A full-service bike shop with expert mechanics, quality rentals, and knowledgeable sales staff. Visit us today and experience our unrelenting friendliness.
Visit Us in Beautiful Treasure Island! | 1 Ave. of the Palms #021, San Francisco, California 94130 (415) 678-5323
Dig On This!
The Velomobile ELF electric assist recumbent three wheeled bicycle...
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New way to go Electric-assist trike sports solar panels, cover and a trunk
The ELF, which comes with two cloth shopping bags
to hang in a carrying compartment in the rear, weighs less than 150
pounds, carries a load of up to 350 pounds, travels up to 20 mph on
battery power, recharges in less than an hour by charger or seven hours
by sunlight, and has a battery range of 20 miles. Organic Transit’s logo
on the back of the oversized tricycle even makes it look like you’re
taking the T when you’re riding in it.
“You motor to work, you don’t get there all
shvitzy, and on the way home have your workout,” said Rosenberg. “That’s
the thought behind it. How brilliant.”
To get started, you climb in over the aluminum
frame, which supports a recycled-plastic shell, and climb into a slung
seat which puts the driver about level with automobile drivers. Since
there’s no reverse gear, backing up means using your feet on the ground a
la Fred Flintstone, then start pedaling and click on the battery to
boost as needed.
Goldman, who also ordered her green ELF on
Kickstarter, found Rosenberg and Talmage realizing that shipping the
velomobiles in protective crates was seriously driving up their costs.
She tracked down others that could be delivered to Pennsylvania and New
England on a truck with the vehicles tied on back, and as soon as hers
was delivered Wednesday, she loaded it down with bread for the Amherst
market.
“It’s fun,” said Goldman, who on Thursday used it
to get to the South Hadley farmers market, then to a concert in
Northampton, and finally back to Amherst, learning the need to maneuver
around potholes and bumps, for which her mountain bike is more
forgiving.
[Peter] Talmage, an engineer who’s had electric bikes to
ride to his teaching job at Greenfield Community College, said, “The
ELF offered the opportunity I could use in all sorts of weather. I’m
amazed at what they put together, and at the completeness of what they
offer.”
The trike comes with a 10 amp-hour, 48-volt
battery, that’s one-third the weight of a car battery with a little less
storage capacity, but should lasts 10 times longer, Talmage said. And
the vehicle’s 60-watt solar panel is lightweight and replaces a roof
panel “as a simple way to regenerate a lot of electricity while you’re
just parked in a parking lot somewhere.”
Sixty-five feet below ground level between Mission, Howard, Second and
Beale streets, crews working on the Transbay Transit Center project
reached a quiet milestone.
A 10- to 12-hour concrete pour completed Saturday was the last one
necessary until excavation wraps up early next year. That makes 10 mat
slab pours to date, each between 4,000 to 6,000 cubic yards of concrete.
Rail tracks will eventually sit on the slabs.
“This is achieving a big milestone for our project,” said project
superintendent Jordan Smith of Webcor/Obayashi, the general contractor,
at the site Wednesday. “Essentially half of the project has mat slab.
What that allows us to do is continue on schedule on the walls and
columns and rebar on one side.”
Construction has made good time, with the foundation for the western
half of the 600,000-cubic-yard hole in the ground already set with mat
slab.
The multilayer process started in early September and involved drilling
65-foot-long micropiles on the dirt base to anchor the coming structure,
four inches of concrete slab, a waterproofing layer, another 4 inches
of concrete slab, rebar reinforcement and finally 5 feet of mat slab
that Caltrain and high-speed rail will arrive on.
Dirt is still visible in the easternmost portion of San Francisco’s
biggest hole in the ground, with excavation slated to end in
mid-January. The final mat slab pours will occur in mid-February.
The Outsider is one mans epic journey. Can a born rebel, free thinker
and genius find his place in the world with a homemade speedster?
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"We welcomed one more out sports person this week when Tom Daley
revealed he is dating a guy. But a few years ago cyclist Graeme Obree
came out of the closet, letting the world know he was gay in 2011,
having come out to his family on 2005.
