BBH Closing?

[Justin August]

I've been out of the country so maybe I missed the announcement. I just saw on the Radavist that BBH was closing. Was this known or new info?

-Justin

[Joe Bernard]

It's news to me.

[Justin August]

http://theradavist.com/2016/07/only-a-few-months-left-for-bike-book-hatchet-kyle-kelley/

-Justin

[eddietheflay]

I love Riv. Retail space in Walnut Creek cost a crazy fortune. BBH is not the bread and butter of those who frequent the streets of Downtown Walnut Creek.

Now BBBH might work. Need the beer.

[dstein]

That's a shame, it is a great store. One I keep meaning to buy a hatchet from despite not having any real need for a hatchet....yet. I loved the idea but was always worried there isn't enough local support in WC to keep it going, making it more of a destination place which is a little conflicting given the close proximity to HQ down the street. I think I remember them doing a pop up store in the Mission before this, wonder if something in the city would be more feasible (with the even crazier high rents and overhead of operating in SF)? Or Oakland?

Anyone up for a Saturday ride from Oakland to BBH to buy some stuff in a few weeks (mixed terrain preferably)? 

[Joe Bernard]

My recent attempt at a mixed-terrain Riv Ride proved I'm not very good at it, but I might grab the folder and meet you guys somewhere on the route. Or the electric Clem! I'd love to see that store.

[Justin August]

Let's do it!

-J

[CMR]

I'm up for a ride in!

[masmojo]

I really think this was sort of intended to be a short term experiment from Grants early posts on the matter. I enjoyed it while I was there and bought some stuff even though I already dropped some money at the main location. Having never been to Walnut Creek before, I thought the concept was a bit of a stretch. Then being there I definitely got the sense that there was a large section of people for whom buying the sort of things they had in the store was not going to stress their budgets at all.

Still, if nothing else it's probably made the locals more aware of Rivendells presence and that could continue to pay dividends down the road.

[John A. Bennett]

Operating a small shop selling stuff you like - and that you hope others like, too - is a dicey business these days. 

And if you sell anything that can also be had online, it's double-dog-dicey. 

The experience of a place (and the people) like Bike, Book & Hatchet cannot be duplicated on a web site. 

John Bennett

Portland, Oregon

On Tuesday, July 5, 2016 at 3:29:11 PM UTC-7, Justin August wrote:

[drew]

That's a shame. We have unavoidable family in Lafayette, and getting to go by riv and bbh was always my consolation prize.
We are a 3 rivendell household, and I always feel a little strange going to rivhq, since I'm not gonna be buying another bike. Bbh was a great place to see/touch all the new and weird stuff. It's still the only place I've seen my wife get excited about buying things for her bike.

[Joe Bernard]

Drew, there's nothing strange about visiting RBW as a non-bike-buyer. Anyone with 3 Rivs already has major dollars invested in the company, and undoubtedly still buys stuff from them. My policy for any bike shop visit is to buy something, which I'm sure most of us do when we drop by World Headquarters. I know Grant & Co appreciate it.

[KC]

If I hadn't happened to walk by BBH after dinner when we randomly stayed in Walnut Creek on the way home from visiting our son in the Bay Area, I probably wouldn't have my Cheviot.  Actually if Grant hadn't been there, introduced himself and suggested a stop at HQ the next day to look at bikes, I probably wouldn't have my Cheviot.  That would be pretty sad for me.  I guess I was very lucky. 

[masmojo]

You know when Grant started mentioning it on his Blug and he said it was hoing to b e Downtown. Somehow, I was picturing in my head, San Francisco. The idea that it was a 3 blocks away never really sank in til I was there!
That in turn, makes me think that an outpost (not necessarily a BBH) might make a lot of sense in another location!? Like maybe Berkeley or even Fairfax? Some place close, but not too close.

[Surlyprof]

I'd be in for a mixed terrain to BBH.  Great idea, Dave.

John

[David Stein]

Cool, I have a hall pass for next Satuday, July 16, if anyone else is free then. Depending how hot it is we could aim for meeting up in Walnut Creek and doing a Diablo or Shell Ridge (little to no shade) ride then down to BBH. If it's on the hotter side that day I might opt to ride over from Rockridge BART (the cooler side of the Bay), over to Skyline/Grizzly, down through Redwood regional, then sticking to the mostly shaded Lafayette/Moraga Regional Trail (which is also flat!, but with tons of pedestrians). Earlier the better for me but I'm flexible.

I'd be down with this either way, but is this for real closing? I trust the Radavist, but haven't heard anything from the folks at Riv.

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[Irving]

I'm interested for a Saturday July 16th BBH Ramble!

[David Stein]

Cool, sounds like there is some interest. I'm thinking of a 9:30 meetup at Walnut Creek BART and head to Shell Ridge for a trail ramble? I can also do road to if that is more preferable but my first choice is trail. Anyone local to WC that guide? I've done Shell Ridge a handful of times and just know the main loop.

[Nick Huemmer]

Hi Everyone,
I'm down for a 7/16 ramble. I live in WC and know Shell Ridge well, glad to help with a route if necessary.

Nick
El Duke

[Irving]

Errr, still totally down for this but I have a morning appointment that makes it iffy for me to get to Walnut Creek BART by 9:34am. I will definitely be able to make it to the next train and arrive at 9:54am, so can we do a 10am meetup?

[David Stein]

Irving - I'm flexible and that works for me. Let's shoot for 10AM at WC BART (or 10:30 at the Indian Valley Elementary entrance to the park). 

Nick - thanks for offering and if you have a route from that entrance that would be awesome. Let me know if you can't make it for any reason and I'll plan accordingly, or feel free to shoot over a route map from ride with gps or google maps or whatever. Otherwise I just rely on the one from BayAreaRides.

