Harvard Square, 70's, who remembers...

[witcombusa]

The Bicycle Exchange down on Bow Street off Mass Ave. in Harvard Square???

I came across this frame decal while digging through a parts drawer. What a great shop this was! I was in Boston for school in the late 70's and I never needed much of an excuse to pedal up there just to mill about and see all the high end Euro bikes that were not around in the smallish town I had grown up in. (just Raleigh, Peugeot and Motobecane).

Anyone else remember this shop? What year did they close their doors?
(I know there has been a shop with the same name @ Porter Square since '92, anyone know the story between the two shops?)

[cachagua]

I bought my second Serotta (first one in my correct size) from Robert Celerier in that shop. It was a Club Special in the beautiful sapphire blue they used in those days. This would have been 1983.

Great old shop!

[aatores]

Yes I remember! I was in high school near Harvard Square and went in there every chance I got. I bought my first "real bike" from them -- a red (not sure why I didn't get the Celeste Green?) Bianchi with Nouvo Record. People referred to it as Bi Ex and the other shop in the square was called Life Cycle and they sold Fuji and Motobecane I think. Man, that was a long time ago!

[likebikes]

Bicycle exchange in porter closed a few years ago.

[Ti Designs]

.

[witcombusa]

.

That's a great shot of the old shop! Do you know what year that was?
Can we ID any of the folks there?

[echelon_john]

Got my first road bike there; Motobecane Mirage Sport I think. 1981. A lot of the faces in the pic look familiar, but I couldn't name them.

Loved going there to ogle the bikes and racks of wool clothing; Sergal, Santini, etc. It smelled like a shop should smell in there; rubber, tubular glue, lube, grease, wool/b.o., and coffee. Heaven, except maybe for the b.o.

Mystery Train records and Oonas were right around the corner. Good times.

[wc1934]

Good memories from that shop/time. Then go down the street to raise a pint at the Plow n Stars.

[terry]

I think I first met John Allis there.

[11.4]

This dates me. I had one of the very first Colnago Supers ever to come into the country. It was a tad too big for me but gorgeous -- flat chrome fork crown, no braze-ons, white, the old decals, the whole thing. Anyway, I finally sold it to a wrench who worked in this shop. Ten years later, the guy was still there and still riding the bike. He wouldn't sell it back.

[NHAero]

I bought parts there in college and grad school '71-75. Fall 1971 met a young mechanic named Sheldon Brown at the Bicycle Revival on River St who taught me a lot about my Peugeot UO8, and helped me spec out a custom Bob Jackson, delivered in 1972. First I tried the new Fuji bikes imported by Gene Ritvo at Life Cycle, just out of the Square on Mass Ave, but the Fuji Newest cost more than the custom bike.
Lots of cool people at the Bi Ex. Mostly I remember Ed Harrow and Mike Gildea.

[Shortsocks]

I bought parts there in college and grad school '71-75. Fall 1971 met a young mechanic named Sheldon Brown at the Bicycle Revival on River St who taught me a lot about my Peugeot UO8, and helped me spec out a custom Bob Jackson, delivered in 1972. First I tried the new Fuji bikes imported by Gene Ritvo at Life Cycle, just out of the Square on Mass Ave, but the Fuji Newest cost more than the custom bike.
Lots of cool people at the Bi Ex. Mostly I remember Ed Harrow and Mike Gildea.

Wow that's crazy. 71', that's nuts. My dad had JUST immigrated to the United States....great story.

[Ti Designs]

So far two of the 5 owners of Wheelworks have come up.

People in the bike industry tend to hang around for a while, so here are the people from that picture I know (left to right, skipping the ones I don't know):

Jay Miller: he became the DiamondBack rep in the 80's
Bob Barton: Buddy Bob started working at Wheelworks a few years after I did
Paul Siegal: Last I knew he was working at IBC...
Greg Rainoff: he went to law school but kept close ties with the crew.
Ben "old man" Olkin: The square where the shop was is now called Ben Olkin Square.
Chris Cooper: Chris was the first guy I met at Wheelworks 28 years ago. And somehow I stayed...
Robert Celerier: Ro-bear!!! When I was in grade school I came up to Cambridge, went to the BiEx and met him. His accent goes away when he gets drunk.
Scott Chamberlain: At some point everyone in the bike industry is going to get together and write a book about Scott.
Richard Olkin: I don't really know him.
Curtis Jackson: Which part of the bike industry hasn't he been in?
Jeff Wylie: Another key part of the Cambridge area bicycle underground.

