Cycle shops doing drop in tweaks??

[Spinney]

When I wanted to change the pedals on my bike I couldn't undo the old ones - the LBS got their big spanner out and losened it for me. They have also given free advice on whether tyres need replacing yet etc. But I go in there for all my little bits (brake blocks etc) and have bought a cheapy bike off them and also paid them for servicing in the past.

My local garage (back street, owner grimy, office in a portakabin) has taken a quick look at things on my car when I have just driven round. Even did so for a friend (who has never been there for car fettling) when she was concerned about her suspension. But I get my car serviced there regularly.

I suspect being a regular customer makes a big difference.

 

[yello]

Whereas in France at three different branches of Decathlon, I have had instant service at their service sections when things have needed attention on my bike. Most impressive.

You could be benefiting from 'stranger in a strange land' sort of thing. It may well happen if a Frenchman on tour in the UK wondered into a Evans with a problem. And I can understand that too, it's not like you can come back next week!

I'd never expect a shop to sort me out there and then, though it'd be great if they did, but then almost by definition if it were a job that needed booking in it'd be one I could do myself. Fortunately, I've never needed the emergency repair.

That said, once, touring on my motorcycle, the chain became slack. No way could I undo the axle nut with the tools I had (basically, the ones supplied with the bike) so I went into a bike shop. The mechanic literally walked away from the bike he was working on to sort me out there and then, and spray some lube on the chain too. Pleased I was to say the least. I gave him €10, which he initially tried to wave away, but it was easily worth that to me.

 

[Paulus]

My LBS is quite obliging, if they can fit small jobs in on the day they will. They have just taken on a second mechanic as they are at bursting point with work.

 

[uphillstruggler]

I have a couple that I use near to me which will do just that. On one occasion I limped in on the way to work with a headset problem and they lent me a bike to get to work on. They replaced the offending item and even hung on and waited 30 mins after closing time for me to get back to them to collect my bike.

i would have thought that service like that warrants the name of the shop.

 

[Hilldodger]

And you also get

"Can you fix my bike for me and I'll collect later - it'll be about 6.30"

"But we close at 5.30"

"Couldn't you hang on until I get here?"

 

[Moodyman]

I knew nothing about bike maintenance 3 years ago but it was the very thing that Fnaar describes that made me think...sod 'em I'll learn to do it myself.

No local shop seemed to be able to do simple things for days and then, I had to leave the bike there.

As my bike was used for Mon-Fri commuting, this wasn't an option. So I gradually bought the tools and learnt to do it all.

Yes, it was frustrating at times, notably indexing the gears, truing a wheel or servicing the hubs, but once learnt, these skills are priceless.

I can now service my hub at 11pm ahead of the morning's commute. No LBS can do that for me.

 

[summerdays]

And you also get

"Can you fix my bike for me and I'll collect later - it'll be about 6.30"

"But we close at 5.30"

"Couldn't you hang on until I get here?"

You should reply yes but that will be an extra.... what ever figure you want to charge

 

[Mr Phoebus]

Just wondering really.... a couple of times I've called into bike shops 'on spec' when passing by, and asked for a quick tweak (

)

You should do your own tweaks.


You can sit on your hand till it goes numb then it'll feel like someone else is tweaking.

 

[Fiona N]

You should do your own tweaks.

But I tried to - slightly loose bottom bracket, didn't have the correct BB tool so went to the bike shop which about 2 months ago 'sorted' a front derailleur problem (wouldn't drop chain onto the small ring of a triple even if you removed the lower limit screw) by adding a spacer to the BB. I've never had a loose BB before and tended to attribute it to the fettling with the spacer. But anyway, the shop didn't have the tool I needed and, despite the mechanic being stood doing nothing, they didn't say, let's just take a look at it - I had to book the bike in for the following Monday. Unlike the other bike shop in town where, if I take a bike in, they usually do the work while I go shopping so it's ready to collect in an hour so no inconvenience at all.

ANyway, I take the bike in first thing Monday monring hoping to pick it up shortly and the mechanic says, it'll be ready this evening. So I have to get home and come back 8 hours later - for tightening a BB!

Anyway, I realise they have the new mtb disk wheels I wanted, so it's convenient to take those - @£200 - as I'll be going home by bus and come back just before closing. I arrive to pick up the bike and get charged £17 for tightening a BB which, if I'd had the tool, I could have done myself in 10 minutes. Allow 20 mins, and that's still £50 an hour. Not bad going.

