My name is Carson Schnackenberg, and as you probably expect, I love bikes. I’ve been riding and wrenching on bikes forever but I wasn’t interested in blurring the lines between hobby and career. But when a position opened up at a local bike shop, I decided to try it out. Turns out, I loved it!

But I became disappointed to find there was more praise for a fast mechanic, not a meticulous one. In six years, I worked in three well known bike shops where I watched bike service be rushed, mechanics cut corners, tools being used improperly, and worn parts not being replaced just to save time. This desire to be “fast,” to value quantity over quality breaks my heart.

My attitude is different. A bike is a beautiful work of design, machining, and engineering. Bikes are designed for efficient transportation, enduring thousands of miles of gravel road, sending 20-foot jumps at Whistler, or tackling Moab’s most technical slick-rock riding. I see bikes as functional works of art with all of the many components working in harmony. This is why patience and precision are paramount. It doesn’t matter the age, the model, or the price, your bike is a work of art, and I will treat it as such.