Bilenky Cycleworks Shop Portfolio!

wwwwwwaaayyy back in February I paid a visit to Bilenky Cycleworks on a weekend and was able to fully engross myself in the shop while the dust was settled. Everyone who knows the Bilenky name is well aware of the class and style of bikes that they turn out. Whether it be by the fervor heard straight off the lips of their exhilarated customers who proudly tout their name or by the multiple 1st places they receive at nearly every bicycle and industry show they attend. Not many know that the shop which birthed each and every one of them has an equally awesome personality all it's own. My approach to documenting the shop was to do my best to concentrate on the shop itself. Here's a few of my favs:

You can see the whole portfolio here. Be sure to switch to switch to full screen maximum enjoyment:

You can see why I freaking LOVE going to that place!

The thing that got me super stoked about their display at the last NAHBS show is just how AWESOME of a job they did at replicating the shop there. Check it:

Shop:


NAHBS Display:


Pretty awesome huh?! The kicker was seeing Steve there messing around on his lap top answering emails like he wasn't even at the show..

Bilenky also holds a yearly cyclocross event in the Junkyard behind their shop even if it snows TWO FEET the day before:



Why that person put Wu-Tang as the soundtrack for that I do not know. It's like the last thing I would ever expect to hear in that shop..

New this year will be the Philadelphia Bike Expo that they're sponsoring which is being held on October 30th and 31st:


I can only imagine how Halloween is going to work itself into that weekend so be sure to check it out!

If you ever happen to find yourself in the Philly area and have occasion to stop by Bilenky Cycleworks you certainly won't regret it. Just bring some gourmet treats and or brews and you're gtg :-)

Bilenky Cycleworks Shop Portfolio!

25% off at Nashbar!

Damn, never seen such a high discount from them before:

I know I'm always BSing about their frames but man, so cheap and they ride great!

Thinking of picking up one of those carbon jammies myself tho..

25% off at Nashbar!

Like- Ohhh Mai Gawd!

You'd be soooo kewl if you owned one of these cause thar like, soooo rarrre!

Better still thus:

NO WAIT THIS!!!:

BAAHAHAHAHA- OMFG SO AMAZINGLY BADLY AMAZING!!!

Kinda makes me wanna get my own boat anchor interwebz bike going now tho xD

Dude has a bunch of other funny shit up there too!

Anyways, sorry it's been such a slow week with the blugblugblugiiiinnnnggggg everyone! Had a lotta shit going on and been workin' on the new freak bike. Suuuuper stoked on it!

I was also pretty stoked when I walked upon this scene on Prince street yesterday afternoon:


Sorry for the crap pic but I didn't want to be too-too obviously douchey guy taking photos of naked asses in the street. Anyways, yeah, it was some new fancy pants lingere store's opening and they had multiple six and a half foot tall chicks posing in the window and for photos wearing nothing but sheer panties and bras. As if that wasn't good enough, the best part was watching the dudes walking by with their girlfriends being all fake like- 'oh gee whiz this certainly is weird, what do you suppose is going on here darling- I'm so confused!' as opposed to OMFG I WANT TO CHOP ALL YOUR HEADS OFF JUST TO SEE WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE IN MY FREEZER!!! Which is what they were surely thinking.. Well.. at least what I was thinking ;-)

Like- Ohhh Mai Gawd!

I just bought a few things..

..in anticipation of this weekend:

Yeah, in all likelihood it's not even the proper stuff but I really don't care. Just feel like playing around with some steel and my torch set up. Hopefully get a fun new bike built with any luck :-D

If anyone is riding out in the Jerz to Nyack or Piermont on Sunday feel free to holler at me if you'd like to stop by for some BBQ action before rolling over to the Hudson to enjoy the fireworks this 4th..

I just bought a few things..

A lot of awesomeness has been going on lately..

..too bad I haven't had as much time as I'd like to document and be all bout it- bout it! In any case, here goes:

Last Sunday's Slacker ride went very well! Tho a little less on the slacker side of things if you ask me. Some of the hills in Yonkers were a bit brutal riding a brakeless tarck. Would've geared down or like some of my fellow cycling compatriots, just brought their road bikes instead. This dude Johnny brought his brand spanking new custom Moots Vamoots with Campy Carbon:

Yeah, we were all super jealz..

