“Blue Bilenky” A great story!

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Steve:

What a great bike!!!

Put it back together yesterday, (I'm practicing for the trip to Mexico next week), and took the bike out on a long ride on the straights and up and down some hills….What a bike!!!

You did a magnificent job on the frame..,..it is aesthetically beautiful, welds, paint and design…(I think I did a good job adding the groupo and building the wheels…first time doing such)…bike fits me like a glove….it handles really well, is responsive and really stable when I get up out of the saddle and on the pedals to climb and cornering on the down hills.  Did I say I LOVE THE BIKE!!!!

I am really hoping the Tandem performs as well and if it does…YAHOOO!!!!

Did I say I LOVE THE BIKE!~!!

Thanks, Steve

Pete

Hi Guys,

I have attached a few photos of my wife Linda and her twin sister Karen on their new Bilenkys.  They love the bikes. They look great; the powdercoat turned out nice.  The workmanship and details are excellent

-Fernando

I love the bicycle so much - it is my most valued bicycle in our pretty large collection!  

My twin sister and I have had such awesome experiences riding our Bilenky bicycles together.  Fernando sent you some pictures - feel free to post any on your website.

Thanks so much.

Linda

Assembled the yellow bike in about 40 minutes this AM - no problems at all.  Then Karen & I went for a 35 mile ride on the Sk. River trail.  made a couple of very minor adjustments.  The bikes are really something.

Mine is a huge improvement over the Casati.  Very comfortable.  I don't think it needs much else.  I'll get back again after a few hunderd miles.  I can't believe that there is no deraliuer rub when standing.  And, no rubbing in any of the nine cogs - it is just perfect!  My Casati rubbed in every gear standing and I had to trim to get through all the cogs in the middle chainring - no so with the Bilenky!  I guess the longer stays help, but ...

Thanks again for all your attention to detail.

Ed

Stephen,

We did an out-and-back on Skyline Drive Sunday (see attached).  The views, weather, climbing & descending were spectacular.  The bikes continue to be the greatest!

We took your advice and added photos & instructions to the inside of the S&S cases.

Ed

Hi Stephen,

Yes, the stem length seems perfect.  The ride yesterday was very flat with

few opportunities to get out of the saddle.  My hands never got numb and my

neck and back never hurt - which has always been a problem with every bike

I've ever had.  That alone tells me that the bike fits like a glove.

Thanks again for doing such a superb job with the bike - comfortable, light

as a feather, and beautiful!  What more could I ask for?

Hope you get to enjoy this beautiful day, maybe get some riding in!

I love riding my Bilenky much more than I ever expected!  I have loved to ride since I was a girl, but riding a bike that really fits me takes the experience to a whole different level of enjoyment!  Thanks again so much!

Regards,

Karen

Italy trip w/coupled Bilenkys

The bikes were second to none!  We never had a bike issue - not even a flat in 1000 kilometers.  You're bikes helped made our trip one of the highlights of our lives.  The tour guide even asked how we managed to keep our bikes looking so nice & clean ;-)

No photos yet, but plan to have some up sometime next week.

Ed

Hi Steven.  I've now got 3000+ miles on the yellow Bilenky.  All is still working beautifully!

Ed

This picture was taken in Reykjavik, Iceland last month.  The bicycle was given to the girl by the local Lions' group.
I can attest that it is making her very happy - and I was very impressed with the build quality.

Best regards,  Kari in Iceland

Aloha Stephen:

Just got back from a tour of the Finger Lake Region of  New York.  The beautiful white Bilenky turned some heads as usual.  Oh yeah and last summer Sandra and I rode across the US self supported on the faultless machines you and your crew built.  I enclosed a couple of pics.

Hope all is well with you and your family.

