The Spoken Wrench

Continental Bike Shop presents the Spoken Wrench vol4 no7
June-time and the Summer Sometimes Swelter Edition

Cannondale is once again sponsoring Liquigas, Bianchi has taken over sponsorship of Barloworld and Giant is sponsoring Team High Road (formerly T-mobile/Deutsche Telekom). Hopefully with a promising start to the season, we can all enjoy a slightly more drama/doping/scandal free pro season. Well, we can hope, at least.

News and Notes

• Randy’s son Kevin Martin has earned his EMT certification while working as a hospital corpsman in Japan.
• We’ve got new counters, and if you haven’t seen them, come on in and take a look, and if your so inclined sample some of our complimentary coffee or tea.
• Fridays at 6:15/6:30ish PM is the Fix Detroit ride. Starts at the shop, anywhere between 15 and 20 miles, on single speeds, preferably fixed gears, and possibly the promise not to shift. Most Fridays when the weather’s nicer. If you’ve got any questions, give us a call and talk to Dave or Jason. (you can also email Jason@continentalbikeshop.com)
• This Month’s Tip will return at an as yet unannounced and unplanned later date this summer. As always, if you’ve got a question or a suggestion, drop us a line.

Continental Bike Shop presents the Spoken Wrench vol4 no5
Spring Has Sprung April, No, you can’t have your repair back tomorrow Edition.

Just a small note to say that, well, we told you so. Spring has finally landed in Michigan, and for once, we’re pretty sure it might stay awhile, at least until May rolls around and summer suddenly appears out of nowhere. Repairs are a little behind schedule. Actually a lot more behind schedule than we like, but well, there is a reason that throughout the long winter months we ask nicely, and repeatedly that everyone bring their repairs in while there’s still snow on the ground.

So, we’re about a week for turn around on repairs. But the sooner you bring it in, the sooner you’ll get it back. Just saying…

And, If you happen to have a bike that’s already here, and done, we’d really like for you to come pick it up, and uhm, help us make a little more space.
This Month’s Tip
Bring your bike in for repair while there’s still snow on the ground, and there’s a reasonable expectation of there being more snow before you get a chance to ride the bike.

Now that that’s over, on to the real advice for the month, small things to do to make the season better:

• Make sure your tires are properly aired up ever before every ride. We know it sounds like something we shouldn’t have to mention, but properly airing your tires does a world of good. Fewer flats, (the glass-and-pothole-induced-flats aren’t included in this because, well, that stuff just needs to be avoided), better ride, and more efficiency. Basically everything they tell you about your car tires, sort of applies to bike tires.
• In the same vein, wear a helmet. Something like an 85% reduction in head injuries just from wearing a helmet. Helmets, however are not a license to do stupid sh*t..
• Lube your chain when it needs it, like if its making noise, or looking like you might be able to enter it in the “most rusted” contest. We use T-9 from Boesheild. Its waxy and doesn’t build up the way some of its competitors do. *cough*white lightning*cough* If you are going to lube your chain, with T-9, spray or drip it on, wait at least two hours, and wipe the excess off. Voila. Well lubed chain.
• Bring a multi tool, patch kit and/or new tube, tire levers and some sort of inflationary device with you. Just because you never know what you might run into, literally and figuratively, on a ride.

News and Notes
In 2007 the League of Michigan Bicyclists asked cyclists about both their impression of the LMB and how well (or possibly not) they were doing with bicycle advocacy and at the same time, asked what bike shops the preferred. Well, we’re happy to announce that we’ve been named one of the LMB’s Consumer’s Choice Bike Shop for 2007. Makes us happy. We love winning awards for doing what we do, but getting a consumer award, instead of an industry one rocks! So we wanted to say thanks for thinking of us as your bike shop, and if the LMB asks again this year, vote for us again! Thanks for making us your bike shop.

Continental Bike Shop presents the Spoken Wrench vol4 no4March Madness Make the Snow Stop! Edition

This edition of the Spoken Wrench is brought to you by the letter “R,” you know, as in repair. Spring has sprung in Michigan, despite the snow, and what anyone may think. April is just around the corner, meaning that better riding weather, longer days, and longer repair turnarounds will follow close behind… We’ve tried, for as long as we’ve been here to convince people that winter, when you’re not thinking of riding, not thinking about your bike is really the best time to have it worked on. Despite our best efforts, no one seems to listen. So, spring is here, and so is the need for a repair, and, no, I’m sorry, you will have to leave your bike, and no, you can’t have it back tomorrow.

The Big Dummy is Here!

