No. 56, Vol. 5 - Lessons From A True Old-Schooler.

John Sinibaldi

1913 - 2006

John "The Legend" Sinibaldi, passed away in his sleep January 10 at 10:40 am. He was 92 years old, and had a short battle with lung cancer. Luckily he was not in any pain, and died peacefully with his family by his side.

John's legacy as a cyclist will not soon be forgotten, as few if any cyclists will ever achieve what he did: national champion 18 times; Olympian in 1932 and 1936; U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame inductee in 1997; national record holder. His cycling career spanned an amazing 77 years, all on it on top of the national amateur picture. He won his first national-level race in 1928; his last national championship was this year at the USA Cycling Masters National Road Championships. A conservative estimate puts his lifetime mileage at well over a half-million miles.

From VeloNews, CyclingNews and the St. Petersburg Floridian.

John Sinibaldi's secret to a long life:

1. Eat your vegetables.
2. Work in the garden.
3. Listen to classical music.
4. Walk barefoot whenever possible.
5. Avoid TV as much as you can.
6. Read the paper front to back every day.
7. Work the crossword puzzle.
8. Eat red meat sparingly.
9. Don't smoke.
10. Hug all the girls at every opportunity.
11. And ride your bike like crazy. :)

Godspeed, John...

No. 55, Vol. 5 - Dude, Whereja Get Those Fancy Threads?

Are You Tragically Hip?

Choices, choices: to be unknowingly tragically hip like my brother Joel, or to try to be tragically hip in a nonchalant sort of way like most of us poseurs? The choice is up to you, brothers and sisters. We're just here to facilitate some conversation in the lifelong debate of looking good and how to get there. Check out some of our new and old stuff below, `cuz it's all good, and somebody somewhere's gonna like something, right? Limited supply. Some stuff is brand-spankin' new, other stuff is priced to move, move, move!!

Tops

Back

Front

Gaansari Vintage T - NEW
Olive Green with the Orv logo on the front, and our vintage poster image on back. S, M, L, XL. Made in Los Angeles by American Apparel. Just $19.

Gaansari Old School T - SS
Heather gray cotton. Hanes Heavyweight 50/50. Small and Medium only. Made in Mexico. Were $15, now just $10.

Gaansari Ride It Like You Stole It T
Raglan sleeve, soft cotton shirt. Soft enough to wear as pajamas. Medium, Large and XL only. Made in Los Angeles by American Apparel. Were $22, now just $12.

Gaansari Biker Chick T
Ringer t-shirt. Large only. Made in USA by someone other than American Apparel. Were $19, now just $9.

Gaansari Leisure Shirt
Soft cotton collared shirt with pocket, ideal for lounging around. S, M, L, XL in various colors (Lemon, Cream, Brown, Black, Asphalt, Pink). Made in Los Angeles by American Apparel. Were $29, now just $18.

Gaansari Team Merino Wool jersey
Classically-styled jersey that looks good, feels good, and wears well in all coniditions. Short sleeve only, ideal with Merino wool or cotton arm warmers (we have those too). S, M, L, XL. Made in Portland, Oregon from New Zealand Merino wool. Just $85.

Gaansari Cash Black Merino Wool T
S, M, L, XL. Made in Australia, mate.

Caps

Gaansari Cotton Cycling Caps
Black, Red or Blue with Gold lettering. Classically styled to look good while riding or donned Made in California. Just $10 each, or 3/$25.

Kucharik Merino Wool Trainer Cap
Reversible - black on one side, two-colored on other. Choose from Yellow, Red, Light Blue, Royal Blue, White, Orange, Burgundy and Gray. Made in California from New Zealand Merino wool. Just $32.

Spot Wool Beanie
Cookie Monster Blue. Made in New Zealand, mate. Just $25.

No. 54, Vol. 5 - Our 5th Year.

Justilonica in Traverse City, MI

Pedro and a Potts MTB fork.

Pat Maguire's Gaansari Flyer.

Gary & Sal in May 2005.

Our Man Will Meister, head janitor at HubJub.

Stacked to the rafters (apologies to Dave Grohl).

Family night rides.

The new location - 305 S. Main Street in Springboro, OH

The original location - 1106 Brown Street in Dayton, Ohio from January 2003 to December 2004.

Sam preparing for the Springboro Freedom Festival.

Sam and Justin's rear flying down State Street.

Justin and Ryan.

Captain of the Guard - Gromit.

Cycles Gaansari has entered its fifth year in business. We've seen a lot these past few years, and sometimes the days are too short. Sometimes the days are too long, and a few pulls on a deep cup of black coffee usually makes everything better. That and listening to "Live At Stubbs" by Matisyahu.

Last year was interesting from many perspectives. First, we relocated the business to Springboro from downtown Dayton. Our first employee Bryan Bell transferred his employment to another local bike shop, while our first part-time employee Justin Kellermeier came on board full time. We opened our doors to the world on January 17, and introduced our new line of Gaansari bikes at the Seattle Bike Expo in February. Springboro is more of a rural community, so we lost most of the walk-in traffic had at our downtown Dayton location. Our out-of-state sales tripled, as did sales of Gaansari models.

Highlights from 2005:

• Road riding with Steve Smith and Dave Schlabowske on our old stomping grounds in Milwaukee, WI in late June;
• Exhibiting our bikes and stuff while making new friends at the 1st International Fixed Gear Gallery Symposium in August;
• Night riding with S and H;
• Saturday-morning fixie rides with Justin and Allan Bindemann;
• Spending a long weekend in Point Reyes Station, CA with Steve Potts and his sons;
• Competing in the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival in Hayward, WI in mid September;
• Making the rounds with Justin and Ryan at our annual bike industry trade show in late September;
• Introducing the Fisso brand of bike messenger fixies and accessories to raise money and awareness for the Bicycle Messenger Emergency Fund in late September;
• Crashing to the ground like a ton of bricks in downtown Dayton after Justin's alley cat race in October;
• Racing cyclocross with Scott, Bryan and Justin in November;
• Touring Rwanda by mountain bike with Tom Ritchey in December.
• Working with Will Meister at HubJub to offer Gaansari products to the UK market.
• Getting positive reviews for our Gaansari St. Clair in Dirt Rag magazine and the Gaansari Scorcher in Cycling Plus UK.

January for a bike company can be slow. Our mood ebbs and flows with the weather, and we try our best to snap back to reality and realize how fortunate we are to have this business (a bike ride, even a very short one, does wonders for the soul). Our wealth is based on friendships first and foremost, and while negative cashflow can be a challenge, our bank account of relationships is overflowing.

Thank you for an awesome 2005. Let's make it a spectacular 2006! Check us out when you can - we have several new-old-stock bikes for sale, as well as room in production for more Gaansari bikes and custom wheelsets.

~ Gary, Jean, Samantha, Henri, Justin and Gromit.