[cachagua]

Ro-bear!!! His accent goes away when he gets drunk...

Robert was ever *not* drunk?

[pbarry]

B.E. was top dog back in the day. I worked for Ritvo at Life Cycle in the early 80's, and we always played second fiddle to the big shop in the Square..

Their sales staff were on par with a top flight car dealership. Parts and service excellent. Would love to know the back story on their closing. Incredible location, awesome staff, good product lines. They closed in the early 90's or so?

Robert is unforgettable; always smoking a pipe when he wasn't in the shop. Yes, the accent came and went, and was more obvious when he spoke with comely college students. ;)

Roller races on Wednesday(?) nights. Good times. Worked with Curtis at Merlin, wonderful guy.

TiDesigns, sure we know each other by sight.

Cheers

[wc1934]

[QUOTE=Ti Designs;1479456]

Scott Chamberlain: At some point everyone in the bike industry is going to get together and write a book about Scott.

/QUOTE]
Is Scott still at wheel works?

[Philip Chin]

I've created a group on Facebook to remember the great bike shop that was in Harvard Square.

The original "Bicycle Exchange".

https://www.facebook.com/groups/568798419864063/

Feel free to visit and/or join the group!

[shovelhd]

I was their Elite criterium specialist from 1986-1987. Unfortunately Cat2 back then was was what Cat1 is now and the fields were huge and full of European pros that came over to make some coin. I raced with what are now household names with this jersey on my back.

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l453/shovelfl/bikeforums/be_zps47829aa8.jpg

[shovelhd]

Race for the Rock, Plymouth MA, OTF on the supplied Basso frame.

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l453/shovelfl/bikeforums/bike2_zpsa5e44dee.jpg

[pbarry]

Race for the Rock, Plymouth MA, OTF on the supplied Basso frame.

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l453/shovelfl/bikeforums/bike2_zpsa5e44dee.jpg

You were way ahead of the curve. :) Dig both the Brancale and the un-tan. The latter speaks to training very early, or, very late in the day. :beer:

[saf-t]

Bought my first "good" bike there some time in the late 60s- a Peugeot U0-8. I loved that bike.

It was really sad to see them close, along with a whole bunch of other notable businesses in the Square. I worked for a number of years at Ferranti-Dege, which will always have a place in my heart.

[gordieax]

Grew up in Cambridge which had a few local bike shops ( Hershon's, Jaspers) but the Bike Exchange was the creme de la creme of shops. Had all the stuff I couldn't afford as a kid. After college got a job and bought my first real bike @ BE, a hybrid Univega. BE in Porter Sq. not even close to the original on Bow Street. All the good ones are now gone from The Square but this thread brings good memories.

[numbskull]

As a young teenager I, too, bought my first real bike there in 1969........a red Raleigh Grand Prix....$105 I think.

[davidpaul]

What a sweet memory! I bought the second significant bicycle in my life at the Bicycle Exchange. It was winter 1988-89 and I purchased a Bianchi Limited on a snowy night and road it back to Medford where i was attending the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. I was so very proud of that bike! And o, the lovely rides I took on it in the Boston area. My favorite ride was to go from Medford up to Concord, and then down Route 126 past Walden Pond and into Wayland and then back into Cambridge, where i would stop at the Boathouse for a Bass Ale (or two), and then on up Mass Ave back to Medford. What a sweet sweet ride that is/was. By the way, I still have the Bianchi Limited! Also by the way, I wrote a poem on Route 126 one evening that still runs in my mind, and it goes like this:
A Little Secret
Psst (Cycling is the Best!!)
Keep it between you and me okay!?
To get on and go
And find yourself like a piece of wind
Rushing luscious land!
And to do this in the evening
When the air is fragrant and blue
And the woods are dark and still
Just you,
You might squeal or feel a spreading tingle
Just knowing
How lovely everything is!

[bikingshearer]

I have a 30+ year old pair of wool tights, definitely not merino wool and more than a little worse for wear. I'm all but certain I bought them there.

[Ti Designs]

Race for the Rock, Plymouth MA, OTF on the supplied Basso frame.

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l453/shovelfl/bikeforums/bike2_zpsa5e44dee.jpg


That's weird, my father is in the background of your picture.

[Grumbs]

I believe mystery train and oonas are still there, around the corner.


