Mechanic at home

[Bcycling]

Hi Guys Hope you are doing well.

What is your thoughts on a Bike mechanic servicing your bike at your home or at your work? 

 

[Alouette3]

There are some services being offered from a mobile van. Though a bit more capital outlay, in my mind a better option and you able to customise your workspace and workflow, and don't need to be in someones personal home space while still offering convenience.

[Bcycling]

Yes.It wil be good working outside Via a Van 

Is the convenience a critical point?

For myself its frustrating to take my bike to a Bike shop before or after Work and then making time to go and pic it up 2 days after.

[Barry]

Sort of like having a plumber or electrician coming to the house.

comes with its own issues making time, someone at home and other arrangements.

 

 

[Puncture Kid]

Depends on whether the service will make a mess on my driveway or not...

[The Ouzo]

no thanks.

If I''m having a mechanic work on my bike its because I either dont have the time, in which case hanging around waiting for him to do his/her thing at my place is counter to why I need him/her

or 

I dont have the expertise / tools, in which case he/she would need to have a fairly decent van setup for me to trust my bike to.

[dave303e]

In My Opinion; The Van will need to carry a massive amount of spares. If you take 1 full set of spares for the shimano/sram - mtb, road, downhill, enduro and gravel. Then the same with tires, brake pads, grips, pedals etc. This is before you start stocking bearings, and other replacement parts. You will also need a full cleaning facility because people are stupid and at least 1 customer a week will have a filthy bike. Carrying water, hoses, dirty water storage and not messing the above mentioned driveway is a mission.

You will also always be under pressure on site in a rush to get it done. For me rather send someone to collect it. Take the day, source the parts(instead of stocking it all), have a good coffee while you work with space and comfort so that when you send a driver to drop it off. The bike has been sorted thoroughly.

[The Ouzo]

5 minutes ago, dave303e said:

In My Opinion; The Van will need to carry a massive amount of spares. If you take 1 full set of spares for the shimano/sram - mtb, road, downhill, enduro and gravel. Then the same with tires, brake pads, grips, pedals etc. This is before you start stocking bearings, and other replacement parts. You will also need a full cleaning facility because people are stupid and at least 1 customer a week will have a filthy bike. Carrying water, hoses, dirty water storage and not messing the above mentioned driveway is a mission.

You will also always be under pressure on site in a rush to get it done. For me rather send someone to collect it. Take the day, source the parts(instead of stocking it all), have a good coffee while you work with space and comfort so that when you send a driver to drop it off. The bike has been sorted thoroughly.

most come to you type services will use your water, electricity and drainage whilst they are there. 

But agree on all the rest

[Thomo]

There's also the option of collect and deliver which some stores/3rd parties already offer.? ????‍♂️

[GhostSixFour]

I think that to get people to really sway away from their bike shops in terms of just offering something like this would be difficult. Perhaps a better gap exists in offering supported ride assistance to groups on weekends.

Example, you follow their group with spares, snacks and provide a buffer to the traffic. Groups would then rent you to support them.

[dave303e]

the other thing is the commercial value on having someone walk through the store door when dropping off/collecting a bike. Think back to the last 5 times you collected a bike from a service. How many times did you end up buying something extra on the way out? Bottles, tubes, bombs, lube, gloves, socks, energy drink  etc. You lose a fair few sales by dropping something off or servicing on site.

[Piernas Flacas]

I think the services would have to be limited to wash, lube and adjustments with some basic spares and consumables. And manage the clients expectations accordingly. The thing is that for that kind of service the price may not be justifiable as you would have to consider costs that a workshop won't have like van maintenance, fuel, etc. Another problem is the waste of time in traffic going from client to client and time is something you can't afford to waste. At least in a workshop you are able to put job cards on hold while you wait for spares and carry on with other work. From client convenience perspective, yes, I think it would be nice but at what price point?

[DIPSLICK]

Getting my bike to and from my LBS is a pain in the butt, I’ll gladly ride up and down as I have a great relationship built up and it’s worth the effort, and I know their quality and std

i find a relationship with the LBS is much more beneficial