Becky came into the shop on a whim. She noticed some of our old bicycles out front and was curious as to what we might have inside. She immediately fell in love with our dogs! Mary showed her some of the restorations that we had in progress and many of our vintage bicycles. She loved everything that she saw. She inquired if we had ever restored a Sears Ted Williams Free Spirit. We hadn’t but Mary assured her that it was within our area of expertise. Becky had a twin brother whose favorite thing in the world was his Sears Ted Williams Free Spirit bicycle. He had it for many years and rode it all the time. She wondered if we could restore it for her as a gift for her twin brother. It was late October and she wanted it for Christmas because she didn’t know what else she could get for him. It was a very tight timeline. We worked up an estimate and timeline which would deliver the restoration by Christmas Eve. There weren’t any aftermarket Free Spirit decals available so we had to turn to one of our professional colleagues, Mike Griesemer to get him to come in, take measurements, and create the artwork. He did a stellar job creating the decals as water slides. They matched the font and colors exactly! Noel painted the bicycle the original bright white, cleaned up the chrome parts, ran new cables, re-spoked the wheels into new chrome rims, and installed new grips, tires, tubes, and rim strips. We kept the original saddle. The restoration turned out great! These are Becky’s words after she gave the bicycle to her twin brother. “My brother LOVES the work you've done!! I had put the bike by the tree after he went to bed Christmas Eve, and he saw it before I came down this morning, but he is absolutely delighted with it. Although he was busy the whole time he was here and had to get back to Boca Raton for early morning work crews coming in on Thursday, he found time to take the bike for a two-mile spin. He said that everything worked perfectly. Your depth and breadth of knowledge and your refined craftsmanship really shows! I told him that I felt good about leaving the bike with you because I had seen your work, and because you were able to give me an idea of the restoration costs. I also explained that the shop was co-run by three four-legged angels, so I knew I could trust you. About the basket; apparently, shortly after my brother bought the bike, an elderly neighbor offered the basket to him as what he thought, was a very practical gift. My brother attached it to the bike so the neighbor could see that he was using it and has found it to be, actually, very practical;) Sincere thanks and best wishes to all of you!”