He had a difficult life before that, marked by things such as the
tragic death of his brother and suicide attempts. He was also married to
a woman and had two sons. However, in sports he broke numerous cycling
records and was known for his innovations that took the sport forward,
having used bits of common machinery to re-engineer his bicycle. In 2006
a movie about his life, The Flying Scotsman starring Jonny Lee Miller,
was released – although that didn’t touch on his sexuality.
Now a feature-length documentary is being brought together, allowing
Obree to tell his own story in his own words, mainly covering two years
of his life where as a man in his mid-40s he seeks out a new cycling
project to challenge himself."
Check out Charles Holsopple at the Global Shelter Project! He's doing great work to end homelessness and promote sustainability. Here's a little bit of his writing: "Let's promote local, regional, national and international awareness that we are all better off if all 7 billion and one of us have a dignified access to a gallon and a half of clean water 2000 nutritional calories and 200 ft.³ of secure living space.Data driven studies will provide the areas of most need as well as reflect the causes and potential solutions to this imbalance.Properly observed and engineered, methodologies can be identified and supported for whatever changes our social and environmental climate unveil to us. " - Charles Holsopple Visit Global Shelter Project today: http://globalshelterproject.blogspot.com/
The Zackees turn-signal gloves might be the greatest gift to cyclists since the helmet.
A unique fusion of fashion and tech, the gloves have their own
arrow-shaped strings of LEDs, which cyclists can use to signal that
they’re turning. They’re the sort of thing that screams “geek,” but if
they keep the wearer safe, geekiness might not matter so much.
Zackees pitches the gloves slightly differently: You’ll need them for
safety but wear them because they’re fashionable. That “utility + tech +
fashion” combination is core to the Zackees, which were developed by a
former Google engineer, a fashion designer, and a robotics specialist.
More BART riders are biking to and from stations every day. It’s a
healthy alternative and like walking it’s easy on the environment.
Almost all BART stations have bike racks, over half of BART stations
have bike lockers and four stations now have Bike Stations. Details are
included below and on each station page on bart.gov.
If you are taking your bike on BART, it's your responsibility to know
and follow the bike rules. Bikes are never allowed on crowded
cars. Folded bikes are allowed in all cars at all times. Use your good
judgment and only board cars that can comfortably accommodate you and
your bicycle. Bicyclists must yield priority seating to seniors and
persons with disabilities.
If you are leaving your bike at a BART station make sure it is locked well. Whether you’re taking your bike on board or parking it at a station, make sure you record your bike’s serial number along with a description of the bike. This will greatly increase your chance of recovery if it is stolen.
Let’s face it: We’d all like to spend days on end exploring every last spot of sweet singletrack
this country has to offer. But we can’t. (I know, the truth hurts.) So,
after riding and researching some of the very best mountain bike
destinations in the U.S., I’ve narrowed it down to five must-see spots.
Start with this list the next time you’re searching for a prime place to
pedal.
Take aCo-cycletour across the US while visiting and learning about cooperative working and living spaces. It's a fun, but rigorous touring schedule that's best for avid cyclists. The deadline to apply is April 8th. Or kick back and relax atBreitenbush, an affordable hot springs resort in Oregon run by a worker cooperative/intentional community that so co-op it hosts theWestern Worker Cooperative Conference. While you're there, stop byPortland, Oregon to get a broad taste of sharing culture and visit localworker coopswhile biking around a model bike friendly town. Take a tour of the San Francisco Bay Area's beautiful coastline, hills and redwoods, and while you're there, see how many worker coops you can hit up using thismap. For more participatory fun, stop by any one of the many collective bike kitchensin the Bay, andNoisebridgea famous hackerspace. If Europe is your thing, visitMondragonCooperative Corporation, the famous worker cooperative complex in Basque, Spain and learn how to create an autonomous cooperative economic region. See thisvideoabout Mondragon - what could be more inspiring!
Today, We Share and Send Our Love, Light and Healing Energies Around the World.
Please
join us in commemorating the International Transgender Day of
Rememberance for all our brothers and sisters worldwide who sacrificed
for us, just for being themselves.
Let's
promote visibility, upliftment, love and peace. We live in your honor
and continue to make great strides. You will always be loved and special
in our hearts.
"Intuit published an infographic presenting the best cities for female entrepreneurs, as well as some interesting statistics about the state of women-owned businesses in the US. The report looked at median education levels, unemployment rates, income, population and percentage of business owned by women in each city to provide an overall score for female entrepreneurship.
