From the Pocket

Building Bicycle Wheels

When: Sunday, July 19th and July 26th,
6:00pm - 9:00pm (the 26th might run a little longer, depending on student progress)
Fee: $75, plus cost of whatever parts you choose to use for your own wheel.

Learn how to build and true a traditional, spoked bicycle wheel from scratch. In the first session we will cover parts selection based on intended use, then discuss several methods of determining spoke lengths. I will demonstrate these steps and then the process of lacing, tensioning, and truing a wheel at that time. In the second class (a week later, so you can gather parts), you will build your own wheel. It may also be necessary to offer some follow up time, in case folks don't get as much done as I hope. $75, plus cost of parts. You can either track those down yourself, or we are happy to order them for you. Please come prepared with at least a general idea of what use you intend for your new wheels.

If interested, please email tim@bikesatvienna.com, call, or come by. We ask that folks pay in advance, so we know you'll be there. Class size is limited to the first four people who register and pay!

bikes@vienna will be closed on Saturday, July 4th. We will observe our normal hours on Friday, July 3 (10-7) and Sunday, July 5 (10-5).

We are getting closer to RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). I need to ride some serious miles. I need to get the trailer, van, camping gear, and bikes ready. I joked yesterday that I also needed to increase my intake of pie as a method of training. Daughter-in-law Katie and grandson Cyrus came to visit yesterday with this wonderful strawberry-rhubarb pie that Katie baked. It was superb.

Several years ago oldest daughter, Jessica, named our group of RAGBRAI participants "Pedaling for Pie". It reflects our interest in the art of pie baking plus it reflects the Iowa tradition of events, carry in dinners, and bake sales all featuring outstanding pies. We have the habit of stopping once or twice a day on RAGBRAI to have pie. When you are riding 60-90 miles a day you can rationalize the calories. Ces designed signs that we use to find our encampment in each overnight town featuring a slice of pie.

This year RAGBRAI has recognized the significance of pie by using a slice in the logo. If you want to learn more about the event you can go to http://www.ragbrai.org We are 18 days from beginning serious pie eating when we get to my folks home in Centerville. My mom greets us with Dutch Apple Pie, Rhubarb Pie, and sometimes Blackberry Pie. On Sunday, July 19, we will begin pedaling for pie.

bikes@vienna sponsored the Concert on the Town Green last evening. The performance was by the Kingsley Winter Group. The crowd numbered just over 400 on a pleasant evening.

I had serious doubts that the weather was going to cooperate. Early in the afternoon the radar showed significant storms which then went to the south leaving us with a beautiful evening. The music was good, the crowd was appreciative, and the evening had a nice feel of community. It was worth every penny.

Yeah, I know.......I look so serious. Well it had been raining for days and we were not selling much when this photo was taken.

Our new bikes@vienna bandanas have arrived. They came in green, light blue, and orange. They provide protection against the sun when you are wearing your helmet. I've tried caps and bandanas work better for me.

Come in and let me try to sell you a bandana. I will look happier if I can get that done.

We have been taking our Dero Event Racks to community events for the last several months. This week I got these signs to get us a bit of recognition for providing the cycle parking. I took the racks to the Vienna Farmers' Market this morning. You see the racks at the Tour de Cure, the Vienna Fourth of July Celebration, the Freeman House Book Sale and weekly at the Vienna Farmers' Market.

I believe that people will ride their bikes or trikes to community events if they feel comfortable that they have a secure and convenient place to park. I'm trying to promote cycling in every way that I can.

You may have received a phone message from us on Saturday. We are trying to build an email list so we can communicate more effectively about this 2008 Dahon Stem Recall and Replacement (see the prior entry in the blog). I asked our new employee, Jessica, to build a list of phone numbers and email addresses. Then I had her start calling the individuals for whom we do not have an email address. So you may have received a phone message about us trying to reach you.

Dahon has now shipped us replacement stems for many of their 2008 models involved in this recall and replacement. We are scheduling times for people to bring in their 2008 Dahons for the stem swap. We want to do the swap when you bring the bike in so it requires just one trip to the store. To achieve a "while you wait" swap I'm setting hours specifically for the swap. The first event is Tuesday, June 9th from 6:30 PM to 9 PM. The second event will be Saturday, June 13th from 6 PM to 8 PM. These are times that the store is not usually open. I want us to be able to focus on this replacement without the distractions of our typical day.

I would encourage you to STOP riding your Dahon until the stem is swapped. If you absolutely need your bike before our first scheduled event then call and I'll make an appointment for you to visit us at the end of normal hours to do the swap.

I am sorry that you are being inconvenienced by this recall.

Dahon is recalling stems on a number of their 16" and 20" wheel models from 2008. I received a supply of replacement stems today. We will begin contacting customers tomorrow to bring in their bikes and allow us to replace the stem. There is no monetary charge to the customer. It is an inconvenience and for that I apologize on behalf of Dahon.

bikes@vienna has about 100 of these stems to replace. To make it easier and perhaps a little bit fun.........we're having a series of special events when the bikes can be brought to the store and we'll switch the stem on your bike while you wait. As you may know, bikes@vienna is not typically open on Tuesday evening. On Tuesday, June 9th we will be open from 6:30 to 9 PM for a stem swap. We'll be serving hot dogs, burgers, chips, and soda so you can enjoy a cookout while we switch your stem. We'll have some folding bike accessories on sale so you can shop a little. Yes, we can check over your bike and do a light tweek here and there.

June 9th will be the first of several special hours events. I'm doing this because we may be able to make it more convenient for you and because I fear we may get bogged down in recall/warranty work if we wait for the work to come to us. I can see a sunny Saturday when I can't sell people bikes because we have people standing in line to have their stem switched. We may have to tag bikes on a Saturday or Sunday to swap the stem later. I know this recall is an inconvenience so I'm looking for proactive ways to make it less inconvenient. My goal is to have special times on Tuesdays and Saturdays during June to get much of this switches done.

I will be posting Frequently Asked Questions on this site soon. I used to work with a woman that had two statements that she used often ....."into every life a little rain must fall" and "this too will pass". This recall seems like more than a little rain. I look forward to when we switch the 100th stem and have 99 happy customers. I am conscious of the statement that you can't make all of the people happy, but I'd like 99 of 100.

My friend, Stephen Marks sent me this invitation to the Grand Opening of the new Bike and Roll rental facility in Alexandria. I won't be able to go, but perhaps you will. Stephen has continue to grow his cycling business since assuming Bike The Sites six or seven years ago. The business has moved to the name Bike and Roll with outlets in Chicago, New York, Washington, Miami, and now Alexandria.

The Marks family operated a printing business here in Vienna for many years. I am pleased to see the grown of Bike and Roll. Rentals are an important way of getting people interested in cycling. If you go to the Grand Opening, please tell Stephen that I suggested that you attend.

John wears bandanas under his helmet and on his "pirate" days he wears them in the store. Now he has this idea that other people might like to have a bikes@vienna bandana. (Pretty presumptive of him don't you think?).

In early June you'll be able to buy bikes@vienna's bandanas and bikes@vienna t-shirts featuring the new recumbent logo. These green shirts and green, orange, or blue bandanas will be fun conversation starters when you are out on a ride, drinking coffee someplace, or attending formal dinner parties. We said fun......we did not say appropriate.