Story & Photos by: Nathan Gifford
(TANGERINE,FL) It was an adlib comment from a DJ that gave The
Bike Detail its trademarked slogan. Still "We Shine To Blind"
barely begins to describe the nation's only bicycle cleaning service.
This is no haphazard operation. When one meets the owner, Mr. Harold Clayton, they realize what a meticulous individual he is. Clayton spends lots of time researching his bicycle business. From his hard work The Bike Detail has developed its own distinctive stands, cleaning solutions, and brushes. Clayton leaves little to chance and even has his menu of services airbrushed on the back of his shirt for potential customers to read.
Research...specialty-cleaning solutions you might wonder? Is all that necessary? Can't you just go to local store and get the house brand of clean-it-all and do just fine? "Not if you want to get that Bianchi green again." says Clayton. Always the Devil about details, Clayton has plugged manufacturers on how they finished their bikes so he could do the best job possible. "Bianchi was the toughest to find out how they finished their bikes. 'Why should we tell you how we make a Bianchi green?' was their response."
Many people are amazed that anyone could turn a buck cleaning bikes. The Bike Detail charges $10 to clean any machine from a road bike to a mud encrusted, mountain tandem.
Clayton points out
that there is more to his service than just cleaning the bike. First the gear cluster and
chains are scrubbed and lubricated. Then the bike is cleaned with the Detail's own
cleaning concoction and polycoated. Clayton, a cyclist in his own right, also notes any
maintenance work the bike might need and will point them out to the owner when he returns.
Within minutes all of the day's dust and dirt has been removed leaving a bike looking as
close to showroom clean as is possible.
Still why would anyone pay $10 to get their bike cleaned? This is the big secret of The Bike Detail...bikesitting!
The Bike Detail typically cleans about 10% of the bikes on a tour per day. Since the bikes have to be stored until they can be serviced, this leaves the owners time to put their feet up and enjoy the hospitality of the tour without constantly watching their bikes. For some cyclists the $10 fee ($8 with a Detail Dollar) is money well spent just for this piece of mind.
Tour operators usually welcome The Bike Detail and the extra revenue his service brings. Clayton tracks the number of bikes he cleans and refunds a portion back to the tour. "I always like to give something back to bicycling," says Clayton.
There are other reasons why The Bike Detail is welcomed. Few individuals attend as many bike tours as Clayton does. Clayton has seen what works or is unique in any particular tour. His observations are quite valuable to organizations that have only one or two major cycling events in a year.
"At a bike tour you are invited into a person's life. They show you something about themselves. In a tour they accomplish something that is unique to only to them. I get to share in that great discovery about themselves."
Clayton calls this "collecting a signature" and his scrapbook is full of them. However, I wish I had been with him on that special tour of Texas.
There he felt the gentle hand of a little 9-year-old girl tug at his shirt. "Mister, I heard that there is a nine-year-old girl riding here today...do you know where she is?" He told her yes there was but no he did not where she was. Still Clayton took the time to help her find that other 9-year-old.
At first it seemed a little odd to Clayton that one 9-year-old would so compulsively seek another girl her own age. Always accommodating and resourceful, Clayton managed to find the other girl. The two kids went off to talk about whatever kids their age do.
But there was much more to the single-minded behavior of this local girl. As Clayton tells it, "This was a very small town and it had only one school. She was the only girl born that year; all the rest were boys. She was desperate to have another girl her age to play with."
I call that one heck of a signature.
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