San Francisco ranks number one, followed by Seattle, Washington DC, Minneapolis, and Portland...."
"Super-extreme freestyle mountain biking looks like a thrill. But it's
also dangerous as all get-out, and something most of us are too scared
(or smart) to try. So here's a solution: Take a virtual ride down a
precarious mountain slope and even hit a soaring backflip off a clip via
GoPro.
Pro biker Kelly McGarry had a camera attached to him for his silver
medal run at the 2013 Red Bull Rampage competition in Utah. The
resulting video hit YouTube and is embedded above. It's stunning."
Bicycle Blue Book knows what your bike is worth.
We've compiled data from years of transactions (that adds up to millions of sales)
to give you the most accurate valuation of your used bike. Got one you're
looking to unload, or just curious to know what one is worth? Use the filters
below to find the value of your bike. Whether you're just looking for your next
road bike, or the value of all Cannondale's over the past 5 years, we've got all
the data tucked away just waiting to be pored over.
Seems like everyone has a smartphone these days—and many
mountain bikers are bringing the technology on the trails. If you like
to mountain bike, and own a smartphone, keep reading for a list of apps
that can help you navigate trails, fix your bike, track your workout and
more.
Atomic Softwares’ Bike Repair is a practical mobile app that puts bike repair
back into the cyclist’s hands. Need to adjust your derailleur, fix your
shifting, remove your rear wheel or bleed your hydraulic brakes? There
is no need to take your bike to the shop when it’s possible to repair
bike problems on your own—at home or on the trail. With assistance from
the Bike Repair app, learn how to fix 42 problems yourself, maintain
your bike properly and address common bodily aches and pains. Step by
step guides and large photos trump long text in this useful application.
Visit their website for more information.
Check out this Streetfilms video below to learn about the 10,000 bike parking spaces at the train station, as well as the other elements the city has put into place to create a fast, energy efficient, and low-cost transportation system with bikes at the center. Other cities would do well to learn from Groningen.
If you ride bikes then you have had a bike stolen or know
someone who has. This is a fact. Bike theft is rampant. This summer we
have seen an elevated profile of bike theft in the local media both with
police work and vigilantism. August alone saw Dunbar Cycles team up
with police on an undercover operation that recovered their stolen
property, police recovered seven bikes through their bate bike program,
and a local Vancouver woman steal her bike back from a thief when she
found it for sale on Craig’s List. And these are only the stories that
have been publicized.
Items found by police in a bike thief's backpack by police.
Bike
theft falls into an ugly category of property crimes, the perfect storm
for thieves; it is an easy crime with a value low enough to excuse any
real punishment. Theft under $5000 in provincial court will garnish a
slap on the wrist for first time offenders, fines ranging from
$100-$400, suspended sentences with probation, or where there is prior
related criminal behavior, short periods of jail time. With the
frequency and growing popularity of it, bike theft was up 20% in
Victoria last year and 38% in Calgary, we have ended up in a situation
where insuring for actual value or claiming with the threat of rising
deductibles often leaves us bikeless and bitter. In the past, reporting
our bikes stolen to the police has felt like an exercise in futility.
Often dismantled and shipped out of province before you pick up the
phone, the chances of ever seeing your ride again are slim to none. But
with a combination of the growing popularity of mountain biking and the
rising value of our bikes, the police are taking a more pro-active
approach and it leaves us, the bike owners, in the hot seat. Are we helping bike thieves and hindering police work?
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More from the article:
For all of your rides, record the brand, model, color, serial number,
and modifications. Lock them up, and then lock them up again. Be aware
of your surroundings. Stop Stravaing your rides from your house. Be
smart, think about the bigger picture. While Kayla Smith 'stole' her
bike back, and we all love a good vigilante story with a happy ending,
the thief has probably already stolen a few more bikes since then. Adam
Mantle from Dunbar Cycles teamed up with police and using his online
research they were able to arrest and charge Wesley John Devries. He has
not stolen a bike since. If your bike is stolen, by all means look for
it on Craig’s List, put in the time and be proactive, but team up with
police when you find it. While myopic actions can be sensationalized,
they will do nothing to progress a solution for our community as a
whole.
