​PBMA is excited to introduce you to our Mechanic of the Week, Matt Feiner of The Devil’s Gear in New Haven, CT!

For those of you just tuning into #mechanicmonday, this is where we feature one mechanic each week, chosen at random from nominations submitted the week before. It’s all about mechanics supporting fellow mechanics!

Matt Feiner is a mechanic, shop owner, artist, and community activist. He brings wisdom and passion to all that he does. Matt grew up racing and working in Connecticut bike shops, and he founded The Devil’s Gear in 2001 with the goal of “turning people into riders, and riders into cyclists.” Over the past fifteen years, his shop has come to define New Haven bicycling culture. Devil’s Gear supports a wide range of cyclists: from city commuters, to college students and student-athletes, to elite racers, to families “just looking to get out and ride together.” Matt and his team (who are truthfully more like his family!) make sure that everyone who walks through the door feels like part of the Devil’s Gear family, regardless of their ability or expertise.

This past weekend, Matt led a “Cycle-bration” event as part of the annual International Festival of Arts and Ideas, to celebrate the 150-year anniversary of the modern bicycle in America. This event was the result of more than a year’s collaboration between Matt and his team, the Elm City Cycling club, the American Wheelmen, the Arts and Ideas festival organizers, and the City of New Haven. Among other things, “Cycle-bration” included a ride that re-traced the original route Pierre Lallement took around the New Haven Green in April 1866, which is widely recognized as the debut of the modern bicycle in America. (Interestingly, The Devil’s Gear shop is located in the same building on Orange Street that once housed the New Haven Daily Palladium newspaper, which printed the first article about Pierre Lallement’s first bicycle ride!)

Matt was nominated by his New Haven community to be featured by the PBMA and we could not be more proud to recognize him as our Mechanic of the Week this week. We look forward to following Matt and The Devil’s Gear as they continue to inspire cyclists and grow the cycling community throughout Connecticut!
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Nothing makes us happier than seeing mechanics supporting fellow mechanics, so we encourage you to join the conversation: Post a picture of YOUR favorite mechanic and tag us @probicyclemech, #probma, or #mechanicmonday, or nominate him or her to be featured in next week’s post!

Your name, present position and place of employment
 
Patrick “Tree” Miller, Research and Development Technician for the High Performance Road Team for Specialized, Public Relations Event Mechanic for Specialized, President of MediaMechanic LLC
 
How did you get started in cycling and end up where you are today?
 
I have always been a commute cyclist since middle school, but then I got into skateboarding, and used that for transportation. One day, while skating to class at UCSB (university of California, Santa Barbara, Philosophy B.A.) my wheel fell off, and I crashed really hard in front of a frat hang out, and got made fun of as my calculator and books went flying all over the street. I went back to my house, and a roommate gave me a women’s beach cruiser they had stolen long ago. When I hopped on, I remembered how much I enjoyed riding. Shortly after I need to tune it up, so I went to Associated Student bikes and a man named Peter Albrecht (currently Marketing Director of VP components North America) took me under his wing. He showed me how to build, how to work, and how to be a good person.

After I received my degree the job market took a spiral downward. I used my emphasis on logic, my ability to read tech documents, and the knowledge passed along by Peter to get a job at Toy R us assembling bikes. I excelled, but the job held me back. I applied at a place called Mike’s Bikes, and one fateful day riding my tall bike from work, I met another mechanic on his tall bike who worked for them. Fran D’anna then took me under his wing and helped me excel in the high performance side of things. I soon became an expert, I read all the tech docs, memorized theory, and worked diligently on my interfacing with the clients. After some time at Mike’s I was contacted by a friend to run a small shop back in Santa Barbara, I gladly accepted, and had an amazing 2 years of my life working with my friends and community to develop a sense of belonging and enrichment to all round. Sadly, we went under, who knew bakfiets and dutch bikes were not the key to riches in the Santa Barbara area, but it filled my soul with happiness. Then I moved back to home,

Mike’s Bikes quickly picked me back up, and I was back on the high performance track. I volunteered at the local velodrome (Patrick is a volunteer at Hellyer Velodrome), became a supervisor, then board member, then treasurer. At this time one of the racers, John Rosie (Bosch eBike systems) was working for Specialized in the Village bike shop. After graduating from Bill Woodul Race Mechanic’s program, and over 2 years of interviews, containing 12 hours of interview time total, I was hired on as a mechanic for Village bike shop, the internal bike shop for Specialized employees, we controlled a bike library for employees to “check out bikes” we also tuned any employee’s bike for free, we managed company bike fleets, and I was put in charge of taking care of PR. I was able to demonstrate my attention to detail, and unwavering enthusiasm for these builds. I was put in charge of some of the most important clients of Specialized, and was able to travel with them for events. Then the R&D bike shop soon took notice, James Stanfill (President of PBMA) was then helping me cultivate my skill into a better-rounded mechanic.

