Poor service from LBS - what to do?

[DieselnDust]

Ability trumps qualifications in most cases

I’d prefer my surgeon to be qualified and my bike mechanic just to know what he’s doing though

Either way you want your surgeon to be skilled and qualified, but skilled is what will save your life not the paper the qualification is written on.

Same for the bike mechanic. Lots of skilled people out there without any papers

[DieselnDust]

Do you do all your own bike repairs and servicing?

 

Are you qualified?

 

Clearly not because the qualification does not exist.

But I also bet there's no skill so not sure what his rant was all about

[Jewbacca]

Clearly not because the qualification does not exist.

But I also bet there's no skill so not sure what his rant was all about

hahaha That was kind of my point. By saying 'I do all my own work because others aren't qualified' while you yourself aren't qualified is great....

 

I love these rants though. Fuel for days!

[DieselnDust]

hahaha That was kind of my point. By saying 'I do all my own work because others aren't qualified' while you yourself aren't qualified is great....

 

I love these rants though. Fuel for days!

Pity it wasn't on a Friday, Oh man how great that would be

[BigDL]

Really? Either one is qualified or one is not. There is no narrow view or otherwise. There is an objective standard which most bicycle ”mechanics” dont meet. Or are tested to, or are certified at. Period. Like all things in life though, let the user beware - if you are happy with what you get, that is just fine. I dont say ALL mechanics are not certified, but I have yet to see a certificate for one. I have yet to experience work that I trust, but that is just me. Look earlier in the conversation- one person is an aircraft mechanic. Bet your life (and you do, when you fly on an aircraft he has maintained) that he is trained, tested, certified, retested etc. No narrow view there - just an objective standard which he is certified to. Period. Like all people who work on safety critical equipment should be.

I have met many people with a qualification who are far from from qualified and many people without a qualification who are more than qualified, in many industries. 

[ChrisF]

Really? Either one is qualified or one is not. There is no narrow view or otherwise. There is an objective standard which most bicycle ”mechanics” dont meet. Or are tested to, or are certified at. Period. Like all things in life though, let the user beware - if you are happy with what you get, that is just fine. I dont say ALL mechanics are not certified, but I have yet to see a certificate for one. I have yet to experience work that I trust, but that is just me. Look earlier in the conversation- one person is an aircraft mechanic. Bet your life (and you do, when you fly on an aircraft he has maintained) that he is trained, tested, certified, retested etc. No narrow view there - just an objective standard which he is certified to. Period. Like all people who work on safety critical equipment should be.

 

Part of me agrees with the sentiment of your posts .... being a qualified artisan myself, and now being a registered engineer I see some horrific stuff on a daily basis.

 

 

Than again ....  I look at two of the bike workshops in the Western Cape.  I dont know what qualifications they have, and having seen them work they "appear" to not have a system ... then you look a bit closer at their quality of their work.  Look even closer at what they do and the questions they ask ....  FIRST - they listen to you when you bring the bike in, attend to the issue, then do a 100m in the parking area, and do a few quick checks.

 

Given their level of EXPERIENCE, and their knowledge of the bikes they work on they pick up the most subtle signs of wear with these seemingly simple tests.

 

 

GOOD to see an expert at work !!    

 

 

as for torque wrenches (annd I do own three..) .... 99% of the work on a bike can be done with a "T-wrench" with a built in torque setting.  (I own a couple of these as well)  So if you "look" at a bike mechanic it is near impossible to see if he is using a "torque wrench", as the T-wrench makes their lives SO much easier.  In fact, the T-wrench is so easy, that a 7 year old kid can assemble a bike to the correct settings, LITTERALLY !

 

Edited October 30, 2019 by ChrisF

[boesman88]

Some good points made here.... and yes, I guess all we want is quality professional service for the money we pay and not get ripped off with unprofessional service, being overcharged while not resolving the actual problem, damaging the bike and you having to go back 3 or 4 times to do what should have been done in the first place.

 

On the point of being “qualified” to work on the bikes... its difficult because its not to say that having the papers guarantees quality... gosh if that was the case we would have a lot of brilliant drivers on our roads with valid drivers licenses. I guess its more a combination of skill, knowledge, experience, passion, pride and attitude that makes a great bike mechanic. Sadly you can only improve knowledge and maybe a bit of skill thru training. The rest you are born with, or not.

 

As an aside, I should have realised my mistake to take my bike to the LBS in the first place when I saw one of their mechanics filing away on a free hub on some poor customer’s bike presumably ensuring a good fit between hub and casette... WHAAAAT??? Yes, taking a metal file and working away some metal from the free hub... this happened when I collected my bike the 2nd time.

 

Bottom line is that this was the last time anyone else lays a qualified or unqualified hand on my bike. man I miss riding with guys like Johan Borman - he use to educate us on the intricacies of frame setup and building a wheelsetS that mr. Brandt would be proud of himself.

