The Shopkeeper

We recently invited some passersby into the bike shop to check out our spot and enjoy a beverage while seated on an overturned 5-gallon bucket. "I can't sit down," Aaron says with a grin. "I have to stand back here and lean on the counter, because I'm the shopkeeper."

Interestingly, upon the announcement of the opening of Sultana Cycles, I was directed to this article on Outside Online. As it succinctly notes in the title: Angry bike mechanics are going extinct. And that sucks.

Aaron hates this article. "It sounds like a bike snob who wrote that crap," he says. This makes me laugh. Aaron is super-knowledgeable about bicycles and more than willing to propagate both the facts and his opinions. (If there's one thing I've picked up from my bike mechanic husband, it's that disc brakes suck -- especially the ones on my 29-er that have to be re-adjusted every time i gain or lose a pound.) However, he manages to get that across, fairly convincingly, without being angry or looking down his nose. It appears the angry bike mechanic was actually the Dr. Frankenstein who created the Frankenstein's monster* that is the snobbish author.

"Riding a bicycle is supposed to be fun," Aaron continues. "It's more fun to ride a bike that works because it's simple, good quality, and greased up on a regular basis. But it's not about what or where or who you ride with." This is the attitude you will get at Sultana Cycles -- more like a lecture from my dad, who will happily tell you how to do something "the right way," follow up with the but-do-what-you-want-because-I-know-you're-going-to-do-it-anyway remark, laugh, and go about his business. He even attempts to mute the eventual "I told you so" during the repeat lecture after I've done what I wanted to do anyway.

The bottom line: there's a happy medium between pandering and snobbery. We want your bike to be fun and functional. We want you to ask questions and be an informed consumer. And if you still want the clown-bike, we'll build it and send you happily on your way.


*Note the distinction, as the green monster reanimated from dead flesh with screws in his neck is so often mislabeled. Frankenstein is the mad scientist. The monster, tragically, remains nameless.