We’re a bike shop with locations in Victoria, Langford and Nanaimo, British Columbia. We carry a wide variety of bicycles, from family commuters and city bikes to high end mountain and road bikes, and have advanced, fast turnaround service shops. We carry several leading brands of bicycles, including Specialized, Norco, and Ridley, and are big proponents of 29ers for much of the riding on Vancouver Island. (Read more...)
OBB Victoria is Open on Monday May 21st

OBB Victoria is Open on Monday May 21st

Yep, we’re open for the long weekend. 12 Noon – 5pm. Come say hi after (or before) your rides!
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OBB has been supporting Triathlon Code, a triathlon development team, for a few years now and we’re super excited for Matt riding his first ever World Cup this year. He sent over this race report: I recently returned from my first ever World Cup level Triathlon, which took place in...
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Ore Crusher Race Report by Geoff Homer

OBB rider Geoff Homer sent over a little report from the Ore Crusher in Squamish. Highlight number one of my Saturday May 12th was racing the 2012 edition of the Ore Crusher. Highlight number two, in case you were wondering, was watching Pretty in Pink for the first time. I’d...
OBB at Bike to Work Week 2012

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The 2012 Victoria Bike to Work Week kicks off for May 28 – June 3 and OBB is excited to be involved in a big way again this year. We’ll be manning the following Celebration Stations: Wednesday, May 30th, 2012: CAMOSUN COLLEGE LANSDOWNE CAMPUS OAK BAY MUNICIPAL HALL Friday, June...
Nanaimo Build: Kona Operator

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Kona launched the Operator platform last year and it’s been a super successful bike for them. It’s low slung, with a nicely tuned single pivot setup, and has oversized pivots and bearings so it’s not in the shop all the time for service. Kona bikes are available only at our...
The 2012 Norco Brand Book

The 2012 Norco Brand Book

Norco is really pushing it right now with some solid bike designs and a willingness to take risks. They’ve also put out a great little magazine-style “Brand Book” for 2012 which we’re really enjoying. Check it out here, and see if you can recognize any local spots/trails in there!

This is my own citybike. Tons of photos and info after the jump.

Putting an internally geared hub on a beautiful old road frame is a bit sacrilegious, but I very much wanted a clean, steel citybike and I think this built up well. I built it with nerdy considerations like brass driveside and alloy non-driveside nipples on the rear wheel.

I went with a laid back post to run the seat forward. I like short stems for handling, and a neutral handlebar to keep it fast but not stretched. I’m impressed with the VO pedals so far; they’re quite light and grip very well. The Gran Cru brakes are amazingly stiff, and the levers seem to be Ultegra level and finish cantilever levers. I went long reach in case (god forbid) I ever go with 650B wheels on the bike.

The bike built up to 21.18 lbs, super light for an internally geared citybike.

Specs:
Frame & fork: De Rosa SLX (early 90s)
Headset: Gran Cru polished
Stem: Dura-Ace NOS EX 70mm
Bars: Velo Orange Milan
Grips: ESI Silicone
Brakes: Gran Cru long reach
Levers: Shimano BL-770
Shifter: Alfine-11
Chain: KMC X10SL
Crankset: Ultegra FC-6500 (hand polished)
Bottom bracket: Dura-Ace Octalink
Pedals: Velo Orange Touring
Rims: Mavic Open Pro 32h
Spokes: DT Revolution
Front Hub: Dura-Ace NOS 7400
Rear Hub: Alfine-11 internal
Tires: Veloflex 22c
Saddle: Selle San Marco SLK
Seatpost: Gran Cru



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7 comments

  1. [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Brian Park, Oak Bay Bicycles. Oak Bay Bicycles said: RT @brianpark4: So I built myself a citybike: http://oakbaybikes.com/de-rosa-citybike-build/ Big pics on Flickr: http://bit.ly/iftbwo [...]

  2. D-rock says:

    Jan 25, 2011

    Outdated small-batch road street frame, with inappropriate, but still pricey parts kit: $3500
    sense of smug accomplishment: priceless

    ps. I’m talking about a Dobermann.

  3. Mike says:

    Feb 15, 2011

    “Putting an internally geared hub on a beautiful old road frame is a bit sacrilegious.”

    Putting it (and whatever other crappy parts you decided to mount) on a De Rosa is a lot sacrilegious. Disgusting.

  4. BikeDoc says:

    Feb 15, 2011

    Reading the original post AND D-Rock’s “outdated” comment is irritating.

  5. Brian @ OBB says:

    Feb 16, 2011

    …you know I listed the specs, so you can hate on them all individually.

  6. Ted Wyshyvanuk says:

    May 8, 2011

    Hi, Brian. Any problem with the distance between the drop outs and the width of the Alfine hub? Beautiful build!! Thanks

  7. Brian @ OBB says:

    May 8, 2011

    Hey Ted, yeah they were definitely tight (probably 126), but that’s why steel is great. No issues.

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