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

[screenman]

Tojo, say I live 10 miles from you and want a broken gear cable changed, how much will you charge for that?

 

[KneesUp]

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.

your

You sound very angry about something.

I said that you'd want to make at least £25k from the repairs, and more from sales. Perhaps you missed that because of your red-mist?

Good luck earning lots more than £25k fixing bikes out of the back of a van.

 

[Sara_H]

My bike mechanic is fab. Good work, reasonably priced. Very nice chaps too.

Bike Rehab in Sheffield city centre if anyone's interested.

 

[bpsmith]

My mechanic is still learning. He's a bit slow, but extremely thorough and has OCD in getting the detail perfect. Can't rest until it's perfect. Is always available and doesn't charge at all. Shops around for best prices online and makes no profit on parts. Buys the right tools as and when needed also.

I am far from experienced but just love doing the above for myself. :-)

 

[vickster]

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.

I can change a tyre but I derive no enjoyment, I get frustrated and I can afford to pay someone to do it. So that is what I have chosen to do in the past. Equally when I've had time and inclination I have changed tyres

In life, I have zero interest in anything technical or mechanical ultimately so I'd rather spend my limited time on this earth doing stuff that either provides satisfaction or enjoyment or financial payback. Bike maintenance falls into neither camp I'm afraid, as does decorating, gardening and DIY

I don't want to join a cycling club either. I'd rather ride alone or with friends where there is no pressure to keep up with others, I don't wish to inconvenience anyone by not being slow, wanting a break, an impromptu coffee or whatever

 

[Drago]

Workshop, bike on stand, cup of tea on standby, cigar smouldering in the ashtray, Jethro Full on the vibes. Bliss.

 

[bpsmith]

@vickster 's reply is the total opposite to mine...but I totally get that too!

I can afford to pay others to do it, but I miss out on the enjoyment more than the cash element. The cash saving is then a bonus.

Whatever does it for you, as long as we don't chastise others if they have a different view.

 

[Smokin Joe]

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.

By far the best way to learn not only about bikes but how to ride safely and efficiently a group. However, the ratio of cycling enthusiasts who belong to a club has fallen from close to 100% forty or fifty years ago to only a handful now - as can be seen by the appalling riding standards evident on most sportives.

 

[oldroadman]

By far the best way to learn not only about bikes but how to ride safely and efficiently a group. However, the ratio of cycling enthusiasts who belong to a club has fallen from close to 100% forty or fifty years ago to only a handful now - as can be seen by the appalling riding standards evident on most sportives.

I couldn't agree more with the last statement. Having (gently) tried to offer advice to one or two "new riders" on expensive kit but with little idea of common sense or etiquette, let alone half decent riding skills, to be told to "F off old man" by an all-the-gear-no-idea merchant who then causes crashes in a slowish sportive, I give up, and just give them a wide berth. Perhaps I'm just too immersed in a culture that's been a lifetime thing?

 

[Dogtrousers]

the ratio of cycling enthusiasts who belong to a club has fallen from close to 100% forty or fifty years ago to only a handful now

I can't speak for 40-50 years ago but 30-40 years ago my experience has been quite the opposite. In the 70s and 80s I and my friends were fairly enthusiastic about cycling, (touring, long country rides) but we never dreamed of joining a club. Clubs in those days (to my memory) were racing only. I didn't have the athletic ability, the fancy bike, or the competitive/sporting mindset to join a club. I only knew one bloke who rode with a club, and he was a leg-shaving weirdo (and a genuine athlete).. But fast forward to my MAMIL cycling experience clubs are much more inclusive and not necessarily purely about racing. I'm now a member of two (one of them being the Fridays)

That's just my experience, and of course it may be entirely unrepresentative.

 

[mjr]

I don't want to join a cycling club either. I'd rather ride alone or with friends where there is no pressure to keep up with others, I don't wish to inconvenience anyone by not being slow, wanting a break, an impromptu coffee or whatever

Freewheeling groups don't apply pressure, are slow, stop for breaks (today's oddest was so someone could read a notice up a stonedust road) and extra drinks. If you don't want to, fine, but please leave the ill-informed prejudice out.

 

[Tojo]

your

You sound very angry about something.

I said that you'd want to make at least £25k from the repairs, and more from sales. Perhaps you missed that because of your red-mist?

Good luck earning lots more than £25k fixing bikes out of the back of a van.

I now do not to need to earn anywhere like that figure so i'll be ok.....

 

[vickster]

Freewheeling groups don't apply pressure, are slow, stop for breaks (today's oddest was so someone could read a notice up a stonedust road) and extra drinks. If you don't want to, fine, but please leave the ill-informed prejudice out.

It's hardly prejudice, I just don't want to ride in a group, most clubs around here are more sport oriented and the CTC for example locally go out in the week when I am working. I've done sky rides, marshalled local LCC rides, but don't want to be involved in a club

If others want to, that's their prerogative, we are all different

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Freewheeling groups don't apply pressure, are slow, stop for breaks (today's oddest was so someone could read a notice up a stonedust road)

Well I never!
The Belles on Bikes are a "Freewheeling club"

 

[mjr]

Well I never!
The Belles on Bikes are a "Freewheeling club"

I've stolen the term from Freewheeling Abingdon, but it sums up the ethos, don't you think? To us, any downhill is a chance to freewheel, while some clubs view it as a chance to get their average speed up.