COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BRAIN) — John Barnett, the founder of one of the industry’s best-known schools for bike mechanics, died Dec. 17 at home. He was 74.
Barnett was born in Mount Vernon, New York, and grew up in Pleasantville, New York, until his family moved to Dallas in 1961.
He attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, for one year and later attended the University of Texas at Austin for a semester. In the Austin area, he worked at several bike shops and also sold flowers on the street corner. He also worked in wildfire services in Colorado while still living in Austin, and moved to Colorado full-time in 1979.
He began working for Criterium Bicycles in Colorado Springs in the early 1980s as the store's service manager, remembered Chris Caunt, the shop’s founder and former owner. Caunt and Barnett worked together to develop early mountain bikes at the same time as innovators in other regions, including Northern California, were doing the same. Barnett also supported race teams, including the Avocet team at the Coors Classic, Caunt recalled.
In the off-seasons, Barnett began teaching public mechanic classes in the shop, a project that evolved into Barnett Bicycle Institute, which instructed thousands of professional and amateur mechanics over its decades in operation. BBI also published several editions of a mechanics handbook that is still a resource for shops around the country.
Barnett sold BBI to the National Bicycle Dealers Association in 2016; three years later QBP acquired the business and later closed it.
Barnett retired after the sale and spent his time enjoying his grandchildren, reading, writing — often about music — hiking, and photography. He was working on a book about his love for music right up until his final weeks, said his son, Max Moorman.
Barnett is survived by his wife, Jennifer Nosler, his former wife, Beth Moorman, three sons — Max Moorman), Sam Barnett (and his wife Sydney Moffat), and Peter Barnett — and a daughter, Amelia Mellett Keith (and her husband Chad Keith).
He is also survived by five grandchildren: Eric and Andrew Keith of Colorado, and Maisie, Silas, and Winona Moffat Barnett of California. Also surviving are his brother, Gary Edward Barnett (and his wife Lori Barnett) of Tucson, and his sister, Terpsichore Barnett, of Dallas.
The family plans a private memorial service for later this year. Contributions in his honor can be made to Feline Rescue Network of Colorado Springs, 2126 East Boulder, Colorado Springs, CO 80909.
