Sotherland offering one-on-one bike building
Cyclists looking to participate in the production of their ideal steal bicycle are now offered the experience of working one-one with John Sotherland to build it.
Classes will take place in the winter months inside his retail shop, BicycleWise as Sotherland works side-by-side with each builder to fabricate a custom steel bicycle.
Aside from knowing basic bike repairs like lubricating Drivetrain, inspecting tires, knowing how to remove a bike crank without a puller, and checking brakes, these classes might come in handy for those planning to build a custom bike for themselves.
Sotherland said this experience is “for those people who want to understand the bicycle building process or want to make it even more personal than the custom bicycle I might build for them. We take a set of tubes and a handful of lugs and make a bicycle that could easily last 100 years.”
Sotherland Custom Bicycles is celebrating this new offering by hosting an open house at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 19 at BicycleWise for anyone interested in viewing a selection of steel bicycles and discussing bicycles as well as bicycling.
Prior to opening his own retail bicycle shop, Sotherland built more than 5,000 custom bicycles including Schwinn Paramount, Waterford, and Rivendell and also trained new builders. At the Schwinn factory in Greenville Mississippi, he served as quality control manager.
Currently, in addition to operating his full-service bicycle shop, Sotherland fabricates bicycles during the off-season in the store’s repair shop.
For more information call (262) 473-4730 or visit sotherlandbikes.com.
