Coastal Cycles

Well, a new customer of mine and I were talking in the shop the other day. He was someone who appreciated the older style of bike manufacturing. After some discussion he wrote down this website for me to peruse. If you're fan of steel framed bikes, its a great site to check out;
http://www.scoop.it/t/classic-steel-bikes
Pleasant Reading.

Another fantastic link here is 'Ode to the bicycle'. Check this video
out here.
http://www.dolectures.com/lectures/an-ode-to-the-bicycle/
Truly an inspiration to watch. You'll find a new appreciation for that steed you ride.

#1-1610 Island Hwy Victoria, BC V9B 1H8

Just Past the Six Mile Pub, Same Side of the street

Lots of Free Parking

Open Tuesday to Saturday 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM

Sundays and Holidays 10AM - 4PM

Mondays CLOSED


Closed stat holidays November - March

I’ve been thinking about Old Man Warner in relation to the attitudes that many people have towards cycling and cyclists.

Those of us who are cycling advocates regard cycling as a form of mobility that improves individual lives, communities, economies, and the environment. To us, more cycling equals progress.

Whereas Old Man Warner thinks, “Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more.”

None of us alive today have ever lived in a world without cars, and neither have the Old Man Warner’s of our world. Cars run through our traditions, our rites of passage, what it means to be a credible, respectable, functional member of society; what it means to be socially mobile.

We, of course, know that there have not always been motor vehicles and the enabling infrastructure. We are taught in school that Henry Ford “invented” the automobile in 1908. But we hardly remember the names of other great Americans, such as Prometheus who brought us fire, and Alexander Fleming who discovered penicillin.

Some of us even are aware that cyclists are responsible for the first public paved roads.

But try telling that to Old Man Warner.

To him, cycling — even accommodating cyclists — represents regression; even a slippery slope towards total societal corrosion.

Regression in maturity: An adult who rides a bike looks like childish.
Regression of civilization: In the “Third World,” people ride bikes because those societies are backwards.
Regression of economic class: Cycling is the transportation choice of last resort for the poor, who obviously aspire to own a car.
Regression in social standing: Anyone on a bike, if they can afford a car, must have a DUI or other shameful reason for it.

Did I leave out any of the stigmata of cycling?

The problem is that Old Man Warner is flat wrong about what it would mean to abandon the lottery. And his wrongness perpetuates a tragic practice. Everyone in the community perpetuates the practice; Old Man Warner is merely it’s most outspoken defender.