geekhousebikes

You will now find BSNYC’s link happily next to Señor Prolly on our blogroll. Mar Mar told me to do this via text Yesterday. He’s in BKYLN, which can only mean that he and Msr. Snob are working on some sort of collabo. so painstakingly ironically inside-out hip that it will cause Urban Outfitterses around the world to implode.

I’m happy to report that now when you Google “Antgate” the BSNYC post ranks 10th! That’s only 10 behind this story of a New Hampshirian ripping the head off of a giant Ant sculpture. If you have any details regarding the stolen Blue Ant Bike please contact Mike or us on any of our 13,000 social media networks or at info@geekhousebikes.com. Also, wear your helmet and play nice and we will be here plugging away starting this weekend so bring donuts.

-Gregory

Last night was my first night back from NAHBS in the shop. I spent much of the day trying to unpack the van, clean the shop and get back to the daily grind of Geekhouse. All was going really well and at about 9pm I started to pack up for the night. I checked in on Twitter to see what people were up to and I came across this ad on craiglist for Mike Flannigan’s stolen ANT via bikesnobnyc.

The ad definitely looked fishy, but if there was a chance of getting Mike’s bike back I thought I should try. My immediate response was to call the Richmond PD, when I talked with them they told me that “Mike F. needed to call and report the listing himself”. In the meantime I started e-mailing the potential bike thief trying to set up a meeting. I changed my email to just geekhouse@gmail and cut off my signature. The guy agreed to meet me at 11am in the morning. After I set that up I called a couple friends from Richmond and were seeing if we should meet up with the guy.

One of my friends immediately told me that stuff like this happens all the time in Richmond and that this was definitely a scam. “If you show up to meet the dude he’s going to mug you for the cash”. The story gets even better because later I realized that my signature was accidentally sent on one of the emails so now I’m thinking: there’s a thug in Richmond who’s going to know who I am, and he’s going to come shoot me in the face after the police arrest him for bike theft. So I back out of the deal on the e-mail side of things and just let my friends, who know the Richmond police, start emailing the guy. After I say I’m all set, the thief sends an email saying, “I can’t believe you fell for that”. I think nothing of it and just think the guy realized that I realized that this was a scam. So I went home and went to bed.

I awoke at 6am this morning and it all hit me. This is where is gets a little weird… the last email of the night from the bike thief said “I can’t believe you fell for that.” and suddenly I knew what had happened. This wasn’t some thug gangster from Richmond trying to mug someone for cash, this was somebody else through the Bikesnob twitter playing some kind of sick joke. I emailed Mike (boy is he pissed) and told him that I fucked up, and this was all a joke, and that I should have known better. He told me not to worry about it, and that he was going to remove the Bikesnob link from his blogroll. I e-mailed the thug back and told him that “he got me”. I’m still not sure if this was Bikesnob himself, or he just re-tweeted it for a chuckle. Either way, I felt I need to get back at Bikesnob a bit. I asked myself “What’s the one thing I could do to really mess with Bikesnob?” Then it came to me, I decided to de-mask him to the world; after all no one knows his true identity. So being a big computer geek; I hacked the Bikesnob website and found his IP address; with a little illegal code I found out his true identity. To my surprise it turns out this is not the first time Bikesnob has messed with Geekhouse….

Drum roll please….. The true identity of Bikesnob is Ben Schumin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You might remember the name Ben S. from our Geekhouse news. He’s actually the same Ben Schumin who deleted the Geekhouse Wiki a few months back. His profile even reveals subtle hints that he is in fact Bikesnob. Just look at his interests “Web design, public transportation, and protests!” Ipso facto- he’s into both creating websites, riding bicycles as transportation, and wreaking havoc by means of lambasting all of the cycling communities trending topics. Check and mate. To think, yesterday I was psyched to be called the “American Apparel of boutique bike builders.”

Seriously though, I’m just kidding. Bikesnob is actually this guy.

Anyway, the stolen ANT is still missing. If it wasn’t Bikesnob that created this ad then I apologize for involving Mike Flannigan and Bikesnob and I hope no one holds grudges. In spite of all this Mike doesn’t even want the real thief to be arrested, he just wants his bike back. If anybody does see this bike, please contact ANT direct. Thanks for listening!

-Marty

The Handmade Show was a blast. We plowed through snowpocalypse 2.0 and about 40 Red Bulls to get there. After arriving late Thursday and scrambling to set up as much as possible before they shut down the convention center for the night; we took care of all the finishing touches Friday morning. We were finally ready to exhibit; and we exhibited the crap outta the place.

We want to provide an in-depth look at the bits and bobs that made our bikes stick out, the pieces that made our February the most stressful month of the year, and the ones that couldn’t have been possible without some amazing and truly innovative work from our friends.

First up: Bianca P’s Woodville

When we began designing a bike for Bianca to ride from Boston to San Francisco.. I’ll admit it, we geeked out a bit. We drew up some awesome plans for a beast of a touring machine with disc brakes, powder coated rims, and more. When it came down to it we realized that that wasn’t the bike she needed for her trip and it wasn’t the bike she wanted to ride. We linked up with Tom of Velo Orange Imports and with his help we moved towards a more polished aesthetic that oozed class.