..and in stark comparison:

Bday girl Allison brought her I DON'T KNOW carbon fiber roadie she got off ebay:

Apparently there's been a lot of talk about these knock off frames and the seller's are TOTALLY reputable. Not only that but the frames are very well made and of the same ride quality as some of the higher priced CF makers out there. I suspect they're being made at some of the same manufacturing plants as Trek and some of the other larger brands. Best of all, they're CHEAP AS FUCK at $3-400 BUCKS!!!

Here's a few snaps from a thread about people's experiences with purchasing, fit, build ups and ride quality:

Read more about it here and I guarantee you'll seriously consider it! Quite a lot of people have pulled the trigger and have been stoked as hell about it :-)

I was all about this one at first but it turns out it's a bit more expensive at approx $1300:


Super sick tho huh? Would've made an EXCELLENT garrish street tarck, hehe

Anyways, enough with the bike nerding.. Back to the fraking ride already!

While I didn't really take nearly as many photos as I would've liked, here's a few favs from inside the Glenwood Power Plant:

..and the rest of the set here

Along with some sets from other photo nerds amongst the group:

Jeremy

Justin

Ed

Afterwords a bunch of the pack broke off to head back into Manhattan/Brooklyn while the rest of us went back to my place in the Jerz for some righteous BBQ action! Just wish I had some photos of it all. I was either too busy cooking/running around or just plain exhausted from the ride..

I actually made this kick ass bench from a photo I saw on the internet that I was very excited about. Yes, again, no freaking photos of it yet. I made two but only had time to assemble one. I'll most likely do a separate post on it once I've got the whole set done. Cause, you know.. I'm sure you guys reeeeaally want to hear about custom jankily made patio furniture..

Here's a bunch of completely random photos and videos that tickled my fancy one way or another:






I know, you're wishing I had photos from like 5 sec later on that last one, hehe..

Then there's a bunch of cool shit people have been sending in to me over the last few weeks that I have yet to reply to. Sorry everyone! I'm usually not nearly as busy as I have been lately. I'm going to have some time next week me thinks so I'll be sure to get to it then..

I'm stoked for this weekend since I have Monday off and because I fully (FULLY!) intend to BBQ again and then ride over to the cliffs of Weehawken NJ to enjoy the fireworks like I did last year:

Standing on a cliff and watching a fireworks show with Manhattan as a backdrop kicks so much fucking ass it's not even funny! Try and make it out if you can!!

Also, I'm going to start building a new tall bike :-D

A lot of awesomeness has been going on lately..

Um, whut?!

Well now that's just silly!

Unlike this which is no joke when it comes to custom work:

Fucking racks are sweet!

Seen via Julie Racing Design's blog

Um, whut?!

Summer Slacker Group Ride Series This Sunday June 27th! Abandoned Power Plant Photo fun, Picnic, BBQ and DUNE!

I had a bit of scheduling conflicts the last few weekends but now this ride is FINALLY going down!

Up next is going to be a lovely ride up the Henry Hudson River Greenway for a Photo Safari and Picnic at the old abandoned Glenwood Power Plant:

Date: Sunday June 27th

Meet time will be a NOON at the one, the only, DONUT PLANT located a few blocks SE of the Williamsburg bridge on 379 Grand Street. We'll load up on a fuck load of sugar and Bialys from Kossars next door for the ride up there and then we'll be leaving PROMPTLY by 12:30!

I know that there'll be a few uptowners on this ride. A good meeting spot would be at the park along 125th by the Fairway Market or somewhere by the GWB. Email me so we can discuss timing, exchange numbers and consider donut options..

Need: Bicycle, helmet, lights, and a conquered fear of leaving your own borough!

Optional: Snacks, fireworks, , ,

I'm not very familiar with that section of Yonkers but I'm sure we'll do just fine if we wing it by the seat of our iPhones. It looks like there's going to be a few riders who've done the route before with us so that'll also help. We'll locate a deli or some such along the way for picnic foods. For those that are TRULY adventurous, we could follow up the ride by hanging at my place in the Jerz (no big hills I SWEAR) and having ourselves a kick ass BBQ in my backyard..

Also:

The DIRECTORS CUT of David Lynch's 1984 classicly amazing DUNE will be screened

Afterwords getting back to the city is a sinch by either heading back over the GWB or taking the PATH train from Hoboken. There's also the ferry from Port Imperial but it's like 8 bucks with your bike. Fast, pretty view, expensive..

