Last night I went for an evening mountain bike ride with my roommate, Jack. It was late in the day when we left so we decided to do a short loop on some of the local trails east of Horsetooth Reservoir. It was a nice ride. I felt great and we maintained a decently fast pace the whole time. Jack doesn’t ride that loop very often and he was a little nervous about the shoreline trail. It is very rocky and it takes frequent practice to remember the best lines through it all. He didn’t say he was nervous, but Jack isn’t very good at hiding his emotions, which is one way that we differ greatly. We did our loop and approached the descent that would take us back down into Fort Collins. A rider crested the hill so we waited for him to pass us before we started our descent. As he rode by I recognized his bicycle. It took me a second, but then I realized why. I said, “Hey man! I built your wheels!” He didn’t hear me. I think he had headphones in. I shrugged and we rode down Maxwell and then home. It felt good to see my work in use.
Spokes and spoke nipples on my work bench as I prepare to lace a wheelset. Photo by August Kreutz
I work at a bicycle shop as a mechanic, and one of my favorite parts of my job is building wheels. Building wheels is something I have only learned how to do in the last two years, so I feel as though I am still improving each time I build a wheel. It is a very satisfying and therapeutic activity for me. I think if one part of a bicycle was used to represent the activity or cycling culture, a wheel would be the most suitable. A bicycle wheel is a very beautiful object in my eyes. It gives me great satisfaction to lace a hub and a rim together to create a functional wheel that will propel a person on their bicycle.
The finished wheels on the customer’s bicycle. Photo by August Kreutz