Got my first road bike there; Motobecane Mirage Sport I think. 1981. A lot of the faces in the pic look familiar, but I couldn't name them.

Loved going there to ogle the bikes and racks of wool clothing; Sergal, Santini, etc. It smelled like a shop should smell in there; rubber, tubular glue, lube, grease, wool/b.o., and coffee. Heaven, except maybe for the b.o.

Mystery Train records and Oonas were right around the corner. Good times.

[leftyfreak]

That's weird, my father is in the background of your picture.

Wow! The one with the camera? Like father, like son...though his belly is a bit bigger than yours.

[Grumbs]

I remember exploring the various alleys and crannies of the Square, with my first girlfriend and alone and with my small gang of homies, around age 12.
The Janus theater was still in the basement of the tiny mall on JFK, the Worsthaus, Tasty, Elsie's diner we're all still there. And the wierd mall below the Brattle theater. The bicycle exchange was another mysterious storefront that exuded the "odor" of many and varied lived-in experiences. The whole Square had a very lived-in vibe back then, like somebody's old apartment where you can sense the aura of their daily routines as though it's been etched into the space.

[shovelhd]

The Wursthaus was killer. Great food and abusive service.

[echelon_john]

I miss Grendel's. First place I ever had hummus.

[fmradio516]

Reviving this old thread because i just stumbled upon it this morning and its awesome!

This is way before my time(in my early 30s) but Ive lived down the street from Harvard Sq for the past 12 years and its amazing how much its changed since I moved here. I cant imagine what it was like in the 70s.. must have been really cool.

I live next door to where Bicycle Bills used to be. I actually worked there as a mechanic while going to school. Good times. The owner Paul had some great stories from back when.

And yes Scott C is still at wheelworks.

[TimD]

Scott Chamberlain: At some point everyone in the bike industry is going to get together and write a book about Scott.


Here's my contribution :) He lives, or lived, near me, in a relatively small house with no garage. He once told me he had 37 bikes in the house. I ride by it all the time and cannot help but think, "Where???"

[XXtwindad]

Thanks! I've been looking for this thread for a bit! Was going to reach out to NHaero...

[fmradio516]

Here's my contribution :) He lives, or lived, near me, in a relatively small house with no garage. He once told me he had 37 bikes in the house. I ride by it all the time and cannot help but think, "Where???"

Is it the really old, white house in Dover? Not quite that many bikes there now, but still a good amount.

[C40_guy]

What was the name of the bike shop next to the Orson Welles Cinema on Mass Ave?

Big Fuji shop, friend of mine worked there for a while.

There was always a can on the counter labeled "The Mikey Fund."

I understand that the owner funded his Florida trip every year with the money that went into the can. If someone asked, he would tell the truth, but most people just dropped their change into the can without asking.

[NHAero]

It was Life Cycle. The owner IIRC correctly was Gene Ritvo. When I was shopping for a good bike, Sheldon and I went over there and we rode what I think was the first Fuji in the US, or on the East coast, called the Fuji Finest, which was a step down from their top bike, which Gene didn't have, called the Newest :-)
I ended up ordering a custom Bob Jackson for about the same money. It was just under $350, built. A bit of a Frankenbike with equipment because it had Sheldon's recommended bits instead of a group.
Suntour barcons and derailleurs
Regina Oro freewheel and chain
Mavic centerpull brakes
TA Cyclotouriste cranks, 48-34
Lyotard Marcel Berthet pedals
Brooks Pro saddle
Campy high flange NR hubs laced to clincher rims, 36 hole - can't recall the rims - Super Champion perhaps?
Cinelli bars and stem

Within a year I had swapped it all for a complete Campy NR set-up and tubular wheels with Campy low flange NR hubs and Fiamme Yellow rims.

What was the name of the bike shop next to the Orson Welles Cinema on Mass Ave?

Big Fuji shop, friend of mine worked there for a while.

There was always a can on the counter labeled "The Mikey Fund."

I understand that the owner funded his Florida trip every year with the money that went into the can. If someone asked, he would tell the truth, but most people just dropped their change into the can without asking.

