nothin How “Steady Jake” Won The Crown | New Haven Independent

How Steady Jake” Won The Crown

Michelle Liu Photo

Adams demonstrates the “Flatland” at Devil’s Gear.

In a couple of deft motions, Jake Adams, the new reigning bike-repair champ around these parts, took off a back tire, tugging out the inflated inner tube with the help of a bright yellow plastic lever.

We’re pretending the tire’s flat,” he said.

Adams cradles the trophy — no beer this time.

Adams, the service manager at Devil’s Gear Bike Shop on Orange Street, was demonstrating The Flatland,” one of the repairs he performed in this year’s Connecticut Mechanics State Championship at the New Haven Grand Prix.

Avoiding elimination in three rounds, in which ten mechanics from across Connecticut changed tires, gears and chains, Adams outmaneuvered and outpaced competitors in a race to take home a trophy — and some bragging rights about the quality of workmanship that takes place at New Haven’s popular cyclers’ shop.

This was given to me full of beer,” Adams said, holding the cup. So I guess that was the celebration.”

While a couple of mechanics from Devil’s Gear stood in to repair bikes for cyclists in the Grand Prix, most of the staff was just enjoying the race, until shop owner Matt Feiner asked Adams if he was interested in competing in a race of his own.

‘I don’t know,’” Adams remembered telling him. “‘I’d rather watch the race. It’s exciting to watch a race in your hometown’. But I walked over, checked it out, and decided to give it a shot. It looked like fun.”

But the soft-spoken mechanic was abashed when asked about the experience. As he moved through the repairs with which he’d swept the championship, he worked methodically, explaining the more practical reasons of why you might swap out some parts for others.

After replacing the tire, Adams redirected his attention to the cassette or the cluster of gears on the rear wheel. During round two, The Mixer,” mechanics were directed to take off the cassette, mix up all the gears, and then re-order and replace them onto the bike again.

In the shop, Adams replaces cassettes after every 1,000 miles a bike makes it through. Otherwise the bike chain can stretch out, and the teeth on the cassette can become worn.

Adams has picked up his mechanic’s know-how in a variety of places: He’s been around bikes since he was a kid, he said, and learned some of the ropes from his father. Growing up in Maine, Adams fixed bikes throughout high school and college, where he worked at an outdoor retailer and volunteered at a community bike shop.

It’s been a part of my life since I can remember,” he said.

He even spent a month getting certified at the United Bicycle Institute in Portland, Oregon, where budding mechanics learn the tools of the trade.

Adams, who studied American cultural studies in college, found himself in New Haven in 2012, having taken an internship as a lighting intern with Long Wharf Theater. The end of the internship led to another few jobs before Adams landed his current one at Devil’s Gear.

At the front of the shop one recent afternoon, Adams performed the third of the rounds: Picking Up the Slack,” or replacing the bike chain.

These are pretty standard repairs bicycle mechanics do in their day-to-day jobs, he said.

There are definitely days when you lose track of how many flat tires you’ve fixed,” Adams added.

There’s nothing that is too complicated about being a bike mechanic, he insisted. But sometimes he’s frustrated when a bike makes a noise that it shouldn’t be making, requiring lots of time and investigation. That’s where co-workers come in to help.

Brelsford: Taught him everything he knows.

Adams points to Warren Brelsford, another mechanic in the shop.

I taught him everything I know within the context of fixing bikes,” Brelsford said. And now he’s better than me, apparently.”

Brehon: We call him “Steady Jake.”

For sales manager John Brehon, who was a witness to Adams’ claim to fame at the championship, the master mechanic’s win wasn’t due to speed so much as his consistency and calm demeanor.

Steady Jake,” Brehon declared Adams. The slow turtle won the race. He’s very precise.”

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