'The Bike Doctor' can tell what ails your equipment from afar

BOARDMAN

Tucked away in the back of the Outdoor Recreational Equipment store is the workshop of “The Bike Doctor,” a master bicycle mechanic with five decades of experience in bicycle repair and maintenance.

Dave Laird began repairing bicycles as a teenager in 1964 at Boardman Hobby and Cycle, a shop he later co-owned.

“I found that I could get up every single morning and couldn’t wait to go to work,” he said of the allure of bicycle mechanics as a career for him. “I enjoy working with my hands,” he added.

“I want you to experience what I experience when I get on my bike, which works the way it’s supposed to work,” he said of what he wants his customers to enjoy, whether they’re new bike buyers or repair customers.

“Like I taught the guys that worked with me or for me: If you’re going to do a job, do it right and take pride in what you do,” Laird said of the major principle that guides his work.

“I want to be proud of the piece of work that I bring out, whether it’s a repair job or a new bike,” he added.

A lifelong cyclist, Laird, 68, is a perfectionist who test rides bicycles he has worked on in ORE’s parking lot before releasing them to the customers. “If I can fit on it, I test every one of them,” he said.

“He is meticulous,” Anthony Ricchiuti, ORE’s co-owner, said of Laird. “If you take a look at his workshop, it’s amazing,” Ricchiuti said of Laird’s well-organized shop.

Laird can spot bicycle problems from afar, Ricchiuti said.

Read more about him in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.