Thursday, October 20, 2011

pilgrimage to adeline adeline

Two weekends ago, my wonderful sis-in-law flew up to our place to hang with the boys so P and I could make an overnight trip to NYC to celebrate P's birthday.  We had a great 24 hours, visiting friends in Brooklyn and walking the High Line.  On Sunday morning, P asked what I wanted to do and I explained that I really, really wanted to head downtown to visit Adeline Adeline.


Those of you who obsessively follow bike blogs like I do, know that Adeline Adeline is:


... a bicycle boutique for the person who wants to rediscover the style, fun and romance of cycling. The shop is a friendly, welcoming environment that focuses on the beautifully designed city bikes and accessories made famous on the streets of Copenhagen, Amsterdam and now, New York.


Adeline Adeline founder, Julie Hirschfeld started her career far away from bikes, first as a graphic designer for the television channel, VH1, and then as partner in the New York design firm, Stiletto NYC, where she worked on fashion branding and motion graphics projects with such diverse clients as New York Magazine, Conde Nast, MTV and Nike.


Julie’s career took a turn after seeing her sister riding around the city on a vintage Schwinn. It was the design of these classic bikes that attracted her, combined with the comfortable upright ride that led her on a search for her perfect bicycle. After resigning herself to the fact that most of the city’s bike stores cater to either serious performance bikers or the enthusiast fixed-gear scene, she realized there was an opportunity for a new type of bike store that focuses on comfortable, relaxed riding for pleasure with an emphasis on the beautiful European city bikes that women ride in Copenhagen and other bike-centric cities.


Translating her aesthetic and design expertise into the world of bicycles, Julie brings a well-edited selection of beautiful, functional bicycles paired with lines of unique accessories in a stylish, welcoming environment.     http://www.adelineadeline.com/about-us

                                                                    
It was particularly cool that next to our family's profile in Momentum Mag, Adeline Adeline owner Hirschfield was profiled.  I was particularly excited to learn that she, too, is a mama of twins.

We could easily spot the storefront from down the street when we spied the bakfietsen parked out front.  Because I am not a clever blogger, I, of course, did not have a camera with me so had to rely on my very unsophisticated camera phone (P and I still have 'dumb phones' as we like to say!)



It was great fun to enter this bright shop with incredible bikes and beautiful accessories, including a green Brooks saddle and Yakkay helmets.  I was excited to try out the Yakkays as I have been eyeing them online for over a year.  Much to my wallet's relief, it turned out that I didn't like how the Yakkay looked on me so will be sticking with my Bern helmets for a little while longer.

One particularly sweet moment we had the privilege of witnessing-- a family walked into the shop with a toddler and the father was talking to his wife excitedly about the bikes inside.  While they were standing right inside the shop's door, a clerk went down the stairs and up came a bike, a Linus, I think, with a BoBike Jr. mounted on the back.  Surprise! It turns out that the wife had already been to the shop and BOUGHT this bike for her husband as a surprise. It was lovely. I asked if I could take a photo as they tested out the BoBike with their little guy. Unfortunately, I managed to blur the moment:


We left the shop after lots of oogling, but I did walk away with a wonderful new find-- a gorgeous bike magazine from the UK, called Boneshaker (not to be confused with the U.S.'s  Boneshaker: A Bicycling Almanac which is fun, too!)


I enjoyed the train trip home looking at its incredible graphics and reading about cool bikey people.  I was excited to find the magazine on Facebook and now I am trying to convince my local bike shop to carry it as well. 

It was so fun to be in The City (as we like to say) sans kids, watching all the bikes on the streets.  We could not help but be very attracted to these-- a clever mix of subway grate, bike racks, and benches.

Next time, I'll have to remember my camera....

5 comments:

Stacy said...

Sara, do you have a "must see" list in NYC list for family bike enthusiasts? We are hoping to surprise our 9yo with a trip in February for her big 10 birthday. Or know someone who might?

Those helmets looked amazing. I hadn't seen them yet, but I don't look at bike magazines ;)

Jennifer said...

And thanks to my wonderful sis-in-law who has always been generous about letting ne hang and take care of her children! Glad you had such a good time as I did too. I walked the High Line last weekend and it was great despite being packed with people.

I think we should plan on another weekend soon.

Andrea said...

Fun! Hope you went out for lots of yummy food while you were there too.

MamaVee said...

Love the rack, subway grates. God I miss NYC. We were last there kid free in march. 24 little hours, so not enough.

Taylor Alt-Mama said...

A bike shop with design chops? Perfection! Can't believe I didn't know about this place when living in NYC. Super cute family moment you witnessed, too.