... when you're cycling along skinny, impossibly-hilly roads with no shoulder, roads that are modest transformations of the footpaths George Washington and his troops once marched, with piles of dead leaves on either side that trick you into thinking allergy season is still ahead. (It is here.)

...When deer-crossing signs must be taken seriously.

...When roadside community alerts start popping up...

... along with daffodils, for-sale signs, and more daffodils.

I hope you all got the chance to take a bike ride in celebration of Easter, Passover, Spring Equinox, whatever it is that stirs you, wherever you may be. I'll be back in less-warm, ever-wonderful Montreal in a few days! -- K.E.

Greetings from momentarily sunny Portland, Oregon! I made the pilgrimage to be at the Mecca of North American framebuilding and stellar craft beer and thus far, may I just say, WOW!

Portland shares an active and seasonal bike culture with Montreal and it is that time of year when bikes need to be retrieved from storage and tuned-up or rehabbed from a winter of brutal riding conditions. So make a good workspace, set aside a little time (one hour is good), gather whatever tools you have and let's see what your bike needs to keep you safe, healthy and happy for the coming summer.  Keep in mind that if you aren't interested in maintaining your own bike or if you lack certain tools, the investment to have your local bikeshop evaluate and correct anything necessary (or sell you a tool) is a worthy and easily rationalized expenditure. Get thee to your LBS!

Spin the wheels - If you don't have a stand or a hook, turn the bike over and rest it on the bars and saddle making sure that the saddle is secure and any handlebar accessories are out of the way so the bike can rest in a stable manner while you turn cranks and wheels.  Okay, now grab a tire.  Is it soft from lack of air? Pump it up and see if it still holds firm by the time your repair session is through. If not, patch or replace the tube and inspect the tire for glass at that time. Before you spin the wheel, hold it firmly at the 12 o'clock position and check it for lateral play. If it rocks, clunks, or wiggles you are in for a hub adjustment. Consider replacing the ballbearings, grease and maybe the cones that the bearings run against. If the wheel doesn't move laterally, spin it and watch where it passes between the brake pads. Does it spin true without touching the pads or looking like a hula dancer? Move on. If it doesn't spin freely, either the hub needs adjustment, the brakes are in the way or the wheel needs to be trued. Disengage the brake and try again. Still tight? Hub adjustment. Check the wheel rim for deep scoring, concave or uneven wear, dents, bends or other damage. Check for broken spokes by gently but firmly squeezing parallel pairs on each side of the wheel. A broken spoke usually results in a weakened wheel that doesn't roll straight. Get it fixed or replaced, it's safer for you and those riding nearby you.

Squeeze the brakes - If the wheels are good, move on to the brakes. Squeeze the front brake lever. Does it draw the brake pads in even contact with the wheel rim? Awesome. Move on. If the lever and pads don't move at all, replace the cable and plastic housing. Check the rubber brake pads for wear. They may be worn unevenly, or be worn down past the indicator line. Replace them. Winter is awful on brake pads. Expect to replace them and you won't be disappointed. If there is lots of material left, remove the pads (or at least the wheel) and look closely for embedded debris and metal shavings in the pads. Dig this junk out with a pointy tool or sand the pads even again removing that debris because it will wear out your wheel and can have expensive, disastrous results. Reinstall the pads so they touch rim only on both sides and front and rear. (No tire and no spokes) Angle the front part of each pad to touch the rim first to avoid noisy brake sounds. If the brakes work but one pad touches before the other, ask your local shop how you can adjust that from now on. (Lots of different designs) Most will be happy to show you. If they aren't nice enough to share this with you, tell those guys I said to get stuffed then get a new shop. Lastly, with the bike upright, grab a handful of front brake and rock the bike back and forth. With the front brake locked, there should be no play in the steering. Let go of the brake, lift the front end off the ground and turn the handlebars. Again, smooth rolling with no slack and no crunching is what we want.   

