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I dunno, seems quite clear there?
As I explained above, I really wasn’t. Sorry you interpreted it that way.
ive priced up a few things at work incorrectly with typos, then only realised when the order is placed, that would have gone through had I not picked up the error (both ways) Most customers are fine with it, and we move on. We aren’t talking about £50 here either.
I do think more workshops should offer focused training sessions on either basic maintenance to stop the flood of knackered bikes, or for specific skills such as how to strip and rebuild a hub (charged at an appropriate rate obviously).
Only a tiny percentage of bike owners will actually be prepared to learn how to fix their own bikes. Most people are not interested in getting their hands dirty and fixing things these days, they just want to chuck it away and buy something new, or get someone else to do the work.
No, you’re right. It’s quite easy for someone to ring up £50 on a till for removing a tyre, then run the credit card through
Just a thought, £5 seems about right for the job as described. Easy to accidently type in £50 on the machine. I'm pretty generous in giving the benefit of the doubt in these things as long as it gets sorted.
Comment above about fitting bits bought elsewhere. My two decent LBS will do this no problem. I think most LBS would. I would expect to pay a premium though. My LBS and all nearby seem to stock small range of stuff that either people will buy as they want it in a hurry or a casual would buy for ease of shopping in a shop. Do any LBS have say a range of drivetrain these days when they can order stock to deliver within a day or two? Or just stock a few rear mechs etc. Genuine question.
That said, I do check with them first if I go down this route. Last bike I built from a direct seller frame and needed parts and I asked about them ordering it and they said it was easier for me to buy exactly what I wanted and they'd happily build it. I did buy a brand x dropper from them for about 15 or 20 quid more than CRC and happily paid their labour (of course) but both of us were happy with that and I think they're the best LBS I could ask for.
I worked as a mechanic between jobs a few years ago - the worst job was agreeing on Xmas eve to do a last minute build on one of those catalogue BSO full-sussers as someone's pressie. What should have been a simple job took all afternoon - frame was twisted, hanger bent, both wheels out of true / spokes loose, plastic vee-brake levers would pull back to the bars. Finally managed to get it all sorted after practically rebuilding it, dropped it out the work stand, readjusted the seat post and the 7mm plasticine bolt snapped - ended up drilling it out to 8mm as we had nothing that fitted.
(Ha, just doing a bit of helping out with work, been sent a quote with a typo on it, meaning an item is £450,909, not £45,090, are they trying to rip me off? shall I name and shame them and vow never to use them again?)
Hah! My son's bike fills up just like this and is perfectly watertight around the BB, so the water stays in there forever. The only way I can avoid this is by removing the seatpost, turning the bike upside down and emptying the water out. I then leave the seatpost out for a few days to (hopefully) let things dry out.
I'm sure it does the BB no good, but as it's a GXP SRAM one, it's made of window putty and only lasts a fortnight even when well looked after 🙂
That's not the fault of the owner, that's just the shit engineering which is prevalent across the bike industry. Overpriced/underengineered.
When I wash my enduro, I have to take the bolts out holding the downtube guard to drain the water from the swat box, as there is no sealing on where the cables enter the frame.
How is it in 2018 there is still water getting into bearings, don't see that happening on cars or motorbikes. Some proper engineering and sealing wouldn't go amiss! Forget all the boost bullshit and incremental gains, get the simple stuff right?
Well said Sir HC.
All these gimmicks, buzzwords and exciting new standards - and the bearings still only last six months on a £2k frame.
It's almost like they don't really care.
I'm lucky I get 4 months out of a set of bearings!
Specialized UK's response was "we ride in mud/slop/rain most of the year, so the bearings won't last long". Imagine if Specialized made cars, you'd be out on the driveway every 4 weeks replacing wheel bearings and suspension bushings. Not to mention the footwells would be knee deep in water.
When I wash my enduro, I have to take the bolts out holding the downtube guard to drain the water from the swat box, as there is no sealing on where the cables enter the frame.
I hadn't realised this was how the water was getting in! I had just assumed the swat door wasn't weather proof!
add insult to injury people buy parts on the web then expect him to fit them.
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<div>Nothing wrong with that. The shops I’ve used have never had an issue either.</div>
Imagine if Specialized made cars, you’d be out on the driveway every 4 weeks replacing wheel bearings and suspension bushings. Not to mention the footwells would be knee deep in water.
Sounds like my old abarth 500 🙂
add insult to injury people buy parts on the web then expect him to fit them.
Nothing wrong with that. The shops I’ve used have never had an issue either.
My LBS are openly happy to do it. They get business without the need to stock 57 different varieties of BB/pads/axle/chainring/headset.
I hadn’t realised this was how the water was getting in! I had just assumed the swat door wasn’t weather proof!
Its going to be a contributing source without doubt!
as there is no sealing on where the cables enter the frame
Water is a very good penetrator and this is one reason I feel that frames which route cables through the frame are a bad engineering choice despite looking good.
I currently volunteer at a charity 'bike shop'. I think its the best place for £100 bso types. Our labour is free (although untrained) and parts are scavenged from old wrecks. As a day to day existence, we get recovered bikes from the local police, get them working (somehow!) and sell on for about £50-100. We also do repairs but I couldn't see this being economic if we had lbs overheads.
Im time poor so use my LBS to do jobs I could do but dont have the time.
Back in the summer they did my headset bearings then I picked it up and went for a nice evening ride. Within a 100 yards my dropper post stuck in the down position. Great for training but bloody hard work.
Just as I loaded the bike back into the van thinking I'd have to send the dropper off to get it fixed, I spotted something sticking out of the remote hose. Turns out it was a staple. They had stapled the receipt for the repair round the dropper hose and somehow managed to stick it in the actual hose.
I took it back the next day, pointed it out to the chap who probably did it and asked for it to be fixed. To give them credit the took a hose off a new bike on display and had it all sorted for me that afternoon. No charge, so I didnt mind too much.
I did suggest it must have taken some considerable effort to actually get the staple in the hose. The bloke had a look on his face that suggested he knew exactly how much effort it took.
I currently volunteer at a charity ‘bike shop’. I think its the best place for £100 bso types. Our labour is free (although untrained) and parts are scavenged from old wrecks. As a day to day existence, we get recovered bikes from the local police, get them working (somehow!) and sell on for about £50-100. We also do repairs but I couldn’t see this being economic if we had lbs overheads.
Great idea, can I ask where?
In Newtown, Powys. Hopefully about to get accredited so we can do some proper training.