The Bicycle Workshop

The Bicycle Workshop will be offering two classes on July 25th, 2009, in Bath, Maine.

Dont Walk Home (Roadside Repair) will be offered from 9:00 am – 11:30 am

The Art of Wheel Truing will be held from 12:30 – 3:00pm.

Both classes are for you to learn about your bike so bring it along. It is what you will be working on.  But dont’ worry, we will have other wheels you can learn to true before you tackle your own!.  We’ll provide the tools, but if you have your own and would like to learn how to use them too, you are encouraged to bring them also. If you have tools that you carry with you on your bike, you should definitely bring them. Of course if you don’t that is fine too, since we’ll show you whats out there and we’ll send you home with a list of what you might want to buy.

To find out more about either of these classes, simply respond below. You can also click on the links above for detailed descriptions.

Pre-registration is required so we know there are enough people to fill but not overfill the class. Class size is limited to 5 participants. However, if two people want to work on the same bike, that’s’ OK with us.

Location: We are using a wonderful studio space in downtown Bath located at 100 Front St, unit #31. Be aware, it’s a third story location so you’ll have to climb some stairs with your bike. We are happy to assist you with this part too. The door is located just to the right of a little tunnel that connects Front St to a parking lot behind the block of buildings. Go up the stairs and take a left through a door and up another flight of stairs, then left again. We’ll put up signs on class day.

Time: The class times are listed above. It’s advisable to get to your class about 15 minutes early so you can get settled and so we can see your bike ahead of time.

Ages: Anyone 15 and older is welcome to join. Parents can drop off their kids if they know their child can handle a 2.5 hour class on their own, but we’d much rather have them stay and learn with their child. We’ll only charge for the child and the parent is free.

Prices: Classes are $60/person/class. Folks often arrive with a friend or spouse who’s interested too. However, we encourage folks who expect to need to use what they learn to bring their own bike because it helps ALOT to get familiar with your own bike, not your spouses, or buddies bike.  ALSO, we offer a parent child deal where if you come with your child and bring just the child’s bike, the parent comes for free.

Supplies: If you want to take a class that lets you put on new parts  (like replacing your tires or brake or gear components during that class), we encourage you to bring the parts.  Please be sure the class you are taking is appropriate for this though!  We don’t have parts on hand and we’d hate to teach you how to take your bike apart and have you leave with it in pieces because you then need to go get parts. We also know it can be frustrating to go through all the motions of replacing something that you want to replace, but put the old parts back on because you don’t have the new ones. Typically, we consult with each participant ahead of time and can advise you how to go about this. Our goal is for you to leave with a working bike. Don’t be afraid to ask us for what you want.

What to wear: Wear clothes you can get dirty in. Tires and chains will make a mess of new clothes. There is a place to change at the studio too.

For more info, please ask questions below.
Thanks and we hope to see you there.

Truing a wheel is more than a skill. It is an art.  We’ve done both long enough to know how to do it and how to teach it. And one thing we have learned is that it’s simplicity is decieving. While it’s true that it’s usually just a matter of tightening and loosening spokes, it’s something altogether different to get that effort to yeild a predicatable and consistant outcome.  It’s more like functional sculpture. This class will introduce you to the art of wheel work.

Of course we take a scientific approach also, to get you familiar with the physics that take place in a wheel. And we give you lots of opportunities to practice and experiment in this class.   You will practice with several different wheels that don’t have to work out, before you take on your own, if you choose to.

In this class we will practice with conventional 28 – 36 spoke front and rear wheels. We will look at and discuss modern spoke patterns and wheels with much fewer spokes.

We’ll cover these elements for sure:

• Spoke patterns
• Spoke guages and shapes
• Nipple types and materials
• Spoke Prep vs Oil vs Dry vs Interference fit
• When to lubricate a spoke
• Side to side Truing
• Out of Round or Radial Truing
• Rim design and materials
• Hub adjustment
• Lots of hands on practice.
• How good is good enough
• Wheel truing without a truing stand

And if we have the time we’ll also cover:

• Truing with a hammer!
• Truing while out in the woods
• Rim failure

So if you are interested in both demystifying the process of building a wheel and feeling the artistry involved in good wheel work, please join us for this special class.

Bring an open mind because this is a right and left brained activity rolled into one. You’ll use your eyes, ears and feel to get it right. And you will have lots and lots of hands on practice time.

Please note, we will also show you how to use your bike as your truing stand. While a stand is a great thing to have, unless you invest in a really nice one for several hundred dollars, they can be pretty frustrating, especially for the novice. Your bike on the other hand will do a fantastic job and we’ll show you how.

