Custom bikes in Grant Park

Souping up a bike takes all sorts of creativity, a pimpy sense of individuality, and a serious surplus of Dave Stewart cards. Taking care of all that for you, and maybe trading you an Andy Van Slyke, Loose Nuts Cycles.

A new shop selling/accessorizing/repairing ready-to-ride bikes, and also handlebars-down constructing fully custom cycles, Nuts was started by two corporate-sponsored skateboarding & two-wheeling vets working out of a space decked with their collection of bike memorabilia and, to honor the building's history as a Masonic lodge, an Illuminati-esque "all-seeing stoner's eye" above a two-headed, axe-clutching velociraptor -- apparently, they actually hunt in hacks. For a custom job, stop by and tell 'em what you want (beach cruiser, fixed gear, track bike), and what you'll use it for (long/short commutes, hauling groceries, racing), and they'll slap it together on your budget (ranging up from $400); they start with a frame from big names like Leader and Giant or brand-nameless refurbished 70s-vintage versions, then finish up construction with color-/style-coordinated forks, handlebars, wheels, pedals, tires, and cranks, although Amy Smart only gets banged in public in the first one, so that's the one you want. You can also come in for style/utility upgrades like handlebar grips, u-locks, and variously colored Shadow pedals, plus messenger bags by VAGX and a durable SAG camo backpack with an interior "plastic skeleton" inside, surprisingly not what Wolverine has, considering he was made by silly Canadians.

Just after closing on Friday nights, Nuts owners Chris & Kareem'll lead a cyclers' bar crawl from the shop, and they're looking for fellow biking enthusiasts to join them on Sunday rides where they'll perform/teach bike tricks -- though if you have enough pimpy sense, you can probably teach them a thing or two at the (Chan) Ho Park.