CITY ON TWO WHEELS

Cycle mania hits high gear; good luck getting tune-up

Soaring gas prices, bad traffic and the TTC strike are getting a lot of people back on their bikes

SUSAN KRASHINSKY

May 7, 2008

For cycling enthusiasts in Toronto, it was the perfect storm.

Every year around this time, a stream of people bring their bikes in for tune-ups and repairs. Cycling is growing in popularity, and it's not easy to find a good mechanic. But this year, high gas prices, nasty weather and a traffic-choked downtown core meant tune-ups were in high demand. And when the TTC strike hit in April, a flood of desperate customers descended on Toronto's bike shops.

"The TTC strike just blew our minds. That was the busiest day of my life," said Eric Kamphof, a manager at Curbside Cycle near Bloor and Bathurst Streets. Curbside was so busy that it had to reject repairs. "To reject bikes is a horrible thing to do, it's nothing we want to do. But if you're a mechanic, you want to protect your level of quality."

Curbside stopped accepting new service requests for three weeks while mechanics worked 11-hour days to catch up. "It was ridiculous," Mr. Kamphof said. Other shops were also caught in the rush. Cycle Solutions in Cabbagetown turned people away, and the waiting time for walk-in repairs is still about a month, according to mechanic Kale Powell. The shop is encouraging customers to book ahead. At Urbane Cyclist in the Entertainment District, one customer waited three weeks for an appointment.

It wasn't always this way.

When Mr. Kamphof moved to Toronto 10 years ago, he was shocked at the lack of bikes on the roads, compared with his native Vancouver.

Since then, the number of cyclists in the city has exploded. "It's gone off the hook," Mr. Kamphof said. "We saw triple-digit growth for the month of April compared to last April."

Smokey Dymny of the Community Bicycle Network said his organization can barely keep up with the demand for refurbished bikes.

The green living trend is part of cycling's newfound popularity, but it's also a matter of dollars and cents, Mr. Dymny said. "A cheap car costs $12,000 per year to operate, on average," he said, adding that he hasn't owned a car since 1989. The money he saved on gas and maintenance financed a second property in British Columbia.

The reality of Toronto traffic is also pushing commuters to the pedals. "I think people are realizing that sometimes, especially downtown, it's actually faster to cycle places than drive," said local bike blogger Victor Gedris.

And high prices at the pump make bikes more attractive too. "The general price of bikes is coming down," said Mark Cheel of Toronto bike shop Broadway Cycle. "It's more convenient than the bus and it's less expensive than a car."

Of course, for those making the epic trek from Barrie to Bay Street, two wheels are just not enough. But the pull of trendy downtown neighbourhoods is causing more people to abandon their suburban homesteads and station wagons for condos and cruisers, Mr. Kamphof said.

All this means that mechanics who know their way around a tangled chain are in demand. Shops all over the city are hiring, and the Community Bicycle Network has had requests to take on their trained volunteers.

For now, Curbside is taking new business again - mostly thanks to staff who worked overtime to manage the load. But as the door chimes signalled a new customer every minute yesterday, Mr. Kamphof said he doubts he'll be taking a vacation any time soon.

"It's crazy in here right now," he said. "This year really was like the perfect storm."