No, we’re not calling anyone names, the Big Dummy is Surly’s answer to some very high gas prices. Think you can’t commute because you’ve got too much stuff to bring with you? Surly has solved that problem. Using Xtracycle’s Freeradical frame as a starting point, the Big Dummy can carry a week’s worth of groceries, a surf board (not that you really need a surf board in Michigan), another bike, your friends, a sheepdog, or just the day’s stuff. There’s endless ways to use your Big Dummy. We’ve been using ours to get to and from lunch and everywhere else in Hazel Park.

Let Levi Ride!

In 2007 Astana ran afoul of the ASO (the people who own the Tour de France) and the UCI. For 2008, the new home of Levi Leipenheimer, and Alberto Contador, winner of the 2007 Tour, Astana hasn’t been invited to the 2008 Tour de France. If you think Levi should ride (since he’s the English speaker pushing hardest to get Astana onto the Tour) visit LetLeviRide.com and add your name to the petition. If you think that two years worth of doping scandals means that Astana shouldn’t ride, well, don’t sign the petition, and I can’t necessarily disagree with you.

April Fools!

Tuesday is April 1st. April Fools’ Day is here, and with it comes our annual sale. Spring is here, just ignore the snow, and get ready to ride. We’ll be open 8AM -7PM for the sale, so everyone has enough time to make it in. We will not be extending the sale to Wednesday, it’s a one day only event. We hope to see you there, and as always, bring a friend! Its always more fun to ride with company!

.

It’s a mountain bike! No, It’s a Hybrid!

No, it’s both. It happens to be the 2008 Cannondale 29’er 4. 29’ers have been a hot topic of conversation for a while now, and we know why. If you really are planning on mountain biking, and yet you know you’re going to need to ride your bike on the road, a 29’er is the way to go. With larger wheels, you get better momentum, and with a quick change of the tire, you’ve got a very nicely equipped hybrid that can handle, literally, everything you might want to throw at it.

In the Navy!

Kevin’s keeping busy in the Navy, in Japan. In addition to being a Hospitalman, Kevin is part of the Auxiliary Security Forces (ASF). Here’s what the Navy says:

080317-N-4649C-022 YOKOSUKA, Japan (March 17, 200 Hospitalman Kevin Martin, a native of Gregory, Mich., stationed at U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka, Japan, practices knee strikes as Grove Hill, Ala.-native Postal Clerk Seaman Apprentice Charles Motes, assigned to Fleet Industrial Supply Center (CFA) Yokosuka assists during auxiliary security force (ASF) training at Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka. Sailors from various commands around Yokosuka make up the ASF team, which assists the CFA security force. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Chantel M. Clayton (Released)

This edition of the Spoken Wrench is brought to you by the numbers 4 and 29.  Every four years, we have the opportunity to vote, watch the summer Olympic Games, and celebrate 366 days in the year.  To celebrate the 29th day of February, we’ve decided to have a sale.  See how that works, we want to celebrate, you get to save money.  Sounds good to me.

Hope to see you there!

Bring a friend, bring lots of friends.  Save lots of money!  (The bringing of friends is not necessary not does it mean greater savings, but it would make us <I>very</I> happy.)

Patent pending Spoken Wrench humor not included. See Shop for details.

Continental Bike Shop presents the Spoken Wrench vol4 no2a
Correction and Clarification Edition

After reading the previous Spoken Wrench, and a reminder from Randy, I realized I didn’t say how or where to RSVP to…

So, if you would like to RSVP for either event, you may, as some of you have done, and I appreciate, reply via email, or you can call the shop 248 545 1225 and let whoever picks up the phone know you’ll be attending one of our awesome slide shows. Which are, as always, more than slides: lots of talking, background on the event and food. And drinks. Hence the need for an RSVP.

RSVP for Beth Brandvain’s Copper Canyon coolness by February 4. and for Dave’s version of the L’Eroic by February 20. Please let us know who you are and how many friends you might be bringing with you.

So plan on making an appearance at one or both events and we hope to see you there! Tell your friends! (make them RSVP too!)

-the ever-apologetic-that-I-had-to-make-a-correction, but I’m learning to spell, Wrench Wench, Liz.

In case you missed it, here’s the pertinent section of the previous Spoken Wrench.