Turn the pedals - Make sure the chain is resting on the teeth of front and rear gears and turn the pedal crank. If it doesn't budge and your chain is a lovely burnt orange and kinked with rust, replace the chain and do it again. Make the same test for lateral play that you did with the wheels by grabbing the crank and pushing/pulling perpendicular to its normal path. Looseness here should be adjusted ASAP as opening this part gets expensive relative to other repairs.  There are lots of different designs here too but that slack will not get better on its own and you should check that the pedals are tight to the crankarms - crankarms are tight to the bottom bracket axle - chainrings are tight to the cranks and bottom bracket is tight to the frame. Not sure? Take it to the shop. If they won't evaluate the problem for free, go elsewhere.

Shift the gears - Gear adjustment could take up volumes by itself but the short and sweet of it is to synchronize the shift levers with the derailleurs. Check that you can reach all the chainrings and that the derailleurs move when you move the shifter. If the levers don't move freely, don't force them. Try some chain lubricant on the cables at the plastic housing junctures and on the derailleur pivots. No go? Replace the cables and housing because moisture has corroded the insides. If shifting throws the chain off to one side or the other, you can adjust the derailleur set screws (one turn at a time, then retest) to limit how far the derailleur can swing. If the shifter is indexed (it clicks into each gear) and the chain doesn't fall neatly in place with each click, rotate the barrel adjuster at the lever or derailleur while turning the pedals and shifting until the chain drops smoothly in place.  If you have no shift levers, you have found enlightenment in a single speed. Nirvana is not far away.

Wash that thing - Now that you have spent a few minutes ensuring your safety, take another 15 and scrub that thing down with soap and water and a stiff brush. Run some lube across the chain and pivot points of the derailleurs and brakes while avoiding the rims, tires and brakepads. Jot down the serial number if you haven't already. (Usually stamped into the frame's bottom bracket shell by cranks).  Check your accessories like lock, helmet and bell, then marvel at how awesome you are and how liberating it is to move quickly under your own power without need for bus passes, auto insurance or CO2 emissions.

Happy trails!

Jonathan

This week the Pont Jacques Cartier's sidewalks officially re-open. The west side, which is more commonly used by cyclists, has been open since Wednesday morning; the east side, on which I've also cycled inbound to the city, will open sometime this week. Horray!

Let's keep in mind that we must all be sensitive to each others' tolerance for rickety squeaking brakes around this time of year. Mine is pretty low, and my eardrums have been grinding at the sound and sight of the rusted heaps many folks have been daring to haul around lately. Good: cycling on good, safe bikes. Bad: cycling on ugly, rusted heaps.

Here at OTW we will be posting thorough springtime tune-up tips starting April 1. If you can't wait til then, might we suggest that you peruse some online tune-up guides; two good ones are at Total Bike (brief, to the point) and Green Upgrader (has pretty fantastic instructional videos). It is possible your bike may need a more professional hand; if you suspect as much, go ahead and bring it into the shop. Odds are that your bike and your local bike mechanic would find the rendezvous mutually satisfying.

Happy, happy springtime.

Okay, it is another beautiful Sunday afternoon. I wish I could love this day as much as the next person, but I'm bruised up and scowling a bit, due to the very nasty black ice our capricious weather is creating.

I took a mighty fall on a patch of it last night, along the Parc Lafontaine bike path. The black ice had been created by melting snow and overnight freezing, and it was indistinguishable from the rest of the dark pavement. Approaching the crosswalk, I braked right on top of it and went down hard.

Early springtime means there will be a lot of melting snow on the sides of the street, exactly where cyclists usually ride, and that this water will most likely freeze again and create lots of ice in lots more places. It's tough to spot, too, so that means you can't completely trust your eyes.

How should one cycle in a city of melting snow? Defensively. Take note of the air temperature. If you are about to head into a shadowy bit of pavement, or what could be a watery or icy patch, slow down beforehand – braking on ice creates friction and melts the surface a bit, turning your ride into a hydroplaning extravaganza. And avoid turning if you can – every bit of tilt lessens the amount of surface contact between your tire and the road, increasing the chances you'll take a spill. Like I did. Grumble grumble.

Do enjoy the day; just be careful, check your bike, and wear a helmet, and lights, and all those good things.