[jzisk]

I had an extraordinary series of summer jobs, from my sophomore (high school) year to the end of college... Iremember Gene's place, and those Fuji's. I got to sell some for Mike Farny a couple of years later (1973) at Lincoln Guide Service. I remember all of us staring at a box with a crankset nestled in red velvet--the new Shimano parts seemed more jewel-like than even Campy's stuff... But the year before I met Gene, across the street from Ben's BiEx mecca, and ogled that exotic Fuji Finest, a few blocks up the road Sheldon (and Stan Kaplan, who invented the original Kryptonite lock) interviewed me for my first job at Bicycle Revival. It was a young Peter Mooney (a year older than my own then callow 15) who introduced me to them. I have one of Peter's frames he built just a few years later. The next year after Bicycle Revival I got a job under Ben Olken at the BiEx. What a beautiful scene. More like a circus meets a religious retreat than a bike shop. And a year later I got to work for Mike Farny in Lincoln (before Charles River Canoe); next it was Al McDonough, co-owner at the time of the 3-location Eastern Mtn Sports, as he sought to introduce bicycles to the Comm Ave floor. What a trip-- What amazing people. I was a good wrench, but a bad, raw neophyte at the complexity of humanity and honorable relations. I met Sheldon again a few years later at the Bicycle Repair Collective, when I worked in an outpatient psych clinic across the street on Broadway in Cambridge. And I visited him a few times over the years in Newton (RIP). What a very good person. We measure and mold ourselves by our interactions, and I was lucky to have some illuminating ones back then.

[NHAero]

When I met Sheldon I was a freshman at MIT, and he was working at the Bicycle Revival - I think Stan worked there too, and Neal Carney, another founder of the Repair Collective.

Did you know Anne McKinnon when you worked at Lincoln Guide Service?

I had an extraordinary series of summer jobs, from my sophomore (high school) year to the end of college... Iremember Gene's place, and those Fuji's. I got to sell some for Mike Farny a couple of years later (1973) at Lincoln Guide Service. I remember all of us staring at a box with a crankset nestled in red velvet--the new Shimano parts seemed more jewel-like than even Campy's stuff... But the year before I met Gene, across the street from Ben's BiEx mecca, and ogled that exotic Fuji Finest, a few blocks up the road Sheldon (and Stan Kaplan, who invented the original Kryptonite lock) interviewed me for my first job at Bicycle Revival. It was a young Peter Mooney (a year older than my own then callow 15) who introduced me to them. I have one of Peter's frames he built just a few years later. The next year after Bicycle Revival I got a job under Ben Olken at the BiEx. What a beautiful scene. More like a circus meets a religious retreat than a bike shop. And a year later I got to work for Mike Farny in Lincoln (before Charles River Canoe); next it was Al McDonough, co-owner at the time of the 3-location Eastern Mtn Sports, as he sought to introduce bicycles to the Comm Ave floor. What a trip-- What amazing people. I was a good wrench, but a bad, raw neophyte at the complexity of humanity and honorable relations. I met Sheldon again a few years later at the Bicycle Repair Collective, when I worked in an outpatient psych clinic across the street on Broadway in Cambridge. And I visited him a few times over the years in Newton (RIP). What a very good person. We measure and mold ourselves by our interactions, and I was lucky to have some illuminating ones back then.

[merlinmurph]

Mostly I remember Ed Harrow and Mike Gildea.

Too funny, Ed Harrow lives in my town of Hopkinton MA. I see him riding every once in awhile, usually on some classic piece. He's been very vocal about the bicycle lanes in a proposal for reconfiguring our downtown.

After graduating from college in the mid-70s, I lived in Marshfield and took the T from N. Quincy into Harvard Sq. to hit the Coop, hang out, and visit the bike shops. For a kid in the suburbs, BiEx was so effing cool, with stuff I had never seen before. I don't know if I ever bought anything, maybe small stuff. But I loved just looking.

[mass_biker]

I remember Roller Racers there in the winter...and I remember when they shut the Harvard Sq. location buying a bunch of tools really cheap (which I still own). Good memories...

[jzisk]

When I met Sheldon I was a freshman at MIT, and he was working at the Bicycle Revival - I think Stan worked there too, and Neal Carney, another founder of the Repair Collective.

Did you know Anne McKinnon when you worked at Lincoln Guide Service?

Anne was one of the most rock-solid people I've known. Sweet, beautiful, gentle-- but utterly solid. Good person. There was also a guy who raced pretty well. I can't remember his name. Short, huge grin and wry sense of humor, dark hair... Who was he?

[wc1934]

Is it the really old, white house in Dover? Not quite that many bikes there now, but still a good amount.

Haha - yup. once when a buddy and I stopped by on our ride he asked that we park the bikes out back - said he didnt want anyone to associate nice bikes with his house (for fear of break ins).

