There has been some well documented hate directed towards Valencia St. fixie start-up Mission Bicycle, but this seems a little over the top. Was it random or targeted? We will only be able to speculate…
Hater Update: Mission Bicycle’s Front Window Smashed
Mission Mission 
That sucks. I stopped by over the weekend, and they seemed pretty nice in there. They also build classy bikes. Hopefully this was just random.
[audio src="http://download.lardlad.com/sounds/season12/thohk10.mp3" /]
… No hate. Anything that gets people riding bikes of any kind is a good thing in my book. And any local company doesn’t deserve to have their window smashed or be trash-talked on the internet by anonymous people.
I was just commenting on the (un-labeled IRO/Formula) entry-level parts at a rather inflated price. Of course, I’ll say that no kid on Valencia Street need Phil Woods & NJS (or Dura-Ace & Carbon for the roadies), either. It’s the ‘fashion’ of fixed gear ‘culture’ that irks me… but if someone’s gotta make money off of it, I’d rather have it be someone in the community rather than a mega-company like Specialized, Trek, or Fuji/Obey, etc.
That’s pretty shitty. Windows are expensive… just imagine what American Apparel’s windows would’ve looked like if that had gone through…
Now that’s a sad sight. Mission Bicycle is an interesting concept to me so I checked out the shop this weekend. There model is simple, closed platform, the store aesthetic is like a mom&pop Apple store meets America Apparel ‘variety’. No pre built bikes ready to be ridden off by happy customers, just an incarnation of the website. One frame, any color, 3 bar / seat options, muticolored cranks and deep V’s. It definitely challenges the norm when we say ‘bike shop’. This isn’t the place to browse selection, mix and match parts, fix a flat, get a tune up, or even ask for advice. When selecting a Mission Bike you’re agreeing that this is the one-right-way, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but clearly irks at least a few locals. As a business model Mission Bikes is great, I wish I’d done it. Simple, straight forward, choose your colors and have a slick fixie delivered to your door. Outside of San Francisco I’m sure they’ll find great success but they’re building their name off of the local fame of the neighborhood, San Francisco’s fixed gear mecca. The best advice I can give to them is to try to reach out to the community, give people a reason to accept them. When you walk into their ‘shop’ it’s all business and a gap needs to be bridged. Throw parties, sponsor riders, partner up, make the brand iconic. With a storefront in the city it may be a rough start, but if these guys are half as smart as they’ve already shown to be they’ll figure out the other half of the formula, if not this little venture will be as futile as trying to put an AmericanApparel in the mission…
Whaaa? Who starts fights over bicycles? Self-antagonizing subcultures are so bizarre.
Zack, one of the owners of Mission Bicycle here.
Subby: Thanks man.
duskily: Good points. We’re still getting set up over here, don’t have much for sale beyond our bicycles but we’re looking to get more local apparel, art, etc. to break up the ‘Apple Store’ feel we seem to have going. We’ve sponsored a half dozen races and events in the pasty year, looking to do a bunch more — if you know of any great events please put them in touch.
turtles: Seriously, come by the shop, I won’t bite. We don’t sell IRO’s anymore, we have our own frame. We also sell Phil Woods as upgrades if folks don’t want the Formulas, but as you know they are really expensive and out of budget for most folks.
Zack – really sorry to see this happen. I had stopped in the other weekend for your opening and really liked the setup. Seems like a lot of people are really missing the point of your concept, but that’s OK. What’s not OK is smashing the window of a store just because you don’t like what they’re selling.
People that would do something like this are a disgrace to the local bike community.
this is so sad. i mean, really…this group is just trying to start a great LOCAL business, and someone has to go an ruin it?
I’m definitely coming down from the hills to go check it out… pretentious jerks be damned!
We were just there this past weekend. People may disagree with the idea of building custom fixie bikes but this just seems very uncalled for.
Not cool.
I think fixies are a pretty stupid idea no matter how you look at them, but if somebody can make money selling them — more power to them. Vandalism like this is just idiotic.
Most likely someone who’s been in the “scene” for a few years who thinks they have “street cred”.
“whaaa? they’re making it easy for someone to start biking? I had to search high and low on ebay for my parts! I know, I’ll smash the window! that’ll stop em”..
douches…
Zack,
So sorry to see this happen to you guys. I really hope it’s just a random attack and not part of some stupid fixie war. I stopped by your place at the Friday night party before the official open and it seemed like you were a good bunch of guys just trying to build some sweet bikes. The showroom was set up really nicely. Keep it up – it’s nice to see a new store open on Valencia rather than having another empty storefront.
