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Saturday, June 5, 2010

BikeSmith Design

Son Matt kicking ass

In an earlier post I mentioned Mark Stonich's basement shop. His basement is a collection of vintage bikes, cool bikes, and quirky bikes. If your wife complains about too many bikes, I believe Mark has 27. The shop isn't like some handyman's corner; it is a fully equipped machine shop with frame jigs, lathes, drill presses, a bridgeport, specialized machines and drawers full of neat compartments of NOS three speed hubs.

Mark buys crank arms in bulk from the manufacturer. He has a semi-automated set up that cuts off crank arms and drills and taps new holes. There can't be that much demand for short crank arms you say?. There are two 2' x 2' x 2' wire bins filled with the 1" drop off pieces! 

He makes specialized bicycle tools such as crank cotter presses for vintage bikes. My favorite part of his website is the line that says, "This website is currently undergoing a total renovation. (Especially this page which is almost 6 years old.)". I believe that line has been up there for 6 years. A slick website just ain't his priority.You need a obscure tool? Need an oddball part? He'll make it for you. Give the old boy a little work or if you have 3-speed issues, he's your man. Here's a link.

Not all recumbents are ugly.

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