<< Dale can you give more on Toga?? >> The original Toga (not associated with current ownership) was IIRC on Ave B.?
It was chocked with exotica.. In the mid 70s I remember many frames incl Masi, Colnago, Speedwell Ti, ?R. Sachs*, etc,. hanging from the crowded ceiling. Small space packed with people bikes and parts. They had their counters built up maybe 3-4 feet so the staff looked down at customers; there was rumored to be an illegal shotgun for protection stashed behind the counter. While they had high end customers, they also had the?hoi polloi and even some rough characters so vigilance was the guiding principle.
The bike set up procedure was super strict; they tighten stuff twice and hard. The story was that a drug dealer bought a bike, something slipped loose and he came back and sprayed the shop with bullets. They didn't want that to happen again.
* Toga was the USA exclusive agent for our amigo Richard Sachs in his early days. I still have a price sheet somewhere from those days where the frames were $245 if I recall... Team Toga raced his frames, all painted Toga green & yellow!
The green and yellow theme worked it's way through much... Manager maybe part owner (?) Lennie Preheim was one of the most eccentric and outrageous race promoter character. At events he wore green everything. Boots, clothes etc. Disparagers said even his teeth were green. But he promoted the shop & team to a high level, at regional races Trexlertown etc. Nelson Vails was an early protege plus rumored Pro Polish riders (sand baggers to others) cleaned up at crit races... Lennie was at that time married to my ex-partner's twin sister. Yes, Lennie was gay, sadly died of aids some years ago.
But Toga was quite a shop "in the day."
Dale
Dale Brown
Greensboro, NC
(Proprietor of cycles de ORO, once named "Toga #2" although no financial connection...)
-----Original Message----- From: Michael Allison <cyclo_one@verizon.net> To: Joseph LaTassa <coffee18@verizon.net> Cc: andy@strawberrybicycle.com; classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Thu, Aug 20, 2009 11:31 am Subject: Re: [CR] Stuyvesant Bike Shop
Joe,? ?
I think you're right about the 13th St. location. My neurons don't fire like they used to. Perhaps I'm confusing the Ave. A location with Toga Bike shop which was also in the area. Now there is another shop that was very responsive to the lightweight bike crowd. Dale can you give more on Toga??? ?
Michael Allison?
New York, NY? ?
On Aug 19, 2009, at 6:54 PM, Joseph LaTassa wrote:?
?
> Hi Mike,?
> ... after the Ave A and 12th location you mentioned, there was also > a stint at 8 East 13th, I thought....?
>?
> Joe LaTassa?
> Hellertown, PA 18055?
>?
> --- On Wed, 8/19/09, Michael Allison <cyclo_one@verizon.net> wrote:?
>?
> From: Michael Allison <cyclo_one@verizon.net>?
> Subject: [CR] Stuyvesant Bike Shop?
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org?
> Cc: andy@strawberrybicycle.com?
> Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 10:34 AM?
>?
>?
> "What happened to Sal and Stuyvesant Cycle Shop?"?
>?
> Sal Corso is still with us but retired. His old shop has gone > through several incarnations. The very first Stuyvesant was on Ave. > A and 12th Street. It next moved to First Avenue, and sometime in > the 1980s, moved to West 14th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. > With that move came a new name-"A Bike Shop," which took up two > store fronts. But by the 1990s, Sal closed one side and the shop > shrunk. In the early 2000, it moved to West 26th St. and 7th Ave. > Then about two years ago it moved yet again.?
>?
> All these moves show how difficult it is to make it in the bike > business in NYC. In its day, Stuyvesant was a great resource for the > lightweight racing bikes and equipment we all love. Today the shop > is a shadow of its past. I don't know the particulars of its demise. > But I'm sure Sal Corso was a powerful force in making the shop > standout. He always had a booth at the New York Bike Show.?
>?
> Another bike shop from those days, Toga, has expanded to 5 stores. > Though one of them recently closed after only a year in business. > The economy and a big rent increase put the shop out of business.?
>?
> Michael Allison?
> New York, NY?
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