William

Hi Steve,

I just returned from Colorado where I rode in the

Bicycle Tour of Colorado using the Merlin Magia that

you outfitted with S&S couplers a while ago. I had a

great time and the bike was a pleasure to ride. Every

time I do a trip I am thankful for my decision to buy

this frame and install the couplers. The airlines are

charging $85 and up each way for oversized/overweight,

and my bike goes as regular luggage! I think I've

gotten the disassembly and packing down to a nice

routine. My small bike box was the envy of just about

everyone who saw it, although I did notice several

other riders had the couplers.  Seems like Moots is

pretty big in Colorado, since they're located right

there in Steamboat Springs. I saw a few Moots titanium

bikes with the couplers installed.

Several riders noticed the couplers and asked me about

them. I recommended you, so I hope you hear something

from them.

Attached are two photos I took in the hotel in

Steamboat Springs. It looked like a nice spot to get

good pictures of a bike.

Thanks again for the great job you did on the my

frame.

Best regards,

Paul

Stephen, thanks so much for your excellent work on my bike. I'm in the

process of putting it back together but going slow as I don't want to

mar the beautiful work. 

I'm really looking forward to riding it again and have been telling

everyone around what great bikes you create ! Even my wife recognized

the workmanship and she told me "oh my, you'll have to get a better lock

for that baby" !

 Geoff (one happy customer)

Bina, I love my bike. I’m commuting 9 mi r/t every day (year round in Orlando)… and with weekends get in about 75 mi a week. Since the re-do I’ve gotten pannier racks and have bags on the front full time. The campy components rarely need much attention, so other than a wash once in a while I’m just ridin every day.

I get many comments on the nice paint job and don’t hesitate to point out the quality workmanship and mention the Bilenky website !

Thanks for asking !

Geoff

Stephen,

I recieved the bike a couple of days ago.  I have commuted to work on it and it rides great, exactly what I wanted.  Looks great too.  Excited to go out and play on it this weekend.  High hopes for some touring this summer...  Thanks so much,

Jim

Dear Bilenky Folks -

Earlier this year you made a frame for us to replace our worn-out Counterpoint. We used the new frame -which is ten pounds lighter! - on the third year of our cross-country bike ride: Three Legs Across America. It worked wonderfully - Dan says it is easier to steer and he can enjoy the view more than he was able to with the Counterpoint, where he felt he was always having to watch the road. I've attached a write-up of our ride from Adventure Cyclist (that photo is of the Counterpoint) and a photo of us with the Bilenky at the top of Hoosier Pass, the high point of the TransAmerica Trail. Thanks for keeping this design alive - we get lots of comments and questions, and it is the perfect tandem for riders of different physical abilities. Feel free to use the photo - would appreciate a reference to our fund-raising efforts if that fits. Will keep you posted on our progress - two more thre-week rides to go.

-Nancy and Dan

Thought you guys might enjoy seeing my travel MCR which you

retrofitted and touched up. Nice work. Thanks.

Harvey

Dear Steve,

I did an indelible ride on dirt road from the Thai border to Sisiphon, Cambodia, so dusty I put on my swim goggles, lots of loose gravel, sandy spots and potholes, avery tough cycling, 30 miles felt like 100. I put it on a par with the Chihuahua mountains. I came down to Battambang this morning, a lovely ride, the weather is perfect and the road all good and paved. Traveling mostly through farm country, motorcycles going by laden with produce, or woven baskets full of squealing piglets, busy street markets in every little village, school kids practicing "hello, what is your name?" A really nice ride to make up for yesterday. Got into Battambang around noon met some Australians and a Swede who steered me to a good $5/night hotel. I'm on the 3rd floor, with a balcony overlooking the river. I put my bike in the room.

I don't have my cable with me to unload pics, but i'll send some as soon as I get back to India, Dec 21.