So bring your bike and plan on having fun. This class can accomodate 5 students so book early.

Resources:

If you want to look at the process of wheel building, which includes wheel truing, you might like this series on the topic.  While it might be tough to get the whole process by watching a short video series, it will give you a sense of what the process includes. Not to worry, once you get some hands on experience, it will make more sense.

Also, if you do want to build a wheel yourself,  you will need a spoke length calculator. We like the one found at the United Bicycle Institute’s website.

This is the book I learned with, nearly 20 years ago. The Bicycle Wheel.

The class is $60 and is 2.5 hours long. Time flies and you will learn a ton, as always.

Hope to see you there.

The Bicycle Workshop will be offering two classes on June 13th, 2009, in Bath, Maine.

Roadside Repair will be offered from 9:00 am – 11:30 am

Introduction to Brakes and Gear Adjustments will be held from 12:30 – 3:00pm.

Both classes are for you to learn about your bike so bring it along. It is what you will be working on. We’ll provide the tools, but if you have your own and would like to learn how to use them too, you are encouraged to bring them also. If you have tools that you carry with you on your bike, you should definitely bring them. Of course if you don’t that is fine too, since we’ll show you whats out there and we’ll send you home with a list of what you might want to buy.

To find out more about either of these classes, simply respond below. You can also click on the links above for detailed descriptions.

Pre-registration is required so we know there are enough people to fill but not overfill the class.   Class size is limited to 6 participants.  However, if two people want to work on the same bike, that’s’ OK with us.

Location: We are using a wonderful studio space in downtown Bath located at 100 Front St, unit #31.     Be aware, it’s a third story location so you’ll have to climb some stairs with your bike.  We are happy to assist you with this part too.  The door is located just to the right of a little tunnel that connects Front St to a parking lot behind the block of buildings. Go up the stairs and take a left through a door and up another flight of stairs, then left again. We’ll put up signs on class  day.

Time: The class times are listed above.  It’s advisable to get to your class about 15 minutes early so you can get settled and so we can see your bike ahead of time.

Ages: Anyone 15 and older is welcome to join.  Parents can drop off their kids if they know their child can handle a 2.5 hour class on their own, but we’d much rather have them stay and learn with their child.  We’ll only charge for the child and the parent is free.

Prices: Classes are $60/person/class. Folks often arrive with a friend or spouse who’s interested too.   However, we encourage folks who expect to need to use what they learn to bring their own bike because it helps ALOT to get familiar with your own bike, not your spouses, or buddies bike.

Supplies: If you want to take a class that lets you put on new parts (like replacing your brake or gear components during that class), we encourage you to bring the parts.   We don’t have parts on hand and we’d hate to teach you how to take your bike apart and have you leave with it in pieces because you then need to go get parts.   We also know it can be frustrating to go through all the motions of replacing something that you want to replace, but put the old parts back on because you don’t have the new ones.  Typically, we consult with each participant ahead of time and can advise you how to go about this.   Our goal is for you to leave with a working bike.  Don’t be afraid to ask us for what you want.

What to wear: Wear clothes you can get dirty in. Tires and chains will make a mess of new clothes. There is a place to change at the studio too.

For more info, please look at Roadside Repair or Introduction to Brakes and Gear Adjustments or ask questions below.
Thanks and we hope to see you there.

This appeared in Switch Magazine, May 2009

When people get back on a bike after a long hiatus, they tend to operate from the heart more than the head. They are after a feeling as much as a function. Freedom, speed, simplicity? Maybe, but I call it magic. They want to feel the magic again.

Recently a friend dropped off a bike she wanted to use for a triathlon. She is a very rational person and wanted me to check it out before she used it.  When I said it might not fit her, she said she just wanted to ride for the summer and do one race so it wouldn’t really matter if it was too small.  In other words, she felt the magic and so this other stuff shouldn’t matter. I had to explain that bike size was like shoe size so since she wouldn’t wear the wrong size shoes for the summer and a race, we should look at it.

It also shows up with the garage sale bike where someone sees a bike that has sat for years and “worked great when I parked it there”, which is code for “your magic ride awaits.” Then the mechanic says it can work but what was once grease is now essentially glue and so it needs some work, they are so heartbroken. As if the magic has disappeared. Maybe this isn’t “the bike” after all.

Older people who come in and get scared off by all the gears, which is legitimate, suffer from this too. They are quick to say they only need one gear, like they had when they were a kid.  And the shop has to try to explain, kindly, that their knees may not agree and that they live where there are hills so gears might be integral to actually enjoying the bike. So the shop has to work to connect them to the magic in a bike that will actually be enjoyable too. This is where being a good salesperson is actually a gift.

