Bike Fit

Bikes come in a limited number of shapes and sizes; however, people do not. Getting a bike fit is like going to the tailor for your favorite pair of pants that fits perfectly at the waist but is a bit too long. There are small tweaks that can be made to your bike components so that your bike fits you and feels more comfortable.

Who can benefit from a fit?- Anyone riding a bike! 

Riders experiencing pain or discomfort during or after a ride. The aging cyclist with less flexibility or the younger rider new to the sport. The cyclist looking for a new bike. A weekday commuter and the weekend fitness seeker. The charity rider setting goals or the racer chasing upgrade points.

Why are bike fits at Hub awesome?

• We offer a Commuter Bike Fit. Starting at $75, in addition to a Sport and Performance level fits.
  
• We have Jim. A Serotta International Cycling Institute fit education tops over a decade of direct bicycle industry experience from production(large & custom) to small shop 
  sales, wrenching, and e-commerce operation & management for some very well known names in our little corner of the world. The prior decade was spent zipping packages around Boston as a courier and more recently as an amateur category racer competing in road and cyclocross events. 
  He speaks from experience when it comes to the bicycle and equipment. Where the rubber meets the road is the true test of equipment and technique so he's always out there learning and refining.His knowledge base is at your disposal.
• We believe that education is an important part of the bike fitting process. Not only will you get the numbers and measurements you need, you'll learn a thing or two in the process!
  

Schedule your bike fit today

Contact Jim at jimwcyclingservices@gmail.com. It's the perfect way to prepare for more riding in the spring. 

EVENTS! And Canceled Events.

First up, the EVENTS!:

If you like food and bikes, we're hosting the Dinner and Bikes crew at our NEW (and currently unoccupied) shop space. June 8, 7pm. Tickets here.

We're going to be back at the Red Bones Bike Party for the third year in a row (hat trick!).  We'll be closing up shop at 4pm to head over. Stop by for some BBQ and say 'hi'!


And now for Canceled Events:

So speaking of our new shop space.... we're kicking the prep work to get this space ready into high gear! Due to this, we're going to postpone all Basic Maintenance Clinics until the fall. We'll be bringing them back (as well as some new clinic offerings!) in October.

I Built a Bike

There are several things you could mean when you say you 'built' a bike. Most commonly it means you took a bicycle frame and other components and attached them to each other to make a ride-able cycling machine. We do that here at Hub Bicycle all the time -sweet fixies, super commuters, racing machines- what ever you want we can and will (and have) build(t) it.

What I haven't done up until now is 'build' a bike. Or more accurately- a frame. I started the process in April(ish) by buying a box of steel tubes. After many months of planning, cutting, filing, brazing, more filing, sanding, etc. it was finally ready to ride this week.

This is my first attempt at frame building. So I knew it wasn't going to be perfect. Early on I decided to name this project 'The Practice Pancake'- after the first pancake in every batch that comes out less than perfect. You know, sometimes the pan is a little too hot, or not hot enough. It takes one to gauge how the rest of the batch is gonna go.

That's how I approached this bike. One to warm up (or cool down) the pan. I didn't want to over think it, or make it seem too precious. This bike is a tool that has/will serve two purposes- to teach me how to make bike frames and to transport me from point A to B. It was a fun process, and I learned a lot.

It seems to me that frames are best built when the full plan is set ahead of time. I'm more of a plan as-I-go kind of gal, so this was a personal growth project as well. The biggest mistakes I made were because my plan wasn't fully formed at the start, so I know what I need to do for the next one.

After building it I built it with my existing commuter bike parts. It's rocking a disc brake mullet (disc brake up front, road brake out back) because of some serious non-planning...practice makes perfect (pancakes). Mr Paul Carson is responsible for the metal-flake purple finish and it looks great. If you're in the market to get a bike powder coated- give him a shout.

Pic by Bike Safe Boston

The thing that struck me the most about that first ride is how unremarkable it was. I poured many hours, tons of thought. love (and a little blood) and I built a bike and it rides like a bike. If I closed my eyes, I wouldn't be able to tell that there was anything different about this little baby (right before crashing, because riding with your eyes closed is a terrible idea). In the end, I set out to build a bike and that's what I did, so mission accomplished. On to the next bike.

Gift Ideas

Need some ideas for the cyclist on your holiday gift giving season list? Well, I have 1,000,000 suggestions for you, but here are three to start:

Hub Bicycle Flat Fix Kit- $24
 

This kit has a CO2 inflator, patch kit, and the world's best tire levers in a not-too-big seat bag. Don't think your gift receiver knows how to fix their own flats? Let them know about our free Basic Maintenance Clinics.

Peterboro Bicycle Basket- $39-49

These classy (and surprisingly strong- up to 70lbs!) baskets are made a short 67.6 mile bike ride away from Hub Bicycle. Local, functional, good looking. There you go.

