Adam,
While I am happy for Mike and wish him well in his retirement, this is something of a disaster especially, although not exclusively, for those of us north of 49. I had not had a chance to use his new painting facilities, but a quote I got for a frame paint job a couple of years ago seemed extremely good. I also had recently heard about his chroming set-up.
I was a customer of the original Bicyclesport back in the early 80s - truly a mecca! I still have a few of the items - parts and clothing - I purchased there enroute between my home in Kingston and university in Waterloo. I so infrequently go to TO these days that I had not had a chance to visit Bicycle Specialities.
IMHO we have too few vintage or vintage-sympathetic bike shops in Canada to afford to lose another.
Paul Williams,
Ottawa, ON, Canada
>I had a chance to visit Mike Barry's shop today (Bicycle Specialties --
>home to the Mariposa shop). It's certainly an interesting place to
> visit -- a store and also a museum, with a nice Rene Herse Camper and
>numerous French and Italian restorations. Of course, many Mariposas as
>well. Including this one:
>
> http://www.mariposabicycles.com/
>
> In talking to Mike, I asked him what he thought of the Mafac GTs. He said
> that he used to have a pair on one of his bikes, but that he found that
> the quick release mechanism would suddenly release (quickly!) when
> braking heavily -- i.e., right when you needed it. This was enough to
> cool my enthusiasm for a pair. Indeed, maybe the death bike could use a
> set. I did leave the shop with a nice pair of engraved Mafac 2000s, which
> Mike was willing to let go for a very modest price.
>
> Indeed, everything in the store is on sale -- because, as many of you may
> know, Mike is retiring. And he's been unable to find anyone to carry on
> the business, so the 45+ people on the waiting list for a custom Mariposa
> (including myself) are out of luck. Mike said that Bicycle Specialties
> will be clearing out much of their inventory via their website
> (www.bikespecialties.com), likely in the new year. It's certainly an
> impressive inventory, with lots of NOS parts from the on- topic era. I
> left the shop with quite a few nice TA bits.
>
> Mike sounds excited about his retirement. He said he intends to spend his
> time riding, and restoring his own bikes. We can perhaps hope that his
> son Michael will decide to take over the shop when he retires from the
> professional racing circuit.
>
> For those of you not familiar with Mariposa, have a look at their website
> at:
>
> http://www.mariposabicycles.com/
>
> And here is a link to the letter in which Mike announces his retirement:
>
> http://www.bikespecialties.com/
>
> Adam Hammond
> Toronto, ON, Canada