It’s beautiful to see people so blinded by the magic really. It speaks to the underlying allure of the sport that otherwise rational people will turn a blind eye to reality in a quest to feel the magic once again. And if this describes you, don’t despair. The magic is still there because it’s actually in you. Your bike is just the vehicle.

Red Bike was a gift from my brother. It was a hand painted old red bike with twin headlights and a big wire basket. It wasn’t pretty but it was art. I took about a million pictures of Red Bike this winter as it sat outside and the snow crept up to handlebar height and back again. I had never ridden the bike until after the winter when my friend Scott pried the fender out of the back wheel and got it to roll.

Then one windy night it crashed over on some rocks and the headlight cracked. I knew it was bicycle abuse at that point and that since I would realisticly never get it riding, I would do better to cut it loose.

So I made a sign that said “free to a good bike friendly home” and put it at the end of the driveway. It had been living for a year, unlocked at the far end but the sign and moving it to streets edge was all it took. About an hour later a white Vanagon pulled up with a smiling couple. They asked if it worked and I said it sort of did. Did it have brakes? I said it might. They did a short lap around the van and off it went. How fitting. I had a white VW once. They have good karma. I mentioned this to the driver and we talked about engine repair briefly, a commonality that can’t be ignored by another VW driver. And they were off. We all smiled.

She said I would see it around Bath. I told her to look for us on the tandem. It’s so good to see Red Bike end up in a good home.

My goal is to make a photo montage of the winter of Red Bike. In the mean time, here is what she looks like.

I’ll miss her.

Danny Macaskill has been treating us to mind blowing trials riding videos via You Tube for a while now. Every time I see one, I get totally inspired. The other day I took my otherwise usesless backyard and started making my own humble trials riding course. It’s a start anyway, and it’s spurred on by videos like these. I dream of being able to ride out of the 180 on just my back wheel or huck up onto a parkbench back, stall and continue on. I”m 40 so i’m not counting on getting there, but I’m not giving up either.

Anyway, here is a tribute post to a rider with phenomenal skill. Though I will say, I cringe when I see him going for pure drop height. Save the knees Danny. Take it from someone who knows. You’ll still want to be able to do it at 40. Trust me. Style and technical  trumps vertical anyday.

Here it is:

Even though this is a site about bikes, it’s still my site and so my personal interests have a habit of coming into it from time to time. This is one of those times.
I have a soft spot for animation and graphic data presentation in general. This video on Red riding hood, including the music, is simply too cool.

Check it out.

Slagsmålsklubben – Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

I just talked with the owner of Ernie’s Cycle Shop in Westbrook Maine about a class she was preparing to give to some Girl Scouts. As the conversation turned to safety and helmets and such, I offered that I tell students that I have no problem with stunt riding and I do it myself. To which she replied, “Do you know what we are doing on the ski slopes now? We have a winter downhill series!”

Oh my god! This is too cool!

Winter Bike

This is the best cycling news i’ve heard since it dropped below freezing. I can hardly believe it. Fellow nutballs hurling themselves down a slalom course on the snow on bikes. Think of the flips, the lack of brakes and traction, the ear to ear grins.

I have to see this.

And if you want to see some photos from last year or learn more, check out these photos or this video.

And for a page on the series go here. For the nitty gritty at each mountain go here.

From a safety standpoint, this is video is probably best described as how not to ride, but in terms of sheer enthusiasm and connecting with the joy of creating and riding a human powered vehicle, it is a video of how to ride better.  Simply put, these guys love their bikes and have built fantastic machines, plus a song and a following. It shows the passion that bikes and independence can bring out.

What you should also know is that the originator of this group, Tyrone Stevenson, is also quoted in an article about this as wanting to win a Nobel Peace Prize. From someone living in Oakland, California, that’s reason for hope right there.

My hat is off to these guys.

If you want a more local version of the power that bikes can tap into with youth, check out the Community Bicycle Center in Biddeford, ME.

It’s an amazing example of what a few great adults can do with a lot of really great youth, using bikes as the medium. Bikes are vehicles of change.

On Wed, Dec 10, 2008, Adam wrote:
Hey Erik,

My name is Adam, I took part in your Fall bike maintenance course at Bowdoin college this year. I know you said we could email you if we had any questions after the course, and I have seemed to come into quite a predicament with my own bike. About a week ago I was cleaning my bike, when I decided to take my seat post out. I got it pretty far out, until it got stuck completely. Continue Reading »