Needless to say, I didn't get my new disks brakes, levers, block and chains from them. I ordered the brakes online and went to the other bike shop for the new block and a pair of new chains along with the cables, levers and whatnot to do the job - along with a BB tool for £9. Should have gone there first.

Now I don't expect the bike shops to drop what they're doing when I walk in nor do I expect them to fettle things for nothing (although the second bike shop often doesn't charge for small jobs if I've bought something at the same time - which is usually) but a bit of give and take would be nice when I do try to spread my custom across the two businesses and only use internet/Evans/Wheelbase for items where I expect they'll have to order in.

 

[Oldgit]

Haven't used it myself as I can usually manage the small tweaks but London Fields Cycles offers a drop in service from 8.00am for cables, brakes etc.

 

[vernon]

I've just remembered my ultimate 'tweak on demand'

When doing my LEJOG six or so years ago, the rear derailleur side drop out fractured at 19:00 on a Friday night in Chorley. I rang a cyclist who lived in Preston that i'd met four days earlier in Bristol an dhe turned up with his car, collected me and my bike and deposited me at the home of Bill Nickson, bike shop owner and last English winner of the Milk Race.

My bike was sorted and brazed up within twenty five minutes and Bill refused any payment as he was unwilling to give any form of guarantee on the repair and asked me to make a donation to an air ambulance service of my choice should the bike get me to John O' Groats.

What a man!

 

[dellzeqq]

'Can you just'? syndrome. The rent clock, the wages bill and the electricity meter don't pause for the 'five minutes' it takes to 'tweak' something. Every bike shop gets it - and so do plumbers and other tradespeople. 'Can you just?'.........A bike shop worker's day is full of 'Can you just?' merchants. You don't see these people from one years end to the next then the sun comes out and they're all wandering in expecting 'tweaks'.

I'm afraid that mickle is right. Repairs have to pay their way - and I would contend that most bicycle shops, my brother's included charge far too little for repairs. An efficient repair shop is one that has time for a bit of forward thinking, and can order jobs so that stands are used continuously. Stopping and starting doesn't pay the bills. And, given the rent and cost of maintaining a workshop, plus the cost of taking the bike in and handing it back, a minimum charge of £15 seems to me to be pretty reasonable.

I'm always reminded of James McNeil Whistler. He sued the art critic Ruskin for libel. At one point the Holker, Ruskin's lawyer asked Whistler....

"Did it take you much time to paint the Nocturne in Black and Gold? How soon did you knock it off?"

Whistler: "Oh, I 'knock one off' possibly in a couple of days - one day to do the work and another to finish it..." [the painting measures 24 3/4 x 18 3/8 inches]

Holker: "The labour of two days is that for which you ask two hundred guineas?"

Whistler: "No, I ask it for the knowledge I have gained in the work of a lifetime."



http://www.andrewgra.../readArticle/49

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Some shops have a window - bring something in during the first hour of the day and you will probably get it seen to straight away. Luciano's in Clapham Junction does repairs on the spot, but you may have to queue.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

my lbs (bikes of macclesfield) have often done free bits and pieces (usually when all that is needed is a tighten/loosen with a tool i don't have) there and then. i do, of course, always offer to pay anyway. perhaps because i go in for bits and pieces (often for the kids' bikes) and enjoy a chat with the owner i enjoy this service but, in fairness, i've never seen anyone else told that they can't do a job within a day or so anyway.

i try never to bother them on a saturday though, but they've been known to open early so i can drop a bike off on the way to work.

i wonder how they've stayed in business so long…

 

[Chilternrides]

I have had a few small on the spot tweaks in my local shop from time to time, and even if they do not charge, I prefer to buy something in return (brake blocks, tin of lube etc.) something that I may not need immediately, but will use over time. Just feels right to do that.

 

[bobg]

I walk past my local LBS at least twice a day and more often than not pop in and make a brew. There never seem to be less than 3 customers in the shop and I estimate a backlog of a minimum of 50 bikes out the back waiting for repair. ( probably cos he charges £15 for a full service" ) I reckon that during my 20 minute visits at least 2 people will come in with a "can you just" and quite often it's "can you just pump my tyres up". The owner is also the only mechanic and he helps everyone with a smile, quite often not charging for "5 minute " jobs... which is why he's regularly still there at midnight and many a time starts at 5 in the morning...