Congratulations to Detroit Bike City and their plans to open a bike shop in Woodbridge. The Huffinton Post has a fine writeup about this welcomed news.

It’s known as “The Shack.” For nearly seven years, the little carriage house located on Merrick and Trumbull in Detroit’s Woodbridge neighborhood has served as an underground music venue for DJs and rock-and-rollers.

But now the space is getting retooled as a venue with a little less music and a little more clangs and bangs — a bicycle shop specializing in custom and vintage bikes.

Shinola is also working on a bicycle retail outlet not too far away.

And there are often rumors of other established bicycle retail operations expanding.

What’s striking about each of these is their uniqueness. Not only are they unique among themselves, but they are unique compared with the two typical suburban bike shops models: the mom & pop and the big store/chain.

More retail options for Detroiters is always good. Still, it’s interesting that you can’t find a Trek, Specialized or Giant dealer across the city’s 139 square miles.

Is that a big deal?

DLECTRICITY in Midtown Detroit on October 5th and 6th will feature a number of bicycle-related exhibits. What is this event?

DLECTRICITY is a new contemporary light art festival in the City of Detroit. For two nights, the historic architecture of Midtown will become the canvas for local, national, and international artists to display their cutting edge works of art. Over 35 projects will be shown including video projection, 3D video mapping, lasers, light sculpture, interactive design, performance, and more. The event is FREE to the public and open to all ages.

Here are a few bike-related events and projects from the DLECTRICITY web site:

Light Bike Saturday Oct. 6th

Workshop 5:00 – 7:00 PM – Wayne State parking lot 54, Southeast corner of 2nd St. and Warren Ave. DLECTRICITY is proud to host a workshop geared towards Detroit’s growing bike community. Sponsored by Shinola, the light bike workshop will show cyclists of all ages how they can add light and creativity to their rides. Free and open to the public.

Parade 7:00 PM – Starts: Wayne State parking lot 54, Southeast corner of 2nd St. and Warren Ave. Immediately after the Light Bike Workshop, DLECTRICITY will hold a 3.75 mile Light Bike Parade, encouraging workshop and festival attendees to show off their uniquely lit-up cycles as they ride through Midtown. Also sponsored by Shinola, this event is free and open to the public, please visit www.dlectricity.com for more information.

10. Velociplosion (A Muybridge Influenced Spatial Event)

The iconic photographic explorations of Eadweard Muybridge depict and distill continuous movements, from the mundane to the exceptional , into isolated frames of regard. These exercises, intentionally or otherwise, allow the idiosyncrasies of an object in time to be represented out of context, within a two dimensional medium (the genesis of cinema). This transformation is inherently one of reduction, contraction, minimization “Velociplosion”, an event of matter and light for Dlectricity, proposes to inverse these operations and re-contextualize these frame into space.

This exercise intends to reverse engineer a mechanical phenomenon into a set of sculptural “frames” across 100 feet of installation space. By constructing a series of identical objects in linear space, modifying each successive object slightly, and successively illuminating each object with a brief but powerful strobe, we may intimate Muybridge cell-motion with tangible, three dimensional objects. As subject matter a form has been selected that is both easily manipulated and commonplace to the urban vernacular- a street bicycle. (Emphasis added)

34. Share Detroit (Rheostat Ride)

Winding through the streets of midtown at night is a jumble of luminous letters floating seven feet above the pavement, each casting a halo of red light beneath it. As the letters draw near, you see the bicycle under each one, and the riders propelling them, each letter flying flag-like from a mast. More riders arrive from other directions, and each one stops in a predetermined spot. They form a line, spelling a phrase, and stand there for a few moments. They ride away one by one, and the letters peel off into side streets, only to reassemble somewhere else as a different phrase.

This work, created for DLECTRICITY, is a dance on bicycles that will extend over the entire footprint of the event. Our goal is to be visible both as disparate neon letters moving through the event, and as a poem that progressively unfolds over the course of the two nights. Each line of the poem is an anagram of “SHARE DETROIT.” By riffing on the well- known bicycling slogan “Share the road,” we hope to start a conversation about midtown, transportation, the people attending the show, and the city in general. (Emphasis added)

Founder of Fossil to make bikes in Detroit

This project has been bubbling under the radar until now. From the Detroit News:

The founder of Fossil Inc. has chosen a New Center site to make bicycles and watches and is close to signing a lease agreement to sell those goods in a West Canfield Street retail shop in Detroit’s Midtown, according to three sources familiar with the dealings.

Tom Kartsotis, founder of Fossil watches, sunglasses and apparel, has signed a lease for a 30,000-square-foot space in the College for Creative Studies’ A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education, according to the sources, who requested anonymity because they didn’t have permission to speak publicly.

Yes, they’ll be building retro cruiser bikes (and watches) in the former GM Research Laboratories. The brand is Shinola and they have some top people from the bicycle industry involved.

Crain’s also offered this insight into why he chose the city of Detroit.

He said Kartsotis commissioned a study of pens in which subjects were asked if they prefer pens made in China, the USA or Detroit at price points of $5, $10 and $15 respectively.

“People picked the Chinese pen over the USA pen because it was cheaper,” he said. “But when offered the Detroit pen, they were willing to pay the higher price point.”

By the end of this year, the city of Detroit may have up to four bicycle manufacturers within city limits.

New bike shop?

This Detroit News article discusses new pop-up retail along Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit. One pop-up possibility is a bike shop.

Jon Hughes sees a lane of opportunity in Detroit. As the owner of Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop, he would like to sign a two-month lease in Detroit for space where he can test the urban trails and side streets for interest by city residents and workers in a full-service, cycling aficionados store.

“Everything depends on the size of the store downtown,” said Hughes, 29, who is negotiating a lease on one of two spaces in the Compuware Building and could move into the smaller space as early as July 1. If the store catches on, he said he could renew the lease for a year or more. If the venture goes flat, he only loses two month’s rent money and sweat equity.

Yes, having the Downtown Ferndale bike shop in Downtown Detroit sounds odd.

Food delivery by bike

Business has been picking up (and delivering!) for Hot Spokes. This Detroit News article covers it current growth.

Shayne O’Keefe may not envision himself a businessman, but the 29-year-old drummer for a punk rock band just might be in denial.

That’s because a simple idea a few years ago that would allow O’Keefe to pay his rent on Fourth Street in Midtown Detroit and maybe go on tour here and there with his band, Noman, now supports not only him, but five of his friends as well.

Plus, it fuels his love of biking.

Pedicabs in high gear

And finally, the Detroit News also covered the Rickshaw Detroit‘s pedicab business – a business they hope to expand soon.

And it sounds like they have a supporter in the Mayor’s office.

Detroit Deputy Mayor Kirk Lewis admits he’s never noticed the pedicabs, but said it’s a great idea for a new business that can help the city through its transformation.

“As we get more people in the downtown and Midtown areas, you’re going to see more opportunities for the entrepreneurial types in the city,” he said. “We want to have people engaging themselves in Detroit and having fun and enjoying the city.”

That sentiment rings true for all these businesses and new ones that are in the pipeline.

Being involved with biking is fun, but getting paid for it is more fun.