I have been riding bikes with internal gears for the last five years. I started with my winter mountain bike with a SRAM 3 speed coaster brake hub and currently ride a WorkCycles Bakfiet with a Shimano 8 speed Nexus, my winter bike with a Shimano 8 speed Alfine and my commuter bike with a [...]

A dedicated winter bike, is oftentimes an older bike with used or budget parts cobbled together to save your more precious summer ride from the grit, grime, water, and salt that inevitably comes with Minnesota winters. Winter commuting is notoriously hard on bicycle parts: chains and cables rust and corrode, sand wears away brake pads [...]

Winter has just gifted Minneapolis with its first sizable dusting of lovely snow.  As nice as it looks when it’s fresh, it does have a habit of making the bicyclist’s commute a bit of a dodgy prospect.  While the roads may be rutted and covered in little patches of ice, it’s still totally possible to [...]

I’ve been riding my bike in the winter for more than 20 years.  I’ve ridden in Minneapolis, Upstate New York, New York City and Vail, Colorado. Vail was the most challenging to ride through the winter, because of the large amounts of snow and number of hills/mountains to climb.  Last year in Minneapolis was one of [...]

I’ve had my Trash Bags Garbage Truck backpack for 3 months now and I love it. It fits perfect when riding, no strap around your belly to pinch you, your helmet does not hit the top of the bag and it has many straps to tighten it down so your stuff does not rattle around [...]

I just purchased a new pair of Raceface shorts and they’ve given me some unexpected insight into our American way. I have last years model of the same short and love them, hence the desire for another pair. I wore them for the first time and right off one snap completely blows out, and another [...]

Out of Disaster, a Burst of Enthusiasm for Bicycling There are almost infinite reasons to love bikes. Compared with other forms of transportation, they’re cheaper, better for the planet and a thousand times more fun. The disaster in Japan has shown how basic the bike is. Sales of bicycles are surging, as people recognize that [...]

A year ago I purchased an electric bike from Varsity Bike & Transit. An EZ Torq to be exact. It was a bit of an impulse buy that I thought might be “somewhat” functional, but a heckuv a lot of fun. It’s more than fun, it’s a blast. It clips along at 20 miles an [...]

My wife and I recently got new Marin bikes from Varsity Bike & Transit. We test drove a few options in the vicinity of the store, took some consultation from the kind and accommodating (and patient…my wife isn’t exactly a cyclist) staff at Varsity Bike & Transit. Our decision to get new bikes was pretty [...]

With spring in full force and more local residents commuting daily, a reporter at METRO Magazine came to Varsity Bike & Transit to see what all the buzz of electric bikes was all about. As the provider of the largest variety of electric bikes in the Twin Cities and more than 7 different options available, [...]