8. REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE for Bikes and Bikeways, Including DIY

This guide, provided as a public service, was first published in 2009, with many subsequent updates. For additional updates, or if you have questions, please contact us. To return to the portal page of the Tips for Bicycling Monterey County 20-section guide, click here.

This section includes…

  • reporting the need for repair and maintenance of bikeways
  • bicycle maintenance and repair services in Monterey County
  • do-it-yourself (DIY) bike maintenance and repair—wherever you live—plus some Monterey County repair/maintenance classes
  • United Bicycle Institute

Repair and Maintenance

of Bikeways

See a bikeway / public road condition needing attention? Please report it. It’s one of the easiest ways to advocate for bicycling.
What to report? Such things as potholes, debris on shoulders or bikeways, bikeways not clearly marked, damaged or missing bikeway signs, traffic signal not triggered by bicycles (no bike detection), vegetation overgrowth, construction obstacles, and other conditions interfering with safe and efficient travel by bike.
Where to report it:
(1) For state highways anywhere in California, you may report a pothole or other maintenance need directly to the California Department of Transportation / Caltrans: http://msr.dot.ca.gov.
(2) In Monterey County, for other public roads and all other public bikeways (e.g., bike/multi-use paths), you may report the need to Transportation Agency for Monterey County and they will contact the appropriate local agency on your behalf. See TAMC’s Bike Service Request Form AKA Bicycle Facilities Service Request (click here). For related tips and details, see “Where to report a bikeway maintenance need in Monterey County.”
(3) All other locations: For public roads and bikeways in other locations, you might start by contacting your county’s public works department or transportation agency/commission, or your local cities’ traffic engineering and planning departments. If necessary, contact your county supervisor or other local elected official.

Bicycle Maintenance

and Repair Services

Has your bike been gathering dust?

If you aren’t mechanically inclined, take it to a local bike shop for a safety inspection and tune-up!

Bicycle Boo-Boo?

If you need bicycle repairs or maintenance in Monterey County, even on a Sunday, you’re in luck. Seven days a week, nearly all have mechanics available. Do call first if you need major service on a Sunday. And call ahead on holidays, to be sure they aren’t taking the day off.

Monterey County bicycle maintenance and repair services

In 2024 Peninsula Bike Works,1271 10th Street, Suite C, Monterey; 831-643-BIKE (2453), changed to a focus on repairs and maintenance. Founding co-owner Sean Rigmaiden continues at PBW along with head mechanic Nico Cerna. (The other founding co-owner, Micah Mozal, moved on to a new career.) PBW is located just off Hwy 1, very near Naval Postgraduate School’s 10th Street gate and not far from El Estero Lake and Monterey Peninsula College.
Virtually all of Monterey County’s local bicycle shops provide maintenance and repair services.  Check our local bike shops page for our most complete, up-to-date list of local shops.  Also see the specialty services section of Bicycle Shops, Services, Clubs, and Resources in Monterey County.
And don’t overlook the DIY section below, including Salinas Valley tips.
Mobile mechanic needed? 

Cepeda: Longtime local mechanic Robert Cepeda still sometimes provides mobile repair service; phone Rob at 831.238.4683. As of 6/1/21, Tony Cepeda bilingual (Spanish-English) is not currently doing bike repairs.

Bicycle Doctors biz card

Below, Rob Cepeda provided complimentary mobile bike mechanic services at the first Intergenerational Ride.

Have a “silly” question?

Perhaps you feel hesitant to ask questions at a bike shop. Don’t be! The best of local bike shops have employees who realize their work makes a very positive difference in the health of people and the planet. They take pride in their jobs and are glad to answer questions. If you don’t find that the case with a bike shop in this county or elsewhere, let the shop owner know. If that doesn’t get better results, try another shop next time.

Speed wobble—on e-bikes or traditional bicycles

For common causes, see Jim Langley’s article “Things to Know About Speed Wobble”: https://www.roadbikerider.com/avoiding-bicycle-speed-wobble/

Do-It-Yourself

Maintenance and Repair

Resources from League of American Bicyclists (aka Bike League): bike check https://bikeleague.org/videos/basic-bike-check/, plus more about bicycle maintenance https://bikeleague.org/ridesmart/bike-maintenance/

Resources from Park Tool: https://www.parktool.com/en-us/blog/repair-help 
The most popular of their videos https://www.youtube.com/@parktool/videos include many “how to” instructions (e.g., about tires, brakes, chains, and more).

