For the first time in forever- I have set myself some goals for the year of 2014 (8 goals to be specific, of which 4 of them are cycling related). One of them is to lose 10kg before the Argus, and with 7.5kgs down, I’d say I am well on my way. The most interesting of the 8 is “Work in a bicycle shop”. To put this in perspective: I am 28 years old, reasonably qualified, blessed with a good job and a salary that meets my needs most of the time (for now). Due to the nature of my work, I am always the client and I am always right- seeing as the mining house I work for is one of the biggest in the world and comes down on service providers with the full force of their wallet. So needless to say, customer relations is NOT one of my qualities. On 10 January I started as a appy weekend mechanic in one of the top 10 Bike Shops in SA (according to Bicycling mag 2012) with a minimum wage and a mouth full of humble pie. Now I won’t say I’m useless with a tool here and there, but my idea with the bike shop was to learn and understand the thing that I’m riding. Much like Giniel de Villiers knows his vehicle and how to push it. But I digress, the reason for writing this is to make all the “ranters” with the “bike shop blues” aware of the situation that these shops operate in. The shop (can’t call it “our shop” seeing as I’m a temp) prides itself in treating everyone the same, whether you’re there for a valve cap of new Epic S-Works. It might sound silly, but the shop got started with low income customers buying spare tubes and tyres and patch kits for dikwiele and 40year old roadbikes, and the owner therefore refuses to change his strategy. As mechanics- NO ONE is out to stuff up your bike, that’s pointless- but the guys do make mistakes, I’ve made countless in the few days I’ve worked there. Some shops refuse to admit it though- and I understand the frustration some clients have. BUT prancing into the shop with your top of the range (insert make and model) and expecting it to be repaired immediately because you spend (insert amount here) cannot work every time. Bikes are SCHEDULED for services, and only x-amount per day can be serviced. Is your afternoon ride worth more than John Gardener who uses his “piece of scrap” (not my point of view- but general feeling) for commuting every single day? If he brought in his bike first- the NO, it most certainly is NOT. To some up: have respect for the persons working on your bike, they try their best. If you feel you do not get the same kind of respect back- discuss it with the manager. If this fails, LEAVE the shop and find a better shop- there are LOTS of guys who give amazing service. And even if you are getting great service like me for the past 3 years, it’s NEVER a bad idea to learn how to fix your own ride- you never know when you might need it most. Thanks for reading this far. I might throw in a version #2 of “what the LBS has taught me” in a coupl’a weeks.