I was soon working with pro teams. I stared to pick up speed, minimalism, and logistics that comes with professional racing. I was moved to acquiring new skills with wind tunnel work, research work, and prototyping. After James left, I filled the hole of the Road Technician, but with no one for management, the R&D bikes shop had to transform into a self-managed bike shop. For the past 2 years I have been here, working in a windowless room, that little have access to. Over the past 2 years I have developed more skills, I have learned carbon layup, machining, and process. My goals are to continue advancing, to see how much I can learn, and at some point turn around and teach.
 
Tell us what it is you do on a daily basis
 
I have no day to day. I am a bike mechanic, do not get that misinterpreted, I work on bikes all day, every day, but the aspect of that can differ vastly. I could be building a Felt for competitor analysis, or checking to see if the bike 4 year away will be compatible with modern componentry, or building bikes for Ellen DeGeneres. I am often consulted for ease of working situations, and input on form and function. I am often working with many of the personal bikes for our engineers, and our VIPs here at Specialized. I travel often for PR events, and I make sure I work a couple of races each year to keep my skills up, and see what gripes mechanics have.
 
What’s the coolest place you’ve been for work and why?
 
I have been many places, each one is a treat, flown out to Edmonton make sure our tri guy got his bike ready, week in Kona for Ironman, Driving from Barcelona to Valencia in a crafter staying in the COOLEST air bnbs I have ever seen. Recently I spent 2.5 weeks in Netherlands/Belgium riding the Flanders and Paris/Roubaix routes. But the coolest place, I think, was being a useful member of my community in Santa Barbara, when I would get my mailman’s bike together, or adjust the local kindergarten teacher’s work bike. When we had local rides that built community through cycling. Where I was recognized on the street, not as a good mechanic, but as a contributing member of the people directly around me to uplift our society.
 
What’s your goto snack or treat?
 
If I am working, in a follow car, or at an event, I go with wasabi soy sauce almonds in the tube bag. They are sustained energy, good salt, low contamination of your work area, and can be eaten without use of direct touch. Meaning no grease on your food, or food on your grease hand.
 
If I am in search of snack. Pastries.
 
Weirdest thing you’ve ever had to do for a job as a bicycle mechanic?
 
I am not allowed to talk about the absolutely f***ed up things I have been asked to do. I personally have made a tall bike with retro direct drive completely out of carbon. Recently I constructed a set of carbon beach cruiser bars out of 2 sets of mountain bars and one set of road bars. On the clock, I have been asked to purchase a kite, swimming trunks, and a Frisbee in hopes to entertain a group of women cyclist at the beach, which was weird.
 
What should the world know about you?
 
I am just a bicycle mechanic. And when I use the word ‘just’, I do not mean it in the way that is derogatory or simplifying. I mean it in the identity sense, I am not a ‘road’ mechanic, or a ‘race’ mechanic, I am not one brand’s mechanic, or type of mechanic. I will work on any bike, for any person, for any reason. I am here to help, to progress cycling culture, to progress society. I am here to raise the professionalism my colleagues by example, and committed to the recognition of my trade as a value to society. I am just a bike mechanic.

You can follow Tree's adventures on instagram @mediamechanic 

​PBMA is excited to introduce you to our Mechanic of the Week, Aaron Goss, of Aaron’s Bike Repair in Seattle, Washington!

For those of you just tuning into #mechanicmonday, this is where we feature one mechanic each week, chosen at random from nominations submitted the week before. It’s all about mechanics supporting fellow mechanics!
This week’s Mechanic, Aaron, was nominated by his Seattle-based colleagues. He’s been a professional for 29 years and a shop owner for nearly 20. Aaron chose to invest in his own shop in 1997 “because he was tired of working for others who did not care as much about proper bicycle service and repair as he did.” He named the shop Aaron’s Bicycle Repair so that it would be the first business listing to appear in the pre-Internet phone book. And the rest, as they say, is history…

Aaron’s company logo is a road bike (which was his first “real” bike) and a stylized wrench. Several years ago, Aaron and his team started specializing in internally-geared hubs. They have serviced nearly every hub on the market for the last 50 years, and Aaron personally creates and curates an online library of exploded diagrams and layouts of each hub. The library is accessible for free on Aaron’s shop website, with his entire goal being to help others navigate the intricacies of internally-geared systems. Aaron’s library has grown organically, and has captured the interest of amateurs, other mechanics, and industry professionals alike. Patrons from all over the world send their hubs to Aaron and his team for repair. NYC CitiBike Bike Share program and Sturmey-Archer have also reached out to Aaron, and he is collaborating with them as a consultant to train other mechanics.