Up and Coming Happenings at Continental Bike Shop
We’ve got two slide shows happening in the next month. First, Beth Brandvain will be showing off her new Cannondale Rush and the workout it got recently in Copper Canyon Mexico, February 6th at 7PM. Four times the size of the Grand Canyon, Copper Canyon covers 25,000 square miles. (That’s a lot to ride!) With some very cool looking photos, and a whole lot to talk about, it looks like one very interesting night! Please RSVP for this event by February 4th so we’ve got an idea of how many people will be coming and how much refreshments we’ll need.

Second, on February 22nd, Dave will be presenting his photos from the 2006 L’Eroica Ride in Tuscany. In case you’ve never heard of the L’Eroic ride, Brooks England, the leather saddle people, say this about it in their 2006 ‘Book for Cyclists’:

As can be read from one of our old catalogues, Brooks saddles were once the choice of all participants at the Tour de France. Of course, time and technology has moved on, but the atmosphere of that bygone era can still be experienced at L’Eroica, the world’s most grueling daily cycle tour.

At the end of each summer the village of Gaiole in Tuscany, Italy, plays host to a community of cyclists determined to keep the spirit of that era alive. The don period clothing and ride vintage bikes which, given the course, can only be described as truly heroic. A set of dirt courses ranging from the easy 40km to the hardest 200km tour await the participants who ride L’Eroica.

As usual, we will provide refreshments and food. Tell your neighbors, bring friends! And we hope to see you there! Please RSVP for Beth’s slide show by February 4th and by February 20th for Dave’s slide show.

Continental Bike Shop presents the Spoken Wrench vol4 no2
February Special Events, Special Edition

This edition of the Spoken Wrench is brought to you by the letter “Q,” for Quick Release Safety. Remember to check to make sure your quick releases are properly engaged. Not too tight and not too lose. If you’ve got any questions, well we suggest nuttted axles or we can always show you the proper method. Also a shout out to the fast disappearing quill stem, which made lots of sense, and still see a fair bit of use from Bianchi.

Up and Coming Happenings at Continental Bike Shop
We’ve got two slide shows happening in the next month. First, Beth Brandvain will be showing off her new Cannondale Rush and the workout it got recently in Copper Canyon Mexico, February 6th at 7PM. Four times the size of the Grand Canyon, Copper Canyon covers 25,000 square miles. (That’s a lot to ride!) With some very cool looking photos, and a whole lot to talk about, it looks like one very interesting night! Please RSVP for this event by February 4th so we’ve got an idea of how many people will be coming and how much refreshments we’ll need.

Second, on February 22nd, Dave will be presenting his photos from the 2006 L’Eroica Ride in Tuscany. In case you’ve never heard of the L’Eroic ride, Brooks England, the leather saddle people, say this about it in their 2006 ‘Book for Cyclists’:

As can be read from one of our old catalogues, Brooks saddles were once the choice of all participants at the Tour de France. Of course, time and technology has moved on, but the atmosphere of that bygone era can still be experienced at L’Eroica, the world’s most grueling daily cycle tour.

At the end of each summer the village of Gaiole in Tuscany, Italy, plays host to a community of cyclists determined to keep the spirit of that era alive. The don period clothing and ride vintage bikes which, given the course, can only be described as truly heroic. A set of dirt courses ranging from the easy 40km to the hardest 200km tour await the participants who ride L’Eroica.

As usual, we will provide refreshments and food. Tell your neighbors, bring friends! And we hope to see you there! Please RSVP for Beth’s slide show by February 4th and by February 20th for Dave’s slide show.

Continental Bike Shop presents the Spoken Wrench vol4 no1
January, It’s a New Year! Edition

This edition of the Spoken Wrench is brought to you by the letter “P,” for past editions of the Spoken Wrench. There’s a lot of important, useable, and otherwise cool information that ends up in the Spoken Wrench, but it’s been hard to find a way to archive it online. But, I had an epiphany a while ago, and now issues of the Spoken Wrench going back to May 2007 (vol3 no3) are available on our website. So if there’s something you missed, or a Tip of the Month that you’d like to go back and reread, you’ll find most of 2007 online. AS 2008 and volume 4 of the Spoken Wrench get on their way, you’ll find the current edition of the Spoken Wrench there too.

Spin Classes?
We’ve had some interest in spin classes, but we don’t run them, Team in Training does. To participate in spinning classes at Continental you need to be signed up for Team in Training. To do this, you can check out the Michigan Chapter of Team in Training’s Website here.
Dates for spin classes are:
Wednesday February 13th
Saturday February 16th
Wednesday February 27th
Saturday March 1st
Wednesday March 12th
Saturday March 15th
Wednesday March 26th
Saturday March 29th
Spinning classes in March are weather dependent, so if its nice out, rides will be outside. Otherwise we’ll be keeping company with Team in Training through the end of March.

