For a nascent bicycle enthusiast, the thought of wandering through an endless maze of spokes, then being cornered by a smarmy sales-douche trying to upsell pedal clips can leave you so scattered, you can't help but get all Huffy. Take 10 deep breaths, and hit Open Bicycle
The lovechild of a former graphic designer and a Harvard Square bike shop manager eager to unite the city's clannish cycle factions, OB's Boston's first shop exclusively catering to the city rider (no mountain or road), offering new/vintage-refurbished bikes, parts, and accouterments in an underground, white-walled, open floor layout that looks like a shop classroom teamed w/ a sneaker boutique, then stole a ton of wheels. Unlike most shops, there's a seating area to discuss rigging your purchase to your steez (fixed gear, single-speed, three-speed city bike, or big-ass cargo), after which they'll gently guide you towards selecting one of their store-exclusive frames, from vintage Italian & Japanese tracks and Traitor city bikes, to rare local frame builders like Royal H, Allston favorite Geekhouse, and Icarus, which'll totally get you in trouble w/ C-bridge yuppies if you ride too close to their son. To further customize your two-wheeler, they've also got a stupid-big selection of unique components like "new old" 80s toe cases, vintage Italian saddles, a large cache of parts from cult manufacturer Campagnolo, and Japanese aluminum fenders that were "hand-hammered", which sell way better than the "foot-sauced" variety
OB's also got the Boston exclusive on tons of street bike apparel/accessories ("NOT spandex") like Gage and Desoto tees, specialty cycling-cut denim from Swrve, messenger bags from Bailey Works and Under The Weather, and Seeds Sewn custom cycling caps and accessories made in-house by one of the co-owners using old blazers, shirts, and really "anything else you bring in" -- proving that even though they're all about bikes, they refuse to be too Specialized.
