The Professional Bicycle Mechanic

And that would be PugslyFest. A celebration of the snow bike…or winter riding….or drinking beer….or whatever you want.
It will be at noon at the ice rink parking lot. All of your friends will be there.

“Hurl” has informed me that there will be a fun ride in MN this summer…

In bicycle shop news, I had the absolute pleasure to talk to many of the fine people of Independent Fabrication yesterday. I was impressed by their professionalism, their knowledge, their passion, and their understanding of the world. The bikes were nice too….

I’ve been searching for an additional bike line that can cover my people who want carbon road bikes….and I believe the eagle has landed. Personally, this is the shit that I like….

From the thumbies up front to the disc brakes and Bruce Gordon touring racks. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
I.F. Seems to have the answers to my customers questions……here are ‘not the answers’





Having taken many a test in my day…let me say that I weep for the future.

Its my birthday today. I have made it to 35. Enough about that.
And the team kits are in. Always a few little ordering errors, but thats just how it goes.
Bikedance is Thursday and Pugfest is Saturday, 12 noon, at the ice rink parking lot.

So the Dharma Wheels Cyclery showed a film at Sundance. Yes indeed. How does such a thing occur?
Well, some of the team sponsors (myself included) are super fired up about the Race Across the Sky Leadville Trail 100 movie. So, with their backing (that means money), I called up Citizen Pictures and they agreed to let me be the captain of the ship to show the film. And, through Adam, we determined that the High West Distillery had an opening night slot available, and their AV equipment almost installed. And by almost, I mean that it had not arrived yet. It takes a little more than that to scare me off. So, the DVD’s arrive from Citizen Pics, happy days. They send two copies, in case one gets damaged….include a sheet on what to say so that you don’t piss off your audience or say something incredibly stupid – I mean seriously, would I do something like that? So we have a private showing in Jim’s theater at his electric company for the sponsors and special guests. The DVD’s worked great. Sundance week rolls around, and the screen and player show up. Then, they are even installed. On Wed, I ride up and preview the place. I also place flyers about town just to really pack the place in. Turns out the city sees the flyer, says “Hmmmm, we don’t have a permit” and calls the Office/Shop promptly at 9am on Thursday….the opening day of Sundance, and the day of our big screening. Well, being the town dentist sometimes pays off, and since the city people gets their teeth, and sometimes their bikes, fixed at the office/shop, they rushed it through…..for a fee of $300. So now, we are all set…..so how does the DWC do a film festival premiere?
Well first, you ride to the venue and park outside by the ice bar…

Then you socialize with the audience. When they find out that YOU brought the film to Park City and Sundance, they start buying you a lot of drinks….

And then, with a level 7 buzz, I get to talk about how rad Leadville is, thank the sponsors, Adam, and High West for putting the party on. I don’t think I said anything stupid…unless you count the part when I answered the question “how would you describe the Leadville race?” and I said “well, it’s not for pussies”. But I think thats cool.

Then, after the screening, we left….thanks to Tom for the pics….like this one, with our $300/same day during Sundance permit.
FYI, most of the locals were more impressed that Kim and I got a permit out of the City the opening day of Sundance then the fact that we showed the movie and had a packed venue.

Another early post. It just goes that way.
Many readers, especially the younger ones, think that if you work for a bike shop, that you get a sweet deal on everything…..or that you just get to ride bikes for free.
Let me tell you, I’ve had mechanics spend more than their paychecks at the shop buying stuff “employee purchase” price.
I’ve played in bands where we drink more then gets paid out and we actually have to pay the bar at the end of the night. Those are the bands I always seem to find ‘creative differences’ with.
And in my 5 year tenure of owning a bicycle shop, I’ve paid $90 for a DT rim just to get it over-nighted for MY big trip, bought plenty of parts at retail prices from shops while I’m on vacation, and recently paid almost $300 for winter cycling shoes because we don’t carry that brand…
You get to a certain level with dedication and realize its about the experience, not so much about the price.

I’m always thinking of little sticker slogans for Stevil. One that I enjoy is “I sell bikes that I can’t afford”.
Let me recommend buying some stickers, not just because they are funny/cool, but because his cat just needed another bowel obstruction surgery which runs more than a dental implant.

But back to the bike industry, Kim was talking to me and she said that though she saw that I really do like to ride, but that at the end of the day, it was truly selling bicycles and goods that fired me up. She might be right. It’s too huge of a topic for what few brain cells I have left to understand completely. I reminded her of my friends in the bike industry, some that go back 20 years, and the associations that those people put on my experiences……..as well as just seeing somebody get the bike of their dreams. After all, people like the crowns I do, but you should see the smiles that happen when they get that custom Moots finished off just right.

Big News! Citizen Pictures has sent me 2 DVD’s of Race Across the Sky.
Just in time for Sundance/Bikedance. Should be sweet.

For many posts now, I’ve forgot to do a link to The Fucking Bike Club of St. Louis. Those cats seem to have a good time.

They may give Dharma Wheels a run for their money, but don’t worry, Team Evil takes them to the woodshed. Our fans are better too.

Lots of work this week.
But that doesn’t mean that Kim and I don’t have time to clean the house and find her old While Lion Tape to put on the stereo…..do you still own a tape player, bitches?

ChrisP said to me today…”do you want to ski rocks or ride snow?”
I voted to ride snow…mainly because I had to work. And I had to ride to work. It was cool…to work
on bikes like this…..

The sun is shining. There will be a snow ride today…and I will take video.
Maybe it will be as funny as this…

SF halloween ride here.
And the King (Kelly) representing Evil on the cobbles.

With a yelp of happiness, the asshole who brake-slammed into two cyclists roaring down a canyon, gets 5 years in the slammer. Life is full of choices fuckwad.
“A doctor convicted of assaulting two bicyclists by slamming on his car brakes after a confrontation on a narrow Brentwood road was sentenced today to five years in prison.”
In the velonews link here, that pinkish substance all over the trunk is dried and oxidized blood from the cyclists.
Both cyclists will be fine, though I”m sure Ron will have some facial scarring from pinning his nose back down and Christian will be the new recipient of 4 dental implants…..what do you think that will all cost?
Anyway, keep the rubber side down, watch for brakelights on autos, and keep on rockin.

Today was good.
Didn’t get to ski….rode a little. Worked a lot.
First, and formost, got the pug all set to carry the Bob trailer. Always fun to work on my own bike. As many of you know, I always document the time I actually spend on my own bikes…because its rather embarassing. This little endevor took 17 minutes….and that includes machining the mounts.
Yes, I spend a lot more time on your bikes when you pay me to do so.

Got a new Edge fork on a custom Moots

Yes, its been busy……..here is the special order board…well, one of them.

Other exciting news, YouTube in full effect……

I hope your new year got off to a productive start…full of creativity…

We’ve been building snow bikes…that would be Chris Peters (of Endurance Cycle Service), and me.

and riding them…

Lots of stuff lining up for this year. Dharma Wheels is going to be a part of the Bikedance film festival at Sundance. We are going to have a team party during sundance that will feature our new team kits, pugsly-fest will happen in round valley…oh and finally, I figured out how to put movies on youtube. Here is the first one…its pretty shotty, but better clips will be created, edited, and posted.

All that while still running the shop….and the dental office….who needs sleep?