Amazing things I learned at the bike shops

[Mike Jacoubowsk]

> Or maybe the anecdote started out as "a 32h MTB wheel is stronger than a 36h road wheel" and
> morphed from there...

...or was an illustration that it's not just the number of spokes, but how well the wheel is built
and the choice of components that make for a stronger wheel. Plenty of bad-quality production
36-spoke wheels out there that are markedly inferior to a properly-built 32-spoke.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

 

[Java Man]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> The worst part is that I got these utterances from two shops I thought I could trust. One was the
> satellite location of a commuter-oriented shop I've had very good experiences with, and the other
> was at the bike desk at Mountain Equipment Co-op.
>
I like the prices at MEC, but wouldn't rely on anything the PBTC says. They often don't have a
clue--they're sales clerks and often don't know much about bicycles. Buying there is like buying on
the Internet, only more/less convenient depending on where you live.

Rick

 

[Bfd]

Duke Robillard <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> KBH wrote:
> > In general, I don't bother asking anything difficult of the summer help teenager behind the
> > counter. Look for the guy with the gray hair.
>
>
> Man, that is true. I broke a spoke a while ago, and when I picked up the repaired bike, the gray
> haired guy wheeled it out for me. He then spent half an hour fixing the stuff the new kid did
> wrong on it, all the way down to putting the tire on backwards.
>
> He was madder than I was.
>
That's nothing but stupid management! It was the responsibility of the gray hair guy (or the owner)
to make sure the kid is "trained" before working on a bike....

 

[Ray Heindl]

"B a r r y B u r k e J r ." <"keep it in the newsgroup "@thankyou.com> wrote:

> Andy Dingley wrote:
>>
>> "If you replace that chain, you should replace the cassette too"
>>
>> - Palmers / Cyclelife in Bristol.
>
> As the typical rider usually waits way too long to replace a chain, this is often true. Not
> always, but often enough.

A while back I went to the LBS for a new chain, thinking that mine was about ready for replacement,
based on the ruler test. The guy at the LBS used a chain checker gizmo and told me it was fine. I
thought that it was really nice of him not to sell me something I didn't need. Then the other shoe
dropped: when the chain wears out I should replace the cassette. Obviously they make a lot more on a
cassette than on a chain.

It turned out I hadn't done the ruler test properly; when I re-checked it, there was only 1/32
inch of wear.

--
Ray Heindl (remove the X to reply)

 

[Jim Price]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> So I went out to a couple of shops Saturday to pick up some parts. I learned some amazing
> new things:

<snip> And here's one which happened to a friend of mine today. He was told that it was OK to use a
smaller inner tube in a bigger tyre, but not the other way round. I use 1.75 inch inner tubes in 1.5
inch tyres (the exact combination he was asking about in the shop), and don't have any problems.
Whats even more surprising is that they wouldn't sell him the
1.75 inch inner tube (for this very reason), and they didn't have any smaller ones in stock. He went
away without an inner tube.

The only reason I can think of for being carefull with a larger inner tube is to avoid damaging it
when fitting it. I would expect a tube with less stretching to be more puncture resistant, and
punctures to be less likely to cause a tear in the inner tube. Would anyone else care to comment?

Jim Price

 

[Jobst Brandt]

Jim Price writes:

> And here's one which happened to a friend of mine today. He was told that it was OK to use a
> smaller inner tube in a bigger tyre, but not the other way round. I use 1.75 inch inner tubes in
> 1.5 inch tyres (the exact combination he was asking about in the shop), and don't have any
> problems. What's even more surprising is that they wouldn't sell him the 1.75 inch inner tube
> (for this very reason), and they didn't have any smaller ones in stock. He went away without an
> inner tube.

The reason is that stuffing an oversized tube in a tire is difficult and causes wrinkles. The common
way of inserting a tube while preventing twist and folds, is to lightly inflate the tube until it is
no longer slack. When lightly inflated, an oversized tube will not fit at all. The problem with the
bicycle shop people is that they do not know that tubes are generally one size smaller than marked
so they will fit easily in tires of their nominal size. Tubes marked 27"x1-1/4 1-1/8 work well in
700x25C tires.

> The only reason I can think of for being careful with a larger inner tube is to avoid damaging it
> when fitting it. I would expect a tube with less stretching to be more puncture resistant, and
> punctures to be less likely to cause a tear in the inner tube.

A smaller tube loses air faster and goes flat more rapidly in the event of a thorn or glass
puncture. I am sure they snake-bite more easily too because these are causes by excess stretching in
a compression expansion.

