Still new to biking...yes this is a rant

[bullet77]

I dread having to take my bikes to any of the LBS's in my town. I've had terrible service at all of them with excuses and long stories that seem to flow freely.

[ChrisF]

Wheelie WELCOME to the Hub.

 

Hang in there !  I certainly have my fair share of bad experiences with bike shops, even had a professional cyclist in Paarl sell me an undersized bike        Nearly R30k worth of school fees !!

 

 

 

HOWEVER, there ARE some damn good bike shops out there !!  I have 99% good experiences with Mark's Workshop in Bellville - will pop in there later today to buy some stuff ... helped a buddy with a tubeless conversion last night.  Knipe Racing is simply superb !!  But due to traffic a horrible drive for me ...

 

Yes, I have most of the tools, and have done complete bike rebuilds at home, yet on my MTB I take it to Mark for the annual service .... so it is worth finding a bike shop you can TRUST, because at some point you will need them ....

 

 

 

PS - when I get the type of bad service you mentioned, I send an email to the owner.  NOT as a gripe, not a complaint, purely a calm factual statement of the facts .... Any decent owner will do back flips when he hears his staff walks away from clients, not to mention the other issues ....  NEVER do I accept gifts as some sort of appollogy, as my emails are NOT some sort of blackmail, rather aimed at helping the owner improve his service levels.

[ChrisF]

I rarely get out to slummies, but when I do I always try to make a turn at Williams Shop of Uber Bike Bling!

 

Where is this shop ?

[Allrounder]

I read somewhere that the tyres that comes with new bikes are not the same as the ones you buy afterwards. Although its the same brand and blah blah blah, according to that article the ones on the new bikes are cheaper made and not as good quality as aftermarket. Will look for the article. 

[Ferro]

I read somewhere that the tyres that comes with new bikes are not the same as the ones you buy afterwards. Although its the same brand and blah blah blah, according to that article the ones on the new bikes are cheaper made and not as good quality as aftermarket. Will look for the article. 

 

I have also heard this but about parts as well. Would love to know if its just a rumour or if its a fact.

 

Edit: parts meaning components

[Hairy]

http://williamsbikeshop.co.za/

 

 

Where is this shop ?

[The Ouzo]

There's an old saying, if you want something done right.......  . 

 

Yes I agree that a LBS has the time to fix whatever the problem whilst you earn the money elsewhere to pay for their time, but, to me, I will much rather take the 7-10 watching the Youtube video and try to figure out how to do it myself than go to the LBS. 

 

I just feel that the mechanic at the shop won't mind and or be too bothered if he works on lets say the brakes and forget to fit all the bolts on the caliper and you discover that going down a hill at speed. 

 

I use the LBS if I screw up and need someone to fix my errors  . 

 

One last piece of advice - tires are seen (in my head) as a consumable and needs to be replaced every so often. Tire prices fluctuate wildly and you could get a set for R800 or R800 each. So buy when the prices are low and store in a cool dry place until you do eventually need them  . Yes cycling is very expensive but there's so many ways to make things slightly cheaper 

How long is this usually ?

 

Tyres start to degrade the moment they leave the mold. Storing in a cool dry place is the best storage solution, but they will still be degrading. So best you dont leave them for to long.

We also have no idea as to how long they have been stored before we get our grubby paws on them.

[The Ouzo]

I have also heard this but about parts as well. Would love to know if its just a rumour or if its a fact.

 

Edit: parts meaning components

i dont understand how this could be viable for the part/component/tyre manufacturer

 

They would need an entire manufacture line dedicated to the inferior product (i.e. more overheads), then risk their name being associated with poor quality (fewer sales)

 

I'd love to see this article you guys are referring to.

[Spinnekop]

How long is this usually ?

For 4-6 Months.

 

You get around 20% more mileage out of them.

Having this option hanging in the garage, you get to pick and choose your price.

 

R1300 for a Conti GP5000 local.

I bought mine now R1500 for BOTH.

 

The car tyre industry gents gave us this tip when you buy car tyres. Keep in the garage for 6 months.

Works a charm.

[Jase619]

SNIP

 

Still early in my career, recently married, MTB'ing is a luxury and to be quite honest hella expensive; so forking out close to R1K for a single MTB tyre doesn't necessarily always sit well with the Mrs. 

 

SNIP

 

Two options here, decide on a fraction of the price for which you will tell her it cost. . . Or get her involved in cycling as well, then you will never have to justify a purchase again, you will just have to buy double of everything. . . 

[Danger Dassie]

I read somewhere that the tyres that comes with new bikes are not the same as the ones you buy afterwards. Although its the same brand and blah blah blah, according to that article the ones on the new bikes are cheaper made and not as good quality as aftermarket. Will look for the article. 

Those would be OEM tyres, generally don't have the same features like tubeless setup and sidewall protection. 

Not the case with all tyres/brands though.

[NotSoBigBen]

I stop at fork and shock services.

Those and brake bleeding I don't bother with, don't need it that often either .... Everything else I can and have done, having said that when I'm in a bind and pressed for time I drop it off at a bike shop and get it sorted.

 

They are not all from the spawned from the devil as some seem to think [emoji12]

 

Sent from my LG-D958 using Tapatalk

[Wheelie87]

Two options here, decide on a fraction of the price for which you will tell her it cost. . . Or get her involved in cycling as well, then you will never have to justify a purchase again, you will just have to buy double of everything. . . 

Haha thanks..I bought her a bike but ended up having to sell it after a year or so..not her thing. She's into horse riding (the original MTB) and to my surprise (so far) it's much cheaper than MTB'ing, but only time will tell.

[ChrisF]

http://williamsbikeshop.co.za/

 

Stellenbosch or Somerset West ?

[RobertWhitehead]

What Asio said  . 

 

I once (when I just took up cycling again) got tires from Solomons for R100 a tire (26er Vredenstein Killer Bee) so I bought 6 - don't ask me why  . Well I ended up using 1 or 2 and giving the others away. They lasted quite some time without any issues that I could pick up. 

 

I do agree that if I held onto them for too long it may have been a different story. 

 

 

How long is this usually ?

 

Tyres start to degrade the moment they leave the mold. Storing in a cool dry place is the best storage solution, but they will still be degrading. So best you dont leave them for to long.

We also have no idea as to how long they have been stored before we get our grubby paws on them.

[Danger Dassie]

I have also heard this but about parts as well. Would love to know if its just a rumour or if its a fact.

 

Edit: parts meaning components

Some minor parts, but drivetrain components are the same regardless if they're on a bike or bought after market. 

 

IE: a SRAM XO crankset is no different to what comes on a bike as to what we'd buy in store. 

 

http://blog.royaleinternational.com/2015/11/what-is-difference-between-oem-obm-and.html

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_equipment_manufacturer