If you haven't yet been to the Flat, McGill's new bike collective in the basement of the Shatner Building on McTavish, remember it next time you're in need of a quick tune-up in the downtown area. And though they are still small, these folks are pushing with the force of springtime toward new projects, including creating a new bike zine, and they're looking for contributions.

The team says it aims to make the zine "a space which encourages biking, contributes to the Montreal biking community, and provides accessible bike mechanics information." They'll throw in anything bike-related -- political, artistic, mechanical, funny; it will include info from each bike co-op and collective in Montreal and repair/maintenance tips from Flat workshops.

They are also scheming to structure it by "grouping loosely related themes to different parts of the bikes.... Flats (related themes: potholes, accessibility/self-sufficiency, work, space); brakes (related themes: obstacles to biking, brakeless); bottom bracket (related themes: hierarchies and oppressions, capitalism); headset (related themes: safety, childhood memories); gears (related themes: activism, critical mass, bike activism history in montreal, community and biking, bike movies, bike fashion); and wheels (Related themes: cycles of seasons, winterize your bike, environmentalism and biking, things you can make out of bikes)"."

Format is 8 1/2 x 11 sheets folded in half, printed in black and white; submissions can be in any language and can be turned in electronically to
theflat.bikecollective@gmail.com or at the Flat, at 3480 McTavish in room B-02. Shop hours right now are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 to 7:30 – or slide your submission under the door in a labeled envelope. Submissions are due March 31!

....And we're back! What a day yesterday, sunny and warm, crisp wind blowing you out of the house and into exciting new adventures. Nearly everyone I know with two legs and two wheels took a ride yesterday.

Ours tooks us north, along St-Hubert from Laurier, near so many brunch places - that would be a good way to start next time! We kept on St-Hubert through all its changes, families out on Plaza St-Hubert, Peruvian restaurants and textile shops north of Jarry, and into residential Ahuntsic from the 40 up to Gouin.

Kelly couldn't resist testing the snow... it's still deep! The bike path is too covered to ride on, but Gouin itself is just fine, if you don't mind dodging giant potholes, buses, and impatient motorists. We just tried to enjoy the scenery - some very interesting architecture in this area that deserves a great deal of writing and photographing someday.

We kept along Gouin until O'Brien - a well paved and less trafficky way to head south back to town - taking us through Ville St-Laurent and into the Town of Mont-Royal. Just before the 40, Hodge is a great street to sprint down on a sunday - this industrial area was deserted! But then it's easy to get stuck on the wrong side of the tracks and having to haul your bike cyclocross style. Better to stay straight and hook a slight left onto Boulevard Graham. This takes you right through downtown T.M.R., not a bad place if you need a rest or a baguette.

A better option for rest and food, in terms of price, culture, and taste explosion, is to keep on through TMR and hook a left at Jean-Talon. A few blocks and you can take your pick from a dozen great Indian style lunches. The three of us managed to eat like royalty for $14. Plus the wait for our thali and dosas gave us time to check out our skunk stripes.

From there, a quick ride back down Parc Ave to eat our feast in the last few rays of light warming Kelly's front porch.

TOTAL DISTANCE: 25km

In his Gazette column this week, Josh Freed has a sort-of serious proposal to hold municipal elections in wintertime, when residents are most angsty and when subzero doldrums have the city mired in municipal snow troubles. 

With a winter election, he writes, "we'd see newspaper photos of Mayor Tremblay shoveling snow and de-icing sidewalks; we'd see him driving the city's recently acquired Super Monster Aerial Jet Snowplow ZK767 that can clean entire streets in minutes, without moving any cars... they'd be launching a municipal Royal Commission Into The Icy Sidewalk Crisis - to figure out science's best way to de-ice them. Should we use sand, gravel, salt or laser beams? How about Velcro-covered sidewalks with 2 million pairs of boots to match?"

Further, Freed posits:

If there was an election now, we'd hear all kinds of bold winter ideas - like putting ski racks on buses, or creating networks of cross country trails across the city, or turning the de Maisonneuve Blvd. bike path into a year-round snowshoeing lane.

A-ha. This brings us to the old conundrum among the winter cycling crew: Do we really, really want to be expanding cycling in winter? Is it worth the city's time to make a big to-do about a nonexistant réseau blanc for bikes when so few out there use it? Shall we forget about fighting to properly clear Rachel and Berri and Maisonneuve and Parc and Cote-Ste-Catherine bike paths, and instead make cross-country ski trails our political goal?

