(Rant) How do you find a good mechanic...

[screenman]

Fixing my car without £10,000 worth of computor software would be a tad difficult, fixing a bike is as simple as life gets. I could point you in the direction of a few top notch cycle mechanics around this area, the only bad one's I have come across work in two large stores.

 

[Roscoe]

I would love to have the confidence to work on my bikes, however, whenever I give it a go, something usually tends to go wrong or I'm simply not able to do it or see a way to do it. I do look at You Tube/Reference books, but I never seem to get it right.

Don't get me wrong, I can take the wheels off, change the brake blocks, take off the chain, fix a puncture etc all simple stuff. Indexing gears? Hit and miss. Cable changes? Not confident enough. Same with removing the cassette. Not confident

I'm trying 2 different LBS at the moment to see what they're like, given up on the one I was using for a few years as I'm never happy with the work.

Recent work I've had to pay for which I should probably be able to do myself: new headset on the old road bike and had the rear bearings stripped and repacked on the old mountain bike.

 

[Smurfy]

Pretty much exactly how i think! I dont trust other peoples work no matter how good they are rated, i didnt see what they did so will never have 100 percent faith, they could have forgot something or had a bad day, atleast if i did it myself i know how it was done and can trust it.

If I was employed by a LBS, I'd be a loss maker, as they'd never make money on repairs with the amount of time I take carefully disassembling and cleaning everything. It is simply not possible for them to work to the same standard as I do, without charging much more, so I do it myself.

 

[fossyant]

I blame the golfers

 

[cyberknight]

I blame the golfers

Well they are all "four!" one and one" four!" all

 

[KneesUp]

Looking at what you said in your OP, £25 to replace a inner rear gear cable that's just ridiculous, I would replace one for a fiver.

But do you do it as a business, in business premises paying rent and business rates, and VAT, and National Insurance and income tax and public liability insurance and so on?

Lets assume you ran a bike shop. I'd imagine most of your income would come from repairs rather than sales because you wouldn't be able to price match the bigger companies. And running a bike shop is stressful and high risk, so you'd want to earn a decent amount. So let's say you want to earn £25k a year from the repairs side of the business, and you spend 30hours per week doing the repairs (and the rest of the time doing the books, serving customers, answering the phone, selling bikes, ordering stock etc)

That means you need to earn £16.66 per hour doing repairs just to earn your £25k. You need to add to that the cost of your rent, rates, utilities, insurance, VAT etc.

Which all of a sudden makes £25 to supply and fit a gear cable inner (and, I suspect, clean out the outers) seem not so bad to me.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Talk to them, discuss the work you want done. I don't include quizzing them on the latest models of bikes from various manufacturers ... I don't care about that - I just care about my bike and the work I want done.

Then if I get a good feeling, that they understand what I want done and the parts I want used, I ask how much it will cost.

I do most of my own work, but if it's a big job or I'm short of time or whatever, or if it involves things I can't do (eg wheel building/truing) then I use my LBS and I don't expect them to give their time for free/peanuts.

I guess I'm lucky that I have a good local shop.

 

[Nigeyy]

Really. Really. This.

I have had equally pretty dreadful and expensive work from the old-school LBS and the flashy big High Street chains alike.

If you want it done correctly, take the time to study the books, watch YouTube and ask around here.....and do the work yourself. At least you can buy the components online at discount and won't be charged top dollar by the shop.

 

[Globalti]

You can't make a living from repairing bikes, I know because I tried it once and I know an LBS owner who is struggling because nobody buys parts from him, they just buy online and ask him to fit.

Not only that but repairing bikes is boring, dispiriting work, especially when somebody brings you a bike in a filthy neglected condition and expects you to make it right for them then moans about the cost.

So good, well-motivated bike mechanics are far and few between. If you find a good one, be prepared to pay realistic money.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Not only that but repairing bikes is boring, dispiriting work, especially when somebody brings you a bike in a filthy neglected condition and expects you to make it right for them then moans about the cost.

A mate owned a bike shop about 25 years back. His moan was along those lines, somebody bringing in a bag of nails with everything worn out and wanting it made good but with a maximum of twenty quid cost.

 

[Globalti]

Breakage and fair wear & tear are fine but wilful neglect or deliberate damage really boils my wee. It's disrespectful to the machine and the people who created it.

 

[Tojo]

But do you do it as a business, in business premises paying rent and business rates, and VAT, and National Insurance and income tax and public liability insurance and so on?

Lets assume you ran a bike shop. I'd imagine most of your income would come from repairs rather than sales because you wouldn't be able to price match the bigger companies. And running a bike shop is stressful and high risk, so you'd want to earn a decent amount. So let's say you want to earn £25k a year from the repairs side of the business, and you spend 30hours per week doing the repairs (and the rest of the time doing the books, serving customers, answering the phone, selling bikes, ordering stock etc)

That means you need to earn £16.66 per hour doing repairs just to earn your £25k. You need to add to that the cost of your rent, rates, utilities, insurance, VAT etc.

Which all of a sudden makes £25 to supply and fit a gear cable inner (and, I suspect, clean out the outers) seem not so bad to me.

Glad you've Had you're rant. I will be going into business in the cycle industry, but not setting up shop, I will be mobile and giving customers, a service not a fu* k up the ars* and paying for my property rental......if you are that close to the knuckle ditch it now and do not have the worry, and by the way if i was only earning 25k a year having a retail outlet I would be getting out, as I have worked in an industry that paid me more than that month.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Fixing my car without £10,000 worth of computor software would be a tad difficult, fixing a bike is as simple as life gets. I could point you in the direction of a few top notch cycle mechanics around this area, the only bad one's I have come across work in two large stores.

I don't imagine its that simple. It must cost a pretty penny to tool up for a bike repair business. Specialist tools for things like reaming and facing, checking hanger alignment, wheel building, specialist spanners and extractors for all of the different types of BB and freewheel/hub the market, plus normal tools like torque wrenches and so on. All pro quality so they don't wear out. Maybe not £10k worth, but it all adds up.

 

[oldroadman]

If you need someone to change a tyre (mentioned somewhere) then expect to get well charged. Why when it's easy to do? Or is it, if you don't know a simple thing like that here's an idea. JOIN A PROPER CYCLING CLUB! This will have experienced old hands who can help you along, will know where to go for complex jobs, should be able to help/show how routine maintenance and repairs get done. It's what we all used to do in the past, and learned well from the experience.

 

[mjr]

You can also join a Bike User Group or Cycle Campaign Group. Mechanical experience and knowledge of local shops is not limited to cycling clubs. In fact, many of them don't know how to patch a puncture without removing the wheel - they just take the wheel off and throw tons of tubes away