July E-Blast

Happy July! There is nothing we appreciate more here at the Wheelhouse than you! Your patronage is very important to us, and we hope that we’ve earned it.

Retail+Service Through the end of the month, we are throwing in a Planet Bike Blinky light set with the purchase of any new bike! We carry cruisers and hybrids from Kona, Sun and Origin 8. Any bike purchased from Wheelhouse Detroit comes with a free tune-up with no expiration date.

Now you can wear the Wheelhouse! You can pick up one of our t-shirts for just $15 at the shop or $20, including shipping, via our website.

We aim to provide fast, fair and quality service. To do so, we require bikes to be dropped off, so that we can work on them in the order that they are received. We do not perform on-the-spot repairs. Depending on the day, we can get it back to you in a few hours or by the next day — but it can take longer if we need to order parts or there is a backlog. We do our best to communicate whatever the situation and timeline might be. Thanks for the opportunity to work on your beloved steed!

Tour the city with Wheelhouse! Our tours continue to be a big hit. What’s so great about them? Well, they are developed in concert with the community that we visit or with an expert in the area that we will be discussing. To provide a safe ride and so that everyone can hear the guide, we limit our group size to 15 riders — which is why so many of our tours sell out. But you’re in luck! We do have spots open for Hamtramck and Eastern Market this Saturday, two of our most popular tours…so here’s your chance if you’ve been “meaning to take one!” Check out our roster and make your reservation at wheelhousedetroit.com/tours.

We do offer private group tours, which are great as a corporate team-building exercise, non-profit fund-raiser, conference activity or pre-wedding excursion. We’ve worked with Compuware, Quicken Loans, University of Detroit Mercy, Wayne State University, University of Louisville, Seco Tools…and lots of random groups of friends and families! Group rentals are also available at a discounted rate with an advance reservation. We’ll even throw in helmets and locks! Give us a call at 313-656-2453 or email Kelli to set something up.

What’s up for July Our bi-weekly maintenance classes with Fender Bender are scheduled for July 24, August 14 & 28 and September 11 and 25. They start at 6 p.m. and last two hours. You’ll learn a little something about fixing your ride and commuter safety. Classes cost just $5 and include a patch kit.

We also have Wheelhouse Workouts every other Wednesday — July 18, August 1 & 15 and September 5 & 19. We aim to pedal 15 miles an hour, up to 20 miles. These rides are free, fast and fun!

For whatever reason, there aren’t a ton of cycling events in Detroit in July, but the rest of the season is jam-packed. Mark your calendars for the 4th Annual Colin Hubbell Memorial Ride (8/11), J-Cycle (8/19), Compuware Motor City Bike Ride (8/25), PEAC’s Celebration of Cycling (9/8), Tour de Ford (9/9), and of course, the big one, Tour de Troit (9/15)!

In closing, remember that Wheelhouse is open everyday, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hope to see you soon!

Thanks, Your Friends at Wheelhouse Detroit

June E-Blast

Hello there, Wheelhouse friend! Please accept our apologies for being so super late with our monthly e-blast but, guess what? We've been busy! So here's a brief note to get us through the Fourth of July holiday and then hopefully we will get back on schedule!

We are open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the following exceptions: We are closed on Monday, June 25 due to the Fireworks. We will be open holiday hours of 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 4.

2012 Detroit River Days Festival If you are visiting the shop this weekend, please be mindful that that the 2012 River Days Festival will be in full swing, happening June 22-24, 2012! Thousands of Detroiters and visitors will be visiting the Detroit International Riverfront with the return of the this fantastic festival, so anticipate pedestrian traffic on your ride over, or increased vehicular traffic if you are driving (please note that the Rivard Plaza parking lot adjacent to our shop is closed for festival staging).

Tour Info Be sure to visit wheelhousedetroit.com/tours to read up on our complete roster of offerings and to make a reservation as many of them do sell out. We cap registration at 15 riders to ensure a safe ride and that everyone can hear the guide!

We also book private tours, some with families and friends, others for work outings. Just a heads-up, we are now booking for the end of July and beyond, so keep that in mind if you are planning an outing. Give us a call at 313-656-2453 or email us at info@wheelhousedetroit.com to set one up!

Classes & Workouts! Mark your calendars for our bi-weekly bike maintenance classes taught by our friends at Fender Bender! The two-hour Tuesday workshops includes instruction on how to change a flat, patch a tube, adjust your seat and handlebars plus some trouble-shooting tips, Rules of the Road discussion and commuting guidelines. Classes cost just $5 and include a patch kit. Remaining dates are June 26; July 10 and 24; August 14 and 28; and September 11 and 25. They start at 6 p.m. sharp and are first-come, first-serve.

