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Where Are They Now?

One of the coolest things about being open as long as we have is the number of amazing and talented people that have spent time riding, learning and working with us.

We took a minute to check in with the folks that have been on our crew throughout the years and see what they’ve been up to ever since. It’s been a lot of fun to hear about their adventures and we hope you enjoy reading about their stories too!

AUGUST

What brought you to Cycle Logic initially and what were you riding back then?

Prior to Cycle Logic I had been living in Philadelphia and I worked a part-time job at a very small bike shop there. I was not that into cycling, it was just a job for me – I had grown up wrenching on motorcycles and other things and I figured I could fix a bicycle too. When I moved to Raleigh I came to Cycle Logic looking for a job because it was near my house and seemed to be the coolest bike shop in town. I think it was the vintage sign on the front of the building that really drew me in. After bothering Minori a little bit, she hired me. Minori and Ed taught me the basics of bicycle repair and I quickly became very interested in both the mechanical beauty of the bicycle and cycling as a sport. I had a low-end Scott hardtail and a Suzuki dirt bike when I started working at Cycle Logic. When I left I had a Cannondale CAADX gravel bike and a Cannondale Trigger mountain bike.

What’s one favorite memory you have from working for Cycle Logic?
Well, all my memories from Cycle Logic are fond, but one of my favorites is going for a midweek mountain bike ride with Minori and eating croissants from Boulted Bread. And of course all the time I spent hanging out in the back of the shop with Ed and Nik Nik listening to Ed tell stories.

Where are you now?

I live in Fort Collins, Colorado.

What kind of riding are you doing/what does your current set-up look like?

Aggressive XC is my jam. My local trails are really rocky and loose. Riding on 120/100mm of travel keeps things fast and exciting. I don’t touch my road bike if the trails are open. My mountain bike is a 2021 Rocky Mountain Element that I have built up custom -- Shimano and Fox spec with DT Swiss wheel components. It feels like home. I also really enjoy bike packing. I mostly have done weekend trips, but last summer a friend and I rode from Rawlins, Wyoming back to my front step in Fort Collins which took almost a week.

What are some big life events since your time at the shop?

I moved to Fort Collins in late 2017 and I have been living here since. I am currently a mechanic at a locally owned bike shop called Drake Cycles and a senior undergrad at Colorado State University. I am studying Journalism and Anthropology. I also adopted a stray kitten a couple years ago. Her name is Scooter. I have met many amazing people and have made incredible memories because of cycling. I even met my lovely girlfriend because I fixed her bike one day! As far as I am concerned, Cycle Logic is one of the best places in the world, and I am glad to have been involved. I loved riding bikes as a kid and I somehow lost it along the way. The simple joy of riding a bicycle was illuminated to me once again while I worked at Cycle Logic.

Tell us something you’re looking forward to!

I’m always looking forward to traveling and riding in new places. When I am not working or doing school work I am pretty much trying to ride my mountain bike. I have started racing a bit. One of the races I have done this year was 24 Hours of Old Pueblo in Arizona. It was a blast and I am looking forward to participating in more events like that.

SAM

What brought you to Cycle Logic initially and what were you riding back then?

In 2018 I was finishing up my freshman year at NC State and spent all year watching people zip around campus on bikes and decided that I wanted to get a road bike. However, I went home my dad convinced me that mountain biking was the way to go and that summer I got my first real bike: a Salsa hardtail. I spent all summer riding in Asheville way above my skill level enjoying every second of it. Eventually I did get my campus commuter a little later, a stark yellow Motobecane.

I consider myself a mechanic at heart because I love tinkering and fixing things and the way a bike works was so simple and elegant to me I knew that when I got back to campus I needed to find a job in a bike shop. The day I moved back to State, I was in Cycle Logic nervously asking if they were looking for someone to do anything in the shop. I lied to them and said I could fix multiple things on the bike and understood how the gears work and could fix a flat… I think they saw through my lies after my first week. When they asked me to join the team, I remember my first day like it was yesterday. It was a super busy back to school day and I was running around trying to be helpful, asking Minori how to do anything, listening to Ed’s crazy stories, interacting with customers, all while thinking to myself “this isn’t going to be anything like you thought it was.”

