Via Bicycle is having yet another public auction!

     We are having yet another public auction! If you missed the first two, then this is your chance to get some cool stuff. This time it is being held at: Cabin Fever Auctions on Sunday, March 26th 2017. The address is: 1860 Weavertown Road, Douglassville, PA 19518 ( In the Merritt's Antique Clock Complex). Here is a link to the website: Cabin Fever auctions
     There will be in person, absentee, and phone bids accepted. Feel free to contact them with any questions you may have. There will be a lot of unique bikes like several Schwinn Paramounts from various eras including two road tandems in excellent condition. Also a 1970's Teledyne Titan that belonged to Fred DeLong, who was the technical editor for Bicycling Magazine in the 70's and enthusiastic advocate of long distance cylo-touring in America. It has many exotic parts of the era. there will be high end frames, parts, etc. There will also be some turn of the century items, ephemera, etc. Boxed Raleigh's from the 1970's and 80's as well as a LOT of other items both new and used. See you there!

Via Bicycle is having yet another public auction!

     Sorry for the lack of posts here lately, but packing up our store and getting the new space ready requires a lot of time and effort! We are having yet another public auction! It will be taking place on Sunday Jan. 22nd. This time it will be taking place in the current location at 606 s. 9th Street Philadelphia, PA 19147. Public preview will be at 9:00AM and the auction starts at 10:00AM. All kinds of items up for grabs! Storage cabinets, display cases, furniture, fixtures, bikes, parts, etc! Contact me at: bikeville@gmail.com or call the shop at: 215-627-3370 with any questions.
See you there!

Slosberg auction house 10 / 18 /16

    Here are a couple photos of the Slosberg auction house from yesterday ( 10/18). Starting to shape up! Don't miss out on this rare opportunity. Auction is Nov. 4th at 6PM. Here is a link to the auction house where you can get all the details and more photos of the catalog. Slosberg Auction house
See you there!

Via Bicycle is having an auction!

     We are having an auction! The shop will be moving locations in the spring of 2017 and we need to get rid of some stuff! WE ARE NOT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS! We will still be in same area, just a different location. Here is a link to the Facebook event page I created for it. Auction details!
     This is also the Philadelphia Bike Expo weekend, so start it off right! 2016 Philly Bike Expo  don't miss out on the history and fun! We will see YOU there!

SPECIAL BICYCLE AUCTION

Friday, November 4, 2016 @ 6PM

Barry S Slosberg, Inc.

2501 E Ontario Street

Philadelphia, PA 19134

Rare, vintage, and modern bicycles, parts, and related materials.

This auction features rare and one of a kind items that Via Bicycle has acquired since we started business in 1982. We have bought out the contents of many bicycle shops and personal collections over the years. There will be some complete bicycles, parts, tools, and related ephemera. We are happy to offer for sale at auction some of our extensive and comprehensive collection.

Some of the bikes offered for sale will include a 1940’s Schwinn Paramount tourist model, an early 1980’s Colnago Super road bicycle, an exceptional early 1960’s Raleigh blue Streak model road bicycle, a 1970’s Francesco Cuevas ladies frame bicycle, complete with full Campagnolo Nuovo record component group, an exceptional 1950’s Schwinn Town & Country tandem bicycle with original paint and decals, and some turn of the 20th century items.

Some of the tools offered will include a semi complete Campagnolo tool kit with the original wooden case, professional quality Park truing stand, an original 1940’s -50’s Schwinn parts cabinet,  and many other tools no longer available. We will also be offering a lot of cycling ephemera spanning several decades, both local and international items. Some key items will include a large original 1940’s framed Raleigh poster, a beautiful warm up / track suit that belonged to Jerry Casale, who started Hill Cycle in 1929, other framed and unframed cycling related posters and prints, magazine collections, service manuals long out of print, and also vintage cycling jerseys both wool and acrylic spanning multiple eras.

There will also be some rare and vintage bicycle components including wheel sets, both road and pista made by Campagnolo and Phil Wood, touring bags made by Brooks, Carradice, and T.A. Specialites.

This sale will feature online bidding through www.liveauctioneers.com.

You can click on the link on our home page at www.bssauction.com

See Photos on our web site, auctionzip.com & www.liveauctioneers.com

INSPECTION: 3PM Day of Sale

TERMS: Cash/credit cards. Full payment auction day. 15% Buyer’s Premium In-house and 18% through Live Auctioneers bidding. Absentee & phone bids accepted with 25% deposit or credit card information on file.

REMOVAL: Upon full payment Friday and Monday 10AM - 4PM

BARRY S. SLOSBERG, INC. AUCTIONEERS/APPRAISERS AU-1487-L

215-425-7030     Fax 215-425-7039       info@bssauction.com

Via Bicycle is Hiring!

Via Bicycle is hiring!
      We are looking for an experienced bicycle shop sales person and mechanic to work full time (5 days a week). Applicants must have 1 year shop experience. Applicants must be good with co-workers and be comfortable talking to customers. You must be able to multi-task efficiently. We are very busy when the weather is nice!
      We are not your cookie-cutter type bike shop and you must be able to adapt to the way we do things here at Via. We work on everything and primarily sell and service used bikes. You will NOT be polishing Colnagos! That being said, if this sounds good to you, please stop by with your resume' and have a chat with us. We look forward to the conversation!
     Our hours are: Tuesday 10-5, Wednesday 1-9, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 10-5
     We are located at: 606 S. 9th Street Philadelphia, PA 19147

 

Former employee's Tom Teesdale frame.

