William Caligari Racing the Josh -  Photo by John Benedict It's Josh season: The time of year that the "Berkshire World Championship," as it is affectionately known, makes its way into backyard barbecue conversations. Talk of team rosters and training take on renewed intensity. The perennial obstacle of securing a competitive paddler is revived. The cycling portion of the event is arguably the most exciting. Whether you're new to the sport altogether, new to racing, or a long-time Josh participant, there may be something in this article for you. Being the bicycle mechanic who has been at the McDonald's parking lot helping people with last-minute fixes, I want to first make sure your bicycle is up to the challenge. While there are no "wrong" bikes for the Josh, there are cycling choices that will likely improve your race experience. For example, one could ride a mountain bike, but it will prove slow and cumbersome. A better choice for an event such as thi

Looking to climb hills like a mountain goat?  Love your current bike but wish it was just a little faster?  Got a team for the Josh Billings and want to shave a some time off your bike time.  We have just what you need to achieve all this and breathe some new life into your current bicycle.   A carbon wheel upgrade is the biggest upgrade you can make to your bicycle!   A good carbon wheelset will improve ride quality and are designed to absorb road vibrations.  This leads to less fatigue of the rider while riding on rough pavement or mixed surface roads.      While putting power to the pedals, the wheels are designed to not flex making sure all the effort you are putting into the sprint or climb propels you forward.  The experience of a much stiffer wheelset will make your aluminum wheels feel like noodles.    There are a few options and features to choose between when buying a wheel upgrade.  Usually you can choose 2 options...   Option #1 Lightweight Climbing wheels  - To help you cl

Nic Piretti loves adventuring on wheels wherever he has the chance.  On his Friday morning rides to the bagel shop, Nic takes the longer route to dip his toes, or in this case his tires, in some water.   Nic sure did get excited when we started to get gravel bikes back in stock, like a kid in a candy store.  He has been buzzing around the shop all week squeezing the brakes and testing the shifting to make sure the gravel bikes are ready to roll! Shop our gravel bikes online.

Norbrook E-mtb demo FREE Saturday August 13th Norbrook Farm Brewery, CT Come and ride some E-mtb around Norbrook Farm Brewery and drink some tasty beers. RSVP to our demo here. Roe Jan Ramble Saturday September 17th Hillsdale, NY Six routes from 10 miles long up to 62 miles long! All proceeds to benefit the Harlem Valley Rail Trail! Sign up for the Roe Jan Ramble here! Josh Billings Bike Paddle Run Triathalon (aka The Berkshire Olympics) Sunday September 18th Lenox, MA Grab your self a fast paddler and a fast runner and jump on board! The 46th Great Josh Billings Run Aground Triathlon in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts Bike 27 miles, Canoe / kayak / SUP 5 miles, Run 6 miles Register for the Josh Billings here. Tour de Greylock Saturday September 24th Lanesborough, MA This is a scenic 41-mile ride, starting and ending in Lanesborough, which will take participants through the towns that surround Mount Greylock Register for the Tour De Greylock here. Escape NYC New York Cycle Cl

Want to come work for a growing bicycle retailer right here in the heart of The Berkshires? Think you've got what it takes to succeed in a fast paced work environment?  Come and check out our award winning company culture and core values, focusing on strong growth opportunities by putting the right people in the right places from within our business. Duties Service and tune bikes to a high standard of quality and with high productivity following the steps below... Take direction from our service writers and help to fill gaps with them Be able to carry bikes and get them into workstands Run tune ups on bikes according to both our and the industries standards Run cables / mount various components / true wheels / adjust brakes and drivetrain / check fasteners / make bike good as new Document work, communicate with customers, follow through. Wrenches are responsible for servicing all the bikes that come through our doors.  Depending on experience, wrenches will start out cleaning bikes

To our customers, Spring of 2022 is coming quickly, and it felt like a good time to write up something explaining a little bit about what the last two years have been like for us, and what the upcoming season may potentially look like.   Basically, since March of 2020 we’ve been chasing our own tails.  I wish there was a more graceful way to put it, but we were running.  Although our overall sales increased, at many times it felt like the wheels were falling off.  A huge thanks has to be given both to our staff for keeping their heads up and to all of our customers for sticking with us and being patient.   The question bike shops fielded most often over the past two years was ‘Where are all the bikes?’ Now, we feel like at BBB we’ve done better than the rest with keeping supply levels up, but we were nowhere near perfect.  Over the past couple of years we have been operating in unprecedented times.  COVID-19 rattled the world in more ways than one, and the bicycle and the outdoor indus