[fmradio516]

Haha - yup. once when a buddy and I stopped by on our ride he asked that we park the bikes out back - said he didnt want anyone to associate nice bikes with his house (for fear of break ins).

lol i dont blame him. that house is old. all you need is one big, bad wolf to huff and puff and itll knock it down quick!

[buddybikes]

High school, and we would take pilgrimage there from Worcester. white Italvegia (sp) in the window would be drooling at.

Go to service center and all the parts were pegged on the wall where you picked out which one you wanted. Bike stands set up so you could do your own work.

Around the corner, burger place (forgot the name) killer.

[Ti Designs]

I remember Roller Racers there in the winter...

I have one of those sets of rollers.


Scott C. still lives in the same house on Main Street in Dover - it was the house he wanted to live in growing up. I'm pretty sure it has a garage. He bought a yellow 1989 Honda CRX, figured out he was a cyclist and parked it in the garage for 10 years. I had never seen Scott drive a car, so I thought it odd that he would say "I have one of those" when I parked my CRX in front of Wheelworks. Being a CRX guy, I had heard rumors that someone had one that they never used, and it turned out to be the person I work 10 feet away from...

Bike shops are weird places.


The burger shop around the corner from the Bi-Ex was either Bartley's Burger Cottage (which is still there) or The Tasty on the corner of JFK street.

[shinomaster]

I went to one at Harvard Square circa 1991 maybe? Cool place. There was a ramen shop there now last time I was in town.

[cash05458]

It was a cool shop and like so many here, bought my first real bike there in mid 80's...a pinarello with campy...I rode that bike for nearly 16 years! A buddy of mine from college was working there as a mechanic...John...and I still have an old PDM jersey I picked up there...what a good place that was...

[jzisk]

I have one of those sets of rollers.


Scott C. still lives in the same house on Main Street in Dover - it was the house he wanted to live in growing up. I'm pretty sure it has a garage. He bought a yellow 1989 Honda CRX, figured out he was a cyclist and parked it in the garage for 10 years. I had never seen Scott drive a car, so I thought it odd that he would say "I have one of those" when I parked my CRX in front of Wheelworks. Being a CRX guy, I had heard rumors that someone had one that they never used, and it turned out to be the person I work 10 feet away from...

Bike shops are weird places.


The burger shop around the corner from the Bi-Ex was either Bartley's Burger Cottage (which is still there) or The Tasty on the corner of JFK street.


It was Bartley's. Huge variety of custom built burgers.

[homagesilkhope]

My trips to the shop spanned almost 20 years. I can recall drooling over beautiful Raleighs in 1973 and - as tastes became more esoteric - Pinarelli and Bottecchie in 1990. Then in protest against the Steve's rage, I'd hit up the Baskin Robbins next door.

[merckx]

My trips to the shop spanned almost 20 years. I can recall drooling over beautiful Raleighs in 1973 and - as tastes became more esoteric - Pinarelli and Bottecchie in 1990. Then in protest against the Steve's rage, I'd hit up the Baskin Robbins next door.

Tell us more about Steve's rage.

[homagesilkhope]

Oh, you know, Steve's Ice Cream out of Somerville, with mix-ins and all that jazz. It was all the rage for a while there.

[NHAero]

Man, I coulda declared Steve's as a dependent on my tax return back in those days...

Oh, you know, Steve's Ice Cream out of Somerville, with mix-ins and all that jazz. It was all the rage for a while there.

[merckx]

Oh, you know, Steve's Ice Cream out of Somerville, with mix-ins and all that jazz. It was all the rage for a while there.

Got it. I thought perhaps there was an Enquirer story in there somewhere. Steve still exists in Northampton.

[Ti Designs]

It was Bartley's. Huge variety of custom built burgers.

Even the air in there is greasy... I loved The Tasty. It was the classic burger shop on the corner of JFK street. The burgers came with free verbal abuse with a thick Boston accent.

[saf-t]

Even the air in there is greasy... I loved The Tasty. It was the classic burger shop on the corner of JFK street. The burgers came with free verbal abuse with a thick Boston accent.

The Tasty definitely had better burgers. And Bartley's also had the world's worst coffee.

[fmradio516]

And Bartley's also had the world's worst coffee.

Not too crazy about Bartleys. Its definitely turned into more of a tourist trap in the area. Every time I go there, the food is disappointing, but I had never gone there back in the day.