About

Me

My name is Jim, I like bikes. Riding, fixing, looking at… all things bikes.

Like most kids I had a bike growing up.  The ones I remember most were just the cheap bmx bikes from probably Kmart at the time.  My dad was very frugal, so I never had the expensive bikes, I remember always wanting a Mongoose or a Redline.  I don’t remember much specific about my bmx bikes other than they were pretty heavy, never seemed to break, and had lots of pads.  Think I had two of these as I know one was stolen from our garage one night.  I guess that was a good life lesson, after that I remember having the bike lock wrapped around my seat post for any-time I left it in a public place.  Eventually I inherited my sisters green Schwinn ten speed bike which was a boy’s model.  Not sure if my dad planned-ahead and knew I’d never ride a girl’s bike or if they just got a great deal.  This bike was fine, but don’t remember riding it all that much.  I still have fond memories of all the Schwinn ten speeds with the handlebars up so the brake levers were upside down.  Such a funny thing, but it was quite popular.  Eventually my older friends started driving and bikes were no longer used. 

The mountain bike craze was starting when I was in college and lucky enough there were some areas for trail riding here so I bought a Schwinn Clear Creek mountain bike.  Loved that bike.  Eventually I liked riding so much I upgraded to a Schwinn 9 Five .6.  While a better bike, I don’t know I ever enjoyed it any more than the clear creek.  After I got a job the mountain biking mostly stopped and eventually from working an office job, I developed a bad back.  I was sure any serious riding was done so I sold my Schwinn and bought my Trek Navigator 1.0 comfort bike.  A real nice reliable bike.  Has been used on many family rides. 

Eventually I figured out the cause of my back problems and was looking for a good source of exercise.  I landed on road cycling and bought a Nishiki Maricopa at Dick’s and have just been riding more and more ever since.  Now I am into repairs, history, mountain biking, and I have a fleet of bikes for lots of different riding.  So far, I’ve found ways to not spend that much money and hope to help others stay frugal.  Biking has been great for me; I may have even cured my kidney stones.  Hoping this site will help others enjoy biking as much as I do.

Here is my Surly Cross Check which I built myself:

Custom Built Surly Cross Check
My bikes, past and present.
My Bike Tools