Specialty Services & Repair

See also our Labor Rates and Repair Standards. We can also fix non-bicycle objects.

Many modern bicycles have such varied and unique equipment, it can be daunting for a shop to keep up to date with repair tools and procedures. Here at Aaron's Bicycle Repair we see it as a challenge and even FUN! We are constantly investing in specialty tools and manuals.

Like Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High said, 'I can fix it! [We have] My old man is a television repair man, got the ultimate set of tools!'

Seriously, our mechanics are extremely meticulous. They will treat your ride as if it was their own. No scratch, that, they will treat your bike like it is your mom's! Your bike's systems will be clean and polished inside and out. It will operate better than new! We supply (and ride with on our own bikes) upgraded parts like Jagwire hydraulic lines and fittings and stainless cables, Kool-Stop brake pads and Slick Honey lube, and compressionless brake housing. Heck, we even mix our grease! We are picky about small parts like ferrules (housing caps).

Some of the Bikes and Components we have the tools and expertise to service:
  • All Internally Geared hubs (We stock most parts for Shimano, Sturmey Archer, Sram/Sachs and others)
  • All Cannondale Headshock and Lefty Front Forks (including ELO)
  • All Fox Rear Shocks and Bushing Replacement
  • All Girvin/K2/Pro~Flex/Noleen Front Shocks and Frames
  • Most Front Suspension Forks ever made (even the original Rock Shox RS-1). Brands include Rock Shox, Marzocchi, Fox, Answer/Manitou, Specialized, Pro Forx, Noleen, RST, White Brothers, SunTour, and many others.
  • Off-Road/Girvin Rear Suspension Frames
  • Cannondale Lefty Front Wheel Truing and Building
  • All Disc Brakes
  • Chris King Headsets and Hubs
  • White Industries Hubs
  • All other Cartridge (Sealed) Bearing Hubs and Bottom Brackets and Headsets (some are serviceable)
  • Stripped Crank/Pedal hole Recoil (Don't throw away that nice crank! We can fix it!)
  • Ream Stem to custom size (example: enlarge a 26.0mm stem to 26.4mm for your favorite old Cinelli handlebars)
  • Ream and Hone seat tube
  • Custom Spoke Cutting on our
    Phil Wood spoke cutting/threading machine.

The list goes on....but we probably can fix it. If we can't or don't have the tool, we will find out a place you can get it fixed. We might even purchase the special tools if appropriate.

Other services include, Removing Frozen Stems or Seatposts, Painting Frames, Frame Facing and Cutting Operations (a.k.a. Milling), Tapping Threads, Cutting Fork Steering Tubes, Frame Saver Prep and Wheel Building.

We are constanty servicing, testing and upgrading our personal bikes so that we may see what works best and for what conditions.

We are Seattle's source for internally geared parts and knowledge.

Check out HubStripping.com and while you are at it: Planetary Gears


Custom Shifter Stem Mount with Shellac'd Tequilla Cork!


Schlumpf Drives now in stock! We stock all 3 versions, Mountian Drive, Speed Drive and High-Speed Drive.


See below for examples of actual bikes we have serviced:

DT Swiss 240s Freehub


Phil Wood Freehub


GT iDrive


Marzocchi Z1 MCR


We are a service center for Rohloff hubs!

We can drill your Rohloff hubshell for 48 spokes. (please note this will void your warranty, but a new hubshell is only around $200 if it should ever crack. However, the only Rohloffs that we have ever heard of cracking, are from tandems. 32 spokes may be strong enough, but the durablility is just not there for heavy loads. The guts of the hub, however, are plenty strong!)

More pictures


We stock every color of cloth bar tape and custom mix shellac.


We can service any part from Chris King.


Shimano Roller Brake.
We can even service so called non-serviceable bike parts!

A Sturmey Archer AW Hub from May 1979
Exploded Diagram              Cut-Away View


Campagnolo Ergopower Overhaul.
Usually done to replace worn index springs.
Make your shifters like new!

Dirt, water and broken suspension pivot Bearings.

Pressing in the new bearings

Cold setting (aligning) a steel road frame to the current 130mm standard.

Servicing a Cannondale Headshock, in this case a Lefty Fork.

Servicing a Fox Rear Shock

A fully rebuilt Avid disc brake showing worn parts in exploded lay-out.

Mikey is resurfacing a hub cone, old school.

Most hub races and some, bottom bracket and pedal races can be re-ground. The method is very effective and the results are better than new! Also it is a very nice option on obsolete equiptment that you still want to use. Bring us your pitted bearing race and we will resurface it to Campagnolo quality for only $8 per cone and $15 per BB spindle or $15 per hub cup or headset race.

2007 UPDATE: We now use our Southbend Lathe to rotate the cones. The pictured method is still very effective, however.

To those of you that say machining a cone breaks through the case hardening and they won't last, I say this:
In therory that is true, but in practice this method works. We have been doing it sucessfully for 15 years with many hubs serviced over and over again with no pitting. We reserve this method for minor pitting and for cones that are no longer available.

Aaron is resurfacing a hub cone, New school.



Facing the head tube to ensure a perfect fit headset.

Chasing (tapping) the threads on a crank bearing (bottom braket). Generally done for cleaning out paint or brass on a new bike. We can also change an English threaded bike to Italian thread. This would be done if you strip the threads completely.

Unlike most bike shops, we patch inner tubes. 90 percent of holes can be patched. The result is a tube that is as good (or better) than new. It saves our planet's resources and your money. How cool! Good for the environment and your wallet! We guarantee every patch will not leak.

The saddle on the left is a Brooks B-18 repaired with B-68 rails and new copper rivets.
How to get your saddle repaired.

Brooks B-17 Narrow reconditioned and modified with love channel!

Ideal Saddle Before

After Reconditioning

Nose Bolt Replacement