Ever since starting his bike-fixing business over the 2023 summer, sophomore Dylan Zuo has found a new sense of purpose and direction in his passion. What began as a simple joy for bike riding has bloomed into something much larger — a pursuit that combines his love for cycling with a genuine commitment to serving his community.
Working independently and building his skills from ground-up using solely YouTube tutorials, Zuo has fixed a total of 89 bikes so far and gained a plethora of positive experiences from helping satisfied customers. However, as his homework load and increased number of intensive school courses have increased since 2023, Zuo has realized the need for careful time management.
“I try to do all of my schoolwork as fast as I can at home and leave the rest of the time for tinkering with bikes,” he said.
Zuo estimates he is able to spend about four hours a week fixing bikes.
Despite his limited guidance from adult mentors on bike fixing and craftsmanship, Zuo has managed to design a systematic and professional process for tuning his customers’ bikes. Right upon receiving the bike, he gives it a test ride, assessing the functionality of mechanisms such as shifting and braking.
Zuo is then able to diagnose what is wrong and contact the client for any new parts that potentially are needed. The most demanding aspect of the job occurs when he takes apart the bike and cleans all the parts before reassembling it, sometimes replacing components in the process. From start to finish, his fixes typically take around three days.
Because of the word-of-mouth success of Zuo’s repairs, his business has reached the attention of teachers around campus. Even though Zuo feels more pressure when he works with teachers’ bikes, he makes sure to maintain professionalism and treat all customers in an equal and timely manner.
“The teachers get to know me on a personal level, and they get to know my work as diligent and as well-valued,” he said. “But in terms of my grades, it doesn’t affect anything, because it’s purely a business transaction.”
Perhaps the most challenging obstacle Zuo has run into since starting his small businesses occurred while he was fixing music teacher Beth Nitzan’s husband’s bike. After noticing that the chain was excessively dirty, Zuo attempted to use vinegar to clean it; however, he left it in the vinegar for way too long, and all the silver coating on the chain fell off, causing it to instantly rust. Remorseful that he ruined the chain piece, Zuo held himself responsible for his own mistakes.
“I was pretty upfront about it and told her she’d need a new chain for her bike. But the problem was the new chain came way too long, so I had to figure out how to shorten it,” Zuo said. “I didn’t want to buy a tool, so I used a nail and a hammer to knock the link out of the chain and shorten it.”
Zuo recognizes that his mistakes are also learning opportunities, and he now knows not to over-soak chains.
In the future, Zuo can see himself pursuing a job as a bike mechanic in some capacity, perhaps at a small shop in college; however, Zuo admits it probably won’t be his ultimate career.
“I really would like to be a bike mechanic in the future,” Zuo said. “It’s just that’s probably not the path I’ll take, since my parents wouldn’t like it very much.”
Only charging $20 an hour for his services, Zuo expressed that his true motivation lies in his genuine interest for not only giving back to the community, but also for bikes themselves.
“I don’t make much profit at all,” he said. “I fix bikes because I need a bit of money, but mostly because I really love and enjoy being able to work on bikes.”