What’s one favorite memory you have from working for Cycle Logic?

Possibly a common theme amongst other peoples answers but there are too many to single out just one or two. Hard to distinguish an amazing time from the good times.

During the summers we did a lot of shop rides either after work on the Wednesday or Sunday we had off and usually during those rides when everyone is relaxing, hanging out or letting off some steam is where the transitions from coworkers to friends is made. One day we were riding down to south Raleigh, I believe to stop by Pine State Coffee, and we pulled off into some neighborhood where Minori was showing us how to “properly” ride a bike. That's in parentheses because believe it or not she knows her stuff but teaching it to us probably felt like teaching physics to a 1st grader, we can try but we just like to mash gears. So many small interactions where you get to see the person who you work next to be themselves make up 99 of the 100 best memories of working at Cycle Logic.

Where are you now?

I graduated from NC State in 2021 and in the following July left Cycle Logic to work in Durham as a Mechanical Engineer. I am on a team that makes pharmaceutical machines that go in pharmacies and online prescription filling service centers. Within the machine, I am responsible for the robot arm that performs the tasks inside. If you had asked me to guess what I would be doing for a job a year ago I probably would have said something with cars or bikes and not designing robots but, I can't complain.

I am still local to the Raleigh area and commute to Durham so I still manage to pop my head into Cycle Logic enough for them to remember my face.

What are the big life events since your time at the shop?

It’s been less than a year since leaving the shop and the biggest event has been starting my first engineering job. It was very surreal to leave the structure of academia and enter the corporate world in the field that I had been studying. I like the job so far and can see myself there for multiple years so Cycle Logic will be my main shop for at least that long and probably a long while afterward. Unfortunately nothing else major has happened since leaving for me to write about but when something does happen the crew is usually one of the first to hear about it.

Tell us something you’re looking forward to!

Last summer I went on a road trip to Santa Fe, Moab and Golden CO and absolutely caught the bug for travel. Throwing the bike on the rack, grabbing a cooler, and sleeping in my Outback made me realize that seeing the places I wanted to see (and riding the places I want to ride) was way more accessible than I was telling myself. Seeing the red rocks of Utah and the crazy landscapes of New Mexico made me want to see other parts of the Western US. So this summer I am looking forward to my road trip to the Northwest.

I have never been to the Northwest and want to ride out in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Pacific Northwest Canada. I couldn’t tell you all the places I want to go, because I don’t/can’t plan that far ahead but I know that Vancouver and Whistler are the furthest away and the biggest hitters on the list. I can’t wait to ride in a big country and the road trip is definitely the biggest thing I am looking forward to this year.

REGINA

What brought you to Cycle Logic initially and what were you riding back then?

I bought a Fuji purple road bike in high school. In college I wanted to get into mountain biking and bought a Fuji SunCrest.

What’s one favorite memory you have from working for Cycle Logic?

The shop dogs Barkley and Pup Pup were always a pleasure to have around--unless you were the mailman.

Where are you now?

Raleigh, NC

What kind of riding are you doing/what does your current set-up look like?

Currently, I ride mixed-surfaces like greenways, Umstead fire roads, and mountain bike trails. 5010 Santa Cruz and a Caadx Cannondale gravel bike are my current steeds.

What are the big life events since your time at the shop?

Adventure travel around the world, Married, kayaked 260 miles of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon for the honeymoon, survived getting hit by a car at 50 mph when cycling, raising an 11-year old son that shreds on MTB.

Tell us something you’re looking forward to!

Going to see Mountain Bike World Cup Racing in Snowshoe, WVA and my next bike from Cycle Logic :-)

MIKEY

What brought you to Cycle Logic initially and what were you riding back then?