Park Tool Home Wrench Stand (PCS-9)- $144

 

Any PRO bike mechanic will tell you that having a repair stand is an essential tool. Lifting the bike off the ground and up to eye level makes diagnosing, adjusting, and installing just about everything on a bike easier. Flipping the bike upside down is for kids (or for people fixing flats on the side of the road, I guess). Plus- how are you (not you, but you know, the giftee) going to adjust those derailleurs if the shifters are underneath your bike?

Air

The issue of how often to put air into a bicycle tire has come up on three different occasions in the last couple of hours, so I guess it's time to talk about it.

How often should you put air into your bike tires? There are many variables that effect the air pressure, but all of that aside if you ride regularly you should be putting air in your tires at least ONCE A WEEK. No joke. (I'm sure you can find nit-picky forum posters/comment section regulars all over this great world wide web who'd disagree with me, but I'm not talking to them. I'm talking to you, regular bicycle rider.) Bicycle tubes are slightly porous and will lose air over time.

How much air do you put in those tires? It depends on the tire. You should be able to find the pressure recommendations right on the sidewall of the tire. Like this:

Just find the number, find a pump (we keep one right outside the shop for you to use for free!), and pump it up. Once a week.

All Good

Yeah, summer!

Things are really in full swing here. Tune ups, custom bike builds, and flat fixes as far as the eye can see. All you folks prepping your bikes for racing, charity riding, long distance touring, brand new commutes to work, knee surgery recovery, and whatnot have been keeping us very busy. Thank you!

We had a great flat fix clinic this month. Great turnout and lots of great questions (that, I hope, were fully answered). I'm looking forward to the next round (August 3).

I got to go mountain biking with my Sig O last weekend. This was after a, I'm going to say 'mostly unsuccessful', first MTB ride last fall. This time nobody bled, and I (swear I) heard the phrase "Well, I didn't hate that." Brought a tear to my eye...

I'm headed out to Woburn for the start of the New England Classic tomorrow morning. I'll be out helping riders, who've helped raise money for the American Diabetes Association, who helps (in part) fund researchers, who will someday (in the next ten years...) cure diabetes! So basically, I'll be curing diabetes this weekend.

We got a super dope new shop bike:


Just try to not smile your face off while you're riding this thing.


Keep it up the good work, summer, keep it up.

Clean up

So maybe you've been doing some home maintenance on your bike. Maybe you've fixed a flat, or dutifully lubed your chain. Now your hands look like this:

Band-aid.

The grime that comes off your bike is a special kind of filth. It's especially tenacious and resistant to regular soap. I know, I wash my hands a dozen times a day. I use a heavy duty, gritty citrus hand cleaner, that comes in a heavy duty quantity.


But let's say you don't want to buy a gallon of heavy-duty, professional strength hand cleaner. One of my other favorites is Lava soap (it's made with pumice... get it?). Also gritty, and available in bar form at your neighborhood grocery store. It's not as quick as the citrus stuff and I think it takes a little more elbow grease to remove bike grease with Lava, so I like to pair it with a nice nail brush.



But maybe you don't have your Lava soap handy, or you hate volcanoes. In a pinch, you can use dish soap. WAIT! Don't wash just yet. To really, really get all the grease off your hands you have to scrub your hands with liquid dish soap DRY. That's the trick. Put the soap on your dry, bike grimy hands, scrub it in, then wash it off with warm water. You might have to go in for another round, but it works much better if your hands are dry for the first round. Trust me.


It's good to get your hands dirty every once in a while (or every day), but it's also good to clean them in case you want to have a sandwich or something.

Reading List

I'm not going to complain about the snow. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan, but complaining isn't going to help and it's getting old.

To avoid falling into the glass-half-empty winter curmudgeon trap I've been doing bike-y things from the warmth and comfort of the indoors. Like reading. There's interesting stuff out there.

Here is what (and in what order) I typically read:

I start at Boston Biker. No, wait. First I get a cup of coffee. Then I go to Boston Biker. It's a nice way to catch a bunch of the latest in one place. I also like to scan down the left side to see what other blogs have updated recently. Of the 'left side Boston Biker blogs' I particularly like Chic Cyclist and the Humble Cyclist.

Then I move on to Lovely Bicycle!. I'm not as big a fan of vintage as she is (that's not to say I'm not a fan of vintage, just not as big...), but I do think the tone she uses to share her cycling experience makes it more accessible to more people.

Then I move on to Bike Snob NYC. I will say that sometimes I have to take a break to see other blogs. I like a little snark. I think it can be funny, and has its place, but I also think it should be used sparingly (it's like refined sugar on the food pyramid of comedy). I will say I'm enjoying it for now.

Next I go to Bike Shop Girl. 'Empowering women in cycling.' Amen. I find the layout of the site to be a bit cluttered, but the content is a-ok! disorienting, but it's probably just me (I like my websites nice 'n linear).
Then I check out what Joshua has to say over at Arc En Ciel Bicycle Studio. You can always count on some nice pics there.

