Tune-up Time is Now!

As we enter February, it reminds us that spring is right around the corner, and our shop will be overflowing with repairs. We have really stressed this year for people to think ahead and start bringing bikes in early for a tune up.

This will also be a particularly busy year as Ragbrai will be so close to Northeast Iowa, and many individuals living in Decorah and the surrounding areas will want to attend. We do expect an influx of individuals coming in for Ragbrai tune-ups.

The question is: how long do you want to wait for your bike? There is no way to know how long turn-around time will be for the summer months. We can guarantee you that if you brought your bike in now, you would get it back within a couple days. In doing so, you won’t be missing those awesome riding days while we’re working on your bike. 

Now that we’ve told you about the benefits of bringing your bike in early for a tune-up, you’ll want to know what it entails.
Our tune-up rates are $55.00 
We will give your bike a thorough cleaning, and if you choose, you can have your drive train cleaned for extra $15.00
Wheel truing (straightening)
All bearing adjustments
Shifting and brake adjustments
Safety check all of the components
All necessary lubrication
Tire inflation
Parts replacement is extra, but you will not be charged for additional labor for installing parts or accessories.

Here are some helpful tips on how to check for some of the most common issues-

Hub bearings: grab your wheel and shake side to side. It should not have any play at all and if there is any play, you need an adjustment.
Front end bearing: squeeze left brake while rocking bike, if there is play an adjustment is needed.
Crank/Bottom bracket bearings: hold on to one of the crank arms and wiggle side to side-if any play you will need an adjustment.
Wobbly Wheels: lift your bike up to spin the wheel. Watch the

rim while it goes past the brake pads, if it goes side to side it is not straight and needs to be trued. 
Worn brake pads: make sure they are not too worn/thin.
Worn out/sticky grips: grips are important for holding on and maintaining control of your bike, worn grips will make this more difficult for you. Replacing grips are inexpensive and an easy way to freshen up the look of your bike.

Worn/cracked tires: Look at the tread for balled or worn spots and look at the side of your tire for cracked/fraying sidewalls. It is possible to prolong the life of your tire with a tire rotation (moving back tire to the front). You wouldn’t drive your vehicle on extremely worn or cracked tires, so why would you ride your bike on unsafe tires?

With your bike tuned up, you can be confident that you know everything is safe and functioning properly. It’s an important part of taking care of your ride and getting the most out of your bike riding experience. 

For you future annual tune-up needs, consider having your bike tuned up at the end of the season. In doing so, you can be ready for that first nice day of the bike season. Your bike mechanic will appreciate working on your bike during a slower time of the year and you won’t be missing your bike when you want it the most!

Skratch Hydration

"I’ve seen this Skratch stuff around, what is it exactly? Somethin’ to help with itchin’?”

Nope, not quite. It’s one of the best sport hydration mixes around, and we now stock Skratch at Decorah Bicycles. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Skratch, here’s the lowdown on what they are all about.

Skratch is a small, independently run business based out of Boulder, Colorado. 

It was started in 2008, when Dr. Allen Lim kept having athletes complain to him about their sports drinks. Many of the drinks out on the market are made with artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and excess sugar. People were experiencing upset stomachs or “gut rot” from ingesting these sports drinks. To counteract the sugary sweetness, athletes would water down their drinks. Unfortunately that would dilute the electrolytes and you drink a sports drink to replace what you lose in sweat. 

All of these contributed to Dr. Allen’s research and study into making an all natural drink that was free of all the nasty artificial colors, preservatives, and excess sugar. He literally started out of his kitchen, mixing and matching various ingredients and flavors to find a solution to this ongoing problem.

This “Secret Drink Mix” was made with natural ingredients; it had less sugar, more sodium, and nothing artificial. Eventually due to high demand and popularity, along with the desire to educate individuals on consuming healthier options, Dr. Allen and a few close friends started Skratch Labs.

The mission of Skratch Labs is simple-“to develop and sell food and drink products based on real world science and practice that taste great, that are made from real ingredients, and that optimize performance for both sport and life. Most importantly, we intend to educate and continue to learn and grow ourselves- to help our customers improve and thrive as they help us do the same. We know we have a lot of work to do to fulfill this mission and we are the first to acknowledge that we are a work in progress- that things won’t always be perfect. But there’s no better time to start than now.” –Dr. Allen Lim

Skratch Exercise Hydration is also made without any wheat, gluten, soy, or dairy; a good thing to be aware of if you have intolerances to those ingredients.
Skratch boasts packaging made 100% in the U.S.A.

Decorah Bicycles carries Skratch Exercise Hydration in 1 lb bags as well as single serve packets. We have Raspberry and Lemon/Lime available in 1 lb bags for $19.50
We have Raspberry, Orange, Pineapple, and Lemon/Lime for our single serve packets and they are priced at $1.99 each.
We also carry single packets of Daily Hydration in Lemon/Lime; this will eventually change to Daily Electrolyte Mix and be available in Raspberry and Lemon/Lime. They are priced at $1.99 each

Exercise Hydration mix is used for athletes as a healthy hydration drink; it replaces your electrolytes with enough calories to fuel your muscles.
Daily Hydration/Daily Electrolyte mix is for the average person who isn’t exercising at the moment, but wants to hydrate themselves without drinking plain water. Consider this a good option instead of the artificially flavored sugar-mixes you can add to plain water for flavor. It has half the calories and 1/3^rd
the sodium of Exercise Hydration.
Hyper Hydration mix is for individuals who need to over-hydrate before a sporting event or physical activity in extreme conditions. This drink is meant for those who will sweat out more fluid than they can take in. It has the same amount of sodium as a bag of potato chips; do not use this drink for general hydration purposes. It will be available in Mango flavor. 