Truly a man who is passionate about his craft, Aaron’s friends promise us that he still keeps his hands dirty every day at the shop, and they say they can’t imagine him ever retiring.
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Nothing makes us happier than seeing mechanics supporting fellow mechanics, so we encourage you to join the conversation: Post a picture of YOUR favorite mechanic and tag us @probicyclemech, #probma, or #mechanicmonday, or nominate him or her to be featured in next week’s post!

​PBMA is excited to bring you our second installment of #mechanicmonday, where we feature one mechanic each week, chosen at random from nominations submitted the week before.

This week, we would like to introduce you to Jim Potter of Vecchios Bicicletteria in Boulder, Colorado. Jim is a longtime professional mechanic and was nominated by his friends, who could not say enough positive things about him. According to them, Jim is a “lifer” and a “legend,” someone who teaches and inspires through his work, and “one of the best mechanics in a town full of mechanics.” With that in mind, we are proud to give a big congratulations and a heartfelt “thank you” not only to Jim Potter for supporting the cycling mechanics community of Boulder, but also to the mechanics in that community for supporting Jim just the same.
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We encourage you to join the conversation: Post a picture of YOUR favorite mechanic and tag us @probicyclemech, #probma, or #mechanicmonday, or nominate him or her to be featured in next week’s post!

Who are you?
Ed Nasjleti / Market Representative SRAM – Americas
 
Tell us your bicycle industry history.
Started hanging around shops in the Boston area, The Bicycle Exchange, Lifecycle, The Bicycle Co-op, The Bicycle Repair Collective, Laughing Alley. Riding around and going shop to shop was what I did for about 4 years growing up. In 1976 I moved out to Chicago and one of the first places I went was to see Turin Bicycle, 1920 N Clark St. I worked in Dental Technology, doing metal finishing and chrome casting, I also spent 4 years working in Diesel Technology, a couple of them at Robert Bosch in Broadview, IL. I had a great opportunity to attend different schools at this time, including Triton College, and UIC Chicago. I started working at Neel & Katz in October ’81, doing inventory on their Internal Gear Hub collection of parts. I worked the following summer for the warehouse, and wanted to work with the mechanics in the shop, but was relegated to the warehouse, doing simple tasks, like frame prep, order fulfillment, shipping duties. I felt the job was not fun or as glamorous as being a mechanic. I had a chance to meet Tim Zasadney and get some critical education from him during this time. I had a chance to “move up” to the shop, after speaking with Curt Weiss, the head mechanic, and worked at Turin for the next 5 years, leaving in the Spring of ’86, went to Oak Park Cyclery, planned a trip out to Worlds in ’86, came back from Worlds in the Spring of ’87 and worked at Oak Park over that summer, left in the winter to work at Viking Ski Shop, something I did for three winters in Chicago. In the early Spring of ’88 I went to RRB and asked if I could work there. Even writing this down now doesn’t give any hint of the deep feelings I have for this experience. I was at RRB until the Spring of ’90 when I started working part time at Alberto’s Bicycles, and taking pick-up jobs as a mechanic for different US based teams. My first gig was 7-Eleven going to the Tour of the Americas, and it was followed by Shaklee at Tour of Texas, Stutgartt at Philly, Neutral Mechanic at Superweek, working for Brad Perfurst, 7-Eleven at Washington Trust, and Bolla Wine at Killington Stage Race. I had attended the second USA Cycling mechanics clinic in ’88, and done a couple of gigs with USA teams, for Jesus, as Woodul used to say. But I couldn’t afford the freebies. I put together a program with Ron Boi, from RRB using the old bubble top Campagnolo van and bicycles we used from the shop. We also built our own wheels, and scrapped together freewheels and cassettes. I found a stash of MAVIC rims for $2 each to build these with, and we used old Union steel spokes, that you had to keep dry or they rusted. Alberto’s gave me the ability to leave the shop and do events. I was with Bert for 3 years, and wanted more opportunity, so I want back to Ron, and signed up for 4 more years. We opened 5 locations during my time with him and my last job in a shop was running the RRB location in Evanston, IL 2 blocks away from Turin on Davis street. So, in some ways I traveled full circle. In that time I did some pick-up events in the Chicago market, and would be asked to do one day events for fund raising rides.

