Growing up at the other end of the state, and a few years after many of the NYC CR members, I am finding this interesting also - but for other reasons.
About a year ago, I did a bit of catching up with my late uncle's former business partner, Jack Kemp. They ran the George Rennie Bicycle Shop, in Rochester from the late 50's through early 80's - just a couple years past George's untimely passing. Somehow I had it in my head that they sold Raleighs (primarily), because they thought they were superior to Schwinns, and because they didn't want to bump heads with another shop in the city (Barone's), who sold only Schwinn.
He set me straight on a couple points. First, he said that if your shop was going to carry Schwinn, they insisted on an exclusive arrangement, and they even took control of determining what they thought you needed to carry. They basically sent you what they thought you needed, and you just sold it. This was not how they wanted to do business.
He also told about the farcical ordering that occurred with Raleigh. He said there were always two orders made. They placed theirs early hoping it would help them get the inventory they wanted, but all it would do was get bikes into the country that were commandeered by shops in NYC. They would then have to place a second order, and cross their fingers - hoping they'd get something besides three speeds and childrens bicycles.
As a result of this, they started placing orders for 10-speeds with Peugeot, Renault, and a few years later, Frejus. It was rare that a Frejus would remain in the shop for more than a week, and I remember as a 14 year-old, how magical they seemed to look.
Now, having just about everything I could hope for, I have only one or two more aspirations at some point down the road (have had them for a couple years). One of them is a Frejus - but I imagine that now it's going to cost as much to get as a Masi would. :o
btw - if anyone on list recalls being in Rochester, NY in the 60's or 70's, I'd be glad to hear their impressions of the cycling scene. I know there were some races in Seneca Park, but I was into competitive running, and cycling was merely transportation for me. I saw one, and the race didn't seem like it was all that fast to me, but what did I know?
> From: oroboyz@aol.com <oroboyz@aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [CR] NYC Bike Scene- Conrad's (Josh Berger)
> To: jswan@optonline.net, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Date: Saturday, August 15, 2009, 6:26 PM
>
> << Hey Dale, all this NYC stuff is really drawing me
> out from under my rock. I think that this might be the first
> time ever that I've used up my posting quota. ; ) ?>>
>
> Hey Jamie, that's OK. This Frejus-Tom
> Avenia-into-Juner's-NYC thread is one of the more
> interesting we have had in many moons. I own the list and
> can make allowances when I think stuff is really valuable!
> Ha!?
>
> I hope all of the rest of you are enjoying this too??
>
>
>
>
> Thanks to allcontributors,
>
>
>
>
> Dale
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Dale Brown?
> Listmeister
>
> Greensboro, North Carolina USA
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Swan <jswan@optonline.net>
> To: Cino1947@aol.com
> Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Sent: Sat, Aug 15, 2009 4:07 pm
> Subject: Re: [CR] NYC Bike Scene- Conrad's (Josh Berger)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi Josh,?
> ?
>
> I was involved in Conrad's transition from draperies to
> bike shop. In 1973 and 74 I worked as a mechanic at
> Hempstead Cycles in Hempstead Long Island. That was a very
> big bike shop that wholesaled bikes and parts to small shops
> all over NYC and Long Island. Conrad originally bought a
> half dozen or so Raleigh 3 speed bikes from us to start his
> rental business. I assembled and delivered those bikes. I
> think that we sold him a bike parking rack too.?
> ?
>
> At the beginning of the rental business they brought those
> bikes out to our shop for service. I guess that got annoying
> so they started servicing the bikes themselves. That lead
> into setting up a small shop area and taking in some
> neighborhood bike repairs. Conrad would come by our shop to
> pick up parts and ask questions about how to work on bikes.
> He was a really nice guy. It didn't take long before
> Conrad's evolved into half bike shop and half drapery shop.
> They were dabbling in the high end bikes a little but one
> particular deal put them on the map with pro bikes.?
> ?
>
> Our shop was one of the largest Schwinn and Raleigh dealers
> in the country and my boss (George Oslander) was a real
> wheeler-dealer. One day he got a call from the Raleigh rep
> saying that they were about to take delivery on a 40 foot
> container of Raleigh Professionals and Internationals.
> Raleigh USA was very over-stocked and they were looking to
> sell the whole container at a very good price. George
> snapped up that deal and immediately got on the phone to see
> if he could find somebody to flip it to. Conrad was the guy
> who said yes. I forget how many bikes fit in a 40 foot
> container but it is probably several hundred anyway... So
> Conrad took those bikes and pulled the groupos off them. He
> ordered dozens of high end Italian frames from their
> respective distributors... And he ordered cases of NR
> Italian bottom brackets and headsets. His shop was
> overflowing with full Campy bikes of every description and
> he had some killer deals on Raleigh Pro frame sets complete
> with headsets and bottom brackets. Some of the guys in our
> shop bought those frames for next to nothing... Conrad's and
> Hempstead Cycles continued to do business for many years
> after that.?
> ?
>
> Hey Dale, all this NYC stuff is really drawing me out from
> under my rock. I think that this might be the first time
> ever that I've used up my posting quota. ; )?
> ?
>
> Jamie Swan?
>
> Northport, NY, USA?
>
> http://www.jamieswan.net
> ?
>
> ?
>
> ?
>
> On Aug 15, 2009, at 3:24 PM, Cino1947@aol.com
> wrote:?
> ?
>
> >?
>
> >?
>
> >?
>
> >?
>
> >?
>
> >?
>
> > No discussion of NY bike shops would be complete
> without mention of?
>
> > Conrad's originally on 47th and 2nd Ave.; now on Tudor
> City Place > near the U.N.?
>
> > Conrad and Sarah Weiss started as a drapery business,
> Darnoc (Conrad?
>
> > backwards), and rented out bikes because business was
> slow.The bike > business did?
>
> > very well, and they eventually dropped the drapery
> business. They > ran a?
>
> > mostly high end shop with many imports including
> Cinelli, > Campagnolo, and many?
>
> > European marques .I got my first pro bike there,
> a Grandis, in > 1979, which?
>
> > I now run as a fixed. They were visited by Eddy
> Merckx, and still > have a?
>
> > great photo display of him in their shop. Conrad
> passed away many > years ago,?
>
> > and the shop is now run by John and Yi, who have
> been there since the?
>
> > early days. John is a great guy and very
> knowledgeable. Yi is > about as good a?
>
> > mechanic as I have ever dealt with. Sarah still
> comes into the > shop and?
>
> > holds court a couple of times a week. They still
> carry top end > stuff, but know?
>
> > a great deal about vintage bikes.?
>
> > Josh Berger?
>
> > Bronx, NY?
>
> > USA?
>
> > _cino1947@aol.com_
> (mailto:cino1947@aol.com)?
>
> >?
>
> >?
>
> > _______________________________________________?
>
> > Classicrendezvous mailing list?
>
> > Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org?
>
> > http://www.bikelist.org/
> ?
>
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