News and Articles

National Bike Month=May

Metro Parks, Serving Summit County

 Saturday, May 25, 11:00 AM, Picnic Ride, Clinton Trailhead-2749 North Street. Families enjoy a wonderful bike ride down the towpath with Naturalist Sarah Putnam. Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy after the ride. Total distance is about 10 miles. Helmets required.

Pedal-With-Pete Kent

Saturday, June 1. Registration begins at 7 AM for this full service fundraiser benefiting Cerebral Palsy research. Routes of 2/6/17/40/60 mile lengths are available

Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition

Sunday, July 14, 12:30 PM, Ride the Towpath Trail to an Akron Aeros Game. Meet at either the Mustill Store or Wilbeth Road Trailhead to depart for the stadium at 1 pm. Every Sunday if Family FUNday at the Akron Aeros Stadium.

Stark County Bike Club

Tues May 21 9:30 AM, Clinton Trailhead, 16 miles
Thurs May 23 9:30 AM, Canal Fulton Park, 18 miles
Sun May 26 9:30 AM, Massillon Lincoln Park, 18 miles

   Information regarding the location of the ride start, the terrain , and route maps can be found at the Stark County Bicycle Club website.  

Medina County Bike Club

The Medina County Bike Club offers rides on Tuesdays leaving from the Medina County Career Center from 6 until 8 PM. More information and directions to the Career Center can be found on the Medina County Bike Club website.

Akron Bicycle Club 

Bike Week- Lock 3 Ride- this Saturday, May 18 at 9:30 AM. The ride leaves from Lock 3 and you have a choice of 2 ride lengths: 17 miles to Barberton and back or 38 miles to Canal Fulton with a snack/ice cream stop in Canal Fulton

The Akron Bicycle Club offers some mid week rides on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Tuesday rides are at 6:30 pm from the Botzum trail head, the Thursday rides are from Lock 29 at 6:30. These rides could also be a hike so be prepared for either activity, a social gathering follows each event.  Several rides are planned on Saturday mornings at 9:30am leaving from the Bike and Hike Trailhead on Route 303. 

   Ohio Bicycling Federation Calendar of Events for 2013

The calendar is now online at the Ohio Bicycling Federation website. The calendar is 20 pages of potential fun to be had with rides of all lengths, locations and terrains starting in March and running through October. There is also a link included so you can support the efforts of the Ohio Bicycle Federation to make Ohio a safer place to enjoy riding.

Below is a list of items we have marked down. They include prior model year bicycles as well as accessories. The items will be removed from the list as they are sold, and others will be added as we go through the season so keep checking the list!

2010 KHS Brentwood 23″ , originally $299, now $259

2010 Marin Larkspur 17″, originally $479, now $369

2012 Marin Larkspur CS2 19″, originally $499.99, now $399

2012 Fuji Nevada 29 4.0 19″, originally $549, now $479

Louis Garneau Womans Durango, a Mtn/Touring cycling shoe, SPD compatible, Sizes 7.5, 8.5, and 9. -originally $90, now $45

Ryders Performance Sport eyewear-all Ryders sunglasses are now 50% off listed price. The models range from $39 to $69.99. 

2012 KHS TC150 21″, originally $459, now $399

2012 KHS TC100 21″, originally $359, now $299

2010 Marin Bridgweay 19″ , originally $430, now $359

2012 Fuji Saratoga 1.0 Med, originally $429, now $359

2007 Incline Newport 17″ , originally $299, now $199

2010 KHS Cidi 8 21″, originally $659, now $529

Have you purchased a new bicycle from our shop, or maybe we have repaired a beloved bicycle?

How are you using your bicycle? Have you replaced some car trips with your bicycle? We would like to receive your news, your stories, and you can tell us via the “Guest Stories Page”. Click the link and follow the directions!

Just added to the sales floor at R-D Bike Shop. The Fuji Absolute 5.0 with a dealer upgrade package. This bike is perfectly geared for the bike paths and has easy to use shifting. We added a small but mighty Reich Minuit bell, a kickstand and upgraded the tires to CST Selectas with reflective sidewall. 700×38 with with puncture resistance Kevlar inside.

We added a TowPath trail package to the Absolute 5.0

Carolyn and Guy with IGotaBike.com stopped by the shop today. They filled us in on some of their adventures since they have last ridden by R-D Bike Shop.

As we are enjoying temperatures of 80+ degrees today the discussion included water bottles-in specific insulated water bottles. We currently have in stock Polar Bottle brand, they are made in the USA and are free of BPA, and Phthalate. Carol shared that she likes the insulated bottle offered by Camelback.

End result? I feel compelled to do a product test and the Camelback insulated bottles are on order. I also promised to share the results of my tests with Carol and Guy. They have a page on their website devoted to the gear they are using on their journey.

Another reason for their visit to the shop- they proudly shared the recent completion of the Ohio to Erie Trail Guide. It is available for purchase as a digital download. 

Last week was Bike to Work Week, and Friday May 17 was designated as Bike To Work Day. Our side of Downtown Barberton was closed off due to the annual Cherry Blossom Festival on Friday so I made was by bicycle.

This may be due to the weather moderating,(rather than celebrating National Bicycle Month), but we have noticed an increase in commuting being given as the reason for repairs and purchases of bicycles-a great decision especially in and around Barberton.

Don and I spent Saturday May 18 at the Wolf Creek Trailhead of the TowPath Trail that is located at Snyder Avenue. R-D Bike Shop was the water stop sponsor for the FirstMerit Towpath Century Ride held on Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19th. FirstMerit Towpath Trail Century Ride is a fully-supported 101 mile ride on the historic Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail that celebrates this regional trail and promotes the development of connector trails for the regional trail system. The weather was lovely, about 30 degrees warmer than that of the previous Saturday.

At the Wolf Creek waterstop

The spring edition of the Silver Ribbon arrived in our mail box the other day. The Silver Ribbon is produced by the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition. 

The Ohio & Erie Canalway celebrated the completion of 81 miles of the 101 mil Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail in 2012. Summit County marked the completion of all 41 miles of trail in its boundaries last year. We have available at R-D Bike Shop free stickers to celebrate this achievement. 

What is happening now? Construction is nearly complete on a new 2.7 mile segment of the trail in Tuscarawas County. This segment runs from just outside of the Village of Zoar to Rt. 800. In addition, work will be beginning this year on the Tuscarawas River Aqueduct Towpath Trail Bridge linking Tuscarawas and Stark counties. 

Did you know: the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail is the Northeast leg of the 300+ mile statewide Ohio-To-Erie-Trail connecting Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. The link is to the O.D.O.T.’s map of the  bikeways in Ohio available on the Ohio Bikeways website.