Free air from LBS

[James Hodson]

Hi all

Further to the recent thread about a poster being charged
a fiver for a pump-up, I was in my LBS yesterday to order
a new stem.

A bloke unknown to the owner popped into the shop and asked
if the LBS man could possibly pump up his rear tyre for him.
Althought Michael (of Michael's Cycles
<http://tinyurl.com/2ox3u>) was quite busy repairing a bike
- and chatting to me at the same time - he made time to
inflate the OP's tyre for him.

All three of us got on to the subject of slick or semi-
slick tyres for mountain bikes and I wouldn't be too
surprised if the OP re-visited the LBS to buy a set of
tyres more suitable for the road than the knobblies that
were on his bike.

As others said in the other thread, a little bit of kindness
for free may well pay dividends at some later date.

Regards James

 

[Richard Bates]

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 15:40:04 +0100, James Hodson
<[email protected]> wrote:

>As others said in the other thread, a little bit of
>kindness for free may well pay dividends at some
>later date.

A LBS I had never visited before yesterday charged me a
fiver to true and tension a front wheel, and repaired my old
chainset for free. Yes, they only found and fitted a
suitable bolt which was probably lying around dong nothing
in the workshop, but it's the thought that counts.

In contrasr, many years ago a shop in Headingley sold me a
screw-on freewheel AND charged me four quid for the 10
second job of removing the old one.

--
Young Musician of the Year 2004 was a fiddle

 

[James Hodson]

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 15:48:56 +0100, Richard Bates
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 15:40:04 +0100, James Hodson
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>As others said in the other thread, a little bit of
>>kindness for free may well pay dividends at some
>>later date.
>
>A LBS I had never visited before yesterday charged me a
>fiver to true and tension a front wheel, and repaired my
>old chainset for free. Yes, they only found and fitted a
>suitable bolt which was probably lying around dong nothing
>in the workshop, but it's the thought that counts.
>
>In contrast, many years ago a shop in Headingley sold me a
>screw-on freewheel AND charged me four quid for the 10
>second job of removing the old one.

Hi Richard

I certainly wouldn't mind paying £5.00 for the retrueing and
retensioning of a wheel as it's a job I would find hard if
not impossible to do myself. Also, I'd guess it's something
that would take more than a minute of two, especially if the
wheel is more than slightly off. A pump up, OTOH, takes but
a moment and although we can all do it makes for good PR.

The same LBS charges, ARAIK, five quid for the replacement
of an inner tube/puncture repair; this includes the price of
the new tube (about £2 to £3 quid).

I do know, however, that Michael is less likely to do those
freebies on, say, a Saturday afternoon when the shop is
quite busy.

Back to wheels: I was knocked off my road bike soon after I
bought it. The only damage to the bike (I faired worse) was
to the front wheel. LBS man retrued that wheel gratis. FWIW,
Orbea wheels, even on my el-cheapo bike, seem to be quite
well made; they're both sturdy and lightish considering the
bike's cost.

James

 

[Martinm]

Richard Bates <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 15:40:04 +0100, James Hodson
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >As others said in the other thread, a little bit of
> >kindness for free may well pay dividends at some
> >later date.
>
> A LBS I had never visited before yesterday charged me a
> fiver to true and tension a front wheel, and repaired my
> old chainset for free. Yes, they only found and fitted a
> suitable bolt which was probably lying around dong nothing
> in the workshop, but it's the thought that counts.
>
> In contrasr, many years ago a shop in Headingley sold me a
> screw-on freewheel AND charged me four quid for the 10
> second job of removing the old one.

The Italian one I used last year takes some beating; took a
gear hanger off a brand new frame, fitted it to mine, put a
new cable on, adjusted the gears, replaced a spoke and gave
me a botlle all for 20eu, and he didn't speak a word of
English (or me Italian);-)

 

[Andymorris]

Richard Bates wrote:
>
> In contrasr, many years ago a shop in Headingley sold me a
> screw-on freewheel AND charged me four quid for the 10
> second job of removing the old one.

Just out of noseyness, was it the inflexible one or the
going downhill without pedaling one?

--
Andy Morris

AndyAtJinkasDotFreeserve.Co.UK

Love this:
Put an end to Outlook Express's messy quotes
http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/