Before we give up on winter cycling infrastructure, I would have to propose some other bold winter ideas: that we put the yearly snow removal budget on a very severe diet – all this clearing is a bit of a snub to mother nature, no? – and cut winter work and school days in half, say, 11 to 3, so we'd actually have time to ski or snowshoe around town. There would be 100 million bucks left over for composting, education, homeless shelters, or, dare I say, more wintertime festivals!* Wouldn't it be fun!

Fat chance, of course, unless we revert to a far simpler economic existence (which right now seems somewhat possible and not a bad idea, in fact). But I digress; bottom line, as long as I have to get to work at 9 a.m., I'm going to want to hop on my bike to get there, winter or summer.

Still, Mr. Freed, you have a good idea with those winter elections. Now if only people would be willing to venture out in minus-20 weather for a vote.

- K.E.

*PS: Check out Inside the Frozen Mammoth's excellent guide to the Nuit Blanche festivities tonight.

Left: another casualty of Operation Snow Removal.

It is not my photo and I cannot tell you who it belongs to, except that this person has launched a blog, aptly named MontrealManglesBikes.com, featuring nothing but photos of beat-up and mauled bicycles around town.

Mystery blogger, is your mission to force better behaviour from snow truck operators? Or are you just indulging in some seasonal schadenfreude? Will you at least provide contact information for yourself on the website? I am sure that many city bike owners, not to mention bemused winter tourists or otherwise bored people, could help you out with your documentation. The material is, unfortunately, endless.

I must admit that a couple of weeks ago I quietly slipped away to Mexico. It is a semi-regular retreat for me and my family: Grandma Ruth has been coming here for 35 years, and my parents first took me here when I was too small even to build a sand castle. We returned together to escape the winter doldrums. Yes, I am a lucky duck.

When not soaking up Vitamin D, eating fresh fish on the beach, or nursing one-dollar beers, I have turned an eye to the cycling culture down here. Many Mexicans use bikes to get around from place to place, which makes sense given the layout of these small towns. But getting from one town to another takes a bus or a car. I have spotted no real bike infrastructure, and roads here are often winding, dusty, and shoulderless. And drivers here are fast and wild. Only the brave venture out for long-distance road biking. More common are mountain biking excursions; a gang in our condo complex gets out at dawn several days a week to explore old dirt roads through the mountains and jungle around us.

I didn't venture to the hills; the condo gang is a tightly-knit bunch and I had no wheels to call my own. Instead, on the kindly offer and advice from another vacationer, I borrowed a knobby-tired bike and headed for the place I know best: la playa.

It goes without saying, but if an opportunity to go for a cycle on the beach ever comes your way, take it. A cyclist could make a real workout out of a stretch of sand: the steady wind and flat beach make for a very smooth, very meditative ride. But for me it was pure, giddy fun. How could I help but play tag with the ocean waves lapping across the sand? How could I wipe the grin off my face as I swept past the enormous cart carrying hundreds of inflatable water toys? Mexico is great for this type of cycling: there is more than enough beach to go around, and few jettys to obstruct the path, so one is bound only by the natural geography of the area – in my case, either end of our little Santiago Bay. And it wasn't just this silly grinning gringo biking on the beach; I have spied many other two-wheelers opting for the sand instead of the busy road to get where they need to go.

A trip to Mexico would not be complete without sampling the eclectic expatriate culture, and that comes in two-wheeled form, as well. A hard character to miss down here is Joel Fogel, a retired ship captain and lifetime adventurer – he has kayaked from New York to Miami documenting ocean pollution, discovered an unknown tribe in Ethiopia, and starred in Rocky V, among other feats – who gets around the beach by way of a funny thing called a Rowbike. He told me he worked on developing it with Scott Olson, the inventor of the Rollerblade, back in the 90s. It isn't much of a bike, actually; it has no pedals, but a mobile handlebar and seat that turns the bike frame into a wheeling row machine. I did not attempt to ride this contraption, opting to spare my abs (and my pride). But Fogel swears by it.

