We’re used to working in any and all circumstances. Whether we’re providing support at a race or training camp or giving a customer a hands-on tutorial about a problem with their bike here in the studio, we pride ourselves on our adaptability above and beyond your typical bike shop.

But last Thursday we experienced something completely new – a real, live film crew! That’s right – Ifixbyx was selected by software company Acclivity to be featured as a small business in an upcoming advertisement. As big fans and daily users of their Checkout software, we were both honored and enthusiastic to be part of the project. It was especially cool to see how a commercial gets made, and even cooler that our studio was the big star of the show! Dollies, cameras and lights rolled in around 8am. After some still photography and an interview, the crew shot some b-roll (that’s industry-talk for “filler”), and around 1pm we heard “That’s a wrap!”

We can’t wait to see the finished product. In the meantime, if you’re a small business and in need of a point-of-sale solution, be sure and checkout Checkout!

OK, now that winter decided to join us, the inevitable indoor training sessions (at home, or at the enduranceWERX studio) are becoming a reality.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen far too many good tires go the way of the trash bin due to these intense hours on the trainer. That’s why we’d like to take the time to point out the importance of using a trainer tire. The robust compound won’t succumb to failure (see the all-too-common example in the photo above – where the tread starts to delaminate from the tire itself) or wear out prematurely.

We sell a snazzy blue number by TACX that’s a fair bit cheaper than a standard road tire. Stop by or give us a call and we’ll tell you more about it.

Tomorrow night, (Thu,January 19th) the NYC cycling community will show its support for the proposed velodrome at the Kingsbridge Armory. Tickets for this roller race event are $20, and all proceeds will go towards making the project a reality. Stop by for a guaranteed good time.

Hosted by John Eustice, with support from Bronx Brewery, Stan’s No Tubes, BikeWorks NYC, and many others. We hope to see you there!

Roller Races for the Kingsbridge Armory Velodrome – Amity Hall, 80 W3rd Street, Greenwich Village

Tickets available HERE

Our partners at enduranceWERX are gearing up for another enduranceCAMP in San Diego.

From Feb 17-20th, Chad & Co will kick start your training season with 4 days of 60-80 mile rides on some of the best routes in the country. As usual, Ifixbyx will be on hand to provide support via sag wagon and before and after each day.

We’re really looking forward to a few days in the sun on the West Coast- and there are a few spots left – won’t you join us?!

enduranceCAMP : Feb 17-20

We’ve got the solution to your down-to-the wire Holiday shopping – Ifixbyx gift certificates. With the days officially getting longer as of today, any self respecting roadie or triathlete is already working on next year’s training plan. What they really need is to make sure their bike is in tip-top condition.

Whether it’s building up a winter training ride, or finally putting an end to all the creaks and squeaks from last season, there is no better way to kick off 2012 than some professional bike maintenance.

All levels of certificates/service available. Check out our Studio page for rates, then give us a call and put together the ultimate gift!

Ifixbyx Gift Certificates : 646-201-9219

I broke a tool the other day. Well, if I want to be technical about, one of the other guys in the shop (who shall remain nameless) broke the tip off my #2 screwdriver. That tool had been with me for nearly ten years. I’ve had tools for longer time periods, but a #2 – along with a good 5mm Allen wrench – are the two tools that get used the most often.

The thing I liked most about that specific #2 was the handle: black with red flames. You know – NASCAR style! It resided in the cheap section of any hardware store. The tip was the perfect size and profile to fit snugly into derailleur limit screws. I’ve had “nicer” drivers from expensive sets made by more reputable manufacturers, but those issues alone don’t make for a good tool.

