Opinions please

Yes the park tool spanner works very well and is only £20
But that’s not what we use , you can’t open a brand new packet off te shelf to lend out

Socket fitting bb tool allow you to use a torque wrench rather than just doing it up as tight as you can

99% of the time it’s not a 2 hour job but Somtimes it is

Im a mechanic, and from years of experience I never lend tools.

As for the rider having to push his bike 20 miles home, well thats just bad planning.

When ever I am on a ride I always plan for worse case scenario, and because I don’t want to carry loads of bits and tools with me I carry a credit card, worse case if the bike breaks and I cant carry on riding I get a taxi or a train, simples.

It annoys me that people who fail to plan then blame others for there stupidity.

My opinion? It’s totally clear from this thread that there’s a big difference in what some of us think is acceptable and what is not. That’s not going to change. Personally I think it’s reasonable for an lbs to say no to customers who ask to borrow tools. It’s unreasonable for customers to expect the lbs to drop everything to sort their problems. However these are generalisations and I’d hope and expect we don’t have to have “rules”.

I do however think that the lbs in this thread did not handle the situation well at all…or the OP is not telling us the full story.

Yep, there’s two distinct camps here. Experienced spannermen who have been there, done that, and realise that by lending out tools there’s a risk(s) involved. Then you have the guys who expect a bike shop to bend over backwards, because they’re the only customer in the world.

If i was in the OPs shoes, i’d be a bit pi55ed off, but would also realise that the guys has his reasons for not lending out, and they are very valid.

I’ve borrowed and lent tools (i don’t have much of a collecting or much spannering ability) and most i’ve given or got back, some returned to me in pieces. I’ll still happily lend tools out to mates or strangers in need, but my livelihood doesn’t depend on it. If it did, I might, but only if it wasn’t an inconvenience (like being busy) and the borrower looked like he knew what he was doing (no proof in this instance).

I can only assume that those who have suggested the LBS guy was being unreasonable sit behind a desk for a living

You are not very imaginative then.
Perhaps they just like helping folk – do you want some more suggestions or will that one do
Think it all depends tbh on what they offer in exchange/deposit for the loan etc. Would have been nice of the shop to do this but they are perfectly within their rights to be unhelpful after someone in need has bought a part from them.

mooman – Member

yep – easy to see why lbs is in decline.

Yep – it’s easy to see that you have worked on a limited range of bikes. When you have removed / installed hundreds of BBs over a 20+ year period you’ll see that while 90% of BB jobs are easy, the remaining 10% (generally the neglected bikes that explode mid-ride….) are a complete time suck.

All I am seeing here from the moaners is the usual sense of entitlement. The OP still hasn’t mentioned if his friend offered anything (beer / tool deposit etc…) in return for borrowing tools, or he just wanted something for nothing….

Wow, what happened to human decency. What is the LBS doing with the tool if they can’t fix something as simple as a BB? It’s a 5 minute job whichever way you cut it and could be done there and then by the rider without taking tools out of the shop or away from the premises. My LBS has a policy of fitting parts for free if you buy them from them. If he was that bothered about a tool breaking or going missing he could have always taken a deposit for it, and if it did go missing and was needed for another job later in the day – well he’s got his own bike shop so should have one in stock. No wonder people are so grumpy these days with so little basic humanity going round – it just breeds apathy.

I would expect a certain LBS in Mill St. to take a fairly hard line on tool lending, eh Will?

Wow, what happened to human decency?

It got murdered by people asking to borrow tools.
(For the record I would have fitted it unless I was being bummed in the face with jobs)

Double edged sword this one..

FFS. The issue is not entitlement. Just because we’ve not all worked in bike shops 🙄 it doesn’t mean we are not allowed an opinion.
The main point is that this fellow biker was 20 miles from home. The shop guy knew this, sold him a BB then refused to help him out. For the record, I do not consider it good form to walk into a bike shop and expect to be lent tools. This case was an exception and any decent person would have helped the bloke out (with the proviso that the OPs story is indeed true).

When ever I am on a ride I always plan for worse case scenario, and because I don’t want to carry loads of bits and tools with me I carry a credit card, worse case if the bike breaks and I cant carry on riding I get a taxi or a train, simples

Good luck around here with that.

Here’s a typical scenario – and this is pretty much verbatim:

I’m in the workshop, building something – because it’s me, it’ll be something complicated and very expensive, so not something I can stop working on or put off.

Person comes in with a story about having a puncture. I sell him an inner tube. He asks if I can fit it for him, I say no, I’m very busy (and don’t point out the big sign on the door saying I don’t repair normal bikes). Okay, can I borrow some tools? Sure – I hand him some tyre levers, and ask if he needs a spanner. I don’t know, he replies. Oh oh. Okay, hand him a 15mm spanner just in case, and off he trots. Two minutes later, he reappears and says that the spanner is the wrong size. I doubt it, but hand him a 13, 14 and 17 as well to cover all possibilities. Two minutes later, he reappears and S&S the wheel isn’t coming off for some reason. So have to stop what I’m doing and go disconnect his brake cable for him. Leave him to it again. He gets the wheel off and tyre off too, but pinches the new tube with the tyre levers puttingit back on.

Etc etc…

Other than the discussion on the general principle of lending out tools it would be interesting to actually know what the problem was and what tool/s were required but the OP doesn’t appear to have revisited the thread…

bencooper – Member
Here’s a typical scenario – and this is pretty much verbatim:
I’m in the workshop….etc,etc,etc,etc..

No, seriously bro, I feel your pain.

I would expect a certain LBS in Mill St. to take a fairly hard line on tool lending, eh Will?

Ha yes….

For the record, our (huge busy) store has basic tools that can be borrowed at the main customer service desk, thankfully far away from the repair shop. Probably not BB tools though for reasons mentioned a million times now. We also offer maintenance clinics twice a week (so people don’t end up in the same position as the guy in this thread….), and have so far this year given $15,000 for a trail maintenance project. And that’s before we even start on our existing trail project that we were working on last year. We will be giving away approx $500,000 in community grants this year (how much are CRC giving away?). But nope, sorry we are waaaaaaaay to busy to have people cluttering up the shop fixing their own bikes by the Service Writer desk.

Sorry I am confused.

How can you go out on a bike ride and be surprised when anything more than a chain or a spoke snap/ break fail?

BB’s don’t suddenly die. I have seen people surprised by free hubs though I guess.

Also what was your worst case scenario. Sit matey in the pub, finish the ride and pick him up later?!?

And why buy something without asking before whether the mechanic could fit or you could borrow tools.

So OP’s mate is not very good!?!