Modern Vespa

My girlfriends birthday is this week, and I need gift ideas.

She's a commuter cyclist, and she wants to get into learning maintenance and repair for her road bike. I was hoping the many cyclists on the board could give me some resources I could get for her. Books, repair manuals, DVD's, whatever.

I know nothing about this, so thanks to anyone who helps me out.

Cook her a Pizza for dinner.



http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=88&item=PZT-2

here are a couple good books. Plus, check with some of your local shops and see if they have any maintenance classes. Most do, and I bet they would have gift certificates.

Check with local riding clubs as they are good resource. The MS Society has rides all over the country. Check out link to a ride in New Orleans on Oct. 3rd. Even if your gf doesn't do the ride, she can find riding buddies and good resources for bike stuff here:


http://bikelam.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BIKE_LAM_Details

http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Cycling-6th-John-Forester/dp/0262560704

http://www.amazon.com/Zinn-Art-Road-Bike-Maintenance/dp/1931382697/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Two:

http://www.amazon.com/Zinn-Art-Road-Bike-Maintenance/dp/1884737706

Good illustrations and easy to understand instructions.

and:

a repair stand. I like Park, but there are other very good ones out there.

Should be sturdy and fold away for storage.

Anything from Park tools is great, except chain cleaners. There is only one good way to clean a bike chain: remove it and shake it in a 2 liter bottle with degreaser.

Anything other method is less effective, but a lot less hassle...
edit: I fully support the Forester recommendation above, but it is not a "birthday gift" item, it reads like a textbook (data dense and chewy) because it is one.

Don't give in to buying ANYTHING that comes in sizes, like jerseys, helmets, etc. Give a gift card/cash for the item instead.

In the event you didn't manage to find her something, I'm sure she'll appreciate new tyres, tubes or patch kits. You'll probably need to know her tyre size to get her the right tubes however.

Or perhaps a bicycle rack not unlike a Vespa Rear Rack. Those things are nifty for a commuter bicycle. Or a nice saddle bag? Panniers?

I bought her some Ortlieb panniers and a rack for her last birthday. She uses it for her school books. She loves the bags, but finds it hard to transport the bags full of books, so I got her the backpack attachment for them... Hope it works!

Thanks for the suggestions... maybe I'll look into tires. She did mention she will need some soon...

Great books, thanks!

Also thanks for the bike class suggestion... I did a bit of google magic, and found a class in Baton rouge. How perfect.

If she's using the bike daily it may be time for a tune up. So instead of just tires, etc. Get her all tuned and lubed, so that she won't need to worry about a dry chainring, etc.
What about lights? winter riding is coming with nighttime lighting a must.

Ahh, I know the perfect gift for her, megnez! A spanking new Vespa! Let's see... would it be the S or the LX? Hmm, tough decision

I've taken a bicycle maintenance class and while it was worthwhile IMHO the most important thing is to understand what's involved in repairing a flat. With all that's been recommended in terms of reading...there should to a lot of good information but make sure she:

Practices lifting and turing bike upside down to have a stable platform to work from to remove tire / rim.

Practices locating puncture and removing offending object from the tire...or when you replace the tube you just repuncture the tube. I mark the tire and the tube so when I find the object that cause the flat I can easily locate the hole in the tube. Please note that I usually do not bother patching the tube in field...I replace and when I get home I patch the tube.

Practices using tire irons (remove the entire tire off the rim...good practice).

Pratices doing a patch before you need to do it on the road.

Note: There is a tire liner that you can install into your tire (between the tire and tube [Mr. Tuffy] and it helps minimize punctures.

Brake adjustment is another thing to learn about and perhaps cleaning and lubricating chain and cables.

Everything else...I take the bike into the shop and have them do it (I don't want to get into disassembly of botton brakets and headsets to repack).

Hope this helps!

That will be coming eventually, but it will most likely be a 70's ET3 or Primavera. 8)

This isn't an angry message but google and youtube are my choices for anything bike related. There is a ton of information on bicycle maintenance everywhere on the web. It's free too!

I would venture to bet that a lot MV posters are also bicyclists and motorcyclists, who are willing to help anyone in the 2 wheel community.