I first came to cycle logic back in 2019 after I moved to Raleigh for Grad School. I was looking to meet people and the bike community has always been a source of good friendships in the past. Not only was Cyle Logic close to school but it was a welcoming environment and people seemed to enjoy being there.

What’s one favorite memory you have from working for Cycle Logic?

One day after work we all took mountain bikes to Dorthea Dix and bounced around for and hour or so. I think we got food afterward. It was just a nice time to spend after a day at work.

Where are you now?

I'm still in Garner (in the bus) but finishing up my last semester at NC State.

What kind of riding are you doing/what does your current set-up look like?

Unfortunately, I don't get to bike too much. I'm still enjoying the Caad X and when I do take it for a spin I'm using it on trails rather than road riding.

What are the big life events since your time at the shop?

Besides cranking away at school my family is enjoying our first grand kid. My brother and his wife are enjoying their 5 week old, Elliot.

Tell us something you’re looking forward to!

I'm excited about the bus I'm converting and excited about finishing school. Nothing else makes sense so I'm just focusing on those two things right now.

LAURA

What brought you to Cycle Logic initially and what were you riding back then?

I’ve been a cyclist since buying my first road bike from Ed at Cycle Logic back in 2006. In 2018 I had a long window between work before a move, and learning to turn a wrench while making a little extra money was a dream job! My favorite bike was my Salsa Vaya, when I wasn’t riding single track on my GT Helion.

What’s one favorite memory you have from working for Cycle Logic?

One of my favorite memories from the shop would be watching Mino put in the work on the frame build for Brett’s custom bike. First time I’ve seen a frame come together!

Where are you now?

I’m currently living in Columbia, SC. My work in the entertainment industry took a huge hit with Covid, and I was able to jump into a job at the local bike shop thanks to my experience at Cycle Logic! I’m still there full time. I’m also involved in the growing local cycling scene, and in late 2020 I started a W/T/F cyclist group with monthly rides and bike maintenance clinics.

What kind of riding are you doing/what does your current set-up look like?

My favorite bike is still my steel Salsa, and I’ve largely left the mountain biking behind me in favor of some longer dirt and gravel roads, and multi-day bikepacking trips. I’m running Shimano 105, and sporting a brooks B17 short saddle with some matching leather bar tape.

What are the big life events since your time at the shop?

When I left the shop, I headed to New Zealand to take some time on a major life-goal if completing a through-hike. I backpacked the length of the country, through the Southern Alps. It was beautiful, and incredibly tough.

Tell us something you’re looking forward to!

In August I’ll start in the masters program in library and information science at USC in Columbia, with an eye toward a career as a high school librarian.

____________________________________________________

Origin of Zen

Every cyclist has an origin story of sorts... There will be a few obscure threads to lace together, so bear with me.. if all goes well it'll come together like a wheel-build.

I learned to ride a bicycle with an over-heavy Mongoose BMX-esque abomination. It was all chrome and fit the shiny object criteria. When I was six my family moved my sister and I from Richmond, Virginia to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It would be difficult to say whether or not I would have leaned into cycling sooner if we hadn't moved. Rusted out single-speed beach cruisers with a coaster brake became the extent of my exposure to bicycles for most of my childhood, but I got pretty good at riding with a surfboard under one arm, and we had a little neighborhood posse that favored group rides to the closest shenanigans.