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign
If you’ve been into the shop recently, you’ve seen our new chalkboards, with most of our repair prices on them. If you haven’t, come on by and take a look at the new chalkboards. They’re fun and we think it’s a good idea that you can see right away what your repair might cost, and have an idea of how your estimate breaks down. The menu boards fit with the eclectic feel of the back room, with the bar and the coffee (if you missed it, we’ve now got coffee, hot chocolate and a variety of teas), for a fun ‘Come on in, have a seat, stay a while’ kind of feel.

Up and Coming Happenings at Continental Bike Shop
We’ve got two slide shows happening in the next month. First, Beth Brandvain will be showing off her new Cannondale Rush and the workout it got recently in Copper Canyon Mexico, February 6th at 7PM. Four times the size of the Grand Canyon, Copper Canyon covers 25,000 square miles. (That’s a lot to ride!) With some very cool looking photos, and a whole lot to talk about, it looks like one very interesting night!

Second, on February 22nd, Dave will be presenting his photos from the L’Eroica Ride in Tuscany. In case you’ve never heard of the L’Eroic ride, Brooks England, the leather saddle people, say this about it in their 2006 ‘Book for Cyclists’:

As can be read from one of our old catalogues, Brooks saddles were once the choice of all participants at the Tour de France. Of course, time and technology has moved on, but the atmosphere of that bygone era can still be experienced at L’Eroica, the world’s most grueling daily cycle tour.

At the end of each summer the village of Gaiole in Tuscany, Italy, plays host to a community of cyclists determined to keep the spirit of that era alive. The don period clothing and ride vintage bikes which, given the course, can only be described as truly heroic. A set of dirt courses ranging from the easy 40km to the hardest 200km tour await the participants who ride L’Eroica.

As usual, we will provide refreshments and food. Tell your neighbors, bring friends! And we hope to see you there!

Attitude and Cynicism, Bike Shop Style.
We’re a pretty opinionated bunch around here. Same goes for, well all the riders, shop employees, and to some extent, the industry people we’ve ever come in contact with. We all know what’s right and best, despite what everyone else thinks is right and best. Every once and a while, someone comes along and does ‘right and best’ better, and with way more attitude than even we’ve got, and we have to tip our heads to them, even if we don’t always agree with their interpretation of ‘right and best.’ So, if you like reading blogs, or you might like to start, we recommend Bike Snob NYC. Like I mentioned earlier, we don’t agree with everything he says, but we enjoy reading it and laughing uproariously.

Continental Bike Shop presents the Spoken Wrench vol3 no11
December, Holiday of your Choice Edition.

Today, 20 December 2007, we received this note from a customer:

“Thanks for introducing us to the wonderful world of biking!”

When all is said and done, we figure that this is why we do what we do.

Thanks to each and every one of you for your patronage, support and friendship throughout the years.

Pick a holiday or 2 or 3, wish yourself a merry one, and enjoy ‘em.

Merrily,

The Crew at Continental Bike Shop

FYI, normal Spoken Wrenchliness will resume on Wednesday or there abouts next week.

Our hours are:
For the holidays, 10AM-2PM December 24th and 31st (Maybe a little after 2 on the 31st, but we cant guarantee anything….)
Closed December 25th and January 1st.
Normal Hours:
Monday and Thursday: 10AM-7PM
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday: 10AM-6PM
Saturdays 10AM-5PM
Never on Sundays.

Continental Bike Shop presents the Spoken Wrench vol3 no10
December, I believe it might be winter Edition.

This edition of the Spoken Wrench is brought to you by the letter “O.” Its cold outside, and there’s a large contingent of riders who don’t like the extreme cold, and if you’re one of them, perhaps now is the time to bring your bike in for an overhaul. As Travis points out, every bike can benefit from one, even with sealed bearings, sometimes, we need to replace ‘em to make things new. (Case in point, he’s over hauling a rear hub, after overhauling a rear wheel and coaster brake yesterday.) Now’s a great time to drop your bike off, and let us go to town. If winter riding is your thing, make sure you check out the Lake MXZ302 winter boots.