Found in the dollar section at Sears in Appleton, WI, NASCAR sat in the toolbox for a while because I already had a perfectly good #2 on the wall. In fact, the first couple of seasons it only saw piecemeal work at best. You know – the dirty stuff that I didn’t want my everyday #2 to be bothered with. I used it as a pry bar, a chisel, a punch – I even used the handle as a hammer. Hell, it was only a dollar! If it broke, so what? I’d go get another one. But it didn’t break. It hung in there like a trooper. Waiting patiently for the chance to get in the game full time. And then, one day it happened. I committed the mortal sin of accidentally leaving my everyday #2 at a race. It was time for the NASCAR screwdriver to step on the field and become the starter. And it did, for nearly 10 years straight.

Just like any new tool, it took a while for us to get to know each other. The weight, the balance, the texture and profile of the handle all had to become natural to me…. just like anytime you make new friends, there’s a break-in period where you aren’t sure if things are going to work out. I remember trying at least one other #2 during those early days. But this one stuck and won the starting job for good. It even traveled all over the country and much of the world with me. That screwdriver went to China, for cryin’ out loud. It is no exaggeration to say that tool adjusted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. All for $1.

#2 finally gave up the ghost doing what it was meant to do – trying to remove a rusted cleat screw from the bottom of a shoe. This screw was rusted SOLID. NASCAR didn’t stand a chance.

I don’t mean this to sound like an obituary; it was a tool, and it did its job well. I respect that. I don’t feel bad about the passing. But I have to admit that I’m a bit bothered by the fact that I wasn’t at the helm when it “died”. Someone decided to borrow NASCAR without my permission. He knew better than to ask because I wouldn’t have given it. And now NASCAR #2 is gone. If someone was gonna kill off that sombitch, I wish it would have been me. I think it deserved that. We both did.

So it’s time to reach into the toolbox and grab the next #2. It’s a Husky with a black rubber handle. I’ve been using it for a week or so now. I’ll let you how things work out. In ten years.

Ah, the Holi-daze.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, stocking-stuffers, lists of gadgets and gizmos… BAH.

Here at Ifixbyx we prefer to keep it simple.  Instead of buying another doo-dad for the cyclist in your life, how about a Gift Certificate from us?  Whether they apply it to repair work or mechanic lessons or even work stand rental, an Ifixbyx Gift Certificate is sure to please.  Gift Certificates can be purchased for any dollar amount so go nuts and consult our price list on the studio page.  As always, if you have any questions please give us a call at 646-201-9219, or stop by our new shop space and say “Hi”!

Roller Races: we’ve all been to ‘em. Some of us have even participated in ‘em. But this Thursday, NY Velocity is upping the ante by hosting some races with none other than Floyd Landis! Now, we aren’t expecting Floyd to race (this isn’t NASCAR after all), but we do think it’s pretty cool that he’d come by and support such a cool event (proceeds from the evening go to the NYC CRCA Juniors dev squad).

All the details are here. And we’ll see you there!

Our local friend and racer Alex Bremer has kickstarted what we think is a pretty cool business – carbon bicycle repair. With carbon fiber becoming a more and more prevalent material these days, it’s inevitable that things will break and need specialized repair services. Sometimes, mailing a precious frame 1000 miles away seems too daunting – or is simply too expensive. Alex’s firm, called BikeCPR, was started to help address the growing local need for a type of bicycle maintenance that isn’t uncommon – but is certainly very different from what we deal with here at IFixByx – structural failure.

We took a few moments to sit down with Alex last week and get an inside look at his new business.

IFB: We’ve seen your work come through the shop, but roughly how many
carbon repairs have you done to date? Is it mostly NYC based bike
owners or are you servicing a wider audience?

AB: I have done upwards of 30 carbon repairs, which started as something
of an experimental process. The first repairs were on frames that were
considered junk – so I could play around and develop my technique. One of
these was a bike with a severed top tube that I made whole again, and it’s
still in use, with thousands of miles on it! So even my first repairs were
very solid, but I was using the first repairs to hone the technique and
refine the finished product. Up until this fall, I have only done work for
friends and friends of friends in NYC and the northeast who have gone out of
their way to come to me. I’ve been performing high-quality
repair work for some time, but still using that network to experiment with materials, paint, and techniques. Now that I’m finally really happy with the consistent quality of the final product, I’m trying to bring people to BikeCPR to save their broken carbon stuff.