My grandparents still lived in the house that my dad and his brothers had grown up in and the woods next door were the same as they remembered, just a little older. There were the remnants of a tree-house high in the branches that they had built. My mom would make an extra five-pounds of mashed potatoes if Uncle Bob was going to be visiting. He had a cat named ‘Precious’ and he used to say “My Precious..” like Golem from the 'Lord of the Rings' and I thought it was so funny. Shorter in stature, but fit - very fit. I was young. Uncle Bob was my favorite part of visiting. We would build towers as tall as me out of 2"x4" blocks and I would get to knock them all down and then they would go back into the old gun chest that they lived in. This one time, the time that I look back on with a fervor that rattles my bones, we decided to go exploring in the woods next to the house. We were going to cut a path. I don’t know if I bothered to ask “Where to?”.. There was a machete and Uncle Bob and we were going on an adventure, what was the purpose in asking? We started mid-morning. We cut through the vines and overgrowth until we encountered a raspberry bush and stopped to gorge. I was lost amidst battle with the thorns and hitchhiker seeds. Time drags on forever when you have no reference, but I’m sure it didn’t take us longer than a quarter of a day. I think we stopped for lunch and brought raspberries back for everyone, then we went back to it. This. This is the part. The singular experience that blazes brightest in my memories of childhood. Uncle Bob pushed through the last bit of brush and I followed behind. We stood there facing a large leaf-covered area, clear of brush and overgrowth, shaded by a massive and wizened tree. I don’t know what kind of tree… it was bigger than could be easily understood and mostly symmetric with a wide base and sprawling canopy. The ground was covered with crisp leaves and spotted with bits of light that filtered through the branches; dancing with the breeze. We just stood there.

“This is the zen-spot."

I don’t remember the rest… Isn’t it incredible that the memory can be so clear and then simply cease? It wouldn't be until much later in my life that I realized he had shown me his "zen-spot" - a place that he had gone to throughout his life to find a fragment of peace when it was most needed.

My Uncle Bob used to live in Raleigh and worked as an engineer. He sold most everything and moved to Berlin, Germany in the mid-80's before the Wall came down with a goal of translating German literature and reading Nietzsche in his native tongue. He purchased himself a very, very nice bike and paired it with public transportation for his time in Germany. He returned to Raleigh sometime in the early '90s and stayed in the apartments at the intersection of St. Mary's and Hillsborough. I like to think he rode his bike around Raleigh but I've no evidence to reinforce the idea. Uncle Bob contracted HIV sometime in the '90s and took his own life in 2004. He chose to let the abyss gaze back at him.. an idea that didn't quite make sense to me in fourth grade - suffice to say I was a bit busted up about Uncle Bob ditching me.

Enter Basso.

An inherited machine that was far too big for me and would eventually become far too small for me, but it was chromed which totally fit the shiny object criteria that I mentioned before. I'm unsure of whether or not Bob considered where his bike would go. I rode it around the neighborhood and tossed it on the ground like any other bike I had ever had, but it was tricky to get a hang of the downtube shifters and the drop-bars that didn't really make sense to me, so it really just collected dust in the garage through my teenage years.

Fast-forward to my junior year of undergraduate at NC State. I had spent the summer in Kitty Hawk working in the restaurant industry and I was eager to get back and continue my studies, but first I had to move into a new apartment and unload the storage unit I had packed before the start of summer. I stopped to snag some Wendy's between trips to the storage unit. I was driving the old Land Cruiser and crested the hill on Western right by the Cook-Out and to my chagrin there was a line of stopped cars awaiting a sedan turning into a driveway just a couple hundred yards before the exit onto 440. Why on earth was there a driveway that close to the exit? I ended up rear-ending some poor unsuspecting freshman and the start of my junior year took a bit of a turn. Without a means to commute to campus I started running through possibilities until I could get my truck fixed. I spent a couple hundred dollars on new wheels that weren't tubular and got Basso tuned up. It would take about eight months before I got the Land Cruiser back.

