Re: [CR]los angeles bicycle shops

(Example: Racing:Roger de Vlaeminck)

Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 02:29:28 -0400
From: <ABikie@aol.com>
To: gillies@cs.ubc.ca (Donald Gillies), classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]los angeles bicycle shops
cc: gillies@cs.ubc.ca
cc: gillies@cs.ubc.ca

This post in referencing Santana is coincidental. I have been one of their dealers and a friend of the family sdince the few yearsd pre-dating CR worthyness. I am currently writing from LA where I'm visiting my kids at school before going to the Las Vegas Show to see thee listmeister. I usually stop by the Santana plant to build up a few frames ionto bikes and schmooze. Outside of a pass-by of the then-bikecology shop 15 years ago and the usual visit to a small shop near USC, i haven't seen many shops. I drob=ve by the famous Montrose shop years ago en route to Chuck Schmidt's museum/pin collection house but never stopped in.

Tho Bud's had been around since probably the 50's or 60's, Bill and Jan took it over in the early 80's. we happen to have a few of their CR-era earliest machines and they are truly classic. Suntour, Stronglite, columbus, Ishiwata, Phil, and even Nuovo and Rally were used on many of the ones we have and sold. They even had Casmpy nmake speciaslk tandem-specific grouppos for masny of their bikes, some were offered aftermarket to others as well.

The Santana folk have great historic ties and in roads with many of Europe's finest component makers as well and have made the most significant contributions to later 20th century tandeming.

have a great time here. Tomorrow the tour of hope starts at o'dark thirty featuring modern-day-superbiker Lance Armstrong who was scheduled to be on Leno tonight and for which I forgot to get tickets and have no TV here.

They are having a casncer ride (at $500.+ to get in) then taking off with 26 selected riders crossing the US in 7 days and doing another 500+ riders @ $500+ ride Oct 18 nin DC.

The 2These folk were selected from a thousand applicants with cancer-related stories and backgrounds.

Hope to see 'em back home. hopefully some DC CR's can join the post-ride.
Larry Black
Los Angeles, Ca