Every other Wednesday, join us for Wheelhouse Workouts, a 20-mile fitness ride at a moderate pace (12 to 15 mph) with a varying route. This ride is offered in conjunction with our friends at FitnessWorks, who will kindly provide participants with a rest and water stop. Remaining dates are July 18; August 1 and 15; and September 5 and 19. This ride is FREE!

Wear Wheelhouse! Our sharp Wheelhouse t-shirts are available at the shop for $15, or you can pick one up online here for $20 (as modeled by Wheelhouse's own Adam Bedell, starting defender for Detroit City FC).

Other Great Bike Happenings Coming up on June 30 is The Thunderdrome! a two-wheeled race (both motorized and non- in several different classes) that takes place at the until-recently abandoned Dorais Velodrome in northeast Detroit. It costs 5 bucks to spectate, and that enters you into a raffle for this new bike provided by none other than the Wheelhouse! It should be a fun event to ride or watch!

Registration is open for the Eleventh Annual Tour de Troit. This year, the date is September 15. Early bird registration is open through June; the price starts to jump after that! More info in future editions about the Colin Hubbell Memorial Ride (August 11), Jcycle II (August 19) and Compuware Motor City Bike Ride (August 25).

Don't forget! Wheelhouse provides free bike valet at all Detroit City FC home games, which are held at Cass Tech. You can find us on the south end of the field. The remaining games are 23 and July 1, with playoffs expected. If you haven't made it to a match yet, you are really missing something special. We love Le Rouge!

Here at the Wheelhouse, we strive to provide a great offering of bike-related retail stock and exceptional bike service. We turn bikes around typically in one to six days and are still carrying an array of new bikes and bike accessories at what we consider to be fair prices!

Thanks for your patronage, Your Friends at Wheelhouse Detroit

May E-Blast

We believe our monthly email missives are truly the best way to stay up-to-date with Wheelhouse goings-on. Check out our latest and, if you agree, sign up at wheelhousedetroit.com! Hello there, Wheelhouse friend!

We are now fully entrenched in our seven-day-a-week summer schedule. We are open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The only day we will be closed this month is May 30, when we'll take a belated day off for Memorial Day. Otherwise, come by during our posted hours and we promise that we will be here rain or shine!

Retail+Service Looking for a new ride? Look no further! We have hybrids and cruisers starting at just $300. We carry Kona, Origin 8 and Sun. For an updated list of bikes currently on the floor, head over to Bikes for Sale.

We stock a wide variety of accessories that can make your bike prettier, tougher, more utilitarian…whatever you desire it to be! We carry pumps, lights, racks, baskets, saddles, pedals, fenders, bells and helmets...and if we don't carry it, we get special orders in weekly.

Never let it be said that we put the cart before the horse: we finally have t-shirts! Featuring our street/spoke logo in white on black and retailing for $15, you'll want to buy a spare!

Tune-ups are back to regular price: 50 bucks. We pride ourselves on quality service and a quick turn-around, so drop your bike off and, when you pick it up, we believe that you will be highly satisfied with the results. And if you are not? We promise to rectify the situation.

Tour the city with Wheelhouse! We blast into our peak tour season with our May roster, which includes at least three tours a week. This weekend features Architecture (5/5 10 a.m.), Underground Railroad (5/5 1 p.m.) and Grandmont Rosedale (5/6 11 a.m.). The rest of the month features Urban Agriculture, Eastern Market, Hamtramck, Belle Isle, Midtown/Woodbridge, Murals of Southwest Detroit, Automotive Heritage, Southwest Detroit/Fort Wayne, Public Art and our favorite Memorial Day Weekend treat: Techno in the 313. Be sure to visit wheelhousedetroit.com/tours to read up on our complete roster of offerings and to make a reservation.

Our tours are a fun and healthy way to explore the city, and we believe that even life-long Detroiters will learn a thing or two on them! To make sure that we have accurate and up-to-date information, we partner with community organizations and then share a portion of the proceeds -- over $6,000 to date -- with the group that helped us design and execute the tour. Some of our partners include People for Palmer Park, Bridging Communities, Automotive National Heritage Area, Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, the Sierra Club, Villages CDC and the Belle Isle Conservancy.

We also offer private group tours, which are great as a corporate team-building exercise, non-profit fund-raiser, conference activity or pre-wedding excursion. Group rentals are also available at a discounted rate with an advance reservation. Give us a call at 313-656-2453 or email us at info@wheelhousedetroit.com and we'll set something up!

Fender Bender Maintenance Classes Mark your calendars for our bi-weekly bike maintenance classes taught by our friends at Fender Bender! The two hour Tuesday workshops includes instruction on how to change a flat, patch a tube, adjust your seat and handlebars plus some trouble-shooting tips, Rules of the Road discussion and commuting guidelines. Classes cost just $5 and include a patch kit. Dates are May 8 and 22; June 12 and 26; July 10 and 24; August 14 and 28; and September 11 and 25. They start at 6 p.m. sharp and are first-come, first-serve.

