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In The Pit

This is the heart of The Kreb Cycle.

When I was working in New Hampshire I started in the middle of the winter. I was hired to run the bike department of a very large ski shop. (More on that here. ) Anita took me to "the pit". It was back in the work area of the shop. You would walk through the clothing sales area where all "the girls" were selling clothing, through the cross country ski department, past the car racks, through some glass doors into the ski tech shop, past Champ and the Brians' furiously mounting ski's at the binding mounting benches. Toward the garage, stepping 3 feet down was a rectangular work space about 20 ft long and 15 feet wide. 2 repair stands, each at opposite ends of the rectangle. The Pit.

I always though bike mechanics were interesting people and the job that they performed was an honorable one. Whatever that means I don't know but I like to romanticize things. Keeping this great invention of the bicycle on the road and out of the land fill. When I was in college I would take the train to NYC and visit friends going to school there. One of my favorite things to do was to go down the the east village to my favorite Mexican place on 8th St. Their was a man there who did bike repair work on the street. He pulled all his tools in a bicycle trailer. He would set up his stand and do repair work on the street. I could watch him all afternoon.

So when I opened my bike shop 26 years ago I didn't want to hide  "the pit " in the back. I wanted to celebrate the process of fixing the bike, the people who do it for a living...with all the sacrafice that involves in our society (the mechanics aint rich), and have a totally transparent repair process.

So in this spot we'll put up some pictures. Pics of bikes we are working on mostly. Some of tools. And some other stuff too.

Gunnar
Gunnar
Gios Torino
Gios BB
Gios Headtube