About Alan "Uncle Al" Ardizone

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Who the #%*& is Uncle Al?

FIFTY-YEAR-OLD BABY PICTURES show me on a trike, before I could walk. My folks must have known something. I've been on a bike my entire life.

My cycling philosophy is one word: Freedom!

I started building bikes in 1965 in a Montgomery Wards store in California, back when the bikes were pretty good Austrian-made ones. I shudder to remember what tools I used to do that job.

For more than 20 years, I've owned Cascade Bicycles in Montrose, Colorado. My wife Leslie works with me. RBR contributor Fred Matheny lives in town and is our greatest supporter/cheerleader. That is an honor.

Although I've had no formal mechanical training, I rarely put a bike together and have parts left over. I've had the pleasure of sharing and learning from some of the best mechanics in our industry: Richard Hodge, Bill Woodul (RIP), Ray Glover, Rich Gangl, Harry Spehar, Reed Pike, Ken Leroy, Tim Breen. These guys are the true Zen masters.

What I've learned from them is that mechanicing is black or white, right or wrong, and the rest is just pretending. The highest compliment ever paid to me was when Gerd Schraner, Wheelmaster of the Universe, said: "We have no one that can certify your level of wheelbuilding."

I think he meant it as a compliment. He could have meant I was a moron.

THE BEST BIKE SHOP CUSTOMERS possess one quality: blind faith. They have the intuition to recognize that I'm not here to BS them. They're usually in the trades and craftsmen themselves. They work hard at being superior at what they do, and they understand it's the same for me.

On the other hand, these are the customers who are hard to take (notice the list is longer):

People driven only by price.

Someone bringing in mailorder/internet-purchased parts and expecting me to install them for a nominal fee (or no fee).

Dishonesty about how a bike, a wheel, a derailleur was destroyed. I've heard all the JRA ( "just riding along") stories. Like, "I was abducted by aliens and they shifted into my spokes, on purpose. Bad aliens!"

People who tell me how to fix their bikes. They won't attempt it themselves, but I must look like an idiot, drooling as I do.

I'M LUCKY TO FOLLOW MY HEART and do what I do for a living. And I'm happy to have had a chance to share some of what I know during years of answering reader questions for RBR. About 180 of my Q&A are archived on the Premium Site. Another dozen are here on the public site. And several hundred Uncle Al newsletter columns can be found in the archives here and on the Premium Site.

I'll finish by giving you roadies one bit of advice:

Clean your bikes! A dirty bike masks the cracks that will take you out, and it's totally disrespectful to a machine that gives so much joy.

Peace,

Uncle Al

Go to Uncle Al's Rants

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