Continental Bike Shop presents the Spoken Wrench vol4 no15

Continental Bike Shop presents the Spoken Wrench vol4 no15
Winter weather and Wrenches Edition

This edition of the Spoken Wrench is brought to you by the Allen Wrench. Next time you look at your bike, you’ll notice that along with the numerous Phillips head screws, mostly Allen bolts. In mostly 4 and 5mm sizes, though the occasional 3mm and 6mm bolt are not unheard of, it just depends on what that bolt might be doing. So, we salute the allen wrench. Without which, we’d get very little bike building and fixing, and seat adjusting done.

And Gene Diggs, who gave me the suggestion of wrenches now that we’ve moved past the alphabetical inspiration.

Give the Gift of Cycling (the easy way)

Bikes are notoriously hard to wrap. Its not like you can put it back in the box we took it out of, that requires more dis-assembly than most people want in a gift. I mean, its fun to put together Lego, that’s the point. Putting together a bike… probably not what you want to be doing. We’ve got shiny new gift cards that make gift wrapping a cinch. They don’t fit into water bottles quite as well as gift certificates did… but they go nicely with a Continental Bike Shop mug.

Gift cards, like their predecessor, never expire, never lose value, etc. If you can’t make it in, we can mail it to you for $5. We’ll ship it USPS Priority Mail, and make sure it gets where ever you’d like it sent.

Calling all Volunteers…

We’re looking for someone with some artistic skills of some sort, who’d like to create a window display for us. We’ve got two great display windows on John R that need some bike related love. If you have any ideas, or you’d like to get in on the nitty gritty, let us know.

A Bike Spa, You Say?

Actually, Waterford Precision Cycles says your bike could use a good spa treatment if you plan on riding throughout the winter. A good cleaning, lubing and polishing to keep everything working as it should, and protect your investment. Waterford’s in Waterford Wisconsin, and they get their fair share of snow there too.

Speaking of Bike Spas, now’s a great time to get your bike in for a little TLC. Why wait weeks in the spring when you can get your bike back the next day in the winter?

Slide Shows, Rides and Maybe More Slide Shows…

Dave, Art and Trevor will present their recent ride in Nova Scotia sometime in January, as soon as we have a date, we’ll let yo know.

If there’s anyone else who’d like to do a slide show about a recent ride let us know, we’re looking for a few more for January and February.

More Repair Classes…

There’s still room in the January repair classes, which meet Thursday, January 15th, 22nd, 29th, and February 5th, beginning at 7PM. Classes usually last about two hours, and we cover basic maintenance…

Classes are $125 and include 4 weeks and the Park Tool School Manual. They’re on Thursdays at 7PM, and are approximately 2 to 3 hours long depending on how much everyone talks. If you’d like to RSVP for a class, you can email me back, and I’ll put you on the list, or give us a call and we’ll put you on the list. Either way, in the fairly near future, we’ll be needing (at least) a $50 deposit to hold your spot. Which you can call in a credit card number for, or mail us a check. We’ll happily accept either.
If you have any further questions, let us know!

Advanced Repair Classes

If you’ve ever wanted to get down and dirty with your bike, in a much more detailed way than in the Basic Repair Class, we offer Advanced Repair Classes. The differences break down to the difference between a tune up and an overhaul, well, and you have to take the Basic Repair Class before you take the Advanced Repair class.

You’ll overhaul your bottom bracket, headset, hubs, replace a couple spokes, and a drive train clean. There’s not a whole lot you won’t be removing from your bike this time around.

Classes will run Thursday nights at 7PM, February 19th, 26th, March 5th, and 12th. Cost is $150 for 4 classes, and that covers the class and shop supplies, and us holding on to the pieces and parts that will rejoin your frame at a latter date. Like usual, a $50 deposit holds your spot. We’ve got room for 4-6 people… so if this is your cup of tea, or ball of wax, or… the bike related analogy fails me right now… let us know, and quick.

If you have any questions, please email us, liz@continentalbikeshop.com, or give us a call.

Holiday Hours…

We’ll be open Christmas Eve from 9AM to Noon. That’s all. Actually, it’ll be Randy. So if you need some last minute gifts, or to pick up that layaway at the last minute, we’ll be here. We’re closed for Christmas, December 25th. We’ll be back doing our thing on the 26th. We close at 3PM on December 31st, and we’re closed on January 1st. We’ll be back on the 2nd, bright eyed and looking forward to spring.

As 2008 draws to a close, we’d like to take an opportunity to say ‘Thanks.’ Thanks for making Continental your bike shop. Thanks for your continued patronage and support throughout 2008. Thanks for being you, and making our job all the more enjoyable because of it. (Thanks for reading the whole Spoken Wrench. Sometimes we save the best for last.)

Happy Holidays! Whichever holiday you may choose to celebrate, we hope that it is full of warmth and good cheer. May your 2009 be bright and full of everything you hope it can be.

~The Staff at Continental Bike Shop.

Continental Bike Shop presents the Spoken Wrench vol4 no2a

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

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

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.