About Me

I've had a love/hate/love relationship with bikes my whole life. When I was younger (as in 13-14) I thought the guys that worked at the bike shop had the greatest job on the planet, and I wanted that job. So, I got that job and worked as a professional mechanic in various shops for almost 10 years. In that time I was fortunate to meet an amazing network of friends and people from the industry that I still keep today.

After college I kept on working at SBS in Grand Forks, ND for two more years (great use of a degree huh) until I found a job out here in Minneapolis. I was almost relieved to be out of the bike industry. Now, a couple of years later, I feel like there is a big piece of my life missing and I think turning wrenches again will help get that back.

I live in Minneapolis (West Bloomington to be exact) with my wife Sara and our devil child black lab, Mr. Bear. I work out of my home, and because of the lack of commercial overhead I can charge significantly less for service than a shop. I was lucky enough to have worked at SBS for a long time, which did things as close to the right way as I've seen in the business. They're old school. They didn't judge you by what you rode. They didn't intentionally inflate estimates to discourage certain work. They helped out the kids in the neighborhood who came in counting their change trying to get a flat fixed. They did all the things that made me look up to those bike shop guys when I was a kid.

After working in shops for so long, I've developed fairly strong opinions about parts/supplies/materials that have shaped the way I work on bikes. I like Park Tools, Shimano cables, Phil Wood grease, etc. I will always offer my opinion, but if you have something particular that floats your boat, I will gladly oblige your requests and not push the issue (something alot of mechanics can't/won't do).

I built this site as a vehicle for promoting my business, but I also want it to give you a reason to come back regularly. That is why we have features like our Blog which has contributions from industry folks, pro mechanics, and normal people that are passionate about bikes. There we feature technical articles and how-to's, as well as gear reviews and stories from our contributors. So visit often, and drop us a line if you've got something to say. Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down.

- Justin Fox