By Maynard Hershon — I’ve been riding to Golden from our home in Denver once or twice a week. I ride the Clear Creek bike trail, a narrow trail with many turnings, some of them quite tight. In the last couple of weeks I’ve noticed a change in my bike’s handling, in its steering — a glitch you could say.
I’ll be turning a long corner, almost a hairpin turn, in which the road turns back on itself. I’ll be midway through that corner, not going especially fast, just sweeping through the bend, when my bike will abruptly but subtly want to stand up straight…or lean over further.
Each time it happened, I’d be alarmed – for an instant, and wonder what could be going on. When I reached my destination, I’d look at my bike, at the top of the fork tubes under the crown, at the bottom bracket and at the chainstays, searching for cracks and praying that I saw none.
I’d lift the front end of the bike off the ground and swing the bars back and forth, trying in vain to sense a tight or loose spot in the bearings of my Chris King headset, the bearings that the front end pivots on.
I’d hold the front end a few inches from the pavement and drop the front tire to the ground. No rattle. No problem with my King headset; not a surprise. I’d take the front wheel out of the fork and gently squeeze the fork tips together. No movement. Probably no cracks in the fork tubes.
I’d wiggle the front wheel in the fork to see if there was slop in the bearings of the front hub. I’d flick both tires with a fingertip to see if they were fully inflated. I found nothing amiss.
My bike is 12 years old, old enough certainly to develop a crack. I’ve ridden it thousands of miles, not brutal miles, but all sorts of miles, flat and hilly and even mountainous. Maybe, I thought, it’s telling me gently, as steel does, that something is wrong. Warning me, you could say.
So I stopped at Turin Bikes, a few blocks from Tamar’s and my home. I berated myself on the way there for not having the bike with me. It was dumb not to take it, like trying to get a mechanical diagnosis on the phone, but I was out for a walk and Turin was right there so I stopped.
Dave was behind the service counter as usual. I told him pretty much what I’ve told you in the paragraphs above except for the feeling foolish for not having the bike with me. Told him how the bike had felt and what I’d checked. He listened and said almost nothing as I described the problem and my efforts to diagnose it.
He asked me what kind of tires I ride. I told him I use Specialized Armadillos, not needing to mention that I don’t mind losing ride quality and gaining wheel weight in exchange for long life and flat resistance. There was no need to tell him that stuff; He knows it perfectly well.
He told me to look at the Armadillos, to note the peaked shape of the tire, how it isn’t completely round as you look at the tread, but high in the center. He said that tires that are peaked that way can create little (harmless) handling glitches.
Peaked tires won’t put you on the ground but they can lack a bit of sure-footedness in turns.
I told him I’d recently replaced my rear tire with a new Armadillo. The front tire was worn in the center and much rounder than it had been when it was new. The peaked rear and round front contributed to the tiny instability I’d felt mid-corner.
As the new rear tire wears down its center tread, the peak will wear away – and my predictable handling will return, Dave told me.
As I thought about what he’d said, his description of the problem and its symptoms made sense; it FELT right. I thanked him and walked out of Turin into the sunshine, happy for the 100th time that I have such a shop in my neighborhood.
After all, when I walked into Turin, I was afraid I might have a crack in my frame or fork. I was wondering how long my warranty might last. I was afraid I might lose my beautiful bike.
Here’s the thing about a good bike shop. They have seen so many bicycles, so many bicycle problems, listened to so many perplexed bicycle owners…. Whatever you have experienced with your bike, they’ve almost certainly seen before and dealt with before.
They know the problem and how to talk with you about it and if necessary fix it.
There is no substitute for a good bike shop. There are lots of places to buy tubes and bar tape, some of them for less money than a good bike shop can afford to sell them. But when your bike starts behaving in a weird way or making strange noises and you can’t figure out why, who’re you gonna call?
You’re gonna go to your bike shop and because you’re smarter than me you’re gonna take your bike with you. If it’s a good bike shop the service person will ask you questions and listen to you as you talk about your bike. That person will suggest why your bike may be acting the way it is.
He or she may tell you how to deal with your problem yourself or may write up a work order so the shop can fix your problem. Either way, it’ll get handled.
My head was full of concerns about my beautiful old blue bike when I walked into Turin. It was full of relief after hearing Dave’s explanation, the considered diagnosis of an expert. No charge – for assurance worth more than I can describe.
Think how lucky you are to have a good shop nearby. Think about that shop even when you aren’t faced with what you imagine may be life-and-death issues with your bike. Think about that shop when you realize you’ve used your last tube or your bars are showing through your tape.
[Editor’s note: This is an older column of Maynard’s. Sadly, Denver’s Turin Bicycles closed in April 2022. The original Turin Bicycles, in Chicago, celebrated its 60th anniversary in October 2025.]
