Bike problems...

[Spin baby]

I took my old Raleigh 6 speed mountain bike to a bike mechanic early in January, because I could feel a very slight click in the pedals on the downstroke. Some gears did it more than others...

I explained all this to the BM... he explained it could be a number of things... so I told him to tune it up and fix the problem... which I figured was the bottom bracket.

It rode really nice for the first little bit... but the click was still there.... and a squeaking I had asked the BM to fix was also still there.

I couldn't ride my bike for a bit due to heavy snow.... but when I did get back on... the bike really felt like it did when I gave it to the BM.

Anyway... long story short.....

I take my bike back to the same shop... but get a different guy. Must have been the owner... LOL... cause he went and got a chain measurement tool and dropped it on my chain.... and he looked up at me and said it was beyond wore out. So... that meant rear cogs and front crankset as well cause the chain had worn the teeth to shark fins.

And the squeaking from the drive chain..??

My chain had no oil on it.... and the BM gives me hell cause I'm not oiling my chain. LOL. And I'm thinking... your other BM didn't measure my chain which seems like a basic thing to do... like taking one's blood pressure.... and he didn't oil the chain which I would take for granted to be part of a tuneup. I should have said all this to him.... but we were having a moment of rapport and I didn't want to ruin that. hehehe

I get my Raleigh back on Saturday... I hope it rides like new... .

One more thing around that....

A guy I was telling my story to suggested that I call back the BM and tell him not to put any wimpy components on my bike.... just cause I'm a female and all... LOL

Now... I grew up in my Dad's garage and actually own power tools... and these BM make me feel like an idiot.

How do you other gals deal with getting your bike problems fixed?

 

[brightgarden]

Find a great shop. Good luck! But seriously, look around. Any bike shop that's giving you attitude is not worth paying.

My shop was recommended to me by several friends for several years. It took me a while to check it out finally because I was just plain lazy, and there were loads of other bike shops closer to me. I still stop by local shops for basic supplies, but I always have my bike looked at by my mechanic at my shop.

I think it also matters how much competition there is in the area. Around here, we are choking full of bike shops. My shop is very inconveninently placed (no where near any bike trails, at the top of a huge hill with high auto traffic). Yet, tons of people go there with their bikes. They have three shops total, but the one I go to is the best, and I think it is precisely because they have to compete more for their customers (their other two shops are near bike trails, and I've found their attitude is similar to that at most of the other bike shops around).

There is another shop very close to my house (4 blocks). Very nice people. Seem competent. But when I was bike shopping for a road bike, I took in my mtn bike to have brake pads put on. It was a convenience, but it was also a test because that's the sort of thing that doesn't mess up your bike very much. Well, they screwed up my wheel alignment in the drops and that caused my derailleur to stop working properly. It's not like they have incompetent staff because my boyfriend swears by them and has them work on his bike. But as far as I'm concerned, they didn't treat me right when I was looking to buy a bike from them, so that ruled them out.

To balance this a bit, my "great" shop was the shop I eventually bought a bike from. That may also have something to do with the level of service I get. Incidentally, after I manually readjusted my bike after the brake pad replacement I mentioned above, I took it in to my shop, who readjusted the brakes, the wheel alignment, and the derailleurs (and lubed my chain), told me they were amazed my chain has lasted so long, blah blah blah. That bike has never ridden so well before! Oh, and they didn't charge me for any of that. Pretty cool, eh? I owe them some brownies or something.

 

[Spin baby]

Hey ....

Love your pseud...

We have two shops in my city... but we also host the Ironman ... so forget about any kind of service from June to August cause there are 1500 road bikes in town.

And maybe these two shops make so much money in the summer, they don't need us locals. ; )

I've tried both the shops... one of them even has a female mechanic.. but she's also part owner of the business so isn't available a lot of the time. I took a couple of bike courses from her, and got alot out of it, but replacing my drive train wasn't covered...

I have also looked at new bikes at both LBS's.... cause they all think I should just buy a new bike instead of putting money into my old friend.

But I never thought of bribing the boys with brownies.

Could it be that easy... ??

 

[brightgarden]

Ha! My housemate (whose bike shop sucks "big hairy donkey balls"--her words, not mine) gave my salesman a plate full of brownies with "her family secret ingredient" (just vanilla, nothing scary), and they treat her as if she bought her bike from them. They just ignore the sticker on her bike that shows it's from the other shop and tell her when it's worth while for her to take her bike to her bike shop (because it's free for the first year), or if they can just quickly make the adjustment for her on the spot.

It seemed to work for her. But seriously, she did it because they did her a favor on her new bike (no charge) just because her bike shop sucked. So brownies, I think, are more appropriate as a gift of appreciation (it would suck to give brownies, but still be treated badly).

Sorry to hear your selection of shops is so thin! Biking to work, I pass two shops, and there's another one across the bridge from the office!

['brightgarden' is actually my real name--translated from korean]

but i also go by

- maggie

 

[Spin baby]

Brightgarden....

The boys at Freedom Cycle are going to get double chocolate brownies with chocolate icing.... ... or nanaimo bars.

They replaced the rear cogs and front crank and put on a new chain... and I feel like I have a new bike. Everything is so tight and set up so well that I couldn't even feel it shifting..!! And.. the bill was less than he first told me... so I think he realized that they should have caught all that the time before. The owner even called me by name... LOL... and they topped up my tires...

Okay.. I'm gushing now...


I got SPD dual pedals put on as well... and am going to buy shoes tommorrow. The sandals will have to come later.

So.. now I have to figure out the gearing and look forward to lots of smooth riding.

Hehe..

 

[brightgarden]

sweet!

 

[Pokey01]

Hey Brightgarden-

I just caught the VA thing, and don't know what part you happen to be in, but I do know that when my daughter and I were up there riding last month she (my daughter, that is) noticed a strange sound coming from her fairly new Cosmos wheels. We took it right then, during our ride, to one shop, that could not find a thing and in some way acted as if it was her imagination.

Then when we went to dinner that night it turned out that the restaurant mgr where we dined was an active cyclist and offered to steer her toward 'his' shop, a shop that wasn't near or near the ride from Mt Vernon to DC.... and sure enough, the tech there new instantly what it was (a small adjustment) and fixed it in a snap. So I guess that all shops clearly are not created equal. I almost wish there were something like ASE or AAA certifications for them, LOL!

Just thought I'd throw my two cents in, according to inflation this means it now has a negative value...... folks always tell me my opinions are worthless

Pokey

 

[brightgarden]

haha, that makes me so curious because everyone has such different experiences even with the same shop.

my shop is spokes, etc on quaker lane near shirlington. and it's not near me--shortest ride is 8 miles for me to get there...and i have no car.

 

[Geonz]

'round here we've speculated on bike shop loyalty, too, since different people come out of the same shop with totally different perspecitves, and sometimes they've been talking to exactly the same people. "He talked to me like I was an idiot" ... "He was really helpful..." same guy. Sometimes the attitude is perceived, not intended.