Through scorching summer days sweating with a backpack, and icy-numb fingers with windchill in the teens, I forged a new bond with Basso and in turn with my Uncle Bob. Suddenly it made so much sense why there were an extra five pounds of mashed potatoes for Bob at family gatherings. It became a personal crucible to experience the outdoors on a daily basis with my closest of friends: Basso and Bob. I became a bicycle commuter with a penchant for circuitous routes that let me see and participate in my little world about Raleigh. In due time I would get a flat and be forced to walk the bike to a shop that could fix it for me... the closest to campus being Cycle Logic. I was but a doe-eyed amateur my first time in the shop, but I could tell instantaneously that it had a lot to give. It was early in the day between my classes, and they offered to fix it while I waited... I asked if I could watch the repair and Ed stepped me through the high points and I became - at least in my overzealous mind - a bona fide mechanic. It was through failed attempts at repairing my own bicycle that I was forced back into Cycle Logic - encountering Minori for the first time hoping to find a new spring fastening nut for a 1986 Dura-Ace rear derailleur that I had rounded out because it was never supposed to be removed... Minori let me down easy and told me that I had broken the derailleur and should source a new one and they would help me get it installed. I vaguely remember the reckless abandon that I rode with after Minori fixed up my bike... it was like it was singing for the first time and I was a part of the song, and we went dancing together. Minori would work on my bike from that point forward - and I would glean as much as I could from our interactions. Eventually Minori sold me an old pair of their used wheels and it was like I had gained super-powers. Acceleration and dexterity, the stiffer wheel set let Basso express itself even more and I had moved to SPD-clipless pedals. We were truly dancing now.

I planned a road-trip after graduation and before departure spent some time linking up with some friends in Raleigh. I opted in for a small group ride with some crushers from college named Zach and Davis and ended up meet this guy named Brett and we all raced up a parking deck together and Brett did the wildest power slide across Western. I had never seen a track-bike in action prior, so it caught me quite off guard and inspired me to try and push my limits a bit. Turns out... Brett had started working at Cycle Logic. A fact that had escaped me to date... but that would change, and we would inevitably ride our first century together. Basso and I drove around the country for a few months sleeping in the back of my truck with on the trailer hitch. We saw the Northern Lights around Lake Superior and went for rides in the Badlands and Glacier and Fort Collins and all along the west coast - one of my favorite rides being Gibraltar Road in Santa Barbara. Knowing what I know now - I would have ridden way more. This brings us to the key arc of the origin story:

There is an old Greek tale "The Ship of Theseus" that describes a thought experiment of whether an object that has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object. In this tale a ship sails around the world and along its journey it is forced to replace all of its components as the degrade. The ship that arrives at port is not the one that left the port... or is it?

I had returned to Raleigh to begin graduate studies in the Chemistry Department, and I was periodically stopping into Cycle Logic to say "whaddup" to my homies.

There's was a distinct conversation with Minori - they told me that I had acquired the fitness and now I needed to start thinking about acquiring a bike that was my size and upgrading the equipment to continue my evolution as an athelete and a cyclist. It hadn't even occurred to me that I was a 'cyclist' at this point, much less that I had been supported in my development as a 'cyclist' by this shop and these people for many years. On one visit in the fall of my first year of grad school I stopped by the shop and Minori was scratching away with some files at some tubes. They weren't overly busy, so I was hanging out and chatting for a bit. It turns out they were making a custom frame. With a glint in my eye, I asked them if it would fit me. Minori said they could make it fit me. We worked out a deal that a broke grad-student could swing, and we were off to the races.

We had decided to make the upgrades happen in stages that would spread the expense a little thinner. It goes without saying that the Basso is very important to me and I wanted the feel of the new frame to have a bit of the vintage I had grown so accustomed to. We took measurements from the Italian frame and translated them to my proportions and the more aggressive riding style I had adopted. The headtube remained the same angle and length, mimicking the handling. We stretched the top-tube to take up some of my gangly reach and also chose to steepen the seat-tube angle for a more modern pedal feel. We set it off with some curved seat stays to add a lot of flare and a little plush-ness for the long-rides I was becoming increasingly interested in. Finally, when the finishing touches were taking place, I opted for rear-rack mounts and a third set of bottle cage bolts on the bottom of the downtube allowing for future touring capacity. Minori finished the frame, helped me pick a color, and handed it off to me to take to the powdercoat place on Capital Blvd. Once I got the frame back from paint, we stripped the Basso's components and transferred them to my new frame. Is the ship that left the port the same that arrived back at port after its journey? Well, it sure doesn't look like it, but I'm no Grecian philosopher. I named my bike 'Zen' as an homage to my Uncle Bob and spent quite a bit of time forming a bond with my new dancing partner.

