Workshop
The Fall Bike Check-Up: Measure What Summer Took
Six checks that tell you what a summer of riding took: chain stretch, rotor thickness, pads, tires, bearings, and bolts, each with a number to trust.
Tech Tips
Repair guides written from the workstand in Ballston Spa — bleeding brakes, chasing creaks, setting preload, and the tools each job actually needs.
Workshop
Where to Clamp a Bike in a Repair Stand Without Wrecking the Frame
Where to clamp a bike in a repair stand: the seatpost rule, carbon and aero exceptions, thru-axle fixes, and how to mount a heavy e-bike safely.
Workshop
How to Wash a Bike: A Step-by-Step Workshop Method
The clean-to-dirty workshop method for washing a bike without wrecking the bearings or drivetrain: degrease first, wash top-down, dry, then re-lube.
Workshop
Bike Bolt Torque Chart: How Tight Is Right
Torque specs for the common bike bolts — stem, rotor, crank, cassette, and pedals — plus the rule that beats any chart: the part's printed value always wins.
Workshop
Workshop Hand Tools Every Bike Shop Needs
The non-bike-specific hand tools (vise, files, awls, hacksaw, measuring tools, ratchets, pedal-thread chase) that quietly carry half the work in any working bike shop. Why they matter, how to choose them, and what to look for.
Workshop
What we wear in the workshop
A bike-mechanic's guide to shop apparel, drinkware, and the daily wear that survives bench life. Why dark cotton beats light, why a brim helps under a repair stand, and how the Made For Work line came together.
Workshop
How to set up a professional bike workshop
A workshop is a workflow problem before it is a tool problem. Bench placement, repair-stand choice, and a find-it-in-five-seconds tool system decide how many bikes a mechanic can turn around in a day.
Workshop
How to use a torque wrench on your bike
A workshop guide to using a slipper-type torque wrench on bike fasteners. Covers technique, scale reading, the low-torque/high-torque split, common bike values, and the calibration habits that keep the tool honest.
Workshop
How to choose the right bike tool kit
A buyer's guide to bike tool kits. Covers the Home Kit, Pro Kit, and Master Tool Kit tiers, plus specialized sets for wheel building, suspension, and bearings. Match the kit to the work you do, not to what the catalog photo looks like.
Workshop
How to choose a bike repair stand for your workshop
A buying guide to repair stands across portable, single-arm, double-arm, wall-mount, and electric formats; covers the clamp-mechanism decision and the e-bike capacity question.
Workshop
Hex and Torx wrenches: how to pick the right tool for the job
A working mechanic's guide to choosing hex and Torx wrenches for bike maintenance. Sizes that matter, handle shape, ball-end vs straight-tip, stripped-bolt prevention.
Workshop
Hammers and striking tools in the bike shop: which face, which weight, which job
Light taps for headsets and bearing seats, dead-blow for piston work, punches for pins. The right strike makes the part go where you want it.