When I first saw this commercial on TV a few weeks ago, my initial reaction was “OMG, those Verizon people stole this idea from that Valentine’s bike ride dude from last year!  It’s a travesty!”  Fortunately, rather than jump to conclusions with an incendiary blog post, I did a little research and learned from the Mission Bicycle guys that the ad agency hired by Verizon actually got in touch to find the lovestruck cyclist who originally embarked on the ride and then went and used him in the commercial!

Mission Bicycle has the whole story over on their blog, so go and check it out, and then try your best to think of something even better to do this year for that special someone in your life!

[Photo via Mission Bicycle]

Previously:

• Valentine’s bike ride

Mission Bicycle has announced their new eight-speed bicycle, aptly named the Sutro (because you’ll probably need all those gears to make it all the way up there).

Frame designer Emmanuel Eng designed the Sutro with elegance in mind, including an internal gear hub and cables that are routed through the bike tubing. Like any other Mission Bicycle, you get to pick all the colors and bells and whistles.

Here’s a pretty video showing the Sutro in action:

Hey you!  Yeah you there, the one with the funny haircut.  Do you know how to fix a flat on your bicycle?  Whaaaaat???  Why not?!?  What are you gonna do when you’re in the middle of nowhere on a beautiful ride and you hear that instantly recognizable hiss emanating from your tire?

Luckily, your friends at Mission Bicycle have the answer:

At this hands-on workshop, we’ll start with the basics, then give you the tricks and secrets of fast and easy flat fixing.
At the 11 AM session, we’ll get jacked on Fayes coffee and Pepple’s vegan donuts.  At the 5 PM session we’ll savor fresh Firebrand pretzels and ice cold beer (Anchor Steam and IBC).
We’ll even send you home with a set of our favorite tire levers.
We end the session with a group ride – a tour of the Mission District’s 11 bike related businesses.
One last thing.  No spectators allowed.  Nobody admitted without a bike.  Come prepared to get your hands dirty.

Of course, it wouldn’t be fair if we didn’t have two (2) free tickets to give away! All you have to do is tell a little story in the comments about a time when not knowing how to fix a flat really ruined your day. The contest closes at 5pm on Wednesday and entries will be judged on merit.

And if you just want to be sure that you get in on this, you can also register for the class here.

[Photo by pinkestblack]

Have you ever taken a midnight bike ride to Ocean Beach? It’s great. When you get to Golden Gate Park, all you can hear in the darkness is the wind whooshing by and the gentle clicking of your freewheel. Every time I look out on the ocean with my bike by my side, I think, “I am lucky to live here”. If you want in on this awesomeness, it’s easy: just wait around outside Bender’s on Wednesday night until Andrew Sarkarati comes out, and follow him.

If you don’t like hanging out in front of bars waiting for motivated drunk cyclists to trickle out, Mission Bicycle Company is hosting their own midnight bike ride this Saturday. The meetup location will be announced on midnightmystery.org on the day-of. Sounds like an awesome way to spend Saturday night if you don’t plan on partying too hard prior to midnight. If you do, perhaps your chances of getting a BUI will be greatly diminished when you’re riding in a big group. It may be best to stay presentable though, since this ride will apparently be filmed for a short movie.

[via Mission Bicycle]

Not cool, Martha Stewart. But I’ll let it slide this time on account of this:

The first time someone showed me this locking method, I had to stare at it for a long time. I reluctantly walked away from my bike trying to solve the 3-dimensional logic puzzle in my head.

“How can you secure a bike without locking around the frame?” I thought. Turns out, this is actually more secure than what I was doing before, which was basically locking the frame near the headset. This secures both the frame and the rear wheel.

Still not convinced? Mission Bicycle explains the whole thing.

Update: If you can, locking around the frame and wheel is always better, but if you’re limited in options this will do the job. If someone really wants your frame, they can do some damage and saw through the wheel to get at your bike, as neocoffeeboss points out:

Our pals at Mission Bicycle have a new promo video done by 4SP Films, the same guys that did the Tartine Bread one a while ago. It looks great and has nice shots of the ‘hood.

Jefferson adds:

They were pretty awesome to work with but they wanted to crop out a bit where a dog is taking a leak in and otherwise beautiful shot.  I said NO WAY.  It’s one of my favorite bits.  Gotta look close though, it’s just a quick flash.

Bonus dog peeing shot!

[Vimeo link]

Our pals at Mission Bicycle have teamed with Rickshaw Bagworks (makers of the Beerdolero) to launch their own custom messenger bag program that appeals to you, Mission boy/girl/other! You see, these bags, in addition to full color options, also offer intersection options. Pick your Mission intersection and it gets sewn on the bag. Go ahead, try to stump them with Lapidge and 19th.

