists and some of their gear is so good-looking that you could wear it straight from your bike and into the office. We are working hard to find a way of getting this clothing line across the border and into our store, and are very excited about the possibility of carrying this product. We hope you'll love it too.


As for the progress of our store renovations, we are steadily moving forward. The electrical work is done, the bathroom is done, the old flooring is out and the drywallers will hopefully be doing their magic between Christmas and the New Year. 

But the thing we are most anticipating is the unveiling of our design and logo. We have a meeting this weekend with our design expert, James Moes, and maybe on the next blog we can put it up to show you (no promises though...). James, a wonderful visual artist and photographer, has been working hard to interpret our mental vision of the store and putting that into a physical design pallete.  Thanks James! 


And thanks to all of you who have been following along with us and have been encouraging us in this journey.  Your support has been appreciated.  And in case we don't have a chance to blog again in the next week, Tim, Misty, Jon, Alyssa (and baby-to-be) all wish you a very blessed Christmas.

Langley Area Cycling Coalition

A group of cycling advocates in Langley have recently formed a local chapter of the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (VACC). The VACC is a very well-respected group of cyclists that advocate for cycling safety and improved conditions and infrastructure for cycling in the Lower Mainland. They have formed local chapters in various communities throughout Metro Vancouver, including Maple Ridge, Surrey/White Rock, and now also The Langleys.

The new Langley Area Cycling Coalition (LACC) had their most recent meeting last Tuesday, December 8, led by co-chairs Richard Edge and Dan Milsip. They told us about their initial meetings with the engineering staff from the City and the Township and the plans that our local governments have for developing cycling infrastructure in Langley. The governments are very eager and willing to work with the LACC, and the LACC is very eager and willing to represent Langley's cycling population.

In order for them to represent the local cycling community better, local cyclists (including you) need to come to LACC meetings. You can become a member if you want, but you are more than welcome to attend the meetings and give your input without becoming a member. Also, you can join their Yahoo Group for free, and join in the online conversation.

Cheers.

The 2010 BUB from Batavus

Not much has happened in the shop this past week as both families, Jon & Alyssa and Tim & Misty, spent the week moving out of our house and into temporary digs; we hope to find a new home soon.  (Hey, what’s a little more stress added to our lives before the shop opens?!)  We have made some progress in the shop clearing out a lot of garbage and now it looks like we can start getting in some contractors to do some of the more serious work. 

We have also started lining up our distributors and suppliers and we have placed our first order for bikes.

As a first glimpse into our line up, we would like to introduce you to the BUB (Batavus Utility Bike). We are very excited about this bike and can’t wait for it to arrive.  The BUB is a modern and lighter version of the classic Dutch bike with some added Danish design flair; the design concept is based on an unfolding paper clip.

Batavus designed this masterpiece based on their expertise in city bikes and they have a reputation of producing high quality bikes. Tim and Jon got to test ride a prototype of the BUB at Interbike this past September – it was a real pleasure. This bike is smooth and comfortable, but way faster and more responsive than a big lazy cruiser.

You can have a closer look at  the BUB, in either the basic model or the deluxe XC model, as a classic frame or a step-through. As this is a brand new bike, we’re certainly excited about it. But really, we want to know what you think, so leave a comment. If you have questions about it, we’ll do our best to answer them.

Let the Hard Work Begin!

We finally have the posters up on the windows, and boy do they look great (and they do a good job at hiding the mess on the inside)!  Our first line of business is clearing out things that were left by the last tenant; shelving, window display boxes, peg board and a gigantic cash desk.  We've also cleared out all of the ceiling tiles and t-bar.  We've recycled as much of it as we can, we've posted a lot of the stuff on craigslist (it's amazing what people will take when it's free), and the rest is going to the dump.  We are trying our best to be good stewards of the earth.  Our next project is an important one; we need a working bathroom!  The existing bathroom was pretty sketchy.  It has now been painted and the flooring goes in tomorrow, hopefully the new toilet and sink will be installed on Saturday.  Although we live close enough to go home to use the bathroom, it will much more convenient to have one at the shop......
We've posted some "before" pictures for your viewing pleasure. We hope you enjoy them.

 

“A bicycle shop should not only sell bicycles; it should sell a way of life.”

Here we are at the beginning of fulfilling a dream that we’ve had for years; an opportunity to meld our livelihoods with our passion for bicycles. We are Tim & Misty and Jon & Alyssa, brothers and their wives who are looking forward to opening Fort Langley’s first bike shop, in the heart of town.



This had always been a distant dream, a “one day down the road” kind of vision, something we didn’t think we would ever get the chance to do. Now we have a great retail space and an opening day that is fast approaching! We are planning to open our doors at the beginning of February 2010 with a lineup of city and road bikes, apparel, and accessories that is truly unique to this region.



This blog is meant to take you on the journey with us. We’ll post pictures of our renovation progress and reveal the brands that we are going to carry along the way. Please feel free to post any comments and questions. Our hope is that when we open our shop we will get to meet you and share our love of cycling with you.