The Bicycle Workshop

The Bicycle Workshop is a small business owned and operated by Erik and Katie West. Today, it’s based in Bath, Maine. What started as an idea to make bike repair more accessible to youth in Portland, Maine, spun off into a statewide program serving people of all ages.

Erik has been interested in bikes since he got his first one in the early 1970’s. In 1979, he got his first taste of BMX bike racing. In 1986, he bought his first mountain bike from his brother, who ran the local bike shop Pedals in State College, PA. From 1989 to 1999, he was a full-time professional bike mechanic, receiving his mechanics certification from the Schwinn Bicycle School in California. In 1991 he was the team mechanic for Bruegger’s Bagels cycling team in Pennsylvania and Idaho. He worked in State College, Pennsylvania at The Bicycle Shop; Tucson, Arizona at Broadway Bicycles and Sunrise Bicycles; and in Portland, Maine at Back Bay Bicycles.

Since graduating college in 1999, he has been a full-time teacher of alternative transportation in Maine, reaching over 60,000 students so far, through the Kids and Transportation Program. In that capacity Erik serves as a bicycle and pedestrian professional as a planner, adviser or educator. He is a regular guest presenter at the bi-annual Pro Bike/ Pro Walk conferences held around the country. In 2004 joined the League of American Bicyclists in Washington, DC to encourage our Maine representatives to continue supporting bicycle and pedestrian facilities and organizations like the Bicycle Coalition of Maine.

In 2001 he started a community based bicycle repair program in Portland, Maine teaching youth how to safely maintain their bikes, called The Bicycle Workshop. Erik discontinued his efforts in Portland and created this mobile program to serve the general public. A similar youth program has re-emerged in the same location in Kennedy Park, called the Bike Shop and serves Portland youth year-round. He also assisted with the creation of what is now the Community Bicycle Center in Biddeford, Maine. In 2001, Erik helped organize Portland’s first Urban Earth Day. In 2002 he introduced the Human Powered Vehicle Parade to that celebration. In 2003, Erik received his League Cycling Instructor (LCI #1109) certificate from the League of American Bicyclists making him one of 6 certified riding instructors in Maine. He has co-taught the Ready to Ride and Bike Education classes for the Bicycle Coalition of Maine since 2003.

Over the years, Erik has owned or worked on most bikes out there. Road, City, Mountain, Downhill, Prototypes, Hybrid, Track, BMX, Trials, Tandems, Recumbents, Trykes, Pedi-cabs, Electric-assist, Velo-mobiles, even unicycles.

According to Erik, “These days I like watching peoples eyes light up when they first “get it” while working on their own bike. I saw so many customers who just needed a little one on one time to figure out what it was that they just bought. There was no opportunity at the shop. Even the best shops I worked at, who provided excellent service, didnt have the space or time to offer what I wanted to do. These classes address that need. ”

“The best part about wrenching on bikes at a shop was getting the repairs that no one else wanted. They were the most challenging and rewarding. I would seek them out. I remember working on a 63 speed recumbent. It wouldn’t fit in a stand, it had more gear shifters than handle bar space and hardly anything was standard. Finding the sweet spot in a machine like that starts blurring the line between mechanics and art.”

“It’s every bit as rewarding as dialing-in a $5000 racing bike.Turning some beautiful parts into a sweet road bike is simply breathtaking. But I also like the weird ones because I get to rewrite the rules as I go along. It becomes more of a mobile sculpture. Hey, the Wright brothers we’re a couple of bike mechanics. Imagine what they could have done with an XTR or a Record grouppo?”

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