Category Archives: bike repair chicago

Comrade’s turning 6! And we’re back to regular season hours.

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Seven years ago, Comrade Cycles was little more than a twinkle in the eyes of three scraggly Chicago guys furtively discussing our grand plans in cafés and bars around town. Now, seven years later, spring is in the air, and tomorrow is Comrade’s 6 year anniversary. It doesn’t exactly feel like it was only yesterday that we were patching up the last holes in the drywall before our first day open six years ago, but it’s hard to believe that we’ve been here as long as we have. When we first opened up, Jesse, Bailey and Steve were Comrade’s only staff. We quickly realized we would need more hands if we were going to keep up with the fantastic response we immediately received. Over the years we’ve grown to a staff of seven full timers, and the hustle and bustle in season is difficult to miss.

 

We have grown a lot in the last six years, but our mission has stayed the same since we opened up. Our commitment to every cyclist, from the newbie to the racer, has brought out the best in our staff and shows in our customers’ satisfaction.  It’s hard to believe we just hugged our goodbyes to Bailey as he makes his way out west to train for another go at the Tour Divide this year, and eventually, to a new home at a new shop that he will pioneer out west. Earlier this winter, we also bid farewell to Aaron, our longtime friend and comrade, who made his way out west with his partner, Cauleen, to L.A. for their new adventures after six seasons lending a hand at the shop. And, finally, we bid farewell to Jason, who made his way back to Grand Rapids, MI after two seasons in Chicago.

 

You will undoubtedly recognize the same faces of Jesse, Steve, and Scott from seasons past. Scott has been a Comrade for four years now, and is now full time year round at the shop. In addition, we have some new arrivals, and we’re beyond stoked with the new Comrades on board for the 2018 season. We look forward to introducing you to Beth, Lauren, Max and José. You’ll likely recognize them from the other shops where they’ve worked around town, or from the races and rides where you’ve seen them, but please introduce yourself and get to know them the next time you’re in.

 

Farewell, and Godspeed Comrades!
  
Speaking of the next time you’re in, we’re officially back to regular season hours and open seven days a week.
Monday 10 – 7
Tuesday  10 – 7
Wednesday 10 – 7
Thursday 10 – 7
Friday 10 – 6
Saturday 10 – 6
Sunday 11 – 5
Special thanks to Tony Favarula for taking these amazing photos for us this winter! <3

Wheel Building Special

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Wheel build special is on! We can help you drop some weight off your race bike, bomb-proofify the wheel set you work on, or set up a dynamo lighting wheel for your commuter. We’ve got the knowledge base and the experience to help you up your wheel game.

Buy your spokes, rim, and hub from us and get $60 off a single wheel build or $100 off a set. Call or stop by for pricing regarding rebuilding to existing parts. The special is on until March 1st.

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Quality of life! (shorter hours starting July 1st!)

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Here at Comrade Cycles we find ourselves in a unique position. We spent the past 28 months since opening the shop (and many more leading up to it) working long hours and eschewing rest & relaxation in favor of our dream of self-employment within a bicycle shop that empowers its workers through shared equity in the business and empowers its customers to go further on two wheels than they ever imagined. Be it cross country bicycle touring, cross town commuting, or getting on the podium in the Chi Cross Cup, we’ve been here to keep you rolling. In this time we’ve learned quite a bit about what it takes to make this ideal possible and sustainable for ourselves, our customers, and the cycling community. One of the most important things we’ve learned is that you can only burn the candle at both ends for so long. In order to ensure that we maintain the same quality of work and customer service, maintain our passion for bicycles by getting saddle time ourselves, and (most importantly) maintain relationships with our friends and loved ones, we will be cutting back our hours. Beginning tomorrow, July 1st, we will be open the following hours:

10am-8pm Monday
10am-7pm Tuesday through Thursday
10am-6pm Friday and Saturday
11-5 on Sunday

We will also continue to close as necessary for bike races and general quality of life time, though not without sufficient notice to you, our wonderful customers, whom we are eternally grateful towards for allowing us the ability to live a dream of ours. This coming holiday weekend we will be closed Friday and Saturday, the 4th and 5th. Additionally we will be closing the following weekend on Saturday and Sunday, the 12 and 13th, during West Fest on Chicago Ave. Once again, to anyone who this may reach, we thank you for your love and support over the past two years. We certainly would not be here today if it were not for each and every one of you.

Gift ideas this holiday season

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Looking for some gift ideas for that cyclist pal in your life? Here are a few philanthropic ideas from your favorite comrades.

For the friend that has everything, consider making a donation in their name to one of Chicago’s many non-profit organizations working to improve cycling in our city. The first three organizations also accept bike donations, so if you have a disused bike that’s taking up space, consider giving a bike in their name as well.

Blackstone Bicycle Works
6100 South Blackstone Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 241-5458

Donate to Blackstone through its parent non-profit The Experimental Station (be sure and specify Blackstone as your donation’s recipient).

Blackstone Bicycle Works is a youth education program of the Experimental Station. In the context of a full-service bike shop dedicated to promoting ecological practices and empowering youth, Blackstone teaches mechanical skills, job skills, and business literacy to boys and girls from the underserved Woodlawn neighborhood and Chicago’s broader south side.

The Recyclery Collective
Sales are held on Saturday mornings from 10am until noon.
7628 N Paulina Street
Chicago, IL 60626
(773) 262-5900

Get your friend a cash donation in their name, or buy them a gift certificate for a series of classes.

The Recyclery Collective seeks to build community through the restoration of donated and discarded bicycles. We share resources and knowledge in order to support an affordable, independent, and sustainable mode of transportation. In this spirit of education and mutual aid, we encourage discussion about how our transportation choices affect the health of our communities and our environment.

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West Town Bikes

2459 W Division Street
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 772-4870

The over-arching goals of West Town Bikes are to promote bicycling in the city of Chicago, to educate youth with a focus on under-served populations, and to foster and serve Chicago’s growing bicycling community. While maintaining headquarters and a workspace in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, WTB is a city-wide service provider for youth programs in the city of Chicago.

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Bikes N’ Roses

Bikes N’ Roses is a youth-led non-profit organization in Albany Park that is working to create a happier, healthier community by promoting the use of bicycles instead of cars. We believe biking is good for your health, your wallet, the environment, and that biking can be a primary means of transportation. Bikes and Roses is dedicated to teaching people how biking can benefit them and the whole community of Albany Park.
Active Transportation Alliance

We must give thanks to the Active Transportation Alliance for all the work they’ve done to improve cycling in Chicago and the surrounding area. Why not help them continue their good work with a donation in a friend’s name?

The mission of Active Transportation Alliance is to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel. We advocate for transportation that encourages and promotes safety, physical activity, health, recreation, social interaction, equity, environmental stewardship and resource conservation.

Closed Saturday July 13th and Sunday July 14th for West Fest

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We will be closed during this year’s West Fest, a street festival which takes place in front of the shop between Damen and Wood on Saturday July 13th and Sunday July 14th. We love a street fest as much as that guy in sandals over there, but swarms of folks makes Chicago Avenue impassable for our regular customers, so we figured we would take the rare opportunity to have a few quality of life days in mid summer.
Huzzah!