LSD Fixed Gear Bicycle

EDIT: In the following months after writing the below post, my enchantment with LSD has turned to a cold reality. I have been trying to beat around the bush and not make any enemies, but I guess I should just come out and say that unless you are looking for a biking community, you should bypass LSD completely. They are expensive, slow, and as mechanics they are moderately to dangerously incompetent. We have had so many problems with them and it is heartbreaking since they had so much potential.

Sasha

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Before coming to Korea, I searched around to see if Seoul had a fixed gear scene. I came across a bike shop called LSD (http://lsdbikes.tistory.com/). Through the magic of google translate, I gathered that they act as a hub for bike events and rides. I tried finding their shop a few times with no luck, but then finally figured out that they were in a basement shop with the staircase in sort of an alley.



Within five minutes of being there, I had a beer in my hand (a Hoegaarden) and knew that I had found a new home. It is a decent sized shop (for Seoul standards) and has lots of parts, frames, wheels, etc. The language barrier is definitely present, but they had heard of bike polo and definitely want to learn. I borrowed someone's bike and we rode around in the alley doing some tricks - it has been 21 long days away from my bike.


A shot of some of the swag in their shop - lots of Roundeneers, Michle, a few pieces of Phill Wood, some Aerospokes, and boxes and boxes of all colors of glittery cable housing. I didn't see a single break or deurrailer in the place, so I'm not sure what the cable housing was about.


A full line up of Park Tools. They seemed open to letting people use their tools.

I spent a few hours there and a steady stream of people came in and out to say hello or buy parts - not bad for being in the middle of winter, coming up on a large holiday (the Lunar New Year) and in the middle of the afternoon. One person came in who had pretty good English - we were making small talk and he asked if it was hard for me to get into the country, which it had not been. He then asked if I had ever been to the US... I was a bit confused and told him I was from the US. Apparently, when I had told people that I was from Portland, they had heard Poland!

After a while, I asked where a bathroom was and was lead to a storage area and pointed towards a door. I walked through and found myself in a very short stairwell that led nowhere, filled with some random pieces of wood and a few boxes.



Squat toilets are not unheard of here, so I began searching for one, but couldn't find anything. After a few minutes of thinking, I figured that when I asked for a bathroom, it might have been heard as backroom. Cognitively, it made no sense whatsoever, but I decided to go back and ask again. Turns out that one of the walls was actually a sliding door to a regular bathroom... go figure.

There is an absolutely beautiful De Rosa frame at the shop - usually I'm not a fan of bright colors - I prefer grays or browns or blacks - but this green De Rosa calls to me.



I was snapping photos of the place when someone asked for my camera and called everyone around for a group photo.



LSD does rides on Fridays or Saturdays, with monthly events, etc. I'm looking forward to getting back on the saddle (they offered to loan me a bike) and learning the streets of Seoul! I don't know how easy it will be to find ski poles, but all the other parts for mallets are readily available. I think I'll start working on that while talking people up for polo.

Sasha