Lastly, this will be a medium pace chill ride. There's a few places where it's fun to open up and haul ass but leaders should always make it a point to hold up further ahead and wait for the rest of the group to catch up. Bring a sweet bike out if you want. I'll undoubtedly take some photos..

Here's the Approx Route..

I've never been to the Glenwood Power Plant but it's one of those things I've been DYING to do for a while now. This should be a wicked fun day so try and make it out for this one if you missed the last ride to the Russian Buffet and Rockaways. We'll do that one again soon tho- promise!

Summer Slacker Group Ride Series This Sunday June 27th! Abandoned Power Plant Photo fun, Picnic, BBQ and DUNE!

SLAYER PINBALL?!!

Um, AWESOME!!

Normally this sorta shit annoys me to no end. However in the case of SLAYER, they can pretty much do anything they want and still be awesome. As opposed to Metallica which haven't been awesome since ..And Justice For All..

Check out the iPad demo here..

Seen on the ben's cycle blog..

SLAYER PINBALL?!!

I'm sorry but they're called 'skate' parks for a reason!

I just saw this over at Prolly's page:

Don't get me wrong because I totally dig BMX and post rad videos whenever I can but literally, EVERY SINGLE public skatepark I've EVER skated that allows bikes, steel BMX with pegs specifically, are completely fucked up MUCH faster than they would be if it were only skaters..

The fact is that they're just two completely different sports. The speeds and lines taken by each vary considerably and unless you engage in both, it's really hard to anticipate one and other. ESP in a tight transition park like the new Henry Hudson park pictured in the flier above. Not to mention you know, getting hit by someone riding a steel bike with worn down jagged pegs would really fucking suck balls! Furthermore, public parks such as these rarely get any maintenance after they're built. There just isn't any funding for that sort of thing..

What really got me was this quote on Prolly's blog about it:

Hey dudes, we are trying to get every bike rider in the area to come out on tuesday to talk with the president of the hudson river trust about changing the no bikes allowed rule in the skatepark and others through out the city. the more people on bikes, the better chance we have of making a difference, so please spread the word. this tuesday at 630pm, at the battery park city library, 175 north end ave. thanks dudes.

My favorite part being:

'the more people on bikes, the better chance we have of making a difference, so please spread the word.'

Now, I can totally understand what that person was trying to get at with a statement like that as it pertains to avoiding getting run over by a garbage truck or some shit and adding bike lanes extra parking spaces, but you know, the last time I checked CARS WEREN'T ALLOWED IN SKATEPARKS!!!

I mean, seriously, enough already. I get that BMX kids are dying to hit that shit but this is NYC and there's a FUCKLOAD of spots to ride out here all over every single borough. Shit I can even show you like 20 spots right across the river in Jersey that trump just about any spot you can find in NYC. Not to mention the fact that stacking pallets and plywood makes any shitty spot into WAY more fun. It's called HAVING AIR IN YOUR TIRES. I've been skateboarding a long time and last time I checked we weren't able to ride terrain that wasn't really smooth. You can ride just about anything on a BMX. That's what makes it such a rad sport!

I think the thing with cycling enthusiasm and 'the cause' dare I say is that it really knows no bounds and seemingly no argument can be made against it. God forbid you do cause lord knows gang fucking your twin sister with your dad would be less taboo! From what I've seen a lot of the people involved can get so tightly wound up about it that they fail to see that they're no longer helping or are wasting their efforts better spent elsewhere..

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that despite their occasional misgivings, skaters get along just fine with BMXers and don't have a problem with sharing the various parks and spots. However, the BMXer's out there really shouldn't take it personally when the skaters want one place, JUST ONE, out of aaalll the spots in and around NYC, where we can enjoy ourselves and the smoothness we require to have a great time..

Now shut up and just go over to Owl's head wouldja?!

Unless of course you ride a razor scooter or don a fancy pair of fruit boots in which case the lot of ya SHOULD GO GET A FUCKING CLUE!! That or go hang out with those douchebags riding their mopeds around Brooklyn calling themselves a 'gang'.. Christ.. Take that shit back to the 80's for fucks sake or at least stay in Europe..

Oh and p.s. - No self respecting BMX'er would ever make a fuss about something like this. They would just go ride that shit anyways regardless of what anyone else said, Park service included..

I'm sorry but they're called 'skate' parks for a reason!