It’s Like Christmas… But Early!

After running some errands for work today, I got back and noticed a bike box sitting in the back of the shop with my name on it.  I was waiting for it, and it had finally arrived… my 57cm Masi CXR cyclocross bike that I’m testing for VeloReviews.com!

I was really lucky to get this one and hopefully, I’ll have at least a partial review done soon.  The GA State CX finals are this weekend and there is a race series in January in Rome, GA, too.  Plenty of options for testing in competition.

Now, to get off my lazy butt and put in a little speed-training to get ready.  Pictures and first impressions of the bike will come shortly.  It’s raining right now (and will be for a few days),  so I’ll test it when the sun comes back out and the ground dries up.  Can’t wait!

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!

Looking for Sponsors…

I’m looking for sponsors for this site.  I’ve got to have a little income to get this thing fired back up at the PROBIKEWRENCH.COM site instead of PROBIKEWRENCH.WORDPRESS.COM.  I’m offering advertisements on the site for super-cheap rates:

  • 175 x 50 ad – $10/year
  • 175 x 100 ad – $20/year

I’m also looking for someone to help me re-design the look of the blog.  If you’re a web designer, you have time to design a slightly edgy blog, and want to trade out for some advertising for your business, please contact me at probikewrench@gmail.com.

Thanks!

The Ol’ Switcheroo

After three days of laying on the couch with an ear and tonsil infection, I decided enough was enough.  My fever was down (thanks to some good drugs), and I was feeling good enough to get back to work.

mushroomcloud

I walked in around noon, and much to my surprise, the workbench area looked like a BOMB WENT OFF!  Tools were everywhere, the tool board was naked (and painted a new color), and things were not in their “normal” places.  I guess the guys decided to make a change.  I hate missing days of work.  I love being in on executive decisions BEFORE they happen… I’m a control freak.  That’s just me.

The board didn’t look bad.  Instead of the normal “peg board brown,” it had been painted a flat black… adds more contrast to the white walls, keeping the yin and yang of the shop area intact… I can dig it.  My tools and all my gizmos, gadgets, and personal pictures and memorabilia had all been pulled down, too, in order to paint and reorganize the wall.   To a certain extent, I didn’t mind that, either.  At least it was done with some care.

Here’s where it kind of got a little weird:  during the rearranging process, the “good tools” were moved away from my bench and closer to the middle left of the bench… effectively phasing out my bench area’s immediate reach of the “good tools.”  “My” bench area seemed like a back-up apprentice bench at best… I felt sad.  I missed my easy reach of the tools already.

There’s a good reason for it.  I told the owner of the shop, Kevin, that I was going to spend more time out on the floor and in the front of the store… that is where my strong points are – people.  I’m a good salesman and some of our mechanics don’t like to mess with people.  Recently, we’ve been getting lots of 2010 orders and new product in, so my presence at “my bench” has been sparse while getting those sorted and merchandised.

Fortunately, I still like to wrench on things in my spare time… even at home.  Now that I’ve got some “bench mojo” and some personal tools that need a new place to live, I’m getting started on a new garage workbench project very soon.  I drew up some technical drawings tonight for the new workbench that I plan to start on next week.  I’m going to document the construction and plans on VeloReviews.com coming up shortly.

As much as I try to resist change, it will still happen.  I struggle with change because I have control issues. I just need to get over myself and those issues. On the really bright side, as I move closer to another, somewhat less greasy area of shop life, it gives me an opportunity to create and build something new at home to satisfy my urge to wrench on things… which makes me happy.

Making the switch…

As of today (October 28th), I’m making the switch to WordPress from Squarespace.  Squarespace was great for blogging and keeping track of more details than you’d ever need, but I’m trying to get out of debt, and the monthly costs attached to Squarespace could better be applied elsewhere.  I’m going to try and get my previous blog posts imported here, otherwise, I’ll just start over.

Thanks for your patience.