Elliot's Bicycle Service & Tap Room

[Jovankat]

I brought American Boyfriend to meet Elliot after he had some negative reactions to his nakeding out on the playa. I thought it would be good for him to meet such an accomplished nakeder. It turned out though that he and GreyCoyote actually had a whole lot of things to talk about. It was pretty cool seeing them both get excited about their shared interests and lovely for GreyCoyote to take the time to give him advice. I hope we can come do a shift or two next year with American Boyfriend fixing bikes and me serving drinks. In the nude of course

Also I would just like to mention, for the record, that GreyCoyote's advice to me was "marry this boy!" and his advice to American Boyfriend was "get a prenup!"

[GreyCoyote]

Tehehe. It was great to meet you guys! You seemmto fit like two peas in a pod. Love it!

I thought American Boyfriend was going to wet himself when I mentioned we can legally marry & bury, as well as assist with prenuptials, divorces, and estate planning. And while in BRC, maybe even help with family planning!

Looking forward to heckling you next year if you do some shifts at Elliots!

[Elliot]

Yeah, nice to have a complete legal staff in camp! Now we just need our own judge.
As for family planning, I paid the grand total of USD 150.- for my vasectomy, so you can try to estimate how long ago that was.
Best buck-n-a-half I ever spent.

As Tiahaar mentioned, we did get several customers with bikes that ought not have been brought to the Playa at all. Some I fixed, one or two I exchanged for functional bikes, and some I shooed away. Rule number one: Never buy a bike that used to have gears and now does not.

Tiahaar, thanks again for mechanic'ing with us. I will double the supply of Cream Sodas for you next year.

[Omitimo]

BIKES, FUCK YEAH!

So many, and I loved 'em all. I thought I would be SOOOOO over them at weeks end.
At Hammer & Cyclery we estimated some 1500 repairs. Some minor, others not so much.
The most frustrating was dealing with flats, as we did not bring many tubes, but were gifted many of both.
We did a good number of one piece crank swaps.
We went through a surprising amount of drive side pedals.
We replaced a lot of chains and stomped as many wheels back into rideability as possible.
There wasn't as big of a bone yard as I had hoped for but we got so many sorted out and back rolling.
We saw a lot of bikes and hacks that were unsafe, what upset me the most were the department store bikes assembled by people that don't know what they are doing, i.e. Backwards forks and super taught chains.
We had a couple of solid volunteers to pick up slack of our flakes, myself included.
I put in a bit of time over at Playa, which was a totally different feel and so much fun, plus A LOT of cute service girls.
I was hoping to check out some of the other bike camps as well but gave up on planning anything after my 2nd day on The Playa.
There were 4 of us Burgins in camp and we are already scheming next year.

FUCK YEAH, BIKES!

[Elliot]

Good on ya, Omitimo!

I was glad I brought pedal-thread taps. Saved a couple of cranks that way.

And on 3-piece cranks, the left arms keep falling off. Probably the same kid who over-tightens all those chains.

Somebody ought to talk to the Kiwanis about reselling derailer-bikes that have been "field converted" to single-speed. I declined to work on several such. (Gave a couple of those folks proper bikes to ride instead.)

Not to brag, but... for laughs... I took on a bike as an overnight project. Finished it at 2 a.m.. Then got up at 4 a.m. and went on shift. Good sport!
The look on the customer's face when he picked up his fully functioning bike was sooooo worth it.

Most fun jobs: Full Frontal Derailerectomies. I remove the front derailer and leave the chain on the middle chain-ring. Saves people a lot of unnecessary trouble. Of course, I make a theatrical production out of it, using a 3-foot bolt-cutter to open the derailer cage.

Most customers who ask for "oil" have absolutely no need for it. Never leave WD-40 accessible to strangers! Nor any kind of pliers.

Next year I must bring more friction-lever gear shifters, to replace broken twist-grip ones (for the rear). And more spare derailers too.

And more odds-and-ends, specially saddle hardware.

[Omitimo]

Yes, Elliot, left crank arms was a thing.
I also performed some 1Xs. I usually left the front derailleur on and limited high and low to middle chain ring just to avoid chain drop. Sometimes, we would limit front and rear to single it out that-a-way.
I miss horizontal drop outs.
Vinegar and water were more valuable to us than anything else for getting rid of noise and sticky lines. But we did use a bunch of GT85 and Fabulous Blaster, good dry lubes.

[Elliot]

I find that limit screws often do not have enough range, or they slip off the tab they touch. I prefer to use a short wire (or bailing wire, if there is nothing left of the shift wire) to set a derailer in one spot. Of course, whatever works for you works for you!

[Tiahaar]

My favorite was the guy who brought in the rear wheel of a coaster brake cruiser...with a big hole where the internals would normally go and a baggie of parts, saying 'it kind of fell apart and another playa shop declined to fix it'. Heh. Challenge accepted! Some small parts were damaged but I put the thing back together as a freewheel hub, with the warning to remember there were now no brakes Bendix hubs are not something normally rebuilt on the playa.

