What's hot in Boston right now? Fat bikes, the 29er Specialized Stumpjumper and the Santa Cruz TRC.
Three for Thursday is a new weekly column that highlights bike culture, bikes and gear as celebrated by local bike shops. The format is simple. We call a retailer and ask three questions: 1. What's the coolest thing in your shop? 2. What are you personally lusting after or loving right now? 3. What is your current best seller?
For our second Three for Thursday, we checked in with Len Meserve at Belmont Wheelworks, in the Boston suburb of Belmont, Massachusetts.
1. The coolest thing in the shop is: the collection of fat bikes
"We have all kinds of cool bikes, but what catches everyone's eye when they walk in the door is our selection of fat bikes," Meserve said.
Belmont sells the Surly's Moonlander and Pugsley, plus Salsa's Mukluk and Beargrease. Salsa and Surly are the two 'big companies' making fat bikes, but a few smaller builders are also in on the game, including 38 Frameworks (with the first carbon model), Nine Zero Seven, 616 Fab, Sun Bicycles and On-One.
Fatties from Surly and Salsa - the tires run up to 4in wide
Regardless of make, the mongo-wide tires cause nearly everyone to come in for a closer look.
"No matter who the rider is, they can't help but check out the fat bikes," Meserve said.
2. Personally I am lusting after: a Santa Cruz Blur
"What I would like to get my paws on most is the Santa Cruz Blur TRc," Meserve said. "It is a awesome carbon bike that would fit perfectly in my stable of mountain bikes. That is the one void in my stable."
Meserve currently has a Santa Cruz Nomad trail bike — "it's a little much for some of the riding I'm doing" — a Specialized Demo 8 and a Brooklyn Park dirt jumper.
The Santa Cruz Blur TRc
3. Right now our best seller is: the Specialized Stumperjumper FSR Comp 29er
As with most parts of the country, the 26-vs-29 battle is raging in Massachusetts. Belmont Wheelworks sells a lot of Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comps in both sizes, but, as of this week, the 29er has edged out the 26er by one sale. You can read about the Stumpjumper in our report from the Specialized mountain bike launch.
"Everybody is into exploring the bigger wheel size," Meserve. "It really caught on here in the last couple of years. It's a great excuse to get a new bike. But the 26 is still viable for us. A lot of other shops have forgotten about it, but it continues to sell really well for us."
Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp 29er