After that we knew that this needed something extra to hold its own against the best of the best at the biggest bike show in the hemisphere. Enter Aaron Panone. You might remember a project from last year that also involved Aaron’s help- the introduction of our integrated chain tensioners at the 2009 NAHBS. His eye for machine work is inspirational to say the least. With the help of our in-house graphic designer Dan St. Germain- we designed the new Geekhouse cursive script that appears on Bianca’s bike; it shows up here, not only for the first time ever on any Geekhouse, but it also was realized with the help of Aaron in the form of a laser cut polished stainless down tube badge.

We instantly fell in love with the script and the aesthetics were really honed in from as many angles as we could conjure up.

Next came time to add the function. Joshua Wright, our go-to electrical engineer, alongside Aaron designed a unique one-off bit that was missed by anyone who just breezed by. With the help of Aaron’s machine work and Joshua’s fervor for LEDs we integrated two lights, one in the fork and one in the seat post, that are powered through the front generator hub. Using a capacitor so that Bianca didn’t lose her beams every time she stopped at a red light, as well as a cored out bass guitar string internally routed through the fork and seat tube.. Joshua and Aaron had put the finishing touch on that perfect harmony of fashion and function.

While it took a few late night to pull it all together the reactions at the show were worth all the work in the world. When someone would get close with a big fancy macro lens- it was a blast to approach them and know you weren’t going to let them down.

Stay tuned for our write-up on Jason H’s Rockcity later this week.

<3gbr

The NAHBS bikes are done! Check out our flickr flickr for full shots!

Enjoy!

Our friend TIII shared a flier for a race in Miami. While we’re not out to promote every alley-cat out there; I just have to throw this up because I love the thought that went into the admission price!

GENIUS! Whether or not they are the first to do this- I dunno.. I just think it’s such a good idea that I hope they’re not the last. Are you taking notes Tammy?

<3gbr

We take pictures of bikes all day. Usually frame maybe a fork here and there; it’s not a stretch to say that a predominant part of our lives revolve around staring at and cataloging the skeleton of your dream bike. What happens when bikes leave our humble Lower Allston factory and test their legs (read: chainstays) in the real world?

Some bikes we don’t even see or hear from for months leaving us feeling like empty nested parents starved for attention and Yelp! reviews.

Whatever path you and your Geekhouse go down we are thrilled for you. You can be whatever you want to be and blah blah blah.. but would it kill you to call once in a while? Do you have any idea how much we worry? You act like it doesn’t even matter but when it comes down to it you’re riding our blood, sweat, and tears and you have a responsibility.

In light of all this jazz (and because I’ll take any excuse possible to use work time to search for pictures of Zac Efron) we’re launching a new page on our blog called Members Only. This will include pictures of, for, and exclusively by you the owners of these fine frames we’ve been purveying for half a decade.

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SO! Here’s your chance to shine. Here’s your opportunity for a clean slate- like when your parents said “We don’t even care if you’re drunk- you can always call us for a safe ride home” Just drop us a line- include some of those uber-classy minimum 800×600 or 600×800 photos and you’ll officially be out of time out.

<3gbr

If you can’t stand the heat then get away from the argon! We’re right in the crux of our preparation for NAHBS. Like last year- we’ll be bringing three bikes down to the show. We’re really excited for the trek, err umm.. the RIDE down to VA.

According to Wikipedia, Patrick Henry delivered his famous “Give me Liberty or give me Death” speech in the St. John’s Church in Richmond. While it kind of feels like Virginia is biting on Boston’s eighteenth century Revolutionary ’steeze’ we will let it slide because Richmond is home to Jim Jenkins (creator of Doug!)

Richmond is also-also home to everyone’s favorite- GWAR! While those organizing NAHBS have not yet released a set list for GWAR’s performance at the Show; we’re sure they are going to blow everyone away with hits like MEAT SANDWICH off their landmark 1990 album (cassette?) Ragnarok.

I digress.. We are genuinely thrilled for the show and to spend time in Richmond. We’ll be at all the staples: the Urban Velo photo shoot + surprises, the Trick-Track thing on the 27th + surprises, and of course our booth!
NOW WITH MORE SURPRISES! if prolonged exposure to our surprises causes irritation please consult your local bike shop. Bianca and I might do some exploring on our own- I think we will steer clear of “Colonial Williamsburg” which, from what I gather, is some sort of Virginia Historical Society x RichmondFixedster collabo. project with more colonial-colorways than you can shake a bayonet at.

The best parts of the show is the brilliant spectrum of individuals who will be there too! I’m looking forward to catching up with those roaming gnomes Finkle and Brittain from the I Love My Bike Book project. Ian “legs for dayz” Sutton of Icarus Frames fame will be along for the trip with a surprise build of his own. This barely scratches the proverbial clear coat of all the big shot bikelebrities headed down- including friends like OMGANTBIKEMIKE! and IndyFlab and their bio-luminescent frames made with polished stainless unobtanium lugs or whatever the hell they’re scheming up- not to mention getting to see the freshest work from exhibitors like Bilenky, Cielo, Chris King, and duhh.. Don Walker!

We just locked down our ride and I’m working on our itinerary today. Marty’s under the welding mask and B.K. is somewhere with headphones in. It’s hard to believe the show is in only two wee.. WAIT.. 2 WEEKS?!@&!#@$?!?

BACK TO WORK!