I ride/rode fixed and am all about new people getting onto any and all bikes… but I have to say, there’s little worse than seeing someone on a fixed gear that they don’t know how to control for their safety, bike riders’ general reputation, and my safety on my bike when someone’s whip-skidding for no good reason. That’s the one down-side to the increased prevalence of pre-built fixeds…
At a shooting range, you have to show you can safely unload the magazine. Why not have the same ‘Brady Bill’ for trackstands/skids/resisting with pedals…?
welcome to the hood, mission bicycle.
this may represent a rocky start, but for the most part the morons who did it were either high, or will soon get distracted by the next shiny object that gets wagged in their face…like maybe a bar that serves kind of beer they don’t like, or a sandwich shop that uses a kind of mustard that doesn’t, you know, cut the mustard.
folks in the hood – certain folks – really want to be “against” something…i don’t need to armchair-analyze that one. whether it’s (horrid corporate monster) american apparel or a (locally owned) bike shop, it doesn’t matter…
these folks are idiots, and all they know is jealousy, judgement and insular jack-assery.
please, keep the faith….my guess is you’ll be rewarded.
(that said, the outreach is a good idea. have a party. serve some food made by a local resto. do something for families with kids (the mission is a fucking stroller paradise these days). give away some bikes to folks in need. it’s all there, it’s easy to do).
@duskily & Zinzin: They had a weekend grand opening party a few weeks ago.
And kinda-sorta related, Sunday Streets will roll right by that shop in a few days, which would be a great time for more exposure…
cool. sometimes i miss that kind of stuff. too much working, not enough walking around the hood. thanks for pointing it out.
I don’t think it was vandalism, probably somebody on a fixie that couldn’t stop in time…
I heart Mission Bikes…it’s a bummer that some people still can’t behave themselves…let alone realize that the Mission is changing (as is the rest of the world). Idiots.
The store celebrates riding bikes, which means less cars etc. You’d think in SF that it would be appreciated.
The little shit did the same thing to the new coffee shop on 24th street. Its what little shits do.
Bastards!! Probably one of those gear-havin’ haters. JK. Just one of those middle school boobs who carry around sharpies on Muni, and don’t comprehend making a living or paying taxes yet. Let the posse know if we need to stage a bake sale to fund repairs, or punch out lettering again. Seriously.
They not only destroyed the window, but such nice typography, too. I don’t care for fixies but I’m on Mission Bike’s side now.
man. this is just wrong…
remember the mission yuppie eradication project?
http://www.infoshop.org/myep/myep_criticism.html
silly hipsters. it’s all been done before. look what you’ve done to what was once a thriving, creative neighborhood.
fighting over stupid vanity bikes, coffee shops and luxury food. self indulgent, vain consumer robots.
i like captain crunch. ppl defending mission bikes think we can buy our way out of car culture, displacement, ecological disaster. an ikea-inspired bike shop is boring.
um, really? does an independent bike shop in a neighborhood of rabid bicycle users need to be “defended”?
not precious enough of a flower for twee valencia street? not ascribing to your personal, narrow, selfish, judgmental values?
you know what’s boring? i think it’s obvious.
(and personally, i like lucky charms. magically delicious.).
“self indulgent, vain…”
Sounds like the perfect way to describe the asshole that wrote that article/poster.
Really what they’re saying is _I_ deserve to have all the things _I_ want and, for fear of them being taken, _I_ will destroy the things of others. Because all that is important is that _I_ am satisfied and society reflects the values that _I_ hold.
It’s actually hilarious when you think about how much this guy is everything he ostensibly hates. Just look at how many times he uses “I” in that article.
shitty.
maybe you could get the logo printed on a decent board to throw over the hole until it gets fixed
@Stucco-sux: June 2, 2009 at 7:02 pm
The little shit did the same thing to the new coffee shop on 24th street. Its what little shits do.
====
Haus? You mean the coffee-shop that MM posted about within the same hour of Mission Cycles? I see a pattern…
I find it hard to believe this many people would actually spend the time to write condolences to a random business they’ve “happened to notice” in the neighborhood. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that some of these comments were planted by the shop owners/friends. But yeah, vandalism is childish.
ikea bikes.