Keep or Return?

[bonj2]

This is exactly why I want to go on a maintenance course - to give me the confidence of doing it myself! I'm one of those people that needs to be shown how to do stuff, really struggle with picking it up from books, so till I have properly learnt how to do it, unfortunatley I will continue in my overreliance on bike shops....

hmmm... well, can't argue with that.

Where i'm coming from is that, for me, fxing a bike is usually so simple that it makes me, if not angry, at least hot-headed, the way bike shops peddle the term "full service", latching on to people's propensity to believe that 'cos it's necessary on a car, it's necessary to get your bike "serviced" by a professional aswell.

to be honest if you're going on a long organised bike ride to holland with lots of other people then it may be a good opportunity to pick things up - don't expect them to all be expert mechanics and you the numpty. There may well be situations where somebody's got a mechanical problem and doesn't know what to do, and has got to the stage where they would far rather somebody 'had a go' at fixing it than not, even if they don't know what they're doing, in a chance they'll get it right, you may get a chance to muck in. Alternatively somebody might know exactly what to do and you can watch them, discuss it with them or help them, so try and make the most of such incidences if they crop up. hopefully they won't - but you never know....

 

[punkypossum]

Ah, you see, but even the organisers recommended having the bikes professionally serviced before setting off!!!

 

[bonj2]

Ah, you see, but even the organisers recommended having the bikes professionally serviced before setting off!!!

and what do you infer from that?

 

[punkypossum]

Nothing really, but it implies that they a) expect most of us not to have a clue about bikes and we would therefore be better of letting someone else have a look at them, and that the "shop reliance" is a rather wide spread sympton - not that that makes it a good thing, before I get another lecture - but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person on this planet that is slightly terrifed of fiddling with her bike (justified or not)

 

[summerdays]

Nothing really, but it implies that they a) expect most of us not to have a clue about bikes and we would therefore be better of letting someone else have a look at them, and that the "shop reliance" is a rather wide spread sympton - not that that makes it a good thing, before I get another lecture - but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person on this planet that is slightly terrifed of fiddling with her bike (justified or not)

Me - waves her hand high in the air.

Bonj, some people aren't mechanically minded.... as a kid I always used to make it worse half the time... I remember my Dad telling me how to wire a plug before going to uni, but telling me I couldn't do it up tight enough so to get someone else to do it for me. I also remember that I couldn't really cook too - that used to end up in the bin.... well now 20+ years on I consider myself a reasonable cook who rarely has any prepackaged food.

Bringing it back to the bike it will take me a while to build up the confidence to tackle anything major on the bike. I now have the two bikes so have lost one reason (being that I couldn't afford to mess up my means of transport to work) - so I am going to tackle the chain/cassette replacement .... soon. I have 2 books - Haynes which I don't rate, and Mel Allwood's - the Complete Bike, but I might also invest in the Park Tools one just to have it nearby when doing the work.

I guess I won't know definately whether I've got it right or wrong - I'll worry that I will have missed something obvious to someone with more experience.

By popping into my LBS they have been helpful... pointing out........ that I needed to lubricate cables, clean the rims, that the rims were worn etc. When I'm in there I'm usually asking questions and gleaning information from them.

Ask me in 20 years whether I can service my bike

(Wouldn't the LBS's disappear if it wasn't for people taking bikes in for services etc)

 

[bonj2]

Nothing really, but it implies that they a) expect most of us not to have a clue about bikes and we would therefore be better of letting someone else have a look at them, and that the "shop reliance" is a rather wide spread sympton - not that that makes it a good thing, before I get another lecture - but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person on this planet that is slightly terrifed of fiddling with her bike (justified or not)

What it means, punky, is that they're trying to cover their own arses.
The above may well have a large element of truth in it, but that's the crux of the matter and the answer I was looking for.

Me - waves her hand high in the air.

Bonj, some people aren't mechanically minded.... as a kid I always used to make it worse half the time... I remember my Dad telling me how to wire a plug before going to uni, but telling me I couldn't do it up tight enough so to get someone else to do it for me. I also remember that I couldn't really cook too - that used to end up in the bin.... well now 20+ years on I consider myself a reasonable cook who rarely has any prepackaged food.

Bringing it back to the bike it will take me a while to build up the confidence to tackle anything major on the bike. I now have the two bikes so have lost one reason (being that I couldn't afford to mess up my means of transport to work) - so I am going to tackle the chain/cassette replacement .... soon. I have 2 books - Haynes which I don't rate, and Mel Allwood's - the Complete Bike, but I might also invest in the Park Tools one just to have it nearby when doing the work.

I guess I won't know definately whether I've got it right or wrong - I'll worry that I will have missed something obvious to someone with more experience.

By popping into my LBS they have been helpful... pointing out........ that I needed to lubricate cables, clean the rims, that the rims were worn etc. When I'm in there I'm usually asking questions and gleaning information from them.

Ask me in 20 years whether I can service my bike

But the whole point of what I'm trying to say is you don't NEED to be mechanically minded to fix a bike like you do a car...

(Wouldn't the LBS's disappear if it wasn't for people taking bikes in for services etc)

No, they'd make their living off selling products instead, in fact they'd probably make more profit as they wouldn't have to explain things to numpties over and over again employ as many staff.

 

[summerdays]

No, they'd make their living off selling products instead, in fact they'd probably make more profit as they wouldn't have to explain things to numpties over and over again employ as many staff.

Yes but salesmen can sell products ... (isn't that what Halfords do) ... if its someone who is a bike mechanic at least he might be able to discuss how to fit it, the benifits of that one over the rival etc.

 

[Maz]

PunkyP...whatever you decide to do with those tyres (sell or keep them), don't beat yourself up about having paid for the bike service. It's just not worth dwelling on these things. At least you've got your bike sorted - now you can enjoy the ride...