Wednesday Wheelhouse Workouts Every other Wednesday, join us for Wheelhouse Workouts, a 20-mile fitness ride at a casual pace (12 to 15 mph) with a varying route. This ride is offered in conjunction with our friends at FitnessWorks, who will kindly provide participants with a rest and water stop. Dates are May 16; June 6 and 20; July 18; August 1 and 15; and September 5 and 19. This ride is FREE!

Other Great Events There is a great number of exciting rides in Detroit this year, and we wanted to make sure that we at least inform you of the ones in which we are involved!

• Ride of Silence: An annual, national, slow-paced bicycle ride that honors those cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. The 10-mile Detroit Ride of Silence will be on May 16 at Belle Isle leaving from Scott Fountain promptly at 7:00 pm.
• Cycle Into Spring: Join the Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative for this inaugural event on May 19 to raise funds for the Conner Creek Greenway. The 20-mile route will begin and end at Maheras Gentry Park on the shores of the Detroit River; sites include Mt. Olivet Cemetery and Chandler Park. The ride costs $25 or $35 with lunch from Slow's Bar B Q. Join us on the Eastside for a fun ride for a great cause! Registration is open.
• Detroit Up North Ride: We're hitting the road to Port Austin! There are one- and two-day options for this 150-mile haul and you can also choose to camp with us if you so please. Get the deets here and register here.
• Tour de Troit: Registration is open for the Eleventh Annual Tour de Troit. This year, the date is September 15. We're looking at 5,000 participants this year, so lock your spot in early!

We will have more information on other rides we support in future E-Blasts, including Cycle for Literacy (June 16), Bike the Bridge (June 17), Colin Hubbell Memorial Ride (August date TBD), Jcycle II (August 19) and Compuware Motor City Bike Ride (August 25).

One last thing: Wheelhouse will be providing free bike parking at all Detroit City FC home games, which will be held at Cass Tech. The matches are set for May 12 and 26; June 2, 16 and 23; and July 1. We are super excited to support Le Rouge!

See you soon at the Wheelhouse…and on the road!

Looking forward to a great summer, Your Friends at Wheelhouse Detroit

1340 E. Atwater Detroit, MI 48207 313-656-BIKE (2453) www.wheelhousedetroit.com wheelhousedetroit.wordpress.com Become a Facebook Fan of Wheelhouse Detroit Bike Shop!

Summer Hours In Effect!

Wheelhouse is now open seven days a week! Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Our summer hours are in effect from May through September. See you soon!

Misc. Musings

• This weekend holiday hours: Monday, July 4, noon to 5 p.m. Closed Tuesday, July 5. Regular hours resume June 6.

• Don't forget to sign up for Compuware's Motor City Bike Ride! It's a great ride out to Metro Beach and Back plus lunch! Raises funds for kids health and wellness.

• Will be updating our Bikes for Sale page this week, but for now you should know we've got a new ride in stock: The Origin 8 Brutus. It's got a single speed/fixed gear hub and a wicked dark night blue paint job. $500.

• This weekend's tours are all sold out, so press forward to July 9 if you are looking for one!

• We've been busier than ever, thanks for your support!

The Week Ahead @ Wheelhouse!

Well, this week will sure keep us hopping over at the Wheelhouse. But that's cool, sleep is for the weak! Tuesday night at 6p.m., we'll have our Maintenance Class with Fender Bender! This 2-hour course is designed to get you comfortable making minor adjustments and repairs -- like fixing a flat -- and getting you on the road to regular commuting! It costs just $5 and you walk away with some knowledge and your own patch kit!

We are offering four tours this holiday weekend: Del Ray and Civil War History on Saturday; a long Techno route on Sunday; and a short Techno route on Monday. Last weekend, two out of three tours sold out, so make your reservation today! Find out more and sign-up at www.wheelhousedetroit.com/tours.

Hey, techno tourists! Movement Festival wristband-wearers get rental discounts all weekend long! $10 2 hours (reg. $15) $18 1/2 day (reg. $25) $25 full day (reg. $35) $40 2 days (reg. $50) $60 3 days (reg. $75) $75 full week (reg. $99)

Monday, May 30, Memorial Day, we will be open holiday hours of Noon to 5 p.m. We will be closed on Tuesday, May 31 for employee observance of Memorial Day!

Bikes for Sale - Updated!

We (finally) updated our Bikes for Sale page, located at http://wheelhousedetroit.wordpress.com/bikes-for-sale/. Check out what we have in stock but, remember, we can order any Kona, Sun, Surly, Salsa and Origin8 bike at any time if you can't find what you are looking for!

