Marty Caivano PBMA Board Member

In her own words...

I am an events mechanic for DT Swiss, so that means I travel to races, festivals, bike tours, etc., where I let people try the wheels through our demo program, as well as repair any of our products on attendees' bikes. Most of what I attend are mountain bike events, but I also hit a few longer road tours. It's a lot of fun to see how much people enjoy trying the wheels, and of course I love to help people get their own equipment rolling again.

I got into mountain biking in 2000, through friends who ride. It's since become a major passion to develop my skills and to experience trails all over the country.

I'm part of the PBMA because I believe in helping other mechanics succeed, and raising the level of the industry as we all work together to do it. Even though we may approach things differently or have different career paths, we all share the goal of making bikes more fun, reliable and safe to ride. We might as well take advantage of the benefits of working together to make our industry more professional and profitable.

I am optimistic about our industry's future, since I think a lot of the success of bike shops (and thus many other aspects of the industry) will fall on the shoulders of skilled bike mechanics, who I know can carry the load. As shops redefine themselves around their service offerings and their community involvement, they can thrive during the changes occurring in the product sales model we've all become used to.

You'll hear more from Marty this year as she will be a regular contributor to Life on the Road, a monthly PBMA blog about the traveling circus of the cycling industry.