Green Team

There is not much to write about these days. The cold spell in Chicago has me thinking about moving down south. It is so friggin' cold I can't even go out there and snow shoe.

I'm looking at the 2009 race schedules and trying to put together a plan for the 09 season. Other than that I've been swimming endless laps in the pool and trying to stay sane while riding the rollers and running on the treadmill.

During the off season, instead of writing about races I'll periodically post pictures of my bikes (I have a lot) and write reviews of products I have tried this past season. My product reviews won't be biased by advertisers like they are in Bicycling magazine, so I'll give you the no B.S. report on what I really think about products.

In the meantime, team member Saj, has undertaken the Green initiative at Get a Grip. Read about the program below:

Green Statement

After seeing the documentary The 11th Hour, Get a Grip Cycles decided to step up our efforts with making the shop more green. We are in an industry where it only makes sense to care about the Earth. We are striving to make as little of an impact on the Earth as possible and plan to use our shop as an outlet to create awareness. It's great to see and hear the responses that we get from customers when this topic is discussed. More and more people are caring about the condition of the Earth these days.


How we are making a difference:

We now recycle everything we can, including paper, plastic, glass, metals and electronics. As a bike shop, recycling tires and tubes is probably how we will make the biggest difference in offsetting our footprint. We are currently taking in a large load of tires and tubes every few of weeks.


We have switched to Earth friendly lubes, bike cleaners and de-greasers from Pedro's and Phil Wood for use in our shop. We sell these products as well.

We use the Omega Ultrasonic parts cleaner for our drive train cleans. It works with an environmentally friendly solution and electronic charges dislodge unwanted grime.


We make a concentrated effort to encourage people to support Chicago's bicycle co-op Working Bikes. They are a non-profit shop that fixes junk bikes that are donated to them. They sell them for cheap or donate them locally and globally. Any time we have a customer wondering if their junk bike is worth fixing, we either give them a drop off location, or even take their bike to Working Bikes for them.

We have changed our shopping bags. No more poly bags! We now use 100% recycled paper bags with soy based ink.


From now on, all Get a Grip Cycles t-shirts will be made out of organic cotton and not manufactured in a sweat shop. Our latest run of shop tees is from American Apparel, made in California.

Conservation of our off-road trails. We plan to attend more trail work days.


Our future decisions will always be made will the Earth in mind.

We will choose companies to support that are eco-conscious. Some of our current brands that support are goals are: Independent Fabrications, Seven Cycles, Shimano, Quality Bicycle Products, Pedro's, Chris King, Nite Rider, Light & Motion, Keen, Reynolds, Schwalbe, Michelin, Continental, Nokian, Pro Bar, Steaz, Clif, Sharkies, Jittery Joes, Phil Wood, WTB, Finish Line and Resource Revival. These are the companies that we know of currently.

RECYCLE - REUSE - REDUCE

FACT: It takes approximately 1000 miles on a new bike to offset the carbon footprint that it took to make it.

CONTACTS: Chicago Recycling.org - Everything recycling Chicago.
Liberty Tire Recycling: 1323 W. Cortland St. Weekdays 7 - 3:30
Working Bikes.org - Bike Donation.
Resource Revival.com - Bike parts donation.
Electronicsrecycling.org - Solid waste doesn't degrade.