Boston Bicycle Show This Weekend

Springtime is on the horizon, the days are getting longer, and that means (in addition to baseball, and a young man's fancy lightly turning to thoughts of love) bicycles. Bostonist, of course, persists with the bicycle, without respite, through the punishing winter months, but soon the narrow lanes of Cambridge streets will be practically choked with two-wheelers, and bike ticket revenues will once again skyrocket. Perhaps in recognition of this perennial reawakening, the Boston Bicycle Show will take place this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Cyclorama on Tremont Street.

The Bicycle Show is basically a little trade show, and like most trade shows, it's high on flashy stuff and low on usefulness. We've been in years past, and there is definitely enough to keep us amused for an hour - especially because Harpoon Brewery sets up a little indoor beer garden - but never quite enough to make us feel OK about the $10 admission price ($7 with this coupon).

Of course, Bostonist is all about ghetto-fabulous bicycles cobbled together from old parts, chewing gum, and moxie, so a parade of super-high-end rides leaves us feeling, well, poor. Nevertheless, the Bicycle Show does offer some free seminars on basic bike maintenance and is probably a good place for someone who actually intends to buy a new bike. It also provides a chance to meet people from some of the Boston area's numerous local bicycle companies. (Although we'll never be able to afford one of their bikes, Bostonist especially loves the good folks at Independent Fabrication. On top of the fact that they're in Somerville and we make a point of embracing all things from the Cambridge of Medford® (see, e.g., our inexplicable love of Cossack Vodka), they have an employee-owned company, they make cool bikes, they donate cool prizes to events that raise money for good causes, and they make their factory and fridge full of beer available to people at those events.)

Lastly, Bostonist got a good deal on some socks at the Bicycle Show a couple years back. Socks are important.