Despite the many miles and many centimetres of mercury between us, I have noticed that rugged winter cyclists and Mexican beach-bikers have at least one thing in common: they both curse the abuses of salt on their bike chains. I will be back to slug it out among the snowbanks next week. In other words, hasta pronto.

As an immigrant from radically warmer climes, it has taken me a few years to get accustomed to the idea of bicycling as a seasonal activity. (Three hundred sixty nice days per year can distort one's perspective.)  In Montreal we perservere through the snow and ice and take full advantage of good riding weather when it happens. In fact, the climate's impact on riding shapes the entire bicycle industry from product design and manufacturing to tradeshows and purchasing, trickling down to your individual decisions on what to wear on today's commute.

Local shops in these wintry latitudes can have a hard time holding it all together and are bound to the resulting challenges of maintaining qualified staff through the lean season resulting in an increased volume of available positions come spring. So if you have ever dreamed of ditching your thankless career (or beginning a new one) and doing something you like which supports cycling and has a direct and positive impact on the quality of life in your neighborhood, look no further than your local bicycle shop.  

One retail repair shop that has held it together for over 20 years of freeze/thaw is about to deepen its investment in the belief that supporting cyclists is a noble and worthy endeavor.

Bicycletterie J.R. on Rachel east of St. Laurent will be expanding its capacity this season by moving to a larger and more functional building a mere block east (downhill) of its current location from 151 to 201 Rachel.  Mr. Rosenbluth, the owner and master mechanic says that the new location will allow him to serve more customers in more comfort. Anyone who has been in the existing store on a weekend in mid July will be relieved to read this. The new digs are currently being renovated to afford twice the floor space and more than double the repair shop capacity. (Read: HELP WANTED!) Rosenbluth says that the focus will remain on repairs and rentals and that the comfort of his customers and staff drove the decision to relocate after sixteen years in the same location.  He expects to close the existing location for the month of March in order to prepare the new shop for its grand opening sometime in April.

So my inside scoop is this: there is a ton of fun and rewarding work to be had even in difficult or seasonal economies if you watch and learn from the wise and experienced.

Happy wrenching,

Jonathan

Vélib, Paris's famed bikeshare program, is taking a mighty hard hit from vandals and thieves – so much so that the private UK-based advertising company running it, JCDecaux, has said the current system is unsustainable and will demand a new business plan with the city.

The BBC article reports that about half of the original bikes have disappeared, some reportedly turning up as far afield as Eastern Europe and Northen Africa. Others have apparently been "hung from lamp posts, dumped in the River Seine, torched and broken into pieces." Yikes.

The article also mentions a trend known as Vélib Extreme, where city bikes are pushed to the limits on BMX courses and down the stairs of Montmartre. But I find the declaration of this trend a bit tenuous; the BBC reports that "various YouTube videos" of extreme public-biking are up, and yet the only video I could find was this one, which shows no evidence of bike mistreatment.

Still, this clearly does not look good for bikeshares, or for the city of Paris. The problem was likely that it attempted to outsource the entire system to a private company instead of keeping oversight and accountability in-house. Maybe, even, there were -too many- bikes in the program, leading people to feel inclined to abuse the system.

But Montreal's spanking-new system will hopefully not suffer the same fate. Vélib became a 20,000-strong bike fleet due to a bidding war between JCDecaux and Clear Channel Outdoor, for dibs to run the program in exchange for advertising rights to the city's bus kiosks; but our 2,400-bike Bixi system, while designed by an outside contractor, is paid for and run through the city parking system. It also won acclaim and accolades for its hi-tech locks and tracking systems, so hopefully our smaller system will have more accountability.

Other bikeshare programs in Europe are still doing well; let's make sure Bixi falls into that camp, too!

Three noteworthy cycling items for you this February:

I am too late to participate in the first item this time around but it is an impressive direct action and the type of thing that can be very influential on kids as they grow to be lifetime cyclists. So plan on helping the momentum for next February by participating in the Action nationale à vélo.

