BRATTLEBORO — Last summer, my trusty, old Motobecane touring/commuting bicycle had a bit of a seizure in the form of a cracked head tube. I did not begrudge it; he'd been a trusty friend who carried me many, many thousands of miles without complaint.
I had dubbed him Morgan early in our time together, after that sturdy Vermont horse breed. He certainly wasn't a thoroughbred but a heck of a workhorse. Like many others with a relationship that has ended, I took a while to think through what was next.
Then this summer I was wandering through the parking lot at the Brattleboro Farmers' Market and saw a silver bike that made me stop in my tracks. I'd never seen the likes of it.
After I had looked awhile, the owner came up to me to say hi.
“Can I steal your bike?” I asked him.
“No, but I'm a bike mechanic, and if you need one I would be happy to set you up,” said Nik Perry, a big, friendly bear of a young man, with tattoos all over his arms, anarchist punk rock patches on his gear, and a big, hearty laugh.
“I've got a few different frames; what are you looking for?” he asked.
Well, I have some particular needs, being asymmetrical and a bit manually challenged.
* * *
Nik was just setting up a shop in the old Bradford Machine Works behind Friendly's near the Exit 3 Roundabout, and when I got there to continue the conversation, he pulled down a beautiful old Centurion frame from the wall.
“Here! Someone gave me this frame - you can have it,” he said.
We then went through the whole bike, from tip to toe, thinking through each component, matching my budget with his recommendations for durability and functionality and reinstalling my old components where possible.
“What are your fees?” I stopped and asked after our second or third conversation.
“$20 an hour, and I'll get you great prices on components through the shop I work for, and some free from a cooperative swap shop in Providence.”
I got a rebuilt rear wheel with an eight-ring cluster, cantilever brakes, new derailleurs, lights, pedals, crank arms, and one new shifter.
“I don't like your brake setup, Tad; are you game for trying something different?” Nik asked.
To operate the bike one-handed, I had had both brake levers on my left handlebar, one right behind the other, set up such that I grabbed the front brake first, then the rear as I squeezed them both.
“There's a mechanism I can get you that takes in one cable on one side, and two come out the other side going to your different brakes. It's called a 'Problem Solver' and is often used on tandems.”
Not only did this simplify my braking significantly, but brake levers have also been much more ergonomically designed since last I bought one, and the Sram lever that Nik got me is a delight to use.
* * *
Over the years, I've heard lots of talk about customer service and its importance to the success of retail businesses, but few businesses I've dealt with have come anywhere close to the level of care and service that this young anarchist provided.
Every component, every decision was gone over with me in painstaking detail. I have been biking seriously since I was a teenager, I have toured extensively, I have done a lot of the maintenance on my own bikes, and I have even raced a bit when I was younger, but Nik taught me a huge amount.
We had long talks about cargo bikes, electric assist systems, advanced engineering in chain rings, ergonomics in seats and handlebars, and the aesthetics of funky, old, steel bike frames.
“What does anarchism have to do with being a bike mechanic?” I asked him once.
“To be honest, I think it means reusing as much as I possibly can, putting more work and effort into a project, mostly in form of elbow grease, to get a nice finished product, and I think that it's working creatively with people's budgets to offer them a product they are excited about,” he replied.
I don't understand how those things relate to anarchy, but they seem like good, conservative business practices to me.
I'd say that Nik's anarchism comes out as something about not getting wrapped up in the money, or profit, and instead focusing almost exclusively on the need that he is trying to address regarding the person and the bike.
For anyone wanting help getting set up on a bike, I highly recommend him.