Ritchey pt. 2

before i continue with more bikes, i have to relate a couple stories about a bike shop in town here. i won't name it, but if you live in edmonton, you'll probably figure it out. they relocated from whyte ave, after a fire, to a former grocery store on 109st.

in teamcow, we used to refer to it as the edmonton ritchey museum - this is because one day my brother went in and asked about a very nice ritchey swiss cross that was on display. he was told it wasn't for sale, it was going back to the rep soon. I can tell you it's not totally unusual for a shop to have a bike that's not for sale, but displaying it on a pedestal is not normal. and if anyone shows any interest, i would think at least a half-assed effort would have been made to let that person know that they could get another one if you wanted.

but no, not at the ERM.

the name also comes from this story; at their old location they had a few ritchey comps on display with the brakes not hooked up. again, not completely unusual for a mechanic to do this; if space is a problem, and something more important comes up, you might put a bike you're building out on the floor for a few minutes. But as soon as you're done whatever you needed to do, you go back for that bike and finish it.

but no, not at the ERM.

i liked to think that the ritcheys were so popular that they had to be on the floor. 'i don't care if they're not done, we need to have them out there - we're losing customers!!'

i swear these same incomplete ritcheys were moved to their new location, still incomplete...

but i can top that; one day, i needed a tube, but i just didn't feel like making the trip to a shop i liked. or my car was dead. or something. so walking six blocks to the ERM seemed the best idea. i figured it was closer than united cycle, who i didn't like at the time anyway.

(if you know me, you must be asking yourself how the hell i didn't have another bike to ride. i don't know either, must have been a tough time in my life...)

so i walked to ERM, to buy one $5 tube. when i get there i find that they don't take interac. this was about six years ago by the way, not 26 years ago. so i'm directed to the bank four blocks up - which is my bank, and it's a nice day, so that's cool. on my way back, the owner pulls up in his car, rolls down his window and tells me he needs to go somewhere, my tube is stuck to the door, and i can just slide $5 in under the door. and off he drives.

i swear i am not making this up.

i get back to the shop and sure enough, the tube is stuck to the door with a rubber band. i believe that i did stick a $5 bill under the door (though i just came from an ATM with a $20 bill, so i don't know how i came to have a $5 bill) and off i went - making a mental note to remind my friends that the ERM had gone back to the barter system, and should they need a 1" threaded headset, that they should bring in live chickens and goats to trade.

so that's the ERM. i don't think they sell mountain bikes anymore.



Plexus - This is one of the nicer racing hardtals I have on the site. Check out those curved seattubes for some softtail action. The owner even went to the trouble of getting a Bomber instead of a SID - very cool.

Plexus - This is exactly the way I'd expect to see a Plexus set up. With XTR stuff and a SID.