UBB and You
We’ve been doing a bit of cleaning, and reorganization. And we can’t be the only ones who prefer to engage in ‘spring’ cleaning’ outside of just spring. (I’ve never seen so much of my desk, and I don’t think Jason has ever seen so much of his bench.) If in your spring cleaning you realize that you’ve got a bike that might make someone else quite happy, and might just lead to a new bike for you, why not bring it in and have us UBB it. UBB is Used Bicycle Buyer, and they do exactly what their name says they do. It usually takes two days for us to inspect your bike and submit it for a quote, and from there you’re free to accept the quote or not, no questions asked.
The not-so-fine Fine Print: UBB quotes are good for 30 days. It’s a lot like selling a car: you’d get more if you did it yourself, but trading it in at the dealership is so much easier. You can use the credit from your trade in towards any parts, accessories, bikes, labor, etc. But you can’t have cash.

Ski Waxing Party?!?!
Now, I don’t ski, I admit that. I tried once, and I’d rather stick to ice skating and not being able to stop, than skiing and not being able to stop. But this whole ski waxing party thing sounds like fun. Friday December 14th at 7PM Wolverine Sports Club will be hosting a ski waxing party here. As the WCS newsletter points out, the waxing part of the Ski Waxing Party is Optional. There will be the Waxing part of the party, complete with a wax clinic for anyone who might need a refresher on waxing. And anyone means Wolverines and non-Wolverines alike. John promises specials, what kind of specials, we’re not sure yet. But specials there will be, along with hors devours, light snacks, and refreshments. Everyone is welcome to bring a dish to share (if you’d like) and its BYO(and shop)B.

Small Salsa, Still Spicy
Carbon bars are cool. They come in a variety of styles, wing bars, standard, oversized clam diameter, etc. You get the idea, I’m sure. What they don’t frequently come in is narrower widths, 38 and 36 centimeter bars can be hard to come by, but Salsa makes them. They’re light, they provide vibration dampening, and they’re narrow. Which, if you’ve got shoulders that warrant a 36 or 38cm bar, that’s important. So, if you or someone you know is looking for some narrow carbon bars, come on in and check out the Salsa bars.

Broken Bike Buddy?
Know someone who always gets to the start of the ride and needs to fix something on their bike? Or needs someone else to fix something on their bike? Consider getting them a gift certificate. We’re happy to do the work. And everyone will have a better riding experience with a well tuned bike.

Christmas Eve Hours
We’re giant procrastinators. And we get the feeling some of our clientele might have the same affliction. So to help you out, and for those of you who need us to hide the presents as long as possible, we’ll be open from 10AM to 2PM. But if its getting close to 2PM, give us a shout and make sure we’re still here.

A Note to our Canadian friends
The US dollar is not my friend. I’ve got grand ambitions to go to Europe sometime soon. The US dollar however, should make some Windsor natives happy. Don’t forget, you get more bang for your Canadian dollar, and we serve coffee to rival Tim Hortons. Well, maybe not rival Tim Hortons, but its free. So, please, come visit, and see how far your dollar can go.

Things that are important enough to be repeated:

• Get ‘em While They’re Hot! Arguably, the nicest child trailer out is the Burley d’lite, its lightweight, easy to attach to a bike, features that nifty little helmet pocket, and is generally a niiiice trailer. Well, we certainly think so, and obviously they’ve never been inexpensive trailers. But for 2008, they’ve gotten a little more expensive, to the tune of $90 over what they were in 2007, for a whopping $550 price tag. Now, since we’re not to crazy about that price hike, and Burley’s got a number of 2007 trailers still floating around, we think now might be the perfect time to get one. All 2007 d’lite trailers will be $430, (save $120 if you get it now, instead of in May), and layaways are our friend this time of year. If you’d like to reserve your Burley d’lite, drop us a line, and a little deposit so we know how many to get. They’ll be arriving sometime in early December, just in time to wrap and put under the tree.
• Repair classes Its that time of year. It’s always some time of the year… but this time I’m specifically talking about that winter tradition around here, repair classes. We’re wondering if there’s enough interest to hold them again this winter, beginning mid to late January. If its something you’re interested in, please drop us a note, and we’ll get you on the list. Repair classes cover everything in the Big Blue Book of Bike Repair from Park. Hubs, cones, tire changes, brake and derailleur adjustment are just some of the topics covered.
• Holiday Layaways A bike can be awfully hard to hide, especially in a small space. And bikes do make such popular presents… So we thought it was time to remind everyone that we do holiday layaways. And we will be open on Christmas Eve, if you need to wait until the last possible moment to pick your bike up, (or your trainer, Burley d’lite, rollers, Assos clothing… et cetera.) We’ve also got bikes starting at $250, that are really worth riding, and make the stuff you find at department stores look like pond-scum. So, if you know of someone who would really like a new bike, but doesn’t think they can afford one, point them towards us. We’re happy to work out layaway programs.