Then there was the bike brought in with complaints of squeaks in the crank when pedaling. It was so jammed full of playa dust and grit it was a wonder it turned at all. Cleaned it up, put in grease and freeballs (lol...bearing cages were basically digested) and off it went for more adventures.

Also, what IS it with the folded tubes inside tires??? I ran across several flatted and blown ones installed this way. They were the right size tubes, no need to fold to install. Do disreputable bike stores do this on purpose to ensure a repair return? It is harder to put a tube in this way than the right way so wtf?

[Sunbeam56]

Youse guyz are bike nerds. I cant follow this discussion, but i am very glad that you can.
Thank you for your service to the community

[Elliot]

Tiahaar, I'm guessing the "folded" tubes are caused by riding under-inflated. The tire rotates on the rim and wads up the tube in the process. Sometimes the valve stem tears out first, sometimes the tube rips somewhere else.

Worst thing with the el-cheapo cruiser bikes from Crapmart may be the under-tensioned spokes. I have sooooo many week-old wobbly wheels here now!

I'm bringing you a whole case of cream sodas next year, T. You earned it!

[chuckularone]

Over the course of the week I changed (or assisted changing) at least 10 tubes with ripped off valve stems. I have never seen that happen to a bike before. Then again, I've always assembled my own bikes.

[Elliot]

Please spread the word:
We had a number of customers whose bicycles had dragged on the ground during transport to The Event! People strap bicycles on the back of cars and... hope, apparently. Major mechanical mayhem often follows.
This is part of the general public's utter lack of mechanical understanding in the age of video-games. So we lucky gear-heads have a moral obligation to help these less fortunate citizens. With power comes responsibility, and all that.

In other news.... Next year I think I will lay down a sheet of plastic under the rugs, to keep wet playa from sticking to the rugs. Or will the plastic just stick to the ground, for an even worse problem? Anybody have experience with this?
The problem was worst where rain-water had pooled, but there is moisture in the ground just a few inches down everywhere.

[Sunbeam56]

We had a standard tarp on the ground and below our rugs in the dome.
We set the dome up late Sunday, and were pretty wiped... So Grey Coyote says: we ought to put up the rain flap.
And i says: naw, i'm too tired. And besides its the desert, its not gonna rain.
So we wake up monday with rain AND hail coming in the dome.
Started the Burn with a good laugh.

The ground beneath the tent never got wet. The rugs dried and didnt get muddy. Very satisfactory.

The BEEG problem with rain on your setup, my darling Elliot, is it pooled in the tarps above Millicent. Then when the wind blew, the accumulated pools spilled directly into your repair shop.
We moved some tools for you, but basically had no way to prevent the cascades...

[Elliot]

Yes, those showers from blue sky were BEEG FUN! But I am putting drain holes in the tarps next year, spoilsport that I am. Of course, now we know what to do with 200 surplus gallons of water.

[Elliot]

AND THE TALLY IS....

ASTONISHING!

I brought 49 bicycles to The Event and still have 47 of them!

5 were cannibalized for parts, one is my personal steed, and 43 were lent out. Of the 43 lent out, 41 were returned. Absolutely fabulous. THANK YOU, BICYCLE BORROWERS! YOU DO IT RIGHT!

The other tally is for bicycles gifted to the "shop" for future use, either as Loaners or as Parts. And that count is (by coincidence, also) 43. I'm gonna need a bigger barn! Well, some of these are pure junk, but the neighborhood scrap metal collector should have his share also. (I'm a regular stop on his route!)

At deadline, there were 38 confirmed reservations. I dare not go higher for next year, but the quality of the bikes should increase. And I will have many more spare wheels for repairing customers' bikes.

Life is good.

[Blueschaser]

My favorite repair(s) needed were the customers on consecutive days who came in with SEVERELY bent wheels. When I asked how 'd that happen, the response was identical and hysterical-----"got run over by a mutant vehicle"! You'll never get that response in default world...

[Elliot]

My favorite repair(s) needed were the customers on consecutive days who came in with SEVERELY bent wheels. When I asked how 'd that happen, the response was identical and hysterical-----"got run over by a mutant vehicle"! You'll never get that response in default world...

Folks, Blueschaser is one of the fabulous Bicycle Technicians who joined me in the fun this year. He also contributed tons of new tubes, saddles and other parts. And yes, he's from Chicago and knows his way around the Blues music. Three cheers and a tiger for Blueschaser!

In case I have neglected to mention it, Tiahaar was an other of our Ace Mechanics. All hail Tiahaar The Great!

And I think I mentioned Chuckularone in the same role -- Grand huzzas for Chuckularone!

Then there was Paul and Maggee from New Zealand -- God Save The Queen!

And Gahb13 -- All hail!

And the big case of parts from Oly14 -- Huzzaaaaah!

There were others, but I just woke up, so don't remember the names right now.