Secondly, the annual Ice Cup bike race is a highly entertaining, all volunteer event started by local bicycle couriers to showcase speed and skills in our climatically challenged cycling environment. This year's race was planned for Parc Jean Drapeau but may move to Parc Jeanne-Mance where it occured last season. To keep abreast of the current status and ice conditions or to learn how to make your own ice tires, keep checking http://www.coupedesglaces.org/ . Even if you don't feel up to racing, this makes a great FREE spectator sport. Currently slated for this Saturday, February 14.

If standing around on the ice in between bursts of hot chocolate/espresso fueled manic pedaling has you wishing for a slower and warmer setting, head down to Place Bonaventure the following Friday-Sunday, Feb 20-22 for the largest consumer oriented bicycle show in Québec: The 7th Expodium Bicycle Show . Tickets are ten dollars and that allows you to drool on and fondle 75,000 square feet of new bike related goodies for 2009. This is different than the September show in the same location because it is open to all instead of restricted to industry retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. See you there!

Happy trails,
Jonathan

Corporate Knights, Canada's independent magazine for 'responsible business', has just released its third-annual Sustainability Review of Canadian cities. By its count, Montreal is not doing so well; it came in last of all big cities, far behind Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto, and even Calgary. Vancouver, a medium-size city, also came in ahead of Montreal, as did Halifax, Quebec, Yellowknife, and Saskatoon.

The report provides write-ups for top-scoring cities in the big, medium, and small-city categories: Edmonton, Halifax, and Yellowknife, respectively. Edmonton has the country's lowest unemployment rate; Halifax has insecticide and pesticide bans; Yellowknife has the highest ratio of homeless shelter beds to population, and has integrated energy efficiency into its building bylaws.

This year the magazine broke down their rankings into five categories: Ecological Integrity, Economic Security, Governance and Empowerment, Infrastructure and Built Environment, and Social Well-Being. Montreal scored very high in Social Well-Being, but lost ground in Economic Security and Ecological Integrity. 

But the ratings system is a muddy one at best. The magazine's indicators have changed each year, making it virtually impossible to compare reports. This year the magazine brought in The Natural Step, a sustainability research and consulting firm, as well as two other firms, Toronto and Vancouver-based (problematic bias, I wonder?), to help develop better indicators. But readers never get a full explanation of how indicators were decided upon or what they mean. In 2007 Montreal ranked quite well, eighth altogether, and in 2008 it was well ahead of Calgary. This year our Western friends scored a full point more, and Montreal moved to the bottom of the pile. What gives?

Aside from some other brief examples, the report never makes clear why other cities fared less well, and Montrealers are left in the dark as to where their cruddy score really comes from. I presume we lost points in Economic Security for high unemployment rates, and in Ecological Integrity for struggling recycling programs and nonexistant composting programs. But it is hard to be sure.

At the heart of this, of course, is the question of how one defines sustainability. In the 2009 report we don't really get an answer, but the 2008 report suggests that at a minimum, a sustainable city is one that maintains its population, that remains a place where people want to live. Yet is it right that cties with hugely-booming economies, like Calgary's, fared well under Corporate Knights' indicators? Shouldn't we be cautioning against rapid-urban sprawl, not rewarding it with high 'economic integrity' markers?

It has always been clear that Montreal isn't all it is chalked up to be along the full spectrum of sustainability. Behind the lustre of our 450-kilometre-and-growing bike network and our Bixi bikeshare program and our lush parks and festivals, there is still a backward recycling program, high rates of water use, and few economic incentives for changing bad individual and business habits into better ones. But behind the pointed pie-charts and graphs, I still feel like this report is more confusing than illuminating. It gives good ideas about what other cities are doing, but I am not convinced the data is all to make sharp numerical assessments to compare these diverse cities. Sustainability is tough to quantify. Next time I hope CK puts less effort into creating hazy indicator categories and more time collecting information and then writing up individual city reports, so that cities can actually do more with the magazine's good efforts and intentions.

Go here to read the 2009, 2008, and 2007 reports.

Frequently, customers at my bikeshop ask me how to paint a bicycle. Some want a simple urban camo to disguise a frame which is a bit too attractive. Some want to extend their skin art to grace their favorite transport so they feel even more bio-mech. Others just want to know the paint process or to find a good professional painter in or near Montreal. In any case, the dead of winter is a good time to consider such a project so you will be ready in time for warmer weather.

