With the kind of weather we’ve been having lately, it’s really hard to justify staying inside. Why waste the day away inside when you could be out wearing spandex and weaving through traffic while making turn signals with one arm?
That’s right, it’s finally spring, and that means it’s time to go into the garage and dust off the ol’ bicycle. It’s probably safe by now to pack away the snowmobiles and skis (although S&W is still doing some business on ski stuff) and break out the longboards and bikes.
Chances are, this will be one of the first times the bike has seen the light of day since maybe October (although there are no doubt plenty of hard-cores out there who toughed it out all winter).
In that case, your bike may not be in the exact same shape you left it. Depending on where you store it for the winter, a whole lot can change with a bike over the course of a few months’ exposure to extreme temperature and humidity conditions.
For example, if you store your bike anywhere that’s exposed to the outside air, moisture can accumulate and cause rusty bolts, chains, brakes and gears, said Finn Westbrook, who works on bikes at S&W Sports in Concord.
Another issue that can arise over the winter is rubber cracking. If it gets too dry, your tires and brake pads can start to crack or split. The tires also lose some air over the course of the winter – which anybody who’s followed the infamous Deflategate scandal is well aware.
The key is finding a good place to store your bike before the winter comes.
“Definitely somewhere dry, if you can,” Westbrook said of the ideal place to store a bike.
But, of course, it’s too late to store your bike for the winter (unless you just really want to get a very, very early jump on next winter already). If you’re reading this and realizing, “Oh man, I left my bike out in the shed with a window open all winter!” don’t worry. You can bring it into S&W, and they’ll take care of it for you.
In fact, the guys who work on the bikes have been busy for the last few weeks getting people’s rides ready for spring.
One of the most common services people have performed on their bikes is a simple tune-up.
A basic tune-up (for $60) entails a nine-point safety check (hubs, bolts, handlebars, headset, saddle, etc.), lubricating all the cables, shifting through the gears, adjusting the brakes and then – if needed – a wash. “A lot of times you’ll see really dirty or greasy chains,” Westbrook said.
They also do full rebuilds, which includes replacing cable and housing. “But the most basic one should be good for most bikes,” Westbrook said.
In all, the shop will work on five to eight bikes a day, Westbrook said. The goal is usually to try to get about one done per hour, though sometimes a job could require a full day’s work.
And no matter how long the job will take, there’s no discrimination at S&W. You don’t have to buy your bike there to get it worked on there. You can bring in any old bike you have – no matter where you got it or how old it is – and they’ll help you out.
You can get pretty much anything related to bikes at S&W. The only thing they don’t do is build frames – there’s no heavy-duty welding going on out back or anything. But apart from that, it’s possible to walk in and hand-pick every part you need to put a whole bike together.
Of course, if that seems like a lot of work to you, you can just buy one of the dozens of already-built bikes they have for sale – that’s what we’d do.
There are all kinds of bikes to try – mountain bikes, road bikes, kids bikes, BMX bikes, even fat bikes.
Fat bikes are similar to traditional mountain bikes, but their tires are really fat – often as much as 4 inches wide. They’re relatively new to the cycling world, but they’re catching on fast.
S&W does have some fat bikes, but the staff said those bikes are actually more popular in the winter. With the oversized tires, there’s enough traction to ride over snow the way one would ride over dirt in the mountains. The downside to using them on the road in the spring is that they’re heavier than their skinny counterparts.
It’s an interesting time at S&W right now, Westbrook said, because it’s kind of that sweet spot between winter and spring. People are definitely bringing in bikes and poking around for new ones, but there’s still plenty of winter inventory in stock, and people are still buying it.
“There are still some people bringing skis in, so we’re just kind of in that transitional period,” Westbrook said.
Soon enough though, it’ll be all about the bikes.
If you’re thinking about having your bike worked on, now would be a good time to do it. “Because by the time April, May comes around, people want their stuff right away,” Westbrook said. The store tries to keep turnaround at about 48 hours, but the pace is dictated by how much work needs to be done, so the sooner you get yours in, the sooner you’ll be out riding.
To get your bike tuned up, or for any more information, call 228-1441 or go to swsports.net.
