My New Gig (on the side)

With my passion for journalism, blogging, bicycles, and a fetish for correct spelling and grammar, I was recently offered a position as Technical Editor for a new cycling community/product review website called VeloReviews.com.  I gladly accepted, as that’s the direction I’ve always wanted to take my blog – product reviews and other miscellaneous stuff.

Here’s the write-up, as written on VeloReviews.com:

“Would you seek out a 14-year-old bike mechanic to be the technical editor of VeloReviews? You would if his name is Josh Boggs. We’d like to welcome Josh to his new highly unpaid role and introduce him to the VeloReviews community.

At age 14, the young mountain biker took possession of a bunch of bike parts from his cousin and started to “build his shop” in the basement of his parent’s home. Clearly this is the one person who knew what they wanted to do, early in life!

Years later, Josh was hanging around his local shops (aka “the shop rat”) until he landed his first gig working as a mechanic. That lasted a few years. Eventually he took a position as a store manager at Sunshine Bicycle Company, a shop in Clemson, SC, coincidentally, his hometown and the first bike shop he had ever been to. This was a very special, almost serendipitous event for Josh.

Josh was ambitious and focused on improving his bike mechanic skills and so he attended the Bill Woodul Race Mechanics’ Clinic at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO (part of USA Cycling http://www.usacycling.org/mechanics/ ) and earned his professional mechanic’s license.

Through the Mavic special services group, Josh’s first race support experience came with his being a member of the 2005 Tour of Georgia support crew. He really enjoyed mingling with the pros and working on their bikes. He next worked with Cane Creek and their neutral support program and was a member of the team supporting the Athens Twilight race series.

In mid 2005 Josh went on the road as a mechanic supporting the Jittery Joe’s pro cycling team http://www.jitteryjoes.com/cycling/ and then continued to work in numerous pro cycling events. He even met his wife during his tenure with the team.

Today, Josh is the Sales and Service Manager for Out Spokin’ Bicycles, in Woodstock, GA. www.outspokinbikes.com and spends his days helping customers choose the right bikes for their needs and he gets to build up some really exotic rides! He also manages their customer events planning. His personal highlight to date is his build up of a $14,000 Pinarello road bike, earlier this year, which he describes as a “piece of art” and the customer’s “dream bike”.

What about time on the bike? Josh started out as a pure mountain biker and won a state championship in downhill. He also won a state champion BMX title. Today he splits time between mountain, road, cyclocross and has a new fixie bike for his commute. Road cycling is, however, his passion.

If you’re in the Southeast there’s a good chance you’ll find Josh supporting a local crit in the pits or even more likely, hanging out the window of a support car and wrenching on a pro’s bike.

You can imagine how excited VeloReviews was when Josh agreed to become our technical editor! We’ve got products to test and Josh is well qualified to conduct the research. He loves to write, has his own blog, www.probikewrench.wordpress.com and is looking forward to helping our members answer questions or share opinions on all things “bike”.

Please “friend” Josh here and welcome our new technical editor!

Written by Jeff Helfand”

Thanks to Jeff and the entire VeloReviews.com community for this opportunity.  I can’t wait to get started!

Author: Josh Boggs

Sales Manager, Trek Store of Greenville - Board Chair, Palmetto Cycling Coalition - Board Member, Professional Bicycle Mechanics Association (PBMA) - Owner, PROBIKEWRENCH, LLC View all posts by Josh Boggs