IFixByx: As a bike racer, applying your education in Mechanical Engineering to fixing carbon race bikes certainly makes sense – but did you head to school (Columbia University) with that in mind?

Alex Bremer: Not at all! I was really interested in architecture in high school,
and was pretty much convinced it was my career choice. I was inspired by
architect Santiago Calatrava’s background in engineering to pursue a
Mechanical Engineering degree as a route into architecture and design that
would be unique and valuable. I ended up getting a little distracted by
bikes, and I did my senior design project on bamboo applications using a
bike as an example. I got familiar with carbon fiber and fiberglass as part
of the project, since we made a bike out of bamboo tubes and bamboo
fiberglass lugs. It was only when my friend Tony broke his carbon frame that
I realized I had the background I needed to do carbon repairs, and that’s
where it started.

IFB: Do you foresee your business becoming a nation wide service?
Calfee seems to do quite well with their repair services. Is that a
goal?

AB: I expect that my business will be largely rooted in the Northeast.
Calfee is definitely at the forefront of carbon repairs, but their prices
range from about $300-$600 and the turnaround time is 6-8 weeks (both before
shipping). So there is room for me to offer a much faster, cheaper service
(especially when shipping is out of the equation for local customers).
However, there are also a handful of others in the U.S. doing the same thing
as BikeCPR, so it’s probably going to be hard to take
business away from a company in Colorado who has the local advantage. I am
realistic about what limits there are on the business and there isn’t a
final goal – I just want to see where it goes.

IFB: At this point, your work is mainly on repairing carbon frames,
but do you aspire to building your own carbon frames?

AB: Yeah, I would love work on my own frames. At the moment, BikeCPR just fixes
frames, rims, and other components. Some repairs
bring interesting technical challenges with them, but for the most part it
isn’t anything more than manual labor now that the process and technique
have been finalized. With my interest in design, I would be really excited
to start developing my business in more creative ways like frame
manufacturing, but its also a step-by-step thing for me. Making frames
requires a lot more investment, since you are creating from scratch a
complex structure with very specific symmetry and axes, as well as industry
standard threading and dimensions, etc… So that’s a dream at the moment
and not in the immediate future.

IFB: Finally, many argue that one carbon frame is better than another or you’ll hear phrases like “cheap-Chinese-carbon” frames thrown around. What’s your take on the varying levels of carbon quality and how does that affect your work?

AB: I definitely think that there are important differences in different
types of carbon. But I do think that some distinctions are more arbitrary,
since at its core, the strength of carbon doesn’t come from the individual
fibers, but from the effect of having a huge number of fibers (thin and weak
by themselves) applied in a certain direction or pattern. Bike stuff made in
Asia may have quality concerns for other reasons, so pinning a negative
label on the raw materials instead of the overall design and manufacturing
process doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
My opinion is that the most important qualities of carbon are:
a) the thickness of the sheet
b) the weave/directionality of the fibers.
For instance (I am thinking of rims, head tubes here, and other areas
facing a wide range of forces – lateral, vertical, etc) in some cases using a woven fabric can provide reinforcement that adds strength in 3-D, rather than against a
single angle of force or direction of torque. But then for other cases (e.g.
a top tube), using unidirectional fabric makes a lot more sense because the
range of the forces applied to the part is much narrower and predictable,
creating a sort of a simple theoretical problem that has an actual physical
solution. And so that using the same amount of unidirectional carbon
provides more strength against that specific type of strain on the bike than
woven fabric would have. Bike CPR uses a conservative
thickness of carbon to ensure that the repair will never break, and the
weave of the fabric is chosen on a case-by-case basis.

Thanks Alex! Best of luck with the new project.

BikeCPR