Bicycles, Bicycles, and more Bicycles

Robin Hood English 3-speed

One of the many things that keeps me traveling around the Boston area is my part time gig as a bicycle mechanic at Menotomy Vintage Bicycles in the basement of the Cambridge Antique Market. I started commuting by bike five years ago in San Francisco and have always wanted to learn how to fix bikes as I became more and more of a DIY proponent. Last year, when I moved to Boston, I visited the shop to purchase a bike and was offered a chance to learn on the job. It was literally my lucky day and one of my dreams come true. The rest is history.

We are a small operation refurbishing vintage and used bicycles to sell to the public. Most of our clientele are students and work commuters looking for an inexpensive, yet reliable bike to get them to and fro. Price wise, it is essentially us or Craigslist. Except we can promise you that the bike has not been stolen. We also tune up and replace parts so the bikes are like new again and ready to ride: tubes, tires, gear and brake cables, sometimes handlebars, saddles, and anything else that is in need. The bicycles come into us in various states of disrepair depending on how old and how well cared for they were. You can find me there a couple days a week listening to the classic rock put on by the vendor next door and tinkering away on my latest project.

This week, my job was to take a beaten up royal blue 3-speed Robin Hood, a Carolina blue Univega road bike, a stone blue Nishiki road bike, and white Nishiki and make them beautiful and functional again. Here is some evidence of my endeavors....They will be out on the floor this weekend and ready to ride!

2015-10-17 NishikiWhite4