These are also a bit more pimped out than your standard Zero Rickshaw bag, with added umbrella lining for waterproofiness. They also added buckles to the bag for you competitive overstuffers, as well as the extras of a stabilizing cross strap, pen holder, inside zippered pocket, card holder, etc.

They go for $89 and 99 (medium/large), but tonight they are 10% as part of the Mission Block Party.

Mission Bicycle is getting into the spirit:

Everything in our window is Giants orange. Including a special bike that Esther built on Sunday to celebrate our victory. Hours later it caught the eye of JackJones.com who was in town to for a photo shoot. So whoever buys this bike get’s a set of beautiful professional photos. This baby should be $870 but if the G…iants win on Wednesday, we’ll let her go for $799. 59cm frame. First come first serve.

Check out their Facebook page for more!

Everyone’s doing it! Mission Bicycle posted this purdy HD video about their purdy bikes.

Things I did not know before watching this video:

• Bike shopping is a family event, like going to IKEA. Bring your children.
• If the shop is too busy, you can order their bikes from the wifi-friendly cafe down the street (requires your own laptop and knowledge of how to use the internet to visit web sites).
• You can cyber with Jefferson over gchat directly from their the order page.
• I’m not the only one who screws around customizing virtual bikes I never buy while I’m supposed to be working.

You also get to see parts of their manufacturing and shipping processes, from the painting of the frames with decidedly girly colors to the exhilarating un-boxing at one dude’s apartment. Is there anything better than un-boxing something you bought? It’s like Christmas without gift wrap and the element of surprise.

Contest* Guess when this was shot based purely on the placement of construction markers on Valencia St.

*Prize for this “contest” is self-satisfaction.

The Mission Bicycle Festival commenced this past Sunday despite the efforts of concerned NIMBYs and was (as SF Citizen would proudly say) a huge success, thanks in part to the beautiful 80 degree weather and diligently organized volunteer corps.  Locally crafted bike gear by artisans and vendors such as Box Dog Bikes, Rickshaw Bagworks, and Mission Workshop were on full display in a friendly environment that was far less daunting than the massive Interbike convention I checked out in Vegas last week:

(BTW, way better Interbike photos can be found over at Box Dog Blog)

Thanks to the Mission Bicycle Company for organizing such a wonderful representation of velo-culture in the neighborhood (and the Women’s Building too, of course)!  While I wasn’t brave enough to enter the trackstand competition to compete for a brand new Valencia frameset, it was still cool to witness along with the bunny hop contest and unicycle basketball.

Also, I’m pretty sure Interbike didn’t have a S’mores-cycle!

See you next year!

Mission Bicycle Company is hosting the first ever Mission Bicycle Festival on the weekend of 9/25. The event will feature a ride out to the Tour De Fat in Golden Gate Park, bike demos, and contests.

This may be particularly interesting to you Mission readers: at 1pm on Saturday 9/25 there will be a “10 Mission Secrets Bike Tour”! What kind of secrets, I wonder? The location of that sketchy flea market where you can buy back your stolen bike? That hidden warp zone that takes you to the top of Potrero hill? Guess you’ll just have to sign up for one of the limited spots to find out.

There will also be a track stand competition at 3pm on Sunday 9/26. The prize is a brand new Valencia frame set. So if watching a bunch of riders sit almost perfectly still is your idea of sport, be sure to check that out.

The flyer is here and you can get more info at Mission Bicycle Company. Oh by the way, they are having a sale wrapping up today where you can get up to $180 off a customized and likely effeminately-colored ride. Check out their facebook page for more info.

Papergirl SF is teaming up with Mission Bicycle Company for a cool art show of work that can be rolled up and delivered from bikes.

From Papergirl SF:

In the style of American paperboys, rolled art pieces are distributed in the streets to random passers-by for FREE!

Mission Bicycle Co. has offered to be a drop off site for submission (deadline is September 18th) and they are going to host an exhibition of all the work in the Women’s Building on September 26th. So if you don’t mind having your awesome art thrown at strangers on the street, get to work.

Remember, the medium must be deliverable via bike. Don’t just submit flyers for your band’s next show. That would be sort of lame.

I never know what to do with old bicycle inner tubes. I mean, you can only be Rambo for Halloween a couple of times before it gets old. Usually they end up in a box with CD spindles, strips of fabric, and other junk that falls under the nebulous “future art project” materials collection. Somebody should remind me that I don’t actually do art projects.

So it’s a good thing Mission Bicycle Company just got these swell mini-wallets that are made from recycled tubes. Seems like a cool idea for those of you interested in lowering your rubber footprint:

This super thin wallet is perfect for a night out or a training ride when you don’t need to carry every card you own.

• Fits in your front pocket
• Pocket for folded cash
• Pocket for credit cards
• Window for your ID

What do you do with your old tubes?