From Richard Masoner and TreeHugger
Richard Masoner of Cyclelicious: " Bike Pittsburgh created this campaign and
bought the outdoor ad space to remind drivers to pass with care, drive
like a grownup, and take the high road."
All this month our complete
tune-up which is regularly priced at $70 is ONLY $40 for the rest of
this month. Get your bike in here and get an
awesome tune-up for only a couple of twenties. (price does not include
any needed or wanted installed parts)
With a BART strike looking increasingly likely, here are some alternatives for getting around.
By Sasha Lekach, Bay City News Service
With the likelihood of a BART strike effective [shortly], many Bay
Area commuters will have to find alternate ways to get to and from work and
other destinations with the strike possibly extending into the weekend.
BART will provide a limited number of free roundtrip charter buses
at nine East Bay BART stations starting Friday morning.
Buses will pick up ticketed passengers at El Cerrito del Norte,
West Oakland, Concord, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Dublin/Pleasanton, San
Leandro, Hayward and Fremont stations starting at 5 a.m.
BART officials said there will be five to 15 buses at each
station.
The buses will drop off passengers at San Francisco's Temporary
Transbay Terminal.
On the return trip, riders will board buses between 3 p.m. and 7
p.m. at the terminal. Those buses will go to West Oakland, where transfers
can be made to other buses heading to various East Bay destinations.
• Client Spotlight: A Tran's Bay Bike Shop
Tammy Powers owns the first and only bike shop on
Treasure Island, A Tran's Bay Bike Shop. Tammy received assistance from
OSB counselor, Christian Murdock and sits down with us for our September
"Client Spotlight"...
Q: What type of business do you own and what makes you unique?
A: When people ask me what type of business I own, I jokingly
tell them, with a bit of seriousness, that I sell time machines. "Use
the product that I sell to you and you'll feel like a kid again."
Although said more precisely... I own a bicycle shop. My shop is unique
for 2 reasons, first: I'm the only bike shop on Treasure Island, and
second; mine is the only bicycle shop in ALL of California owned by a
male-to-female transsexual. Our slogan is "We Love BIcyclists!"
Q: How was the Office of Small Business involved in assisting you?
A: The Office of Small Business has been involved in helping
me in just about everything! I never owned a business in SF before and I
never went to business school... so I had tons of questions about what
to do and where to go simply in order for me to get started. I'm an
excellent mechanic who loves bicycles; and because I'm transforming my
gender found it difficult to get hired. So I created my own job and am
very thankful to the OSB that they helped me accomplish that.
Q: Top 3 reasons for being a small business owner in SF?
A: The top 3 reasons for being a business owner in SF are: 1.
It's one of the greatest cities in the world and the never-ending
supply of tourists who visit us are a continuous cash flow. 2. The
restaurants and entertainment here are second to none. 3. San Francisco
warmly welcomes ALL business owners, even those of us who are
transforming our gender. A Tran's Bay Bike Shop
1 Avenue of the Palms #021
SF, CA 94130
415-678-5323 http://www.transbaybikes.com/
M-F 11:00 to 6:00, weekends 12:00 to 4:00
We're
giving you our Complete Tune-up for ONLY $40 during the month of Oct.
(regular price of $70) which includes:
Clean and lube the drivetrain,
true the rims, check and adjust the cones, adjust the derailleurs,
adjust the brakes, check and adjust the
headset, check and adjust the bottom bracket, overall safety check and
wipedown of the bike, test ride. Wow! All that for less than a tank full
of gas! (check my reviews on Yelp)
Finding employment can be a rat race for anyone, but throwing transsexual on the top of your resume can sometimes guarantee job rejection.
A Tran's Bay Bike Shop owner, Tammy Powers, is a transsexual woman with a mind made for mechanics. However, no one would hire her.
Powers' resume was not the issue. She consistently received calls from companies requesting an interview, so being recognized as a promising candidate wasn't the problem.
“My resume is second to none,” Powers said in an interview with 429Magazine. "[But] I would show up for interviews and people's jaws would drop. People would say 'I didn't know a transsexual was applying for this position.'” Then they would dismiss her, shoeing her away by explaining that the position had been filled.
