WORKSHOP
‘I’M GETTING – PARTICULARLY WOMEN – COMING TO ME AND THEY LEARN HOW TO PERFORM A BASIC SERVICE, AND MAYBE PREVENT THINGS GETTING SO BAD NEXT TIME’
to feel more independent when out on the road. Back in 2021, after reigniting her love for cycling after a move to London from Australia, Diane Mulholland began her own journey to understanding how to fix her bike. Not only did this bring more independence – enough for her to head out on plenty of solo bikepacking trips, but it also made her realise that there was a big discrepancy in the type of people accessing information about at-home repairs.
She began posting what she learned on social media, and soon decided to start her own enterprise – Daisy Chain Mechanics. In which she teaches other riders, primarily women, how to do everything from basic tube replacements to truing wheels. And last year, she won the BikeBiz award for Best Newcomer for her efforts with Daisy Chain Mechanics. “I felt really, really small compared to some of the other companies and so it was just really strange to see myself there next to like SRAM,” Mulholland commented. “I think it’s huge for grassroots organisations to have one of those awards go to me, because it’s showing that BikeBiz is recognising the whole breadth of the industry.” The BikeBiz awards aren’t just about recognising the
big players, the ones that have shown great commercial success, or are the most popular in the industry – they’re
www.bikebiz.com
about highlighting those who are doing great things for cyclists and encouraging more to get out and ride – or in this case, get hands on and fix them.
Offering an alternative For Mulholland, a lot of her one-to-one clients come from those who have been given a higher than expected quote from a shop to fix their bike. “I’m getting – particularly women – coming to me and they learn how to perform a basic service, and maybe prevent things getting so bad next time. It may be the case where it’s expensive because everything’s broken
at once.
“And then the bike shop is still there to do the more complicated things. Or quite often we’ll tandem in the sessions, where I’ll give the bike owner all the simpler stuff to do while I’m truing their wheels. “And because they’re paying for my time, it ends up perhaps costing nearly as much as the bike shop would have charged them. But they’ve learned all of that stuff in the meantime. So next time they can do all the simple stuff themselves, and maybe come back and learn how to true wheels.”
This approach might sound a little like poaching business, but in fact, Mulholland believes it’s the opposite. “I think bike shops are really essential. I don’t feel
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