Yehuda Moon and The Kickstand Cyclery

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Yehuda Moon & the Kickstand Cyclery was a Slice of Life Webcomic created by Shuck Comics' Rick Smith with editing by Tania Menesse and occasional writing by former bike shop employee and mutant bike builder Brian Griggs. It centers around the Kickstand Cyclery, a bicycle shop owned by Yehuda Moon and Joe King which specializes in bikes that use frames built by a local Shaker community.

The comic moved back and forth between gag-a-day strips making fun of cycling stereotypes and more serious story arcs. The strip starts shortly after owner Fred dies in a cycling accident, forcing shop mechanics Yehuda and Joe to take over.

Rick Smith drew and inked the comics by hand and then scans them into Photoshop for coloring. The strip almost exclusively uses a four panel format. Smith officially ended the strip at the end of September 2011 after a multi-week hiatus because other commitments were keeping him from working on it.

Tropes used in Yehuda Moon and The Kickstand Cyclery include:
  • Art Evolution: The drawing style is very loose in the beginning. Yehuda goes from very thin to a normal body size while Joe's unibrow is replace by two bushy eyebrows.
    • Thistle gets noticeably thinner, but this may be justified as she starts bicycling everywhere.
  • Accidental Athlete: Schrader
  • Awesome but Impractical: Arboritum is an extremely light alloy that would be excellent for bikes if it wasn't so fragile.
  • Badass Damsel: Sister Sprocket
  • Bag of Holding: Yehuda's panniers hold everything he owns.
  • Bland-Name Product: Rival Cycles' exterior is identical to chain store Performance Cycles.
  • Butt Monkey: Yehuda
  • Cerebus Rollercoaster: Moves back and forth between Gag Per Day strips making fun of cycling stereotypes to more serious story arcs, i.e. Yehuda's tracking of the mythical bike ninja versus his hunt for the SUV that ran him over.
  • Cool Car: Parodied with Thistle's bakfiets.
  • Cut Short: The comic ended before Yehuda and Joe considered Gordon's offer and went to Interbike.
    • The last time Yehuda is seen, he in a shipping container.
    • A fourth volume of comics is being published which promises to tie up loose ends.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: There's a reason why Yehuda is so vocal about bicycle development.
  • Deliberately Cute Kid: Fizz
  • Embarrassing Rescue: After the Kickstand burns down, Joe is hired by Rival Cycles, letting him support himself while the shop is rebuilt.
  • Establishing Character Moment: When Yehuda puts on his cycling cap, symbolizing his career change.
  • Explosive Overclocking: Arboritum is an extremely light alloy that would be ideal for building bikes if it didn't have a tendency to break, causing harm to the rider.
  • The Ghost: Thistle's husband is never shown directly.
  • Harsher in Hindsight: Everything that came before the Shaker Hills story arc.
  • Homeless Hero: Yehuda gave up what he did have to save the shop. He mostly sleeps in the shop, occasionally squatting in abandoned houses.
  • Hot Mom: Thistle

Yehuda: So... much... Lycra...

  • Improbable Weapon User: The Bike Ninja throws cassette cogs instead of ninja stars.
  • Magic Feather: The bike Flux constructs for Kevlar is made out of cheap steel, not arboritum. It's fast because Schrader's riding it.
  • Meaningful Name: Most characters have names related to bicycle parts or cycling slang.
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard: Fred dies in a cycling accident not long before the comic starts.
  • Mithril: Arboritum
  • Nice Hat: Yehuda's wool cycling cap.
  • Odd Couple: Traditional cyclist Yehuda and former racer Joe
  • Only Sane Employee: Flux at Rival Cycles.
  • Older Is Better: Yehuda and cycling equipment.
    • The Lauterblumental Leaflet is published for this crowd of cyclists.
  • Origins Arc: The Shaker Woods story arc.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: Fred appears now and then as an almost physical person, even to the point of interacting with real life objects to disastrous effect. He mostly appears when Yehuda or Joe need advice.
  • Product Displacement: Averted. Joe and Yehuda have no problem mentioning cycling-related companies. In one story arc a brand name item becomes an important plot point.
    • Walz Caps, the makers of the "official" Yehuda Moon cycling cap, is noticeably absent from these mentions.
  • Ninja: The bike ninja.
  • Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Yehuda's motivation for buying and working at the Kickstand.
  • Show Within a Show: Sidewalk Joe's "Road Rage," a Cut and Paste Comic strip that uses Comic Sans.
  • Sleazy Politician: Averted with Councilman Turner, who has to realistically deal with his constituents.
  • Soapbox Sadie: Yehuda on bicyling, much to the annoyance of Joe and Sister Sprocket.
  • Strawman Political: Sidewalk Joe's view of cyclists and pedestrians.
  • The Rival: Rival Cycles, Sister Sprocket to Yehuda.
  • The Voiceless: Brother Pilot takes a vow of silence after Fred's death, but has no problem communicating by writing on a notepad.
  • Ultimate Blacksmith: Only Brother Pilot seem know the exact composition of Arboritum.
  • Webcomic Time: Averted. Story arcs follow the year, with shifts in weather and activity at the shop.
  • Where the Hell Is Springfield?: References to Cleveland are made on occasion.
  • Wrench Wench: Thistle
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