South Salem Cycleworks bicycle services, tech and more

Our services: Repairs | Custom wheelbuilding | Custom bicycle fitting | Frame Saver rust protection

Tech info: Adjusting Campagnolo 11+ speed rear derailleurs | Derailleur pulley wheel dimensions | How butted bicycle tubing is made

In addition to being a full-service local bike shop (LBS) we here at South Salem Cycleworks offer a variety of personal services to make your active sporting life more fun and enjoyable.

Bike Rentals: We are out of the rental business. We have no bikes to rent.

Repairs

We fix bikes, all kinds of bikes. And we do it well. We have seen it all and repaired it all. Let our decades of experience and huge assortment of specialty bike tools get your bike back on the road.

Custom Handmade Wheel Building

Michael hand-builds all of the custom wheels for the South Salem Cycleworks bikes and frames. Michael will work with you to determine the best overall combination of rims, hubs, and spokes to match both your riding style and your new custom frameset.

In addition, Michael will build wheels for hard-core commuters, tandem riders, and tourists that will withstand the rigors of the road.

Here's a customer's testimonial to our wheelbuilding care and expertise.

We can take care of you, no matter what your wheel needs: Racing, touring, commuting or tandem riding. We have decades of wheel-building experience under our belt.

Michael writes, "I didn’t have the internet to guide me in spoke length when I began building wheels, and Sutherlands wasn’t always up to date. I still refer to my stack of cards when building a wheel, using lengths that have successfully been used before.

"I recycled colored paper that came from the old Sinclair Imports specials that were mailed to shops initially, but still use colored paper to list what I’ve successfully used to build a wheel."

Michael's spoke length encyclopedia

A fun example of our custom wheelbuiding: A customer had a lovely early 1970s Reynolds 531 Raleigh International. Michael built a set of wheels that respected the Raleigh as a vintage, hand-made bike, but still took advantage of modern spokes, nipples, rimstrips, tubes and tires to give the customer a more reliable ride.

Here is the wheelset. Campagnolo Record high-flange hubs laced onto Mavic Mod E2 rims. The rear drive-side spokes are double-butted DT Revolution 14/17 spokes. The rest of the spokes are lighter 15/17. All are laced up with DT alloy spoke nipples. Rox rimstrips, Michelin Airstop tubes and Panaracer Pasela ProTite folding tires complete the rolling ensemble.

Another shot of the pair.

The rear wheel, showing the strong drive-side spokes and the beautiful Campagnolo Record high-flange hub.

The front wheel.

And here's the beautiful Raleigh International with the wheels Michael built for it. Even if the generous owner who let us post these photos hadn't told us it was a 1973, the special, rare Nervex lugs would have given it away.

While we're at it, here's the Brooks Professional saddle. The semi-wrapover seat stays are elegant.

Chrome-plated Nervex lugs

Weinmann centerpull brakes, handlebar water bottle cage. A different era.

And of course, the beautiful Campagnolo Nuovo Record rear derailleur.

Custom Bicycle Fitting

Another service offered by South Salem Cycleworks is that of custom bike fitting and measurements. We can fit you to your existing bike or measure you for your new bike. This can be a time consuming process so be sure to make an appointment with Michael and he'll fully explain the process.

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Frame Saver rust protection. $35.00 per frame or frame & fork

With a proprietary formula originally developed by a frame builder for frame builders, the venerable Frame Saver has kept rust from rotting steel frames from the inside-out since the mid-1990s.

I recommend this procedure for every steel frame, even if it only sees dry pavement. Just moving it inside and out results in a change in atmospheric pressure that pulls and pushes air inside the frame, leaving the opportunity for condensation to accumulate inside the frame. All of my personal bikes have been treated. One application lasts 3-5 years.

I charge $35.00 to do this to either a frame or a frameset (frame & fork). While I sell the product as well, I cannot ship it.

Let us protect your frame.

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