Salinas Valley Bicycle Repair Workshops — Greenfield Bike Garage and More

Refer to our post https://bikemonterey.org/salinas-valley-bicycle-repair-workshops.html
Greenfield Community Science Workshop includes bicycle repair and maintenance, among other activities. Learn more: https://bikemonterey.org/greenfield-community-science-workshops-bike-workshops.html

Like to do it yourself–at least a little? Many DIY folks find the bicycle parts illustrations linked on Bicycling Monterey’s “Other languages” page helpful.

Shifting Power: Bike Mechanics Training Videos / Cambiando Poder: Vídeos de Capacitacíon de Mecánica de Bicicletas, available free from Bikes Not Bombs at http://bikesnotbombs.org/shifting-power. Their video instruction series was created in 2015, and Bikes Not Bombs also makes available free their earlier instructional manual.

“Didn’t have my bike pump today, and there’s no bike shop nearby. Glad I can make use of the air at this gas station, so I can get my neighbor’s bike rolling for them.”

Air at the gas station

How to change a flat

Safe Cyclist Teacher Master Pages from Bike Texas include a range of great resources in Spanish and English, including “How to fix a flat” – “Cómo Arreglar una Ponchadurato.”

Here’s a video on how to change a flat by local Devian Gilbert, 2011 Golden Helmet Award winner and owner of Asana Cycles.

Here are three more videos, shared by Cath Tendler-Valencia.

Performance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4

Get Dirty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2yoy8ExiGE
Le Velo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn0FF1KwL4I
Classes and workshops

Bike maintenance/repair classes are sometimes offered through the City of Monterey Parks and Rec, with teachers including excellent mechanics from Winning Wheels bike shop in Pacific Grove. Click here to learn more.

Maintenance/repair classes have also been offered by REI Marina,  such as Basic Bike Maintenance (lube a chain, fix a flat, make minor adjustments) by REI certified bike tech Jared Lopez.  Call 831.883.8048 to inquire, or click here.

Micah, a veteran of the highly respected Joselyns, now closed.

But Micah is back. On 9/1/12, he and Sean Rigmaiden opened Peninsula Bike Works.


You may also be curious about these tips for washing your bike.
Do-it-yourself bike maintenance stations
  • First in Monterey County was at Salinas High School (established 8/27/12, for any SHS students). Click here for announcement.
  • Second in the county was at California State University Monterey Bay / CSUMB (as of 8/29/12, pending installation). Two DIY stations will become part of CSUMB’s  Wise Biker resources (http://transportation.csumb.edu/biking).  Contact CSUMB with any questions.
  • More followed, including thanks to the Transportation Agency for Monterey County’s free bike repair stations. Learn more about that.
Homeless outreach
Husband-and-wife team Michael Fechter and Tia Sukin help the homeless in a variety of ways. Among those is that (as of 8/11/14), on Saturdays, at Dennis the Mennis Park in the El Estero Park Complex, Monterey there is a “Bike Church” AKA “Pass the Word,” where a couple of mechanics help the homeless fix their bikes. Michael and Tia would like to expand to provide this service on Sundays too, from approximately 10-11 a.m.  on the benches next to the volleyball courts at Window on the Bay Park, Monterey. (Both parks are City of Monterey facilities; click here for directions.) To volunteer or learn more, contact Michael and Tia at 843-276-7655.

Update: See Dennis Taylor’s 12/20/14 Monterey County Herald story, “Monterey homeless-help group...” which includes info about Bill Weller’s bike mechanic services, provided to anyone in need at these “Pass the Word” gatherings; and that some bikes have also been gifted to those in need.

Elsewhere in the Monterey Bay region

Be inspired by neighboring communities!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzCPhb_gIXX/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0rob3ogRXo/

Santa Cruz County resources include the Bike Church, Santa Cruz and the Bike Shack, Watsonville. (Bike Shack, in fact, is one of the many reasons Watsonville has the potential to be the next Bike City USA, as reported by Roseann Hernandez 6/21/13 in the Register-Pajaronian.) Watsonville Bike Shack Cooperative is at 555 Main Street (behind Ramos furniture), Watsonville; (831) 296-0326; no website at present, but find them at Watsonville Bike Shack Cooperative on Facebook.

For my musings on bike repairs…

and a vision for roadside bicycle repair in the USA, as is happening elsewhere, see “Prepare Communities First, Then Link Them.”

United Bicycle Institute

Bicycle mechanic classes and frame building classes are offered on the Ashland and Portland, Oregon campuses of United Bicycle Institute. Visit their website to learn more: United Bicycle Institute