Then I like to check out some local frame builders' sites, and admire their handiwork. I also like to check with MassBike and NEMBA to see what's new.

Any other suggestions? I've got 51 days to fill until spring...

More Learning Opportunities

So the basics are covered. What if you want to learn more? As promised here are the details about... I'm not sure what to call it yet... Advanced bicycle instruction? Bicycle maintenance tutoring? One to one maintenance classes? Individual bicycle maintenance instruction?


Want to learn something (or everything) specific about your bike? Maybe what you're looking for isn't covered in the offerings of the various bicycle maintenance classes out there. Or maybe the large class format isn't for you. Hub Bicycle is now offering individual bicycle maintenance instruction. In this class the student/teacher ratio is 1:1.

It's up to you what's covered during your instruction time, but examples of topics include:

• wheel maintenance

• wheel building

• drive train maintenance and adjustment
  

• bleeding hydraulic brakes

• suspension maintenance and adjustment

• bearing overhauls

• head to toe (or handle bar to tires) tuning

Email me (still emilyathubbicycledotcom) with your thoughts, and we can put together the curriculum for your bike class. Evening and weekend times are available so we can find time to fit into your schedule. The cost is $60/hour for instruction and use of shop space & tools. Any components needed (hubs, spokes, rims, bleed kits, drive train parts, etc.) are 15% off retail price.

With a wide range of experience in the bike industry and a commitment to continued learning, I've got a noggin full of bike info that I'd love to share. Come on in to fill your noggin, too.

Where was I?

Last week Charlie was holding it down here at Hub without me. Where was I? At the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. No joke. See?

That's a Huey Lewis and the News button in the upper left. Also not a joke.

I was there to become a USA Cycling Licensed Race Mechanic. And boy, oh boy, did I. Four days of intense bicycle knowledge and nerdiness. I learned a bunch about bicycle race support, and about the racing industry in general. What does this mean for Hub Bicycle Company? Well, first I've padded out my mechanic bag of tricks with some new skills. In addition to the 11(ish) instructors, all captains of the bicycle industry, there were 59 other students, who all had experience to share. I really believe that we, in bike shops, become that terrible bike shop stereotype (you know the one... snobby, rude, condescending, mustachioed) when we think we know it all. We don't. It's important to check that ego at the door and see if someone has a better way of doing things. I learned a more efficient way of gluing tubular tires, and how to do pro-style wheel changes, and about the latest and greatest in bike tech, among many other things. A great (extra) long weekend for a lady who loves bikes and learning, but now it's time to put those new skills to work.

Oh, and I got to go on a tour of the velodrome. If you get a chance to visit a track, you should. I'm always startled to see how steep the banks really are. They look scarier in real life. Also, it's nice to know that some track bikes actually do get used on a track.

7-Eleven Velodrome

Angry Skeletons

The most frequently asked question I get this time of year is "What should I do to get my bike ready for winter?" To which I usually respond, "Are you going to ride through the winter?" Let's pretend you just answered, "Yes." (Check here about tucking your bike in for a long winter's nap). Cool, so you're going to brave the winter. Good choice. What you need is chain lube.

A neglected chain sounds to me like an angry metal skeleton chasing you down the road. That sound hurts my heart. Not only does it sound angry, it also wears out faster. What causes a chain to sound like that? The short answer is winter. With it's rain/sleet/slush/snow/salt/sand and whatnot.

Lubing your chain is the best and easiest maintenance you can perform to keep your ride rolling through the winter. You have to think moderation here- too little is not good, and too much is not good. Here's how I do it:

1. Drip chain lube along the inside of the chain as you backpedal the crank with your other hand to coat the whole chain.



2. After you've coated the chain, continue to backpedal for a while (20 seconds-ish?) to let the lube work its way into the chain.



3. Wipe off the extra with a rag. You just want it on the inside of the parts where the friction happens. Lube on the outside will attract dirt, which wears things out faster, which defeats one of the points of this exercise.


See that junk on the rag? Not only did you lubricate, but you also cleaned it. A twofer!

What kind of lube should you use? Good question. There are plenty of choices, and I bet if you asked 10 bike mechanics what their favorite is, you'd get 10 different answers. My favorite is Boeshield T-9 (or just "T-9" to its friends...). I like it because it's light, and clean so it doesn't attract a bunch of junk. It's also good for lubing cables/housing, and flushing out various moving parts (shifters, derailleurs, whathaveyou...). It's even good for non-bike things. Like this little guy I fixed today:



I also like Tri Flow. It's a little heavier, but still pretty clean. The original stuff smells vaguely of bananas. It's the smell of my first real job...oh, the good ol' days. The thing about these lighter chain lubes is that you need to apply them more often. Hear those angry birds again? Get caught in a rain/sleet/snow storm? Time to reapply!

Alright folks, Charlie and I are off on adventures next week, so we'll see you on the 27th. Happy Thanksgiving!