Jobst Brandt [email protected] Palo Alto CA

 

[Stu]

Today l learnt that when you adjust cup and cone bearings, you do them up a little tight so that
when they "bed in" they don't go loose.????? please tell me the guy doesn't know what he is talking
about or have l been doing it wrong all this time?

 

[Qui Si Parla Ca]

st-<< Today l learnt that when you adjust cup and cone bearings, you do them up a little tight so
that when they "bed in" they don't go loose.????? please tell me the guy doesn't know what he is
talking about or have l been doing it wrong all this time?

You are tight, he is daft, continue to do them they way you have, a wee bit loose, to tighten
via the QR...

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Jim Edgar]

Jim Price at [email protected] wrote on 5/15/03 12:33 PM:
> And here's one which happened to a friend of mine today. He was told that it was OK to use a
> smaller inner tube in a bigger tyre, but not the other way round. I use 1.75 inch inner tubes in
> 1.5 inch tyres (the exact combination he was asking about in the shop), and don't have any
> problems. Whats even more surprising is that they wouldn't sell him the
> 1.75 inch inner tube (for this very reason), and they didn't have any smaller ones in stock. He
> went away without an inner tube.
>
> The only reason I can think of for being carefull with a larger inner tube is to avoid damaging it
> when fitting it. I would expect a tube with less stretching to be more puncture resistant, and
> punctures to be less likely to cause a tear in the inner tube. Would anyone else care to comment?

I know I slapped a CX tube (700 x 35) underneath my road tire (700 x 23) once, and blew it right off
the rim...

Cognitive dissonance: When your right hand reaches for the stem to relieve pressure, your left hand
reaches for your ear against the anticpated KER-POW, and your feet start running away from the tube
ballooning around the tire bead...

 

[G.Daniels]

ah yes...diydiydiy hmmm screw the freewheel bearing race in without locktite. wheee! bearingzville.
walko. the cost of bearings is popular- .50 to $1.00 A BEARING!!! a good buddy told me that "that
chain does not go one your bike" now there's an explanitory message: with his experience, what did
he mean by that??? cause off course that chain does go on my bike but maybe in his opinion it
doesn't go on my bike in a nuanced kinda way that I being a bike clod have no grip on?? spokes-one
LBS cellar dweller tried selling me spokes for $1.50 per but the owner walked over and clubbed the
cd several times and apologized for the indiscretion. another good buddy tries selling me a used
chain???? boy yagotta real out some slack here. an infamous biker hung up on me whilst i wuza trying
to give him a $100?? poisoned coffee? third hand sends my packages to the farthest corners of the
earth where i used to be but am now somewhere's else. nashblur sends me 26" rim spokes for 27" rims
not once but all the time. then there's the used car lot scam. i go into the bike shop(where i go
out of pity during the summer here in swfla) then over to wal across the street-bike vandals attack
me!! nobull!! with specialized bike tools!! so i speak with the gestapo who sez "uhuhuhh!" and i
hear the tale about the dude who pulls into homedepot also on the corner and would you belive it
adjacent two used exotic car lots hehehehe. walks into HD and zapppp no 911. the gestapo HQ is next
door. so, i try going to Wal and not going to the LBS. No vandalism. This replicates %1000.Now, to
give the LBS some slack but not too much given the ambience here in gangstaland on one and only one
LBS visit I left the bike outside-missing two antiquo deray adj screws plus loose rear axle nuts.
So,on the way back and NOT going to Wal(wuz there B4), the gangsta PA erupts from the woods telling
mwe that the LBS has a nice frame to sell me for $130. Tertiary? Maybe. Duplicitious ambivalent
behavior probably. not to be insulting as choices of vocation rest on more qualities than $$$$=IQ
for example some people like bikes and low stress levels ectect but mechanics who study toyota
manuals and practice hand eye coordination and work planning make somewhat more $$$ than cycle
mechanics but the ambience degrades. slack, snake oil and DIY

 

[Qui Si Parla Ca]

dadtkoll-<< .diydiydiy hmmm screw the freewheel bearing race in without locktite. wheee!
bearingzville. walko. the cost of bearings is popular- .50 to $1.00 A BEARING!!! a good buddy told
me that "that chain does not go one your bike" now there's an explanitory m

Lots snipped, ya ever think of laying off the caffiene for a while??

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[G.Daniels]

supremo and cheese danish? doya sub ta Bowel Move'? unda da moonlight? as an afterthought or
conversely possibly inversely looking for dog **** I might observe' that the aformentioned coniving
by worthless cretins wuza actuallly served up in the most reputable,helpful and competent
bikesho-er LBS'