Best, Paul

Stephen --

Haven't written in a while. Just wanted to let you know that for our 20th anniversary this past September we shipped our Viewpoint to Niagara Falls, spent a couple of days there as tourists, and then rode to Albany along the Erie Canal over nine days.  What a super trip! Perfect for us old folks who are not too crazy about hill climbing.  The first three days didn't have 50 feet of elevation change. The weather was perfect, just one day with a little rain. Absolutely no problems with the bike, not even one flat in 420 miles.  We averaged right at 45 miles per day with the longest being 62 and the shortest 34.  We had no reservations except at the beginning and end.  Each day about noon we would figure out where we were going to end up that night and we made a couple of calls to B&B's for a room.  It was no problem.  Probably helped that we did the trip after Labor Day.  We did have a little trouble with DHL and shipping but it all worked out in the end.  All in all it was a pretty perfect trip, and good for our relationship too.  The front lowriders take a pair of Arkel T-28 panniers very well.  I got to use the small ones in front and my wife, Gayle, got the bigger T-42's in the rear.  Hair dryer & stuff, you know. 

We passed 11,000 total miles on the bike on the CanalTrail, not a lot by many people's standards, but a testimonial to your craftsmanship.  We have never had a major problem with the bike, from frame to components to wheels. The only changes we have made have been because we wanted to upgrade something. Not that you aren't already aware of it, but I think you guys KNOW how to make bikes. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.  And I hope all is well with BCW.  Please give my thanks to anyone there who had a part in our bike's construction.

Tom&Gayle, riders of Big Blue, the Viewpoint formerly known as BUFF.

Wanted to let you know me and my bike had a great trip through Europe.

We started in Pass Germany, through Austria, into Slovakia and through Hungary to Budapest (500miles). The bike went together no problem, the hardest thing was getting it through heightened airport security.

See attach picture, this is in the Watch region of Austria (wine country). A great day of riding and wine tasting I remember it fondly :)

Thanks again,

Stephanie

Stephen,

      Just a note of sincere thanks for what you have done for me. I

grew up with operations  and casts on both of my legs and spent most of

my childhood in a wheelchair. As a result I`ve spent most of my life

riding a bicycle, mainly because with  the limitations of my body, I can

not do any other type of exercise.

         About ten years ago, I was in Penn Hospital, recovering from

hip replacement surgery and became upset while watching the movie

"Breaking Away". The reason that I was upset was that I realized that I

would never be able to ride a road bike again. But thanks to you I was

wrong. This past weekend I rode about 70 miles on my bike that you

custom built to the specific needs and dimensions of my body. It is by

far the mot comfortable bike that I have ever rode in my life.

thank you,

Rick

to Stephen and the artisans at Bilenky Works:

many thanks for the fine handmade steel artistry. i rode the Bilenky this weekend for its maiden voyage through ther hills of Fitchburg MA, it fits and rides like a dream.it is an honor and a privledge to have such a fine device, and i wanted to extend my thanks and appreciation for your efforts.

please let me know if i can come through again with a Cog or a Raleigh 3 spd part.

much respect,

Peter D Rubijono

Service Dept.

Harris Cyclery Inc.

Hi Steve,

I just wanted to drop a quick note to let you know how happy I am with the bike. Though the frame had been in Boston for paint, I had not seen it until I went to IF last Friday where Trystan was building all the bikes for our ride the next morning (he's good!).  The bikes look great in their black coats with pink highlights and Pete's and mine are discernible by the different single pink letters. I particularly love how clean the machine is and the pencil-thin seatstays with the neat (Breezer?) dropouts. Beyond looking fantastic, the bike rides so well - I can't believe how it at once feels racy and turns so fluidly yet also feels so solid and all terrain (the area around Fitchburg has some totally wrecked roads!). I think it's the perfect bike for the continental project and beyond.

Again, thank you very much for contributing this bike, as well as Pete's, and further for obviously spending so much time deliberating on the design.

Here's a shot of the bike painted and built...plus there were many 'studio shots' taken that will be appearing on the continental site.

Best,

Pierre

Our good friend Trystan, at Rapha

Pierre’s Bilenky Rapha team bike