Sopo Bicycle Cooperative

Today, Sunday November 13th, we’ll be taking Ladies, Trans, & Genderqueer Nite on the road to Red, Bike, & Green-Atlanta’s celebration & film screening.  We’ll ride out around 6pm & close down the shop at that time.  For more information on this event, check out its Facebook page here.

Today, Saturday Open Shop Hours are suspended while SoPo moves to its new location in Reynoldstown!

Come on down and help out! But don’t count on getting in any stand time today, or tomorrow for that matter.

Sunday night Women’s/Trans hours are likely to be suspended as well.

Stay tuned for details of our re-opening at 222 Flat Shoals Avenue!

Sopo will be closed today, Thursday, December 24 and New Years Eve, Thursday, December 31.

Happy Holidays!!!

Sopo is very pleased to announce the hiring of our new Volunteer Coordinator, Emma Miller!

Emma grew up in the Atlanta area and has recently returned after spending several years in Nashville where she was the city’s first wedding planner to cater exclusively and openly to LGBT couples.  Since her return to Atlanta, Emma has been an active member of the cycling community.

The the coming weeks, we will be hosting a happy hour where volunteers and community members can hang out and meet her.

More about Emma:

Favorite place to ride: Anywhere in the city, late at night — the whole world just opens up!

Favorite thing about bikes: The independence they offer. It’s such an intimate form of transportation, there’s great freedom and connection to your surroundings and other people.

When mountain biking first hit the scene, wheel sizes were pretty standard at 26 inches.  This is basically due to the fact that the old Klunkers riders were throwing down mountains were 26 inch Schwinn balloon tire bikes.

In recent years, the mountain bike industry has seen phenomenal technological upgrades.  One hot topic of debate lately is wheel sizes and tire sizes.  Bike companies started producing 29 inch wheels and tires and found that they crushed obstacles on the trails.  Then, some found that splitting the difference between 29 inch and 26 inch, at 27.5 inches (or 650b) gave riders better control.

Now manufacturers are playing around with different tire sizes on these wheels.  With the popularity of fat bikes (26 inch wheels with 4-5 inch wide tires) companies are starting to produce wider tires on 27.5 and 29 inch wheels.

So what’s the best tire/wheel size combination?  How does one understand all these new-fangled sizing gizmos?  Here to help is former Sopo shop manager and former board member, Bobby Brown.  Bobby works for Maxxis Tires as a Marketing Specialist and was recently interviewed by Singletracks.com on the subject.

Click here to listen to the podcast on Singletracks or play the podcast below.  Not only is it very informative, but it’s great to see a fellow Soponista contributing to the bike industry on this level.

If you’re like any perfectly normal functioning adult you’ve had you’re Halloween costume planned for weeks, if not months.

OK now, let’s be real.  Most of us will be hitting the thrift stores pretty hard this weekend, scrambling for that last minute random idea.  But if you’re on your bike this Halloween, you might need to put some extra careful thought into your costume.

Do:
Remember the basics of your riding style and what you’d normally wear.  There’s a reason skinny jeans are popular with cyclists, and not bell bottoms.  Keep away from baggy, flowy outfits that could get caught in your gears, chains, or spokes.  If you normally wear a helmet, continue to do so.  You can incorporate it into a fun outfit!

Don’t:
While capes may seem like fun idea to give you that full on Superman-faster-than-a-speeding bullet feel while riding, they might get caught up in your rear wheel.  Black is usually a Halloween staple, but stay away from too much of it on Halloween.  You still need to be visible.   Masks are great, but stay away from full-faced ones–they can limit your peripheral vision.

Now for some of the best ideas on two wheels.

1. Incorporate your bike into your costume.  You can be literally anything that rides any type of mode of transportation.  You could be something classic like a train conductor and dress your bike to look like a train, or sailor/boat combination.  You can also think more off-the-wall, like Chris Pratt in Jurassic World riding a Velociraptor or even a Snoopy/red dog house combination.  Check these out for inspiration:

2.  Think about the silver screen.  There’s plenty of movies that have bikes, or involving biking in them, and you wouldn’t necessarily have to decorate or alter your bike.

3. Want something a little more ironic?

4. The best ideas for riding with your buds:

This beauty hangs above the double doors as you enter Sopo.  We received the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign’s (now Coalition) 2008 Community Project of the Year.

“Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world.” -Grant Peterson, Founder, Rivendell Bicycle Works

If you’ve ever been to Sopo, you’ve probably noticed our exquisite decor…or not.  Just like a bike, the art on our walls is functional and handmade by volunteers.

Check out this custom tandem that arrived in the shop this week!

This video from the early days of the shop shows the quintessential awesomeness of Sopo.  Still true to this day, if you’ve ever wondered why we started and what we’re all about…watch this video!  I’m not sure which is more amazing…the fact that we’re still true to our mission 10 years later, or the fact that a lot of volunteers in this video are still around!