If you've been riding in the rain (as most of us have at this time of year), chances are the inside of your bottom bracket looks like this:

Even when the outside of your bike looks clean (as this Seven did), water finds its way into the bearings.  There it displaces the grease and causes rust.  The rust wears the bearings out, making the cranks harder to turn and slowing you down.  Yuck! 

Bottom brackets should be pulled out during the winter, cleaned, and regreased.  Even the new cartridge units need this type of service, since the water will get in eventually despite the better seals! 

We'll be offering a wide variety of workshops and classes in the upcoming months.  Registration will be through Bainbridge Island Parks & Rec, and space in each program is limited - so sign up early! 

Upcoming classes include:

Basic Bike Mechanics: Wheels & Brakes
    Fixing flats, patching tubes, brake adjustments, and the basics of wheel maintenance.  Class is hands-on, with lots of individual attention and practice. 
Sunday mornings, 9:00am-11:30am
1/15, 2/19, and 5/6

Basic Bike Mechanics: Drivetrains
    Adjusting shifting, lubricating chains, understanding all the parts involved.  Class is hands-on, and the variety of participants bikes will serve as a general education on the differences between drivetrain systems. 
Sunday mornings, 9:00am-11:30am
3/4

Bike Mechanics: Open Workshop
    Here by popular demand, an unstructured workshop.  Intended for more advanced mechanics, each student will bring their own project.  Hands on instruction and tools will be provided to accomplish each task, and students will have the opportunity to learn by watching each others work. 
Sunday mornings, 9:00am-11:30am
3/11, 5/13

Bike Mechanics: Custom Wheelbuilding
    Also here by popular demand, this three part class will cover the entire wheelbuilding process.  Students will hear a lecture on wheel design, plan and select parts (1st meeting), then lace the wheel (2nd meeting), and finally tension and true the wheel (3rd and final meeting).  Riding on a wheel you built yourself is a special experience! 
Sunday mornings, 9:00am-11:30am
1/22 - 2/5 - 2/12

The brand-new and high-tech Strider ST-3 is here!  These balance bikes have been extremely popular over the years, and the new model looks even better.  Lighter weight, especially the wheels, and with quick-release levers on both the bar and the seatpost.  Smaller diameter grips and new padding on the handlebar.  Just in time for Christmas! 

Attention mountain bikers!

A new mountain bike group on the island - The Gear Grinders  - wants your help to reopen a loop trail in the Grand Forest. This Saturday, December 17 from 10 am to 2 pm.  Bring hand tools, such as rakes, matlocks, shovels, pruners, clippers, work gloves, water and lunch. Meet at the corner of Koura and Miller at 9:45 am. Trail work supervised by the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District. 

If you have any questions, contact Gordon Black.

Bicycling Magazine just put out their review on the Volagi Ultegra Liscio.  We've been carrying these bikes since they finally became available a few months ago, and continue to be very excited about their design's suitability for many of our riders' needs.  The magazine review heralds disc brakes on road bikes as the future direction of the industry, and Volagi as a leader in this respect.  Check out the review here. 

In the winter, our bikes take a beating.  For commuter bikes, extra maintenance goes a long way to making many of your parts last longer, and keeping the bike on the road! 

From now until the end of the year, bring in your hardworking bike for service and get a standard tune-up (usually $100) for the price of a basic tune-up - only $50! 

If you schedule in advance to have your tune-up during the week between Christmas and New Years, we'll also throw in new derailleur cables & housing - an additional $45 value.  $145 worth of work for only $50! 

Call or email us to schedule your tune-up today!

We just built up our first Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp 29 Carbon!  This is the new carbon version of the most popular full-suspension mountain bike model we sold over the last year, and it looks excellent.  The amount of technology that goes into these new all-mountain bikes is very impressive: tapered steerer tube on the fork, through-axles front and rear, auto-sag adjustment on the rear shock, built-in chain tensioner, 2x10 drivetrain, etc.  The carbon front triangle lightens up the bike compared to the aluminum version, and smooths out the ride as well.  For $3700 (plus tax, of course), it could be yours! 

Our head mechanic, Aaron Edwards, has just returned from the SBCU (Specialized Bicycle Components University) where he learned all about their suspension and wheel technology!  He also got to test-ride some of the latest bikes they offer.  Next time you come in, be sure to ask him about the experience! 

Here you can see the Specialized demo vans, loaded to the gills with test bikes, and a parts display on the new Specialized Venge. 

Aaron also got the opportunity to ride a Specialized FSR on the Sea Otter race course - here is a video of the panorama from the top of the climb:

From Jeff Ozimek, outdoor programs coordinator at BI Parks & Rec:

After months of hard work I am proud to present to you our new ski bus for 2012!  We will be having two youth only buses as well as one adult only bus.  The adult only will be the only bus that does a separate drop off at Steven’s Pass mountain resort and then to their award winning Nordic Center.  Our youth buses will be visiting not only Steven’s Pass but also Crystal Mountain this year as well.  If there is enough interest, we can always add an adult bus later in the season. If you would like an explanation of why we are not offering a family bus this year, see below my signature for a detailed reasoning.We do need chaperones for the youth buses.  If you are interested, please read the attachment and let me know which bus you would like to apply to chaperone.  I’ll be drafting up a list of potential chaperones and we’ll choose folks in the next couple of weeks.  We will also be hiring one paid staff member to coordinate each bus’s chaperones.  They will be your point of contact.  Expect a job posting online very soon.

Finally, I really need a hand in spreading the news that ski bus is back.   We only have a month before registration closes for Steven’s Pass.  Please tell your friends, your neighbors, your family, and anyone else that might be interested.   I also have a large stack of fliers to post around town.  If you would like my infinite gratitude and some of my wife’s (yes, I am now a married man!!) fabulous cookies as a thank you, please stop by the office to pick some copies to post around town.  Emailing me beforehand will help immensely. The more people who know about ski bus, the more buses we can run, the more places we can go, the more dates we can ski, snowboard, Nordic ski, and snowshoe.

Have a terrific weekend!

Jeff Ozimek

Outdoor Programs Coordinator
Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District
Office: (206) 842-2306 x115     Cell: (206) 883-5768
http://biparks.org/programsandclasses/outdoorprograms.html

If you can help out, are interested, or have any questions, please get in touch with Jeff by one of the contact methods above!  We hope this program can take off again on the island. 

Ski helmets, goggles, and socks are now available!  Besides doing all types of ski repair and service, we also sell some ski accessories.  All last-years model helmets and goggles are on sale (25% off), and we have many sizes, colors, and models available at these prices.