First, it is important to know that paint is an essential protective skin over the raw metal and, without it, your frame is much more susceptable to damage from the elements.  So paint is a good thing.  There are generally two types of paint processes: Wet paint and Powdercoat. Traditional wet paint like you find on automobiles is blown out of a spray gun (or can). Powdercoat, typically used on industrial equipment, works well on bicycles if done properly because it is less likely to chip, it can be less expensive and is less toxic. It also allows for less artistic expression because applying more than one color is somewhere between tricky and impossible.  Powdercoat requires electrically charging the metal frame (aluminum, steel or titanium) and applying dry pigment which attaches itself to the charged metal and is then heated to bring out the color and hardness.

Whether you are painting on a budget or going all out, both processes require disassembling the bike to just the frame and fork. The difficult part for most home mechanics is removing the headset, crown race and bottom bracket.  Your local bike shop can help you with these. Expect to pay around $30.  You might ask, as long as you're there, if they offer painting service since the shop may have an arrangement with a local painter and, in the end, get you a better price.

Previously painted frames need to be stripped to the bare metal and cleaned of skin oils, dirt and grease. Pro painters do this either chemically or with a sandblaster. If doing this at home, you can sand off the paint but this is a very tedious job so be prepared with a dust mask and lots of patience. Abrasive strips of 100 grit or rougher work well.  If you've made it this far then you've probably considered where you will spray the frame.  If you do not have a well ventilated, safe place to paint, hire somebody else to spray it.  A coat of primer is key to getting the top color coats to adhere properly. Multiple light coats of color with light sanding in between and plenty of drying time will help work out drips and rough spots. A clear top layer gives a bit more durability. The longer you can leave it before reassembly, the tougher the finish. Don't forget to chase the bottom bracket and other threads and to face the headtube and bottom bracket for proper fitting of components.

If you choose to have your ride professionally painted, you can expect it to cost from $200 on up. Don't forget to budget for reassembly and give yourself several weeks. If your bike fits you well but it's time to give it some major attention, a new paint job could be just the thing.

I can suggest the following painters: 

http://www.exorpeinture.com - I am on my way, as I write this, to drop a frame at this specialty shop in Blainville, north of Montreal. The owner and painter, Mr. Thibeault is an enthusiastic and hard working guy whose paint specific shop seems more densely packed with frames at each visit. He specializes in carbon fiber but has done a fine job on my last three custom steel paint jobs. 

http://www.velocolour.com - Noah Rosen specializes in restorations and does top-notch work including specialty services like box-lining and chrome plating. Paying the extra shipping to Toronto may be well worth it. Check out his photo sequence of his process.

http://www.spectrumpowderworks.com - While not in Montreal, I have yet to find a powdercoater that knows the important delicate touch that bikes require like Spectrum. These guys are the best which is why they serve such a huge share of custom bike powdercoating in North America. Want to powder coat it locally? Try http://www.indigopowdercoating.com and tell us how they do.

http://www.marinoni.qc.ca - The regional master says in his catalogue that they only paint Marinoni frames so you will need to counter this hurdle with a very large bribe. My guess is that fine wines and chocolate would be a good start.

http://www.dekerf.com/paintshop.asp - I have yet to get anything painted at the Richmond, B.C. based Dekerf but I have ogled his finished work. Like some shops, the experienced Dekerf will also repair or modify your frame prior to paint. 

http://www.viciouscycles.com/paint.php3 - Though not in Montreal, the New Paltz, NY company is not far away and boasts lots of experience, including the most outrageous paintjob I have ever seen, my former coworker Stephanie's "Starry Night" Titus. http://www.viciouscycles.com/paint/18.php3

That's all for now. Feel free to post a comment or send a picture of your new paintjob. I'll post a picture of my latest here in a couple weeks when it's complete. I'd also love to see people add their own tips and resources.

You know those friends or family members constantly muttering about how they're not used to seeing cyclists on the road?

Get them to check this out.

(Sorry all -- I posted the wrong video earlier.)