May E-Blast

Read all about Bikes for Sale, our May tours and our upcoming Tuesday night maintenance classes in our May E-Blast. If you like what you read, head to www.wheelhousedetroit.com to sign up! Hello there, Wheelhouse friend!

Despite the glacial pace with which spring has approached Detroit, we are now fully ensconced in our seven-day-a-week summer schedule. We are open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The only day we will be closed this month is May 31, when we'll take a belated Memorial Day vacay. Otherwise, come by during our posted hours and we promise we will be here!

Retail+Service You've got to swing by and check out the new bikes we have in stock! From Kona, check out the Dew, a light yet sturdy hybrid that retails for $429; the 2010 Smoke, a workhorse built for city streets, priced at just $360; the finely engineered Bike, which sells for $479; the 2010 Jake, a cyclocross monster priced at $764; and the utterly hip Paddy Wagon which, at $629 for the 2010 model, is ready to roll away. We also carry some classically styled cruisers from Sun Bicycles that start at $330 and streamlined urban steeds from Or igin-8 from $299. Also, we have one royal blue Sun Kruizer that we are willing to part with for $275.

For such a little shop, we've got a big shop personality -- we like to think! -- in terms of carrying a good variety of accessories that can make your bike prettier, tougher, more useful...whatever you dream it to be! We carry pumps, lights, racks, baskets, saddles, pedals, fenders, bells and helmets...What are you looking for? 'Cuz if it's not here, we can special order it with a quickness!

Tune-ups are back to regular price: 50 bucks. We pride ourselves on quality service and a quick turn-around, so drop your bike off and, when your pick it up, we guaran-sheed you will be satisfied. If not? Well, we will do our best to rectify that situation. That's how we roll.

Tour the city with Wheelhouse! We blast into our peak tour season with our May roster, which includes Hamtramck, Public Art, Architecture, Brewery History, Urban Agriculture, Eastern Market, Belle Isle, Automotive Heritage, Del Ray and Civil War History tours. We'll cap off the month with two different Techno in the 313 tours in partnership with the always-a-blast Movement Weekend! Be sure to visit wheelhousedetroit.com/tours to read up on our complete roster of offerings and to make a reservation.

We also offer private group tours, which are great as a corporate team-building exercise, non-profit fund-raiser, conference activity or pre-wedding excursion. Group rentals are also available at a discounted rate with an advance reservation. Give us a call at 313-656-2453 and we'll set something up!

New for 2011: Maintenance Classes Hot off the presses is our new collaboration with Fender Bender! We're teaming up to offer two-hour maintenance workshops on Tuesdays this summer where you can learn how to change a flat, patch a tube, adjust your seat and handlebars as well as some trouble-shooting tips, Rules of the Road and commuting guidelines. Classes cost just $5 and include a patch kit! Dates are May 10 and 24; June 7 and 21; July 5 and 19; and August 2, 16 and 30. They start at 6 p.m. sharp and are first-come, first-serve!

See you -- and the sunshine -- soon at the Wheelhouse. Right?

Looking forward to a great summer, Your Friends at Wheelhouse Detroit

1340 E. Atwater Detroit, MI 48207 313-656-BIKE (2453) www.wheelhousedetroit.com wheelhousedetroit.wordpress.com Become a Facebook Fan of Wheelhouse Detroit Bike Shop!

Last hurrah!

This is our last weekend of operation at the shop. Sad. We will be in 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so come by and see us. While we aren't quite ready to make an official announcement, let's just say this is not the last you will be seeing of the Wheelhouse this year. If you want to keep up-to-date, be sure to sign up for our E-Blasts at wheelhousedetroit.com. They come just once a month.

Fall hours + Tours + Recreation Passport

Today, we kick off our fall hours: Friday, Saturday & Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. While we are sad to shrink our hours, we are glad when we look back at this wonderful summer! We've added five tours to our October roster, including favorites like Eastern Market, Hamtramck and Haunted Detroit. Note: We are only accepting five Groupons per tour. More info at wheelhousedetroit.com/tours.

Beginning October 1, the state of Michigan is changing how its state parks are funded. There is a $10 Recreation Passport from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, which will replace the state park sticker to provide access to all state parks and recreation areas, including:

• All 98 state parks and recreation areas
• 133 state forest campgrounds
• Nearly 1,000 miles of hiking, biking and skiing trails
• More than 1,000 boat launches
• Historic and cultural sites in state parks

What's more, 10% of all funds from the DNRE Recreation Passport will be directed to county, city and township parks through grant-funding. When you opt-in to the Recreation Passport, you are not only supporting the beautiful natural resources managed by the DNRE, but contributing towards an additional funding source for local parks.

To get your Recreation Passport, simply check "YES" on your license plate renewal form. In other states, this has been a boon to recreation funding.

Find out more here.