The component upgrades took place over the course of about a year and a half and there are now no original parts on Basso... Zen... contrasting the 'Ship of Theseus' new tech and developments were involved in the replacement of components. We moved from the first ever Dura-Ace indexed downtube shifters to the last ever mechanical Dura-Ace integrated shifters. We upgraded from a spent mismatch alloy wheelset to semi-aero Boyd carbon tubeless wheels. We spec'd the front end with a threadless carbon Alpha-Q fork featuring a rare 1" steerer to modernize the handling and acceleration. Finally, a Fizik carbon bar to keep the road chatter down and add a little pep to the climbs. The riff on a vintage race-bike with the twist of a touring-inspired kit-out. The sexiest franken-bike I've ever laid eyes on.

Inspired by that childhood memory of a zen-spot that has been long-since clear cut and developed; I have acquired a zen-spot of my own.. and it goes places with me.. whether its an urban mash or a ride full of rolling hills and long straightaways there's a piece of zen to be found.

Roadside Repair: Damaged & Broken Chains!

We’re back with another guide for a slightly more involved on-the-road fix: a damaged or broken chain.

Here’s a thorough guide to keep this common mishap from ending your ride.

Let’s begin with some precursors to a broken chain:

If you’re riding and feel the derailleur clicking as you pedal, or the chain is “hopping” in between gears, it’s possible that you have a bent link. As the link struggles to seat unto the teeth of the cogs, it weakens and eventually snaps.

This can occur as a result of shifting the front derailleur under load, an instance when the derailleur or the cog is bent, or if you’ve run over something like a stick that gets caught momentarily in your chain.

Stopping the ride for a quick inspection can prevent further damage and make the repair easier to handle.

If the chain breaks all the way, the process is going to be very similar, and require the same tools.

TWO IMPORTANT NOTES BEFORE WE BEGIN:

The chain is only a single part of the whole drivetrain. A chain that starts to show signs of damage could be indicative of a problem with the bike's cassette or freewheel, the front chainring(s), and or derailleur(s). Be sure to have a mechanic take a look at your bike after you get back home safely as these are useful temporary fixes, but your bike may need further repair.

Be mindful! Anytime you remove links from a chain, it can end up being too short to shift into the larger cogs or more extreme gear combinations. Especially when you are in the larger chainring in the front, it is best to avoid downshifting into the lowest gears in the rear. If you try to force the shorter chain to make this shift, it can jam the chain in the wheel or re-break the chain.*

Now, let’s get acquainted with the parts of a bike chain:

Chain tool, or multi-tool with a chain breaker attachment

Master link - also called a missing link or powerlink

Master links with 10,11, & 12 speed chains have an arrow which shows the correct direction in which the the link should be installed

The chain tool will allow you to push pins out of a chain so that you can remove the bent section and give yourself working ends to reconnect the chain. The master link will allow you to reconnect the two ends after you have removed a section of the chain.

Each chain is designed for a number of rear sprockets (cogs) and therefore these master links will be specific to the type of chain you run. You will need to have one that matches the number of rear gears you have on your bike.

Now that you have the tools and parts of the chain identified, we can get into the repair process.

The first thing to do, as with all mid-ride repairs, is to set up in a safe area off the side of the trail/road where you can comfortably flip your bike upside-down and create a stand for yourself.

In the case that the chain is still attached and you suspect a bent link, use your hand to run the drivetrain and look down at the chain to see where it hangs up on the derailleur. You’ll want to identify how much of the chain is compromised and in need of removal. Ideally, it’s a single link, and the chain length won’t be dramatically affected.

If the chain has come off, or you want to inspect it off the bike, avoid setting it down on sandy or gritty areas. Lay it out on a piece of cloth, a bag, a rock or a stump if you’re off-road.

Reconnecting an existing chain WITH a master link:

Continue by looking and feeling around the chain for the bent section– once identified, you are ready to start the repair. Above, we've identified the bent link which will need to be removed.

