Name BAD Cycle shops

[panther]

I do agree with bak2basiks! 

[splat]

I can stuff my bike up by myself for free!

I pay a shop to get it done properly.

 

BMC now does all my work. Great bunch!

[Eldron]

I'm with the DIY crowd - between being able to download exploded views of pretty much EVERY shimano part ever made off the net, buying the right tools and a bit of savvy anybody can fix anything on a bike.

 

If you CAN but CHOOSE not to because time spent with your children/wife/bike is more important than fair dues to you - you help keep the LBS going.

 

I fix all my own bikes with the exception of shocks - just never got around to learning them or keeping a bike long enough to need a shock serviced!

 

The way I look at it - I can do anything that a pimply faced teenage bike slut can do - hell I was a pimply faced bike slut when I was a teenager - so why pay good money to have something done that you can do youself? I'm also really fussy when it coms to service and I hae yet to find a bike shop that matches my level of analness whe fixing my bike.

 

 

 

 

[scotty]

After a botched service last year I stripped my road bike bare using dvd's and manuals(wheel hubs, bb, headsets deraileres etc) and then re assembled it to see if i can, what the big deal was and see if i can also get that warm fuzzy feeling.  Besides the front derailer which i found a real bitch to set the rest was quite easy, when done i did not get a warm fuzzy feeling inside,  instead me, my nosey dogs and my garage were covered in grease and grime.  

Now comes the economics, most people employ a gardner between R100 -R150 a day, 2x a month that comes to R200 - R300 a month, even more for a garden service, i do my own gardening as i enjoy it . My LBS charges R150 for a minor, so i afford to have a minor service done monthly to my road and MTB including a great wash for what i would pay a gardner. Starting from scatch decent bike tools will set you back over R1000, excluding a good workbench and fancy torque wrench.

 

Bottom line in my case it has nothing to do with being lazy, i will still do things if i have to like chain, cable and brake pad replacement, My LBS who have all the tools, workbench etc can do the rest while i ride and work in the garden.

[AndreZA]

After a botched service last year I?stripped my?road bike bare using dvd's and manuals

 

 

 

dude, that is amazing. I had to buy spanners and allen keys to do mine. does is matter which DVDs and can I uses my toaster's manual?

[Guest Big H]

Maybe I am prejudiced as the last time my bikes saw the insde of an LBS was when I bought them. Maybe if there was any Bike Shops in darkest Afrika I would also take the lame route....... I doubt it though.

[jagwil]

After a botched service last year I stripped my road bike bare using dvd's and manuals

dude' date=' that is amazing. I had to buy spanners and allen keys to do mine. does is matter which DVDs and can I uses my toaster's manual?[/quote']

 

 

 

VERY VERY SHARP Mampara. I like your STYLE.

 

 

[dollar]

Very interesting thread. My 2c's - I service my own motorcycles, simply because I cannot afford to take them to Honda around the corner. Fortunatly I have been working on motorcycles since I was 14 and can rebuild a motor if I need to. I have also re-built car engines, worked on pumps, tractors and all kinds of other k@k. Bicycles are very, very simple. My job is of a technical nature - plumbing - so I am not afraid to get my hands dirty. I charge R350/hour - mostly.

 

BUT - there are also guys who ride bikes who are attorneys (shame), doctors, bean counters etc who dont have the will or inclination to DIY. You may in fact have very technical okes who simply dont have the time? These are the okes who call on the "pro" bike mech.

 

Unfortunatly the SA "pro" anything is sometimes V-good or F-k@k. Same as plumbers? You have to seek out the good ones and make sure you tell all. So - I suggest that you start a BB for great cycle mechanics, not the poor ones - there are too many!

 

[jagwil]

Very interesting thread. My 2c's - I service my own motorcycles' date=' simply because I cannot afford to take them to Honda around the corner. Fortunatly I have been working on motorcycles since I was 14 and can rebuild a motor if I need to. I have also re-built car engines, worked on pumps, tractors and all kinds of other k@k. Bicycles are very, very simple. My job is of a technical nature - plumbing - so I am not afraid to get my hands dirty. I charge R350/hour - mostly.

BUT - there are also guys who ride bikes who are attorneys (shame), doctors, bean counters etc who dont have the will or inclination to DIY. You may in fact have very technical okes who simply dont have the time? These are the okes who call on the "pro" bike mech.

Unfortunatly the SA "pro" anything is sometimes V-good or F-k@k. Same as plumbers? You have to seek out the good ones and make sure you tell all. So - I suggest that you start a BB for great cycle mechanics, not the poor ones - there are too many!
[/quote']

 

Why shame???

[dollar]

Are you an attorney? Sorry - typing error.

[leet22]

Dollar U in Ct by any chance need help with my mototrbike

[dollar]

Sorry - GP. What bike you got?

[leet22]

 kawa ZXR750

[jagwil]

Are you an attorney? Sorry - typing error.

 

I was but I took an early retirement two and a half years ago.

I am now a student who tries to ride a mountain bike more often than when I was working. 

[dollar]

Jaqwil - I jest. Some of my attorney chinas are having a really bad time at present. Especially the ones into property! Also the courts are not operating too lekker and they moan constantly.

 

Leet22 - nice, but very very high tech. You need a good mechanic - go and seek one out

 

[leet22]

She goes well , i think one of the gaskets between the carb and manifold has gone and leaking juice. and think there may be a short on headlights, if turn on to brights then they go off  thx anyway