[PhilipV]

Agreed. Most of the cretins working in a bike shop dont have a formal qualification.

 

. Certified? Qualified? To work on your R100k machine SAFELY??

 

If they cannot be careful enough not to scratch it, they are certainly not good enough to work on it (btw, scratched and damaged by them previously, due to laziness and incompetence). LBS is just a source of parts I cant get over the internet.

 

I admit to having bike shop trust issues as well. Fortunately I have found a couple of shops that I don't mind entrusting with my bikes.

 

Oh BTW, you do realise that there is very little fundamental difference in working on a 10k machine and working in a R100k machine? The price or value of the bike has no bearing on the issue.

 

Lastly, when you do get the parts over the internet, do you fit them yourself? I'm assuming you use the paper your qualifications are printed on as a shop rag?

[DieselnDust]

If the free hub was an alloy unit and a cheap Shimano cassette was fitted then the filing would be necessary as the lose sprockets would have gauged into the freehub body splines

[Jewbacca]

I just go to BikeMob and get the best service from Nev and Sean or Stoke to see the Droos.

 

Whether it's to buy cable outer, tires or bits to do it myself, or to get Nev to tune my suspension and dabble with oil viscosity and volume, or go to Stoke and ask the Droo's to make magic.

 

Sometimes there are honest mistakes. I know they aren't trying to kill me/harm my bike/incorrectly charge me on purpose and sometimes there are many moving parts that need to be 'corrected' systematically.

 

I am far from perfect and expecting people to hop when you say hop because you're the customer is a rubbish attitude.

 

As a business owner, I actually gladly turn away clients or turn down contracts if I get a bad vibe from the people. Sure I lose out on money, but quite often accepting that client/customer turns out to be more of a headache than the x amount of rands they bring to the table are worth.

 

I once turned down a pretty big client because they smelt funny and mispronounced words. The guy who did take on the job is a mate and yeah..... It was a nightmare.

 

So always remember, if you are treated awkwardly, maybe you also came across as someone they didn't want to do business with.

[boesman88]

If the free hub was an alloy unit and a cheap Shimano cassette was fitted then the filing would be necessary as the lose sprockets would have gauged into the freehub body splines

If you need filing you are using the wrong combination parts.

[boesman88]

Anyways the shop could not replicate the issue with the ‘clack’ sound, so I’ll be collecting my bike tomorrow for the last time (ever). They will ‘try’ and polish the scratch out but I’m not holding my breath.

 

Sadly their service isnt as epic as their name suggests.

[Sllab]

Do you do all your own bike repairs and servicing?

 

Are you qualified?

[Sllab]

Hi Jewbacca

 

I seem to have caused a furore. Apologies if I have offended anyone, just happened to be a pet hate of mine. To your questions - yes I do all of my own servicing. I build my own bikes, wheels, etc. do all the servicing. I am a qualified engineer, not a qualified mechanic. But, respectfully, the difference is that I dont charge other people for service work. If I cock it up, I bleed. No ones fault but my own.

[Sllab]

I admit to having bike shop trust issues as well. Fortunately I have found a couple of shops that I don't mind entrusting with my bikes.

 

Oh BTW, you do realise that there is very little fundamental difference in working on a 10k machine and working in a R100k machine? The price or value of the bike has no bearing on the issue.

 

Lastly, when you do get the parts over the internet, do you fit them yourself? I'm assuming you use the paper your qualifications are printed on as a shop rag?

[Sllab]

Hi Philip. I wish I could find an LBS that demonstrates trustworthiness like yours. Re fitting the parts - only OEM parts from Chain Reaction Cycles. Fitted with the OEM workshop manual and tools, to their specifications. Always with a torque wrench. I dont charge other people for my services I only work on my bikes - if I mess it up, I bleed. No ones fault except mine. The key moment was this- saved up my cash for a long time to buy my first double susser - eventually got a Cannondale Rush 2. Had issues with the suspension right off the bat. Took back to the LBS, watched him tighten all the linkages FT. Told me to ride it. Issues persisted, took it back 3 times. Every time, linkages were “loose”, tightened up by the owner. Qualified mechanic, owner of the shop. When it eventually failed, I took it apart - none of the bearings were properly lubed, seals had cracked. Caps that were tightened FT had damaged the bearing races and were destroyed. LBS answer, backed up by Cannondale? Oops. Maybe we should have checked - warranty? No way. Service fault, lots of finger pointing, no action. This is a guy who has Cannondale, Trek and Merida agency. He doesn't have a torque wrench in the shop - I asked. BTW - tighten the bolts on your 100k carbon frame bike without a torque wrench and watch the cracks happen. Wont happen on my 20k aluminium frame - the more cutting edge your equipment, the more critical the service accuracy is.