A derelict Shogun road bike gets new life as a Single Speed at the Bike Oven
Bike Oven mechanical wunderkind, Harv, has posted a spot on summary of what it feels like in the Bike Oven these days. We are BUSY! His article is posted on the C.I.C.L.E. blog and is entitled “It’s Happening As Fast As It Can“.
As oil prices have shot up, the bike industry cannot provide what people need to use to get around town, and the result is a mad-cap version of a gold rush at the Bike Oven.
Here is what Harv has to say about the whole deal:
Here at the Bike Oven, we can barely keep up. The demand for bikes and repairs is overwhelming. People are digging up those ten-speeds and bringing them in for refurbishing (sometimes a daunting task) or conversion. But more often they want ready to ride bikes (we call them RTRs at the Oven). As fast as we can twirl the wrenches, we take the Sow’s Ear donated bikes and turn them into Silk Purses. The most popular and sought after bikes are the single speed road bike and urban commuter conversions. As a training exercise and during slow moments (rare!) we take suspensionless mountain bikes and convert them using parts that have been stripped from the hopeless cases that have been donated.
Continue reading ‘It’s Happening As Fast As It Can’
Monday and Wednesday nights at the Bike Oven are Bike Oven Tech Training (B.O.T.T.) nights. We teach each other bike repair and destruction, we take care of our shop, and work on our own bikes. We relax our normal shop rules, order a couple of pizzas, and generally have a “Good Time” ™.
This week, we’re going to focus on training people on the post-modern analysis of bottom brackets. We’ll also be sorting through an insane variety of low-end bike part, and doing a bunch of other work on bikes in the shop – breaking them down, and hopefully building a few back up.
The shop is open from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m, but we’ll be closed to the public. Bike Oven volunteers only. If you’re interested in becoming a “volunteer” at the Bike Oven, email at us at info@bikeoven.com or just stop in to hang out and lend a hand.
More info about volunteer at the Bike Oven can be found on our Volunteer page.
This coming Wednesday, June 4, 2008 we’re going to close the shop for an evening and have a meeting to discuss a bunch of stuff having to do with bikes and the Bike Oven.
We’re going to have to deal with a slight rent increase, and we desperately need to get some more volunteers trained to help on the shop floor. Plus will be talking about any events, rides, or whatever scheduled to happen, or that someone needs some help setting up.
The meeting is going to start at 7 p.m. We’ll have some pizza there too. Yay, pizza!
The Spoke(n) Art bicycle ride is a free, once-a-month, bicycle tour of art galleries in North East Los Angeles.
The ride takes place on the second Saturday of each month – a special night in North East Los Angeles. Area art galleries open their doors late into the night as part of NELAart’s “Gallery Night”.
This month’s Spoke(n) Art Ride will feature the work of photographers, artists, and cyclists who are a part of Team Midnight Ridazz in a show entitled “Photographing L.A. Bike Culture”. The exhibition opens on Saturday, May 10, 2008 and will remain at the Bike Oven until June 7, 2008. The opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 10, at 7 pm. For further information about the Photographing L.A. Bike Culture exhibition, please contact Steven at stevo.rd AT verizon.net
Continue reading ‘Spoke(n) Art Ride – Photographing L.A. Bike Culture’