Words by Paul Cargill
This past Monday night the clubhouse welcomed Rory Buckingham of Spinwell Cycleworks for a chat about bike
maintenance. Rory has recently opened his own bike workshop located on Wesley Street in Southport after previously working for Halfords. Since May his shop has grown in popularity with both club members and members of the public due to his vast knowledge of all types of bike and friendly customer service.
The chat lasted just over an hour and covered a variety topics. Rory walked us through each part of the bike going over common issues and fixes and included a few anecdotes of very uncommon issues he has come across in his time with a few of the more experienced club members throwing some of their own in for good measure. There was something for all levels of cyclist ranging from 
changing an inner tube to rear derailleur alignment to really niche topics such as different treatments on cables. Rory kept everything flowing allowing for questions throughout the night and even prepared a game. The Top 5 Things That Creak and Squeak That Are Not Your Bottom Bracket Game, not sure if the TV rights to this game show have been snapped up yet but surely it’s only a matter of time. The correct answer was obviously knees as was suggested straight away however at this point we discovered more than we ever thought possible about bearings, cones and skewers.
The final part of the night was Rory showing and talking us through some of the more rare tools you would find in his workshop (avoiding all mention of Campagnolo as that is another night all by itself) including a plumbers pipe cutter, a magic spanner of Wilko and his personal favourite, the rear derailleur alignment tool. An enjoyable night with someone who is making a positive impact on cycling in Southport and hopefully won’t be too long before he comes back for a second night.
Spinwell Cycleworks is open Tue-Sat 10am-5pm at 19 Wesley Street, Southport
