Services

PMW's primary service is that of the Restomod. A term borrowed from the automotive community, a Restomod is a combination of a "restoration" and "modification". Nominally this means taking something old - originally a car or truck - and then adding in a number of modern features and functions and amenities. In some cases the additions are not immediately obvious. 

A bicycle Restomod, sometimes also called neo-retro builds, are usually older framesets with as many modern parts as it is able to support. It's common to see disc brakes, 1x drivetrains, clutched rear derailleurs, 10 or more speeds, and many other features added to frames that existed decades before any of those things were ever envisioned. The definition of "classic" in this sense is pretty broad, but I generally take it to mean bikes from the very late 1980s/very early 1990s up until the very, VERY early 2000s. This encompasses the madness of the CNC Anodized Everything years up to the normalization/widespread adoption of bicycle suspension, but before everything was made out of carbon fiber and rim brakes disappeared forever from component lineups. 

Almost everything in the Gallery section is an example of a Restomod, some more expansive than others. And while I do appreciate the artistry and practicality of restoring vintage components, some things are just better to replace. For example, I prefer a sealed bearing headset over nearly any caged bearing unit that is old enough to drink a beer, because they're such an easy and worthwhile upgrade to make. 

Outside of the full-blown Restomod, below are the other types of bicycle work that PMW will do:

• Complete bike vintage rebuilds using original components / tune-ups

  • Strip it down and put it back together; all parts thoroughly cleaned and refurbished, new brake and shift lines, full brake and shifter adjustment.

• Wheel size conversions

  • There's obviously a limit to what is possible here, and some combinations don't work very well, but a 26" wheeled bike can usually be converted to 27.5"/650b or 700c. 700c bikes can also downsize to 650b to fit wider tires. Disc brakes make this all much simpler to do, but there are ways to keep rim brakes if that is needed. 

• Disc brake conversions

  • The least intrusive ways of adding a disc brake mount to a bike that didn't originally have one involves one of a few types of adapter brackets. Some of them will only work on bikes with particular dropout sizes/shapes, which means mostly aluminum frames. There's a few types of these adapters I will not use because they aren't safe, and the few that do work will require some frame modification (drilling, filing). Steel frames can have an IS disc tab welded on to them, but this requires removing quite a bit of paint and the addition of a steel support welded between the chainstay and seatstay.

• Custom paint

  • This is not professional or factory quality paint, but aerosol sprays with 2K clearcoat applied afterward as the best protection that is possible in a home garage. Lots of cool, multicolor effects are possible, or just a single color to replace the battered original coat. This service can also include stripping the original paint off the necessary parts, and will require that the bike be fully dismantled. 

• Build consultations

  • Looking for ideas on how to do your next build? Looking for suggestions on what parts to look for? Want to know which vintage bikes will work for what you have in mind? Want to do some mad scientists stuff that the local bike shop will never even try? Shoot us an email and we can talk it through! There are nearly endless options in most cases, so let us help you figure out what's possible and what will actually work best for you. 

• Part sourcing

  • If you're looking for something particular, from whole bikes all the way down to QR skewers, let us know and we will do the hunting for you. Whether it's ultra-rare and vintage, or just something you can't find on your own, we will source it for you. There may be significant lead time depending on what it is, or highly variable costs, but we are happy to provide location and acquisition services on your behalf.

• Teardowns/Assemblies

  • Maybe you're doing your own build and have everything you need, and just don't have some of the highly specialized tools needed to work on certain parts of a bike. PMW is happy to disassemble your fully built bike, or even just extract a stubborn bottom bracket or seized seatpost. Ditto for the build itself; if you have a frame and a cardboard box full of parts, we can put it all together for you for a flat fee.

• Part offerings

  • PMW has a number of parts available for purchase as part of a build. When you're working on a project with us, you'll see what we have to offer. You may want to add an old-school Flite saddle to your build, some cool cranks from our collection, or those tasty vintage v-brake levers. We don't have a storefront, but our parts bin is available to you as part of larger projects. Occasionally there are one-off part sales.

We don't really do bike fitting, hydraulic disc brake setups or bleeds, suspension tuning or other things you may need to do on a more modern bicycle. Those things are better left to your local bike shop.