About Us

Hi,

My name is Cory Gassmann. On March 15, 1996, I founded a bicycle store in Milwaukee, WI called “Cory the Bike Fixer.” I owned it for 17 years. Every year the shop grew and experienced more and more success. Beginning as a one man shop, Cory the bike fixer now has 14 employees, sells close to 1000 bicycles per year and repairs thousands of bicycles each season. When I chose to sell the shop and move to Seattle, my store manager bought it and every employee stayed with him. Feel free to check it out at corythebikefixer.com.

My favorite responsibilities at the shop included teaching bicycle repair and maintenance classes and organizing group rides. The way that I taught the classes was very different than most other shops. I would only take one or two students at a time and spend 3 hours teaching them to tune and maintain their own bike. I was much more able to focus on the specific needs of each person and their unique bicycle. Students were able to customize the course to fit their own needs without hampering others in the class, so they felt free to request and learn what they really desired. The feedback was tremendous. I wrote a 25 page bicycle repair manual in the winter of 2004 outlining the tune up process we used at the shop and began including it with the class. As my responsibilities grew as owner of the shop, I had to delegate the class teaching to my employees more than I wished.

At School of Bike, I am excited to have teaching be the center of my focus. Even at the best bike shops, selling a new bike to someone who has not been a bicyclist for a long time is a big challenge. I wanted to spend hours showing them how to shift, how to make it as comfortable as possible, what to expect through the break in period, how to change a flat and lube the chain and what tire pressure to be at and how often to check the tires and on and on.

A salesperson can’t express it all and it is just too much for the customer to absorb. Questions come up after the purchase, as well. I wish to be your support person as you enter the bicycle world.

I am a very strong believer that the revolution out of a petroleum based society has begun. I am a part of that. Every person that I can teach to live by bicycle means potentially one less car on the road; one smaller carbon footprint and more air for future generations.

You can email Cory at seattleschoolofbike@gmail.com

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