Everyone else - instead of taking roll, just plan on being at one of those two spots at the appropriate time and shoot me a PM if you're running a little late. 

We'll ramble around Shell Ridge and head to BBH after, bring some spending money ;). Weather of as of now looks on the warm side, but still in the low 80's.

[Marc40a]

I was just reading the old Roscoe Bubbe blug tonight and noticed:

"Most of you don’t know, but we have spawned a micro-store in fancy downtwon Walnut Creek. It’s about 2.5 years into what will be the end of its 3-year lease. "

That's was dated March of this year.

So, there it is.

[Nick Huemmer]

Sounds good, I *should* be able to make is barring anything blows up at home (or on my bike).

Nick

[Justin August]

I'll be taking BART over from Fruitvale on Saturday. There's a 9:23 train that transfers if anyone wants to BARTpool on the way over.

-Justin

[davec...@gmail.com]

What time does that pass through rockridge? I see a 10 and 10:20 train that leave Rockridge going to WC at 10:14 and 10:35.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 11, 2016, at 7:58 AM, Justin August <justin...@icloud.com> wrote:
>
> I'll be taking BART over from Fruitvale on Saturday. There's a 9:23 train that transfers if anyone wants to BARTpool on the way over.
>
> -Justin
>

[dstein]

Just a quick reminder, meetup tomorrow at 10AM at WC bart. Then ride over to Shell Ridge for some trail riding (for those that haven't been it is pretty hilly, but nothing crazy). Then down to BBH. Anyone coming but running late just PM me from this thread. 

[dstein]

Sadly, BBH has already moved the cash register out and started boxing up. Though they say they're going to be there until the end of September, it was slim pickings inside and nothing was for sale anyway as the register is gone.

The ride was great though. 4 of us showed and did 21 miles around Shell Ridge on a not too hot summer day, followed by some beer at a bottle shop in WC I already forgot the name of but am about to open a few that I bought to take home :). Funny story about the ride: it was all uphill. 

[Joe Bernard]

Shell Ridge is the ride I bonked out of on Bike Snob Book Day. You kids with your "not too bad" hills...

[Chris Lampe 2]

Strange, every ride I take is all into the wind...both coming and going....... I guess that's what I get for living in Oklahoma.  ;)

[Justin August]

I was sorry to not be able to make but family matters arose. Sad to hear they are moving everything out so early. The cash flow generated from that storefront must have been extremely low in order to give it up at this early of a date.

-Justin

[Lungimsam]

It is sad that they are closing. Maybe it is the economy-to-price-of-goods ratio these days. I don't know.

I think it is difficult to sell bikes/parts in the USA these days. If you have read the Rivendell readers, you know of RBW's struggles through the years.

Quality cycling gear is a very expensive now in the USA. I don't know if it is the economy or what.

I'm not talking Target/WalMart/Sears. I am talking LBS and up.

Go into any LBS. How many people in the USA can afford to shell out 900$ for an entry level road bike these days? 40$ gloves? A 65$ helmet? $80 shoes?

It is too bad that these great bikes (LBS, RBW, Boulder, Weigle, Litespeed, etc.) aren't financially accessible to everyone.

Maybe it is not so much the helmets keeping people from cycling, but the prices the market bears these days.

CIA factbook today says that "per capita GDP of $54,800" in USA. How many want to/are able to buy a 1000$ US bike and the parts? How many can you sell in this economy?

Sometimes I think the US cycling industry is going to implode on itself if the prices get much higher.

[ascpgh]

Grant has always held that cycling has a place for everyone, Walnut Creek may have gotten a bit too upmarket and urban with itself to permit that. I can remember objectifying a few of the top model mountain bikes in the earliest days, rare among what was already pretty rare as LBSs were slow to get into them. I knew from word of mouth, reading and a few chances to see and try one in the wild, that they were better than the average OEM bike. $1000 was the pie in the sky price those days, which is a joke now. Top floor planned models in the proximate Trek-a-lized showroom retail for more than my first new motor vehicle. Inflation does not account for that catapulting of prices.

The average person needing transportation, practical to their situation, really makes bicycling daunting and unapproachable in the US. I remember Kona and their Africa bikes that targeted these needs of people completely elsewhere. Seems like we need a similar product here to remove the class barrier. A continual differentiation of cycling and cycling sport between the US and the world. That audience doesn't respond to advertising, frequent retail yet alone buy new.

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh 

[Nick Huemmer]

Yeah - how does buying a bike and associated bits compare with buying other consumer goods?    I don't mind paying a premium for bike parts (and boy, have I!) and equipment (within reason) but I always wonder if consumers are turned away from buying bikes because they see them as so expensive and the bikes they are willing to pay for are shoddy.  Then, many are willing to finance buying a car they can't really afford.  We live in a strange place.

One other observation I've made is that Surlys seem to get more and more expensive while having seemingly lower component specs ("entry level" components, I hate the term).  A brand new Cross Check or similar from an LBS is expensive.

Personally, I feel like BBH was a great store but ahead of its time and in the wrong location.  Foot traffic in WC especially around that mall seem more interested in shopping the Apple Store and Vineyard Vines, but not interested in pine tar (awesome), wool (indispensable) and hatchets (fun and useful).

[Surlyprof]

BBH was pretty barren when we arrived after our ride.  Still, its sheer existence was the catalyst for a really fun ride all around Shell Ridge.  Thanks to Dave for rallying the group and Joe and Tony for guiding us through some great trails in their neck of the woods.  There was even enough water in a few of the creekbeds to provide a hard-earned racing stripe up my back!  Followed by a beer in a Walnut Creek taproom and a trip to Riv HQ.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

Thanks for a fun ride guys.

John