Use your chain breaker to remove the damaged portion of your chain at the link closest to the damaged link so that at each working end there are two inner plates with rollers. (This is for the master link to reconnect.) When doing so, be sure the tool and chain are lined up as straight as possible. The tool will drive out the pin and you will be able to discard the damaged links.

If you removed your chain from the bike, you will now need to re-thread your chain through the drivetrain & derailleur, and get your master link ready.

The next step is to insert the master link pins through the exposed inner plates of your chain and link the pins together. To do this, the pins on each master link will need to align with the open outer plate of the opposite master link. The pins will enter the opposite master link at the wider opening and then slide into a locked position once you complete the next step.

*Remember: with a chain that has 10, 11, or 12 speeds, the master link will have an arrow on it indicating which way it should be installed. The arrow should face the direction in which the change will move as you pedal.*

The last step is to close the master link and connect the chain, which can be done without the use of a tool.

Flip your bike back over & rotate the crank to a position where you can apply downward pressure as if pedaling forward, making sure the master link is at the top of your chain line (this is critical for generating the force needed to close the link).

Hold down the rear brake, and step down on the pedal, listening for a ‘click,’ indicating that it’s popped into the locked position.

Check the pins to ensure you’ve done it correctly, pedal the bike by hand and inspect for any issues or noise, & you are ready to roll!

Reconnecting an existing chain WITHOUT a master link:

If you are reconnecting the existing chain without a master link available, it’s important to give yourself two opposite ends when you remove the damaged link(s). This time, we'll illustrate the process on a chain with a broken link.

Since we do not have a master link, we need to preserve both an outer plate with a pin and an inner plate (pin removed) so that we can reconnect the chain.

Creating an open outer plate:

Use your chain tool to push the pin only far enough out to remove the broken segment of chain. You need to leave yourself about 1-2mm of pin still in the viable outerplate. This will help you during reinstallation to guide the pin through straight.

Creating an open inner plate:

On the other end, use your chain breaker to push the pin fully out of an outer section, leaving an end with inner plates and a roller.

Re-thread your chain through the drivetrain if you removed it during this process.

Reconnect chain:

This will be a tight fit, so you will need lead the inner portion a of an angle to allow the pin to enter the roller straight on. See images above.

Use your chain tool to drive the pin back through the link, ensuring that you are pushing it in straight. Try to match the pin installation of the existing undamaged links (should be flush with the outer plates). Be careful not to push the pin too far as it will weaken the link and the chain may break again. Check the link for tightness, and pedal the bike to ensure that the chain moves through the drivetrain smoothly.

If all is running without skipping, you should be back in action well enough to safely end your ride.

FLAT FIX, FLAT FIX!

Of course nobody wants to end up stranded with a flat tire.. knowing how to properly replace a tube on the fly can be a critical skill to help keep yourself and your fellow riders rolling.

Feel yourself bouncing a bit on each pedal stroke, or like there's a bit of lag when you're banking into a turn? Careful now, you just might have a flat!

Not to worry - with the appropriate repair equipment and an understanding of the task at hand - a swift return to the open road (or trail) is all but guaranteed.

The traditional tire system consists of a rim, a rim strip, a tube, and a tire. A "flat" indicates that the tube is no longer holding air. You'll want to identify the source of the puncture before we replace and inflate the new tube - else you might end up stranded with another punctured tube.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

Extra tube - Be sure you pack the correct tube size. They come in a range of diameters and widths and should correspond to your tire size (printed on the sidewall).
Levers - We like Pedro’s levers, as they are durable, stiff and come in pairs.
Multi-tool - In some cases, a tool is not required. However, you may have a bolt-on wheel or thru-axle system, which requires a tool to install/remove (ex. 15mm wrench, 5mm or 6mm allen wrench).
Inflation - You will need some form of inflation, whether that be a frame pump or C02 chuck.

