Some days, Boston seems like a little slice of utopia.

Gardeners clipping in the Common. Students buzzing about their respective campuses. Kids frolicking in the Back Bay fountains. It’s all so darn idyllic, you wonder how anyone could ever want to live anywhere else.

And then you remember the traffic.

But then you remember your bike. And you happen upon a new downtown shop to help you take care of it. Revolution Bicycle, formerly of Jamaica Plain, is a gold mine of biking glory — selling everything from custom-built racers to vintage cruisers.

And who better to tune up, repair, or custom outfit a two-wheeled, zero-gas beauty than owner James Norton, the retired fifteen-year veteran Boston bike courier, poet, bike mechanic, and wellspring of cycling wisdom?

He’ll set you on the road to freedom. And soon enough, you’ll be whizzing past all those Fenway traffic jams, admiring the sunset on the Charles.

And wondering why you’d ever want to live anywhere else.


Revolution Bicycle, 753 Atlantic Avenue, at Kneeland Street (617-542-GEAR).