Bad chain setup by LBS destroys 947 ride

[Rocket-Boy]

At least being forced to stay in the big ring would have given you a little HTFU.

In all honesty it is a mistake not taking a bike that has had any work done for a ride before a race.

[Bobbo_SA]

It's amazing how many hubbers check their spark plugs are tight, oil levels are right, windscreen wipers are fitted properly etc after servicing their cars! When you replace your car tyres, do they offer to balance them at the same time (answer = yes)? Do you need to ask them to inflate the tyres or do they do that by default as a related task? Why expect less from a LBS that charges more than a car mechanic?

 

You check the work on your bike is done as we have come to accept average service levels and know there will be issues with it - a newbie should be secure that the shop knows more than they do, but unfortunately that isn't the case.

 

Yes but...

 

When they change the tires they won't tell you your brakes are worn.

 

Anyone seen what any bike store looks like before the 947 race weekend would understand, if you take your bike in, you are going to only get what you ask for, if they had to do a full end to end inspection of every bike that comes in they would need to start at least 2 months ahead of time to get through the volume of bikes that arrive in the 3 days leading up to raceday.

[BarHugger]

Yes but...

 

When they change the tires they won't tell you your brakes are worn.

 

Anyone seen what any bike store looks like before the 947 race weekend would understand, if you take your bike in, you are going to only get what you ask for, if they had to do a full end to end inspection of every bike that comes in they would need to start at least 2 months ahead of time to get through the volume of bikes that arrive in the 3 days leading up to raceday.

I think what amazes me the most ........ and how many are possibly guilty of this ......... "Can you just give my bike a quick once over" ...... and the bike shop does it which takes another two hours.........but Mr. Bikeshop customer also feels that he doesn't need to pay for that .

[Showtime]

Lewis Hamilton is a Pro, and one of the best. So a fair comparison would be Chris Froome, and guess what, he has a mechanic dedicated to him personally.  So if something like what happened to the OP happened to Chris Froome, someone would be getting fired. But the OP is not Chris Froome, nor he is a Pro.

 

From my experience in amateur motor sport (2 years of racing carts myself, and also helping my father out who races historic cars) is that for at least half the field, the driver and the mechanic are the same person. And for those who do have mechanics helping them out, the amounts that the mechanics are getting paid are a order of magnitude more that the OP paid his LBS to change the cassette.

 

This comparison is invalid on so many levels.

 

I have always been my own mechanic, be it motocross, mountain biking or triathlon. I can't see what is has to do with the argument.

 

Let's try another angle then.

 

You contract someone to install a new satellite dish at your house the day before the world cup final while you are at work. Come Saturday you discover your DSTV signal strength is 6% and the dish is pointing in the wrong direction. The installer is also earning way less than a formula 1 mechanic but he is still expected to deliver a working solution. 

 

I can list dozens of examples of work we can reasonably expect to be done right if we pay for it.

 

Clamping a bike in a work stand and running through the gears before you give it to a client is not an impossible task.

[Dicky DQ]

I took my Trek Madone 4.7 to The Cycle Hub Rietvlei to have the rear cassette changed from a 11-25 to a 11-28 for the 947. Unfortunately the race was a disaster with the chain coming off eight times and really struggling to change between the gears on the crank - had to climb the Randburg hill on the big front gear because it simply would not change down no matter how many times I tried. The rear gears sounded as if they were between gears and kept jumping.

 

Needless to say this ruined the ride and all the months of training leading up to this event were fruitless. The sad part is that the bike was taken to a reputable LBS and the last thing I expected was mechanical issues.

 

Kevin Corfield

Note to self and everyone else:

 

ALWAYS TEST RIDE YOUR BIKE BETWEEN BIKE-SHOP AND RACE. IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

 

Especially before big races. A bike should be services a minimum of 1 to 2 weeks before a race period. The bike shops are inundated and things fall through the cracks.

[Edge_Design]

Yes but...

 

When they change the tires they won't tell you your brakes are worn.

 

Anyone seen what any bike store looks like before the 947 race weekend would understand, if you take your bike in, you are going to only get what you ask for, if they had to do a full end to end inspection of every bike that comes in they would need to start at least 2 months ahead of time to get through the volume of bikes that arrive in the 3 days leading up to raceday.

 

I think we should end the car metaphors about now... 

 

Being busy is no excuse for lowering your standards - if I asked you (presumably not a bike shop mechanic) to swap a cassette for me, what would you do by default after fitting it? Give it back as is or check the gears still work properly?

 

I just can't get my head around the primary response on this thread being - I know my bike shop is incompetent so I check everything and fix it after paying them to do the work. I generally do my own work so this is just a principle thing...

[Showtime]

Yes but...

 

When they change the tires they won't tell you your brakes are worn.

 

 

Good point and why I wouldn't want to do it for a living. The customer who comes in for a new tyre and then brings the bike back for a warranty claim after the rusted bottom bracket falls apart.

 

In this example I just think if you change a cassette for a customer you need to run through the gears to make sure it's shifting.

[rouxtjie]

I think we should end the car metaphors about now... 