This routine set the precedent for her continued job search, and Powers eventually became jobless and homeless. “I was living on the streets before I got my own money to start my own shop,” Powers admitted.
Powers is breaking ground on many fronts. A transsexual woman and a Fuji authorized dealer, Powers owns her own bike shop, not to mention the only bike shop, on Treasure Island.
The shop, located on the Treasure Island waterfront, provides a perfect venue for bikers to buy, tune-up, or rent a bike. As a former automotive mechanic, Powers is more than capable of providing a tune-up, a complete bicycle service, or a simple pair of smooth wheels for those who want to rent for a day of island exploration.
Located on 1 Avenue of the Palms, A Tran's Bay Bike Shop opened in February and is still in its soft opening stage.
Power's explained that her gender identity has set the tone for the aesthetic appeal of the shop.
“My business is prettier now, I have more of a woman's touch, I am more aware of what people are seeing aesthetically." She continued, “I painted my work bench pink!"
“I am an avid bicyclist and an excellent mechanic. I am also a male-to-female transsexual. I opened my own bicycle shop on Treasure Island (in SF) because of the prejudice I faced when applying for bike mechanic jobs….I have sacrificed much to be in business for myself. I am an example to all people that transsexual persons are not freaks, but are very capable of being productive in society… we can even be business owners.”
- Tammy Powers
#GoFundMe | Donations Needed: A Tran’s Bay Bike Shop Is Cycling to Thrive
Tammy Powers is a full-time bicycle-healer and all around superhero.
Recognized in her community as a well-liked, respected, resilient, talented fix-it expert for bikes, cars and all things locomotive (please check out the recommended links below), Tammy’s given so much to folks in the Bay Area. As she continues to get those kudos and provide that top notch service, now she’s working on ways to fully monetize her value and bake that into longterm success for her bike rental and repair business, A Tran’s Bay Bike Shop.
As she launches herGoFundMe donation campaign for A Tran’s Bay Bike Shop this month, Tammy set aside some time to chat about how she got started, her love for making things work, her expertise in bike service and repairs, and ultimately, her ever-inspirational self-love and respect.
On Resilience: Q & A with Tammy Powers
Jaye: Tammy, thanks so much for setting aside a few moments to connect. What inspired you to open your shop, and what inspired the name A Tran’s Bay Bike Shop in particular…rather than Tammy’s Uber Cool Bike Repairs and Gear, for instance?
Tammy: (Laughs) Well, as I’d said in an earlier interview, the name of my shop is a clever one, because “TransBay” is a popular term in the Bay Area,because of all the commuters who travel back and forth across the Bay Bridge.
TransBay is very familiar for everyone from San Francisco to Oakland. You know, there’s the TransBay Express, so it’s not uncommon to hear that. And hey—I’m a transsexual! I just did the double enendre so people would go, “Huh…?” and not really get it until they walk into my shop and see that I’m a tranny. (Laughs)
Jaye: I see. So people have responded positively once they get that automatic enlightenment, huh?
Tammy: Yeah. People like that. One person was like, “I didn’t understand the apostrophe in Tran’s, until I walked into the shop.” People give me kudos for showing that we can be business owners and productive people in society. People still…they don’t expect to see a successful transgender person, so it’s always cool once they get it.
Jaye: One enlightenment at a time, then (laughs)!
Folding Strida Bikes Image from Strida.com
Well, as for your shop, what types of bikes and gear do you sell primarily? Is it a specialty shop only?
Tammy: I do service any type of bike. Tuneups, repairs. And I’m an authorized Fuji Dealer. I also sell Strida folding bicycles. They’re very convenient and useful—I sell folding bikes with commuters in mind. Actually, I refurbish and sell a full array of used bikes: BMX bikes, low-riders. I have anything in stock that’s common for the best bike shops: chains, sprockets, anything I’d need for instant repairs and help
If a customer has any specialty repairs or parts needed, I can order anything they need from my wholesaler, and get the parts by the next day.
So I have a full fleet of rentals, and Treasure Island is the place in the Bay to come bike around the island and see all the views of the Golden Gate Bridge—it’s great!
Jaye: Yes, so gorgeous. Gotta get back there soon, it’s such a beautiful place.
