Major Service at Cycle Lab

Sent my bike in today for a major service. Basically they strip the bike down to the frame and then clean and rebuild as well as re-lube everything.

I also asked them to shorten my STi cables.
Total cost R280.

I'll be testing the bike this afternoon. Bike looked good and clean.


B.T.W. The reason I sent it in and not do it myself is A) I was too lazy

b) I dont have the right tools (yet) .

Your first reason is always my 1st one too and my 2nd one is always the fact that it comes back very clean ;D

Hmm, the reason I have the second reason is the first reason.  Reasonable don't you think?

I took my Bianchi to them.  Wimpie fixed the problems and did some extra stuff.  The only problem (I don't know of ANY bike shop that does this correctly) is the finetuning of the gears.

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Biking or NOTHING!

It's difficult for a bike shop to fine tune the shifting. One of the reasons being that you need to ride and test the shifting after each adjustment, which takes up alot of time. You'll probably find that adjusting the gears while the bike is up on the bike stand, and then taking the bike for a ride afterwards produces different results. Thats why most bike shops just set up the gears to work and shift smoothly thro the whole range, and leave the fine tuning and fiddling up to you.

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Pain is inevitable...suffering is optional

Tested the bike on Thurday around Kyalami. Like VO2 has stated, they set the gears so they shift, so I'll have to do some fine tuning.

Second problem was that they installed the quick release on the front hub the wrong way around. So when the wheel was put back on, the lever was on the same side as the back, but my magnet pickups for my cycle computer and Polar were on the worng side.

And then the bike was not as clean as I thought with grease under the seat and the chain easily staining my leg.

Still I have peace of mind that they have regreased all my bearings so the little things are easily rectified.

Hmmm, I don't think I would of been happy if I got my bike back still half dirty after a service. Not good, not good...

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Pain is inevitable...suffering is optional

Guys,

Learn to do the work yourself. It takes time but you WILL then know the work is done properly. A bicycle is not that difficult to work on and you can leran to doe most of the work with the minimum of tools yourself. There is NO mystery at all in the setting of a derailleur, you just follow the instructions. You do not have to be a backromm gargoyle that reeks of grease!!!!! It is really so easy. I scrounged second hand book shops and pruchased a few books. Bike have not chnaged much in over a hundred years. The dearilkleur is not vene 50 years young. A lot of knowledge can also be gelamed form the internet.

Come on guys, it cannot be so difficult to change a quick release skewer so it faces the other direction!!!!!!!

I am not a technical guru but deem myself to be very practical. This weekedn I rebuilt my headset and replaced all sleves and cables on my tandem.

Guys who have questions are welcome to email me at tandem4@mweb.co.za If i don not have the answer I might be able to guide you in the right direction. Since I purchased my tandem (secondhand) or hybrid (new) they have never seen the inside of a bike shop exept to rebuild and center wheels. This an skill or art I must still learn and aquire and is very specialised.

Keep those wheels spinning and those bikes well maintained.

Big H

Big_H. I have no problem being able to do this myself and often do just that. But as I was lazy and a little struck for time so I decided to let these guys do it as a little experiment.

The problems after the service that I noted was just for interest sake and dont present anything major. Like I said, I'll just do final adjustments on the shifts and ofcourse the quick release is simple to adjust.

Ouzo and other cyclists

My only reason for writing the previous email was to bring the point home that cycling maintenance is NOT some dark and specialised art. ANYBODY can do it!!!!! Some of the more difficult things might take some more expertize but I reiterate ANYBODY can do it. Bike shops (like auto garages and other) tend to use things like guarantees that will be invalidated etc etc. This is only done to get more work for themselves.

I again invite anybody who wants to start doing the basics and maybe later the more difficult things to contact me on tandem4@mweb.co.za I might not know everything but I might be able to help. I also invite other cyclists to make use of this forum to swop tips and ways to maintain our trusty steeds.

Keep those wheels spinning!!!!

Big H

An Update.<br /><br />They wont be having my bike back there for a service ever.<br />The problems :-<br />

• Wheel bearing over filled with grease. It was oozing out<br />
• Headset overfilled with grease. and the nut was loose<br />
• Only one pedal had been cleaned and re-greased, on opening the other pedal it was very obvious they never touched it<br />
• front brake caliper was over tightened preventing the brake from release properly<br />
• front brake pads were touching the tyre<br />
• cable to front derailure was outside of the gide at bottom of frame.<br />

<br /><br />These are all simple things to sort out, but why should I have to if I paid for a full service.<br /><br />Just thought I'd give you guys an update.

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Passion is everything. without passion cycling is just exercise
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Road Bike : Cannondale
MTB Bike : Giant Boulder se

How much did the service cost you, ouzo?

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Pain is inevitable...suffering is optional

VO2 it cost me R280<br /><br />I posted a similar post on the Cycle lab message board. cycle lab then phoned me and asked wether they could rectify the situation. They even offered to come and pick the bike up at my house and bring it back when it was done.<br /><br />I declined the offer as I have already fixed the problems.

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Passion is everything. without passion cycling is just exercise
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Road Bike : Cannondale
MTB Bike : Giant Boulder se