 

Being busy is no excuse for lowering your standards - if I asked you (presumably not a bike shop mechanic) to swap a cassette for me, what would you do by default after fitting it? Give it back as is or check the gears still work properly?

 

I just can't get my head around the primary response on this thread being - I know my bike shop is incompetent so I check everything and fix it after paying them to do the work. I generally do my own work so this is just a principle thing...

If you pay me 100 bucks to do so and arrived with your own cassette I will do exactly as the jobcard specifies...

 

Change the cassette...you didnt pay for a full overall check of your bike and its drivetrain. 

[Dicky DQ]

Mine came of 4 times all on climbs and the 1st 3.8km in race. Racing in V means you lose your group.

I am changing th FD and getting a chain cather beforw going DI2.

Grammar Nazi of does not  = Off   

[GaryvdM]

I have always been my own mechanic, be it motocross, mountain biking or triathlon. I can't see what is has to do with the argument.

 

Let's try another angle then.

 

You contract someone to install a new satellite dish at your house the day before the world cup final while you are at work. Come Saturday you discover your DSTV signal strength is 6% and the dish is pointing in the wrong direction. The installer is also earning way less than a formula 1 mechanic but he is still expected to deliver a working solution.

 

I can list dozens of examples of work we can reasonably expect to be done right if we pay for it.

 

Clamping a bike in a work stand and running through the gears before you give it to a client is not an impossible task.

Yes, but if you re-read the op

1. Most of his issues with the front derailer. Changing cassette could not have caused this. If I changed my cassette, I would not bother checking the front derailer.
2. He uses the term "jumping".  Could mean incorrect indexing, but more likely it was chain slip which happens when you run a worn chain with a new cassette. If it was chain slip, you won't pick this up when the bike is on the work stand. It only manifests it's self when you put a large torque through the drive train.

I took my Trek Madone 4.7 to The Cycle Hub Rietvlei to have the rear cassette changed from a 11-25 to a 11-28 for the 947. Unfortunately the race was a disaster with the chain coming off eight times and really struggling to change between the gears on the crank - had to climb the Randburg hill on the big front gear because it simply would not change down no matter how many times I tried. The rear gears sounded as if they were between gears and kept jumping.

 

Needless to say this ruined the ride and all the months of training leading up to this event were fruitless. The sad part is that the bike was taken to a reputable LBS and the last thing I expected was mechanical issues.

 

Kevin Corfield

 

 

[Dicky DQ]

If you pay me 100 bucks to do so and arrived with your own cassette I will do exactly as the jobcard specifies...

 

Change the cassette...you didnt pay for a full overall check of your bike and its drivetrain. 

I agree, however, you should have an over-rider that states, price includes a check and then a recommendation and quote to get things sorted. It is called upselling. 

 

I know i have just had to refund a customer serious money and lost 2 weeks worth of labour and fuel costs etc. Because I did exactly what you did without putting my foot down.

 

I have just re-learnt my lesson, never doing this again.

[Vetseun]

New Cassette = New Chain ALWAYS

[NelAndre]

Failing to plan, is planning to fail.

Bad luck man, 2016- give it horns.

[Showtime]

Yes, but if you re-read the op

1. Most of his issues with the front derailer. Changing cassette could not have caused this. If I changed my cassette, I would not bother checking the front derailer.
2. He uses the term "jumping".  Could mean incorrect indexing, but more likely it was chain slip which happens when you run a worn chain with a new cassette. If it was chain slip, you won't pick this up when the bike is on the work stand. It only manifests it's self when you put a large torque through the drive train.

 

 

 

Fair enough   

 

Somewhere between the one end where the customer expects a new bike warranty after replacing a tyre and the other end where the shop charges for a full service and doesn't even check the gears is a common sense middle ground that we probably agree on so no point arguing the point to death.

[raptor-22]

I have always been my own mechanic, be it motocross, mountain biking or triathlon. I can't see what is has to do with the argument.

 

Let's try another angle then.

 

You contract someone to install a new satellite dish at your house the day before the world cup final while you are at work. Come Saturday you discover your DSTV signal strength is 6% and the dish is pointing in the wrong direction. The installer is also earning way less than a formula 1 mechanic but he is still expected to deliver a working solution. 

 

I can list dozens of examples of work we can reasonably expect to be done right if we pay for it.

 

Clamping a bike in a work stand and running through the gears before you give it to a client is not an impossible task.

 

 

 

If I install a satellite dish the game before the big game Im looking for *** on so many levels...

[Graham W]

I am sorry to hear about your bad day but some folks have asked for my response. The cassette was ordered on Tues 10 Nov for Friday delivery confirmed to you. On Thursday the agents advised that my Friday delivery was not going to be met and I personally drove out to collect the order  (on Thursday) and called you to arange the fitting of the cassette at 12.30 as you wanted to go out traning that Thursday afternoon. The cassette was fitted at no charge, the chain was in spec as per chain checker and the bike was test ridden outside the shop.I assumed the bike was fine on your Thursday afternoon ride or you would have contacted me as you have my personal cel no. Once again sorry about your bad day out but please bring your bike in, in order for me to correct the problem for you at no charge. Graham.