CLASSIC CRUISIN’: When ABC TV’s “Good Morning...

CLASSIC CRUISIN’: When ABC TV’s “Good Morning America” needed a vintage Schwinn Black Phantom for a segment on the comeback of classic bicycles, producers were steered to the Brea Bicycle Works. Co-owner Dave Staub has owned his mint 1954 cruiser for eight years. The segment, shot at the store, is to air this morning. . . . Staub, who worked at Schwinn for 29 years, said baby boomers love the sturdy bikes of their youth. “Like buying a ’57 Chevy,” he said.

JUST LIKE MADONNA? Bob Martin of Irvine moved to New Jersey earlier this year to launch Cigar Club International. For $20 a month, its members get a newsletter, five imported premium cigars and gear such as clippers and cedar matches. Cigar smoking is up, especially with young people (E1). . . . “People look around and see David Letterman, Madonna, Roseanne and [Bill] Cosby smoking cigars,” he says. “Cigars inherently have an air of affluence and success.”

JIM’S ACE: Yes, Steve Oedekerk of San Juan Capistrano is a good friend of Jim Carrey’s. But that isn’t how he became director of Carrey’s new movie, “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls”--which opens at 53 movie screens in Orange County today. Oedekerk wrote the screenplay. He said working with Carrey was “like hanging out with a friend.” The director grew up in Huntington Beach and later lived in Hollywood. “I couldn’t wait to move back to Orange County.”

FLEETING FAME: So much for Irvine’s shot at the international stage. The city was picked to be part of a world cities pavilion--along with such exotic spots as Istanbul, Barcelona, Paris and Amsterdam--at an exposition called Urban Frontier-Tokyo 96. But the Tokyo expo was canceled because of money problems. Irvine officials are disappointed they won’t be rubbing elbows with such cosmopolitan company. “We were the smallest city, by a lot, that was invited,” said Mayor Michael Ward. “It would have been a great opportunity for us.”