In September of ’96 I was asked to do a couple of events for SRAM, and in January of ’97 I was invited to the SWAT Technology Summit in Chicago, and started my career with SRAM. I’ve been working as an independent contractor and a full time employee ever since. I’ll receive my 20 years plaque this year, partly because of the generosity of the person who hired me full time.
I’m very lucky to be here.

What is it you do now?
I answer questions from dealers, and assist the Dealer Service with tough resolutions to specific types of problems. My specialty is Internal Gear Hubs, and I’m used as a resource by a number of departments to answer questions and trouble shoot issues with those hubs. I’ve done work within our company to try to increase visibility to issues facing dealers when they work with our equipment. In general I try to be the voice of the customer and a dealer advocate in the company.
 
Tell us about your favorite tools.
I made my own set of steel drop-out spacers, using Campy drop-outs, so that you could hang them on a wheel, and then adjust the QR tension. You didn’t need to hold the tool. I also made a rim jack, that used a very coarse thread, so it was easier to push the rim out. I prefer spoke wrenches that surround the nipple, with multiple points of contact, like an old Schwinn butterfly, or a DT Swiss spoke key. It’s interesting to note, every tool that I made is now obsolete, because of changes in materials used in frame manufacture, and rims. It’s part of being in an industry long enough to see major changes.
 
Tell us something we should know about you.
I was that guy at the shop. I was the technology curmudgeon, the person that dismissed any changes. The person that would give a representative from a company a hard time about products. When I first saw clipless pedals, I said no one would be using them in racing. Index shifting, bad idea, who needs it. Aluminum frames, they break. Almost every advancement and change from 1970 to 1989 I was against. It’s how I got involved with SRAM as a company. I dismissed the idea of using different materials, and a new way of approaching a problem, before we installed one on a bicycle. My discovering the real value of new technology began with that first pair of road twist shifters, and opened my way of thinking to embrace looking at new and different ways to offer cycling solutions to the consumer. It also allowed me to see the consumer experience in a different way. Rather than a barrier, shops should be a portal for all to pass through as they become enthusiastic cyclists. I worked at a shop that offered some unique fitting solutions and made cycling possible for people that were challenged finding a way to enjoy our sport.
 
Favorite cartoon or cartoon character that you relate to?
Mr. Peabody? From the original Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. I think of great characters, like Fog Horn Leg Horn, the Wile E. Coyote from Roadrunner. But, the most obscure character I could think of was the dog(Briard Sheepdog) that watched the sheep on the Looney Tunes Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog. Here’s the Wikipedia description:

​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Wolf_and_Sam_Sheepdog
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The idea that you’d go to work, punch in and become someone else in a way was fascinating. You spend all day doing your job, and at the end of the day, punch out and discard the mantle of the job. Still funny and interesting. I even went back and looked at some of these on YouTube.

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​PBMA is excited to introduce #mechanicmonday, where we will feature one mechanic each week, chosen at random from nominations submitted the week before.

This week, we would like to introduce you to Kevin Toomey of Bike World Mid-South Multisport in Collierville, Tennessee. Kevin is a veteran mechanic and was nominated by his supervisor, Bryan Pacey. Bryan writes: “[Kevin] has worked for our shop as head mechanic since he was 15 years old. Now 27, he teaches me new things all the time about the profession and I've been a professional mechanic for over 12 years. His constant need to educate himself in everything bicycle amazes me. From YouTube videos and GCN to technical manuals and websites plus annual trips to Specialized for advanced techniques have proven his dedication to the profession. Never afraid to tackle new technology or refurbishing that ancient bike that comes in from time to time he is the picture of a true bicycle connoisseur. For my shop he is invaluable to the success of our business and we are very thankful to have him as one of our own.”
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Mechanics supporting mechanics – that’s what the PBMA is all about!! We encourage you to join the conversation: Post a picture of YOUR favorite mechanic and tag us @probicyclemech, #probma, or #mechanicmonday, or nominate him or her to be featured in next week’s post!