     This bike belongs to one of our alumni here at Via Bicycle. his name is Connor and he was a great employee with a great smile. He is currently attending college and is unable to work with us, which is great for his future. He stopped by the other day to pick up a couple small items and as we were chatting about recent events I glanced over and noticed the bike he rode in on. I had never seen it before, and he had never mentioned getting it. It is really nice! he was gracious enough to let me take some photos and do a post about it.
     It was made by Tom Teesdale in 1980, he has the original sales receipt / build sheet. Sadly Tom Teesdale passed away in 2014. Here is a link about him and his work.  Tom Teesdale, a rememberance . Mr. Teesdale did it all, with skill and passion, and that shows on this particular example of his work as well. Connor got the bike at the Trexlertown swap a few years back from Wayne Bingham, owner of the awesome shop Velo Classique in Maryland.
     The construction is top notch, all the lugs are thinned out with nice crisp and long points. Lots of braze-ons for racks and fenders and very nice lighting wire guides front to back. One unique feature is the oversize chain stay bridge behind the BB shell. It is threaded for fender mounting, I am not sure of the advantage. Maybe to stiffen up the area around the BB shell to make the tail end less "whippy"? The back of the fork crown is threaded as well for attaching fenders, a nice touch.  The paint is nice and thin revealing any mistakes, and there are none. Very clean brazing. the other unique feature is the reinforced rear brake cable stop, a design I have never seen before, but makes perfect sense.
     Tom Teesdale's work speaks for itself, it is a shame he is no longer around to make great bikes. R.I.P.

Happy Thanksgiving!

     Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Via Bicycle! The shop is closed today and tomorrow (Friday, 11-28-2014). We will re-open Saturday 11-29-2014 to assist with you transportation needs!

Spring of 1994

 This is a photo of Curtis at the Waterworks, by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Taken in 1994 by an unknown photographer who later gave the framed print to us. The bike is an 1880's Columbia Expert. Note the radial spoke lacing. This was a "go fast" machine, Curtis says this was a great riding bike that he put a lot of miles on.

Art!

     We have some very talented customers here at Via Bicycle. A while back I had posted a photo of a small painting a customer of ours had done. He then presented us with this very well done much larger painting of our store front. His name is David Ohlerking. Here is a link to his website David Ohlerking check out his other work!

Art!

This is a small oil painting a customer of ours did. It is the front of our store. I saw him while he was painting it across the street and wondered what he was painting. A short time later, he brought the wet painting in and gave it to Curtis. True story.

Shop history: The first business card!

     This is the original business card that Curtis used when he first opened Via Bicycle in February 1982. The shop was located at 1353 Lombard Street on the second floor, no windows. Rent was $100.00 a month. Curtis was the only employee. We have come a long way since then, and thank everyone who helped us get to where we are today!

Snowy day here at the shop

We have gotten almost a foot of snow so far today here in Philadelphia. Be safe out there!

Rome Mayor learned about bicycle commuting in Philly

Here is a pretty cool article on philly.com about how Ignazio Marino, current mayor of Rome, Italy made some drastic changes to city streets regarding a more cycling friendly environment. Oh yeah, he is also a customer of ours and credits Philadelphia and the bike we sold him as starting him down that path of seeing cycling as a viable alternative form of transportation!

http://articles.philly.com/2013-12-18/news/45298798_1_ignazio-marino-via-dei-fori-imperiali-schwinn

"Philadelphia," he explained, "taught me how to go around a city without a car."
Even though Marino spent his formative years in cities whose narrow streets encourage walking - Genoa as a child, Rome for medical school - he said it wasn't until he moved to Philadelphia in 2003 that he lived in a city without owning a car.
At the urging of his daughter, the family sold its car. To get around, Marino picked up a used Schwinn at Via Bicycle on Ninth Street. He soon became a distinctive sight in Philadelphia, whizzing around on his red bike in his green hospital scrubs.

photo by (GUIDO SCHWARZ)

Via Bicycle garage door diagram

Recently stumbled across this image of our garage door at the shop and realized I never took a picture of it. it was painted by a local art student, and is based on the illustration in the Sutherland's Repair Manual.

Boston Raleigh Users Group visit to our shop

Scott has a very informative blog about Raleighs and Sturmey Archer. He recently completed a series of step by step overhaul tutorials of a Raleigh Sports. His blog is definitively worth following.


Here is the series of pictures of our shop he took- Via Bicycle Pilgrimage


and here is his blog. Boston Raleigh Users Group

Fancy Pictures taken at our shop

davis with prewar Raleigh Golden Arrow

Michael Shronk came in and offered to take some pictures to help with his portfolio. This really makes our shop look amazing. Take a look at more photographs HERE of his work. There's even a photograph of me there.

Jacob

fido in her sports bra

Jacob

Bike Shop drawing

This pencil drawing was done by our friend Randall Sellers in 2002. His work is on the small side, I think this drawing is 3"x4.5". It was drawn when the shop was set up opposite what it is now- the shelves and countertop is now on the left when you come in the door, not the right. Oh, we also have a new Fido.

Schwinn Triple Tandem

We restored this 1949(ed.) Schwinn triple seater. It looked great in front of the bike shop.
I should add, this 3 seater uses all the same components as the Schwinn 2 seater Town and Country. British made cottered cranks and bottom brackets, drum brake hubs, 26 x 1 1/2"(650b) wheels and 1 1/4" headset. We do carry spares if anyone is looking for parts. inquire.

Postal Run

A morning bike ride to the post office. no cars, just a lot of packages strapped to my early 1960s French Rochet.
Packages were posted to Australia, Japan, France, Italy, Spain, and of course the USA.

1950s Bianchi Sport city bicycle

Beautiful pair of Bianchi Sport city bicycles we recently sold. They were equipped with Bianchi proprietary headset, Sturmey Acher 3 speed hubs, and full chaincases.

Bianchi stamped headclip stem.

I love these brake levers. Notice the Schwinn copy grips.