Socks-We have 'em!

Simple and understated title for this post, because I'm going to let the socks do all the talking! Travis got in a fun-filled order of Sockguy socks and we're super stoked over them.

 The one thing I love about Sockguy socks are the fun designs and overall attitude. I can't imagine how much creativity goes into making so many different and fun sock designs! You can find a pair of socks for each and every friend; truly there is a sock for everyone!

 Sockguy socks are comfortable as well. Plus you get something much nicer than the standard blah white crew sock in a bag. Socks are such a fun and simple way to show some attitude without being over the top.
With this order we have some SGX socks. They provide a compression fit, performance ribbing, enhanced ventilation, and reduced friction. Great for the athletic person; Stretch-to-Fit sizing and reinforced toe and heal provide long-lasting comfort.

 Do you have a female friend that loves running or yoga? Well we have socks for them as well! A fun fact about the Love2Run sock is that it is one of the Channel Air socks. Channel Air socks are super comfortable and have a nice amount of cushion and arch support. They are designed with 5 channels of padded cushion and 4 channels of mesh for increased airflow. Your feet will not overheat and you will not have the discomfort you would typically have from other bulky socks.

Who doesn't love Colorado? Now share your love for the state with some new socks!

Perhaps you originate from Colorado or maybe you visited. Maybe you have a family member who lives there and want to send them a surprise gift. Whatever reason you love Colorado, you are represented now with our socks. Awesome!

 From basic to fun, to crazy and insane; everyone loves a good pair of socks. What do you get when you cross a bear with a deer?

I have a soft spot for cozy wool socks, especially in the winter months when temps are frigid. Now you can rock out some sweet wool goodness while boasting a Sasquatch! It's random, it's fun, and it's beyond comfortable.





So come on in and take a look at our Sockguy display! It's fun, it's fresh, and it's sure to keep your feet feeling comfortable and looking stylish.

Thank You from Decorah Bicycles!

Trek Stache 8

We at Decorah Bicycles would like to thank our customers for a great year!

Our business wouldn’t be here and successful without each and every customer. Whether or not you purchased a bike or an accessory, as a customer you contributed to our success and growth.

Travis has continued to make improvements to the building and sale displays. His attention to detail expands beyond just bike builds and mechanical issues.

We are sure you noticed the green Fixit station out in front of the store, now you can do basic improvements, tune-ups, or pump your tires regardless if we are open or not! Also we have a nice bike rack out front as well.

We expanded our bike rental and included some great upgrades to our rental fleet! Check out the Trek Stache 8 for your next mountain bike rental. We added some new fitness bikes to our fleet as well; you now have the option of riding either the Specialized Sirrus Sport Disk or the Vita Sport Disc. Kids have a nice option as well; Specialized Hotrock 24 ST for both boys and girls.
Tandem you say? We have the Trek T900 tandem available for rent! 

Fatbike Rental Fleet

We also offer fatbike rental! This investment brings forth bike-related fun for the winter months. Each bike was custom built, so you aren’t riding an out-of-the-box feature; you get an experience above and beyond standard.

As you can see, we put money right back into our business. We pride ourselves on bringing you quality product and a positive experience. This is a positive effect of what happens when the community supports a small business; you help us expand, grow, and better support the cycling community.

So we want to extend a thank you to all of you who have supported us this past year and we hope that we can continue to support you and whatever your needs are.

Sincerely,

All of us at

Decorah Bicycles

Specialized Hotrock 24 ST 

Specialized Hotrock 24 ST

Specialized Sirrus Sport Disk

Specialized Vita Sport Disc

Trek T900 Tandem

Time is ticking-get your bikes in!

Time is ticking, January is here and March is inching around the corner; this means it’s Tune Up Time!

It happens every year, once people experience the first nice riding day of the year, our shop floods with bikes. Everyone wants their bike tuned up or repaired and they want it done right now and our repair boards are more than flooded with individuals wanting to have a positive riding experience on their bike.

When January hits everyone starts making resolutions to better their lives. Why not promise yourself a great riding season by getting your bike in right now? The weather is going to be chilly and you certainly won’t miss your bike. If you are using your bike for indoor training, have no fear! Turn-around time for bike repairs and tune-ups is very quick; you can expect your bike back within the next business day if there are no major repairs.

If you bring your bike in now, you are saving yourself wait time to get your bike back. Once repairs and tune-ups flood in, there is undoubtedly a wait time that we constantly struggle to eliminate. Not only are you doing yourself a favor you are doing us a service as well! During the bitterly cold days of the winter customers aren’t interested in skiing, skating, snowshoeing, or renting fatbikes. We would love to put our hands on your bike and whip it into shape for the coming bike season!

Spread the word and let your friends know; bring your bike in now for the quickest turn-around time this year will offer!