[Sunbeam56]

Not being a bike nerd... I cant imagine Elliot's serving any better... More maybe, but not necessary.
He/they replaced whole bikes, whole tires, inner tubes, tightened chains, loosened chains, replaced gears, repaired gears... Who needs brakes... Kickstands, seats....
It was the whole show!
Yeah!!! Elliott!!! All the noble assistants!!!!

I just watched

[GreyCoyote]

As the official union steward, I made sure none of Elliots merry band of Bike Fixers were unduly encumbered by clothes or lack of high-brow harassment. (In other words, I stayed the hell out of the way and will now try to vicariously claim as much personal glory as possible for their excellent and Herculean efforts!)

Oh wait! I did help! I dumped the beer cans for recycling! I AM essential!!!

[FIGJAM]

As the official union steward, I made sure none of Elliots merry band of Bike Fixers were unduly encumbered by clothes or lack of high-brow harassment. (In other words, I stayed the hell out of the way and will now try to vicariously claim as much personal glory as possible for their excellent and Herculean efforts!)

Oh wait! I did help! I dumped the beer cans for recycling! I AM Assential!!!

Fixed it for ya!

[GreyCoyote]

Ah HA! I see what you did there!

Where the hell is Kowtow, BTW?

[chuckularone]

He's been replying to emails. I think he might be taking an eplaya break or he has just turned to lurking for the time being.

[unjonharley]

Ah HA! I see what you did there!

Where the hell is Kowtow, BTW?

He may have went the way of the camera..

[dimasilk]

Hello, everyone. I was advised to direct my attention to this thread, and there is so much useful information here, just knowing that this community service helps so many people on the Playa is great What I'm looking for is a trike (a three wheeler) to ride on the Playa next year (my first burn, hopefully I was looking at many rental places in SF (where I'll be picking up a rented campervan, coming from NYC myself), but, unfortunately, I'm not able to find a place that rents out trikes. I'm not looking for anything deluxe or super duper fancy, just a trike with a basket that's reliable for a week If Elliot or anyone else have any pointers or suggestions, I'd really appreciate it!

[Elliot]

.
Hey Dimasilk -- I sent you a PM.

[kowtow]

I'm alive, alive, alive I say!!! I feel like the words from an old Led Zeppelin song, "I've been dazed and confused for so long it's not true"

Hey GreyCoyote you may have helped dump those beer cans, but they ended up hundreds of miles away in a Washington state curb recycling bin.

I just discovered the behemoth of a bike that I brought has a cracked frame. Fuck I'm glad it didn't do that with one of the ladies riding on it. I would have lost more than Laura's camera had she fallen off and busted her head. True to form I didn't lose a goddamn thing at Burning Man this year. Yeah Unjon you dirty fucker I didn't lose Laura's camera either, I just misplaced it for a few hours in a certain location that gets very little use.

[unjonharley]

I'm alive, alive, alive I say!!! I feel like the words from an old Led Zeppelin song, "I've been dazed and confused for so long it's not true"

Hey GreyCoyote you may have helped dump those beer cans, but they ended up hundreds of miles away in a Washington state curb recycling bin.

I just discovered the behemoth of a bike that I brought has a cracked frame. Fuck I'm glad it didn't do that with one of the ladies riding on it. I would have lost more than Laura's camera had she fallen off and busted her head. True to form I didn't lose a goddamn thing at Burning Man this year. Yeah Unjon you dirty fucker I didn't lose Laura's camera either, I just misplaced it for a few hours in a certain location that gets very little use.

Thats not the way i'm tell'in the story..

Did the crack in the frame come from the side car? Or to much stress some where?

[kowtow]

Ya the crack came from too much stress where the 2" tubing was welded to the bike frame near the steering head. You might have a picture of it, unless you didnt get your pictures developed yet at the Fotomat.

Are you settled in back at home now? If so I need to head down and pay you a visit. I am missing all shit you were throwing my way. I'll get in touch and maybe I'll even buy you a lunch at the Roth's IGA cafeteria if it's still there after 30 years.

[unjonharley]

Ya the crack came from too much stress where the 2" tubing was welded to the bike frame near the steering head. You might have a picture of it, unless you didnt get your pictures developed yet at the Fotomat.

Are you settled in back at home now? If so I need to head down and pay you a visit. I am missing all shit you were throwing my way. I'll get in touch and maybe I'll even buy you a lunch at the Roth's IGA cafeteria if it's still there after 30 years.

Bike tubing is pretty crappy to try and weld or weld onto.. Better to design a bolt on instead..

Ya I'm still putting stuf away.. But breaking out yard sale crap.. Are you close to that fire?

[kowtow]

Do you need any yard sale donations? I would be happy to pull my damn dusty trailer down there pour some playa out on the driveway and offer it up. I'll even throw in the bike with the cracked frame just to get rid of it.

No, that Clackamas fire is not close to me. I'm basically across the river from the Portland airport and a couple miles NE of the I-205 Bridge.

I sure was impressed with your theme ride this year. I hope it served you well. You and Elliot are two guys to be reckoned with when it comes to creative bicyclery. I have neither the creative or mechanical abilities to come up with such ideas.