I understand you’ve connected with some TV producers who want to develop a show around you and your team of mechanics and salespeople there…reality TV. The fact that you primarily hire trans* women and men to work there is so meaningful and important. Do you have a sense that they’ll portray you, your crew and your shop in the right light?
Tammy: Yes—the whole thing about hiring transsexual employees, it was entirely from my own thought process. The producers, they’re very excited about it. Thinking of other “reality shows” like “Duck Dynasty” (and I don’t watch much TV, but they said I need to watch more, because they want me to see the difference between that and TV with more substance)…we want it to be very different.
I mean, I also do standup comedy—so, comedians will come visit me too.
I thought, what would make the show so appealing to the audience they would just have to tune in? So I thought about those ideas, because in my world all my friends are transsexuals. And people visit the shop, and some people, they have a bent view or they’re not too sure…they have questions. I was like, how great would it be to have a staff full of transsexual people, either this way or the other way. (Laughs) So I told all my friends.
Jaye: Good to know you have a lot of creative input with the project.
Tammy: Yeah: the director’s coming back to have lunch with me, and we’ll shoot more video later in the month. It’s been so weird how it’s happened. I met a person who knew a producer…it blows me away. It’s just amazing.
I’m so thankful people notice me and say something positive. Like, someone will see this story and mention it, and someone else will find their way to the bike shop.
Jaye: Have you had much luck recruiting mechanics? Just wondering how much training is involved in the job. Or are you looking for people who have that specific skill set, and they’re ready to go as soon as they’re hired?
Tammy: Quite a few transsexual women, MTF friends of mine I meet, they’re cyclists but they’re not mechanics. So they’d be great on the sales end or rentals. So that’s falling into place.
I’ll also be going around to some of the nonprofit bike shops that teach people how to fix bikes. We have so many here. Usually they have a femme or tranny night, so they feel comfortable there and meet up. I’m sure I’ll find people there.
And I keep hearing names, like this guy is really good or that guy…of course I mean a trans* guy. So I’ll go to those classes and probably find the FTM guys I’m looking for. It’s getting there, but you have to be patient.
Jaye: From your Facebook page, I understand you’re going to a lot of industry trade shows, and making the rounds at Pride, and so forth. So, are you looking to bring in more of the gear-heads and professional cyclists along with people who just love bikes and cycling?
Tammy: I look for people who have a common interest in cycling or seem like they want to become cyclists. My customers should be my friends and my friends should be my customers, that’s how I think about it—I’m just trying to make friends. I want to show people how excellent bicycling is. Or if they’ve never gotten into it, I want them to try it.
I’m just another bike mechanic who loves cycling.
Jaye: Treasure Island, it’s also kind of a pit stop locale for commuters or people on a long ride, so it seems like it’s really ideal! Has the foot traffic been good for rentals and so on?
Tammy: It’s picking up. The new span of the Bay Bridge is complete, and the bike lane is 90 percent complete, so in the next few months it’ll get even better. I’m settled here, the shop is right here. So when that bike lane opens on that bridge, there’s going to be hundreds of commuters a day coming on their bicycles. I’m finally at the right time at the right place in life. It’s all about persistence. You just keep hanging in there.
You know, I started with absolutely nothing.
I used to own my own shop when I was a dude. When I transitioned, it was really hard. I was even homeless for a while. Right now, I’m barely making it. But still, if you come in my shop I’ve got 20-something bikes.
I hustle and I sacrifice, and I have tenacity. I love what I do, and I make it happen.
After the interview, Tammy mentioned that she’s working extremely hard to keep the shop open, and even though she’s set herself up for success, she’s still a one woman show. She’s working hard on repairs everyday, and the bills are stacking up—keeping up with them is unspeakably challenging (the shop has only been open since May, and its official launch since then is barely over).
Please connect with Tammy to show your support, share her story with others, and visit her shop: it’s the only bike repair/rental/trading shop of its kind in the area, and Tammy’s a well-trained, highly-experienced car and bicycle mechanic.
=
Tammy will be speaking at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center on Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 2:00 PM. Please check out the links below for more information.
Please note: I am aware many people find the term “tranny”(and also “transsexual”) to be offensive and I have some understanding as to why this is the case. However, if a trans* woman uses this language to describe herself it’s not my desire to correct her, and it’s not appropriate (in my thinking) to correct her.
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