Coolness is definitely subjective.

However, in terms of measuring actual coolness, it seems logical that when you are associated with known “cool”, then you are therefore “cool” by association.  This concept is similar to Google’s PageRank, or understood by anyone who has survived the social hierarchy of the 7th grade.

Anyway, here are the known “cool” that we work with:

• Rivendell Bicycle Works — Retro-grouch cool
• Soma Fabrications — San Francisco hipster cool
• Moots — Who needs paint? cool
• Fourth Floor — Bringing us Yanks the timeless cool from the land of lifetime cycling
• Velo Orange — Bringin’ back the Old School cool
• Peter White Cycles — The master of cool wheels and lighting
• Chris King Precision Components — Anodized cool
• Paul Components Engineering — Classic American engineering cool
• Cane Creek Cycling Components — Skinks are cool
• Industry Nine — Innovative cool
• Highway Two — Suppliers of Brooks and Continental cool
• Merry Sales — Rocking the Nitto, MKS, Sugino cool
• Sinclair Imports — High performance road cool
• Manou Brothers — Cool cotton rim tape that is still made in America
• Twin Six — Cooler than your jersey cool.
• Vintage Bicycle Press — Historic archive of cool
• Helvetia Sports — SwisStop all weather stopping power cool
• Arundel — Lighter than air cool
• Screen Specialty Shop — The original cool vintage decals

Not cool enough for you?  How about contacting us with your cool recommendations.

A few of the Renaissance Bicycles faithful have been wondering what happened to their regular News updates …

Batavus is what happened.

Apart from our custom bike builds and the day-to-day business of supplying components and accessories to the Neo-Classical Retro Grouch Commuters of the World (NCRGCW), we have been selling the heck out of Batavus bikes as of late. There are really two simple reasons for this:

• Batavus makes a great, durable, time-tested product.  These bikes are acutally made in the Netherlands for the people of the Netherlands.  They are not made in Asia, nor do they have anything to with pidgeons.
• Urban dwellers are coming back to the bicycle as a simple and reliable form of transportation.  They want a low maintenance all-weather bike with all inclusive amenities of the lights, locks, kickstand, etc.

So thanks to all of you that have purchased a Batavus from Renaissance Bicycles.  We are pleased that you are pleased.  Plus, we enjoy selling these bikes because it is never a “hard” sell on our part … we generally answer a few questions and the good reputation of Batavus does the rest.

And if you need more information about Batavus, we’ve made two excerpts from our supplier’s catalog available:

• Classic Dutch Style Bikes — These are the timeless bikes of Amsterdam and most of Europe.
• Modern Dutch Style Bikes — A contemporary interpretation of the everyday commuter bike.  A perfect blend of form and function.

Take a look and let us know what you think.  We’re always happy to chat with and answer questions for people interested in #CyclingForTransportation.