Bikes at ABR

Why buy a bike from Aaron's Bicycle Repair ?

    We sell Raleigh, Cannondale, Lyonsport, Schwinn, Torker, Heron and Rivendell Atlantis Bicycles. We also offer a selection of quality Italian Frames which we can build into a custom bike. However, it is not so much the brand of bike that is going to make it last, rather it is the way in which it is assembled. A bicycle purchased from us will last longer and work better than the exact same bike purchsed elsewhere! We are not kidding, READ ON.........
    Unlike a VCR or TV, where price and brand may be the deciding factors in a purchase, a bicycles integrity and durability come from the place purchased. You see, a bike is only partly assembled by the manufacturer. The bikes come to us in a box about 80% assembled. Most shops just finish the job in as little time as possible. We actually dissassemble the bike to a point and reassemble it to our demanding specifications. For example the individual components only come with enough grease for San Diego weather, we put enough in for Northwest weather!
    Each bolt and nut (threaded part example: pedal) is lubricated (oil for bolts 5mm and smaller, grease for bolts 6mm and larger) to allow the proper torque to be reached and prevent corrosion. Counterintuitively, lube allows a bolt to be torqued easier and stay tight better than a dry bolt. All the places where your body connects to the bike are of particular importance (stem, bars, seat, pedals, cranks, wheels). We can't even count the number of times a customer has come in with a loose seat bolt. Properly greased, and torqued, a seat bolt will NEVER come loose!
    The spoke tension of the factory built wheels is always too loose. We tension each spoke to 200 pounds tension each, then stress relieve the entire wheel. This will make the wheels stay true longer and break fewer spokes We also lubricate each spoke nipple with a special blend of Anti-Seize and Phil Wood Oil to make sure they will always turn.
    We add grease to the wheel (hub), steering (headset) and crank (bottom braket) threads and bearings. We remove the fork and crank and grease the inside of the frame at the headset and bottom bracket areas to prevent rust and catch crap (rust or sand) from contaminating the bearings. We replace the lower stack headset bearings with loose balls. This triples the life of the headset and makes the steering smoother. We also add a bottom braket sleeve if one is missing/needed and they ususally are!

Below is a list of just a few of the extras things we do to make your bike last and last and last:
Individual shop labor charges in (Red).

True, Tension and Dish the wheels
[They won't come loose] ($40)
Add the proper amount of grease to the wheel bearings (hubs)
[They don't come with enough!] ($35)
Grease the steer tube [keeps the rust at bay] and add grease to the steering bearing (headset) and replace the lower stack bearing cage with loose balls [triples the life of the headset and makes the steering smoother] ($25)
Remove and lubricate the crank bearing [bottom bracket] ($25)
Lubricate the inner cable of the brakes and gears
[Smooth braking and shifting] ($10)
Align frame and fork Drop-Outs
[Makes bike track straight and prevents bearing failure] ($15)
All nuts and bolts are torqued to their maximum tightness
Lube all threads
[these last 2 steps keep things from loosening up and rusting] (Priceless)
Add Slime to the tires [prevents 90% of all flats] ($10)
We only do this to high volume tires like mountain or hybrid.
Free Greenfield (made in USA) kickstand if wanted ($10)
Finally, we give the bike a Tune-Up ($85)
This final step involves YOU!
A bicycle is a machine, and like all machines, there is a "break-in" period. You MUST bring your bike back to the shop for a FREE initial 'Tune-Up' [really a retorquing of all parts and any readjustments needed] after 100-200 miles of riding or 60 days whichever comes last. ($35) Failure to do so can void your warranty!

We do everything we can to make your ride trouble free! -The ABR Staff
If you have purchased a new bike elsewhere and would like us to do all this to your bike, the charge is only $125 (the bike must be less than 90 days old). If the bike is still new in the box then the charge is only $100
Price for a full assemblly from the frame up is $175 (wheel building extra).

Pictorial examples of things we do:

Cleaning the paint out of the Bottom Bracket threads

We remove the retainer to add more bearings.
This triples the life of the headset!

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Adding grease to XTR bottom bracket bearings.

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Adding grease to the wheel bearings

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Greasing the freewheel threads

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Greasing the Bottom Bracket threads

To prevent this:

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Adding grease to the Headset
and greasing the steer tube & star-fangled nut

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Adding grease to the headset (steering) bearings.

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Adding grease to the rear
suspension pivot bearings.

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Adding grease to Speedplay Frog Pedal bearings.
On the left is how they look purged before we remove the outboard bearing bearing shields. The shields keep the grease from reaching the inboard bearing. On the right is how they should look. We have contacted Speedplay about this problem, but they do not seem to think it is one! These are the kind of things we look for to make your bike last longer. Note: one half of the pedal has been removed for the picture

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Often the rim strips that come with your bike do not work!
Tape (the white one) stays put better than stips (the red and black ones) but
most manufactuers use strips because they are faster to install but
may or may not cover all the spokes!

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*These pictures are of actual bikes disassembled by us directly from the factory. No clean-up was done before hand! We see this lack of lube all the time. It is, unfortunately, industry standard. What we do, unfortunately, is not!

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Pictorial examples of things we do:
Cleaning the paint out of the Bottom Bracket threads

We remove the retainer to add more bearings. This triples the life of the headset!
XXX

Adding grease to XTR bottom bracket bearings.
XXX

Adding grease to the wheel bearings
XXX

Greasing the freewheel threads
XXX

Greasing the Bottom Bracket threads
To prevent this:
XXX

Adding grease to the Headset and greasing the steer tube & star-fangled nut
XXX

Adding grease to the headset (steering) bearings.
XXX

Adding grease to the rear suspension pivot bearings.
XXX

Adding grease to Speedplay Frog Pedal bearings. On the left is how they look purged before we remove the outboard bearing bearing shields. The shields keep the grease from reaching the inboard bearing. On the right is how they should look. We have contacted Speedplay about this problem, but they do not seem to think it is one! These are the kind of things we look for to make your bike last longer. Note: one half of the pedal has been removed for the picture
XXX

Often the rim strips that come with your bike do not work! Tape (the white one) stays put better than stips (the red and black ones) but most manufactuers use strips because they are faster to install but may or may not cover all the spokes!
XXX