Bike Gallery's Ace Mechanic Receives Top Honors from Portland Monthly Magazine.

Once a year, Portland's most popular weekly and monthly magazines dish out their "Best Of Portland" awards for just about anything, from best city park to walk your dog in, to best place to have vegetarian sushi.

For the last four years, Bike Gallery has been the proud recipient of Willamette Week's Best Bike Shop in Portland award. Now, Portland Monthly - in their "Best of the City '08" August cover story - has bestowed upon Bike Gallery's Service & Training Manager Brett Flemming the honorary title of "Best Bike Mechanic" in P-town. The enviable accolade comes complete with a full page photo of Brett performing some of his magic in a surreal decor, featuring a Signal Cycles custom bicycle (another Bike Gallery one-of-a-kind) and a couple of chainrings.

Here is an excerpt of what Portland Monthly has to say about Brett:

To figure out when to call Brett Flemming, you must employ the Rule of Threes. As in three different bike shops rejected your bike because it's busted beyond repair. "That's my favorite thing to hear," says Flemming, who manages the Bike Gallery's service program out of the local chain's original Hollywood location and who also takes on its most challenging jobs. To hang on to his title as Portland's Mr. Goodwrench of cycling, however, Flemming has to rely upon some substantial muscle. His three-ton, 1960s-era "Mighty" Holbrook lathe is a good start. It's just one of three massive lathes Flemming uses in his personal machine shop at home, where he performs delicate procedures like rethreading fork tubes and, most impressively, hand-building his own bike-repair tools. (In fact, his toolmaking skills are so impressive that companies like Rocky Mountain and Mavic buy his gizmos). So if you are beset with grief because the front derailleur of your 1977 Peugeot PX-1 - which has nothing but odd-sized or obsolete parts - just broke, dry your eyes. Flemming's got you covered.

We're proud to see one of our most seasoned service staff members recognized for all the passion he puts in his work!

If you like to see Brett in action, he will be providing mechanical support along the route and at each campsite of this year's Cycle Oregon. And in his spare time, he'll entertain riders in camp with his free bike repair and shifting clinics.