In honor of National Bike Month, SLUG interviewed some of our favorite local bike mechanics to give us the scoop on their respective shops, and inspire you to pull out your own set of wheels and join them on the road. Read on for interviews with Jace Burbidge of the Bicycle Collective, Mark Polichette of Sport Chalet, Chris Ginzton of Cyclesmith and Lindsey Howard of Saturday Cycles.

Wrenching It Out: Local Bike Mechanics

By
May 3, 2012

Bike / BMX

Lindsey Howard
Saturday Cycles
Saturdaycycles.com

SLUG: How’d you get into bicycles?
Howard: I got a job at a stable cleaning out stalls when I was about 15. The first day of work, I had a flat on my shit-pit department store bike and had to ride my Razor scooter. The stable was up a large hill, which was absolutely terrifying to descend on the scooter. After that, I (grudgingly) rode my bike.

SLUG: How did you become a bicycle mechanic?
Howard: My younger brother was sort of the house mechanic at the time, but I quickly realized he wasn’t very good at it and took over from there. I spent a lot of time learning about bikes as I got a few fixer-uppers.

SLUG: Why Saturday Cycles?
Howard: The main reason I started working there was that Mark Kennedy had a lot of bikes and gear that I hadn’t seen anywhere else, a lot of lugged steel, wool apparel, touring gear, interesting magazines and so on.
 
SLUG: Female bike mechanics are rare. Why?
Howard: I think with any question of being female and involved in cycling there are two dynamics at play. One is of being female-bodied, and another is that of female gender identity.  I think that part of the issue may be that cycling’s efforts to include women often fail to challenge the gender dynamics that underlie the imbalance. I’ve seen a bit of a theme (there are some exceptions) in which cycling culture wants to open itself to women, but does so in ways that don’t threaten traditional gender norms.

SLUG: Any bicycle-related career goals?
Howard: I think bikes are a wonderful tool for helping folks realize their own power and capability. I plan to be a teacher in the future and want to integrate bikes into that, either in a classroom setting or with an after school program.

SLUG: Crazy shop story?
Howard: One time when we were opening shop for the morning in West Bountiful, I saw two horses galloping down the road out back. I grabbed a Long Haul Trucker, corralled them in a backyard half a block down and waited until the person pursuing them on foot arrived.

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