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Insane price for a bike wash.


karlito

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Posted

R15k a month???

Can I come work your side please? 

 

:lol:

 

Under dude uuunnnndddeeeer  :devil:

 

Ahhh cycling industry - where passion and income collide!

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Posted

Hourly rate is a tough one - nobody bats an eye (or perhaps they do but don't complain) about car agents selling their technician's time at R500-600/hour. Try that for a bicycle and people have a melt down.

 

This is where the SA industry is half pregnant. People want R600/hour service at R100/hour rate.

 

Until the rate increases and shops can afford "real" mechanics there is going to be a disconnect between service offering and service expectation.

 

There are some awesome mechanics out there but keeping awesome mechanics is tough when the monthly pay is under (estimate) R15k/month. That kind of money is fine for students and youngsters but not enough to buy a house and feed a family. So the trend is to have poor mechanics or students working in bike shops.

 

Self fulfilling prophecy....

The bits I highlighted is what will prove my point....my post although the perfect solution in a pipe dream was actually made to prove exactly this point.....for Rouxtjie to get what he wants it will have to go down to an hourly rate....for people to stomach this....they need to appreciate skill and time...I have no inclination of working on my own bike or becoming a "home repair" guy....firstly I understand that experience and skill will always beat me hands down....I also find it absurd to invest in tools to do said jobs especially when my skill is nowhere near a level it should be....on a slight tangent....I see this type of behaviour amongst South Africans very often...every guy is an expert on every level...I was chatting to a youngster who claims to be a "great guitar player" in his opinion....being a fan of Mark Knoplfer I played him a song and asked him what he thought of the guitar playing...his response "not bad he plays quite well"

This I saw as an insult to the skill and mastery of Knopfler but I kept my feelings to myself and responded with "where would you place yourself with this guy in comparison" his answer "I would say I am up there".....Ja right......point I am trying to make...the really good and skilful guys are great at what they do...we are all skilled in our respective fields......but when it comes to our hobby being cycling....we want to treat the skilled bike guys as if they are cheap labour.....

Posted

The bits I highlighted is what will prove my point...

 

Crazy tangent mini rant: Why do you need to prove a point? Thehub should be a place where opinions are aired and info is swapped - not a "I wanna win this debate" style place...

Posted

The bits I highlighted is what will prove my point....my post although the perfect solution in a pipe dream was actually made to prove exactly this point.....for Rouxtjie to get what he wants it will have to go down to an hourly rate....for people to stomach this....they need to appreciate skill and time...I have no inclination of working on my own bike or becoming a "home repair" guy....firstly I understand that experience and skill will always beat me hands down....I also find it absurd to invest in tools to do said jobs especially when my skill is nowhere near a level it should be....on a slight tangent....I see this type of behaviour amongst South Africans very often...every guy is an expert on every level...I was chatting to a youngster who claims to be a "great guitar player" in his opinion....being a fan of Mark Knoplfer I played him a song and asked him what he thought of the guitar playing...his response "not bad he plays quite well"

This I saw as an insult to the skill and mastery of Knopfler but I kept my feelings to myself and responded with "where would you place yourself with this guy in comparison" his answer "I would say I am up there".....Ja right......point I am trying to make...the really good and skilful guys are great at what they do...we are all skilled in our respective fields......but when it comes to our hobby being cycling....we want to treat the skilled bike guys as if they are cheap labour.....

 

dude...

for some reason I've started adding a "Darth-Vader-breath-in" sound with every "...." in your posts. Makes reading your posts more fun... not that it wasn't before... just more entertaining.

 

sorry for minor high jack.

Handsakke onderuit die arms! Swaai!

Posted

Crazy tangent mini rant: Why do you need to prove a point? Thehub should be a place where opinions are aired and info is swapped - not a "I wanna win this debate" style place...

Is that how it comes across...that was not the case at all....I was merely reiterating that your two comments support my previous post and points about hourly rate.....enjoy everyone...I am out....

Posted

dude...

for some reason I've started adding a "Darth-Vader-breath-in" sound with every "...." in your posts. Makes reading your posts more fun... not that it wasn't before... just more entertaining.

 

sorry for minor high jack.

Handsakke onderuit die arms! Swaai!

Hehehe....hehehe....heheheee

Posted

Owning a bikeshop: the place where you outlay more than you earn. :lol:

 

 

Like someone said to me about wine farming: "its a terrible way to try and make your money, but it is a great way to spend your money"

Posted

Owning a bikeshop: the place where you outlay more than you earn. :lol:

 

I work in one on weekends...and spend WAY more than I earn...come to think of it, I can't remember having any take-home "cash" in ages... :blush:    

Posted

Owning a bikeshop: the place where you outlay more than you earn. :lol:

 

Indeed.

 

The amount if times I've said the phrase "oh and add one on to the order for me".... Doh! Not a great business model...

 

Reminds me of that old F1 quote" "How do you become a millionaire in Formula 1? Start as a billionaire."

 

Only in cycling it's Thousandaire and Hundredaire :devil: :devil: :devil:

Posted

Like someone said to me about wine farming: "its a terrible way to try and make your money, but it is a great way to spend your money"

 

 

I work in one on weekends...and spend WAY more than I earn...come to think of it, I can't remember having any take-home "cash" in ages... :blush:    

 

 

Indeed.

 

The amount if times I've said the phrase "oh and add one on to the order for me".... Doh! Not a great business model...

 

Reminds me of that old F1 quote" "How do you become a millionaire in Formula 1? Start as a billionaire."

 

Only in cycling it's Thousandaire and Hundredaire :devil: :devil: :devil:

 

You should see "my" monthly bill from "my" coffee shop each month - never mind the goodies  :w00t:

Posted

Yoh, the bike shops in Cape Town are over flowing with the masses taking their bikes for the "annual check up" asking for a "major" service, lucky mechanic gets to diagnose whats wrong with the bike.

 

Had to go in to get my outers replaced on my gear cables, asked for that, and I know they will wash the bike, check brake pads, check chain, reset the gears and give me a call if I need any extra parts. 

 

All worth the $$ I will pay them :D

Posted

Only take my bike in when I can't do something myself.

If you can't do it yourself, pay someone to do it for you, period.

 

Also know that something like tuning your gears is not rocket science. there's a little knobbie that goes clockwise, or counter-clockwise. If you need to pay someone to do that for you, then you deserve to pay out your...

 

And if you can't do it because you don't have the tools because they cost too much... then know that the dude doing the job for you had to buy those expensive tools... so don't expect it to be done for free "because it took him 2 seconds to loosen my cassette!"

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