Two bike shop stories from a long time ago.. First, memories of the local Schwinn dealer in Bennington, Vermont. Always had a spotless bright showroom packed with new and used bikes, and you couldn't tell the difference between them, they all shone so much. He had a full stock of tires and tubes, all Schwinn approved, of course. When I wanted some Sky blue spray paint to touch up my bike, he had it. Cables, check. Brake pads, Check. bearings for the headset, check. All at prices I could afford on a teenagers budget. Last time I went there was in 1978 when I bought a used World Voyageur from him for under $200. I miss that place, and those times.
Also in Bennington was a new all brand bike shop that started in the old Vermont Dyers building. More aimed at the folks who were getting into the bike craze of the 70's, they sold Raleigh, Peugeot, Motobecane, and some other lightweight road bikes, and serviced everything. Bins full of new and used parts, rows of bikes in racks, all in the original factory building with its dim lights and brick walls.
I'd bought a Hawthorne 3 speed from a friend and I was attempting to rehab it to sell for a profit...yeah I know. Anyway, I had the bike all shined up, new tires, and couldn't get the three speed hub to shift in all gears to save my life. I had it apart probably twenty times, read all the literature I could find on it, but still no go. Finally I brought it into the new store in town (Schwinn dealer wouldn't touch non Schwinns, I thought...) and let them have a go at it.
I forget what the final bill was, but it was about $10 higher than I thought it should be..at first. They also took the hub apart many times, and finally discovered the axle was bent, which caused the issues. They replaced the axle with a used one, still honoring their flat rate hub rebuild price, but there was a beginner mistake I had to pay for.. I had taken my old Schwinn tire and mounted it to the Hawthorne bike, putting a nice shiny new tire on my bike. Well, you can guess what went POP just hours after I left the bike in their store.. So the additional $ was for the tire and tube. Bike shifted like a dream. I sold it at a neighbor's auction and actually cleared a few dollars on it. But what I remembered was how I as a 15 year old kid was treated by that shop and the lady that ran it. She treated me like an adult, went to the trouble to explain what I had done wrong, wrote a nice note explaining everything to me in case I picked the bike up when she wasn't there, and didn't charge me for all the extra figuring out.. Respect...and I was just a kid. Too bad that place went belly up as well.
While not really a Rat-Biker, Curtis LOVES all types of old bikes and is incredibly knowledgeable as well. He's also a member of the Wheelmen. Some of the stuff he has tucked away in that shop is incredible...