C02 cartridges

Pros: can fit into a saddle bag, small, lightweight, fast inflation
Cons: minimal room for user error as it is a one time use, no gauge

Frame pump:

Pros: can be used multiple times to seat and reseat tires. Some models have pressure gauges to inflate precisely to recommended psi.
Cons: can be quite a workout to get to the appropriate psi, can be heavy and have mounting limitations with certain frames

1: REMOVE WHEEL

You may need to release the brakes before attempting to remove the wheel. This will allow you to free the wheel from the frame using the quick release skewer. Again, don't forget to pack your tool if you have a bolt-on wheel or thru-axle system. If removing a rear wheel, shifting to the smallest cog will make it easier as the derailleur can get in the way otherwise.

More info regarding the removal of wheels can be found in this video here.

TIRE & TUBE

Grab your tire levers and sneak them just under the tire bead approximately 5-6 inches apart. You'll be trying to lift the bead over the rim - sometimes locking one lever onto a spoke can help. Make your way around the rim, freeing one side of the tire and exposing the tube inside. Before removing the tube fully, make note of the orientation of the valve in relation to the tire (you can use branding etc to do so). Since you will want to identify the cause of the flat, you will need to locate the puncture in the tube and follow it to the source whether that be within the rim of the wheel or the tire itself.

2: IDENTIFY CAUSE OF FLAT

Once you have the punctured tube removed, the best scenario is being able to inflate it slightly to locate where the tube is losing air. The most common cause of a flat is a “pinch flat” and tends to look like 2 symmetrical holes on the inner side of the tube that faces the rim. These types of flats are often caused by low tire pressure, resulting in the tube being pinched between the road and the rim of the bike during a bump in the road. The best way to prevent a pinch flat is to inflate your tires to the appropriate pressure (printed on the side of each tire) at least once a week and check before each ride.

It is always best practice to check the rim strip (cloth tape, rubber, or vinyl strip that lines the rim) to ensure that it covers the spoke nipples and is still intact. If this has folded over, broken, or slid off to one side, the exposed edge of the hole/nipple can cause a puncture on the inside of the tube when it is inflated.

If the puncture in the tube is located on the outer side of the tube, this is indicative that an object has made its way through the tire. It is crucial to locate and remove before installing a new tube as it could still be embedded in the tire and immediately cut the new tube when re-inflating. The best method is to turn the tire inside out to visually and physically inspect for glass, wire, thorns etc. Once you have removed the foreign object from the tire, aligned the rim strip, and reinspected the tire, you can proceed with installing the new tube.

If no hole can be located in the old tube. Sometimes an abrasion can cause a slow leak without a clear puncture or the valve has been damaged.

3: INSTALL NEW TUBE

Ensure you have right size tube (the tires will be labeled on the sidewall and the tube size will be a range with which the tire size needs to correspond)

Inflate the tube slightly - this will make it easier to install without it getting pinched in an unfortunate position.

As you go to inflate fully, make sure the bead of the tire is seated as well as possible. If you notice any issues as you inflate, quickly stop and let out any air, adjust the tire, and try again.

4: REINSTALL WHEEL

Install the wheel back on the bike (if it is a rear, being in the smallest cogs will make it easier) and re-attach or close your brake’s quick release.

Proper wheel installation is crucial for ensuring safety, so be sure to check out the previously linked video if you have any concerns.

Always give it a good spin and check to be sure the wheel is straight in the dropouts, there is no rubbing on the frame or brake rub. When reinstalling a rear wheel, give the pedals a spin to re-engage the chain with the cogs before laying down the power - just in case it’s between gears.

NEW KITS!

We finally made it to Spring! While we have worked tirelessly through Winter to de-clutter Ed’s hoarding, install new lights, and fight the dust bunnies, we have also taken this time to fashion up a new shop kit!

As our space becomes brighter, so do our spirits, and that energy can be seen in the blues, pinks, and yellows within our design. With a touch of lace and some wavy callbacks to our shop socks, we present our 2021 Spring kits: