Re: most common repairs

maybe I worded it incorrectly...
what I would like is the 10 most common repairs that come through the shops
and on top of that the most difficult and time consuming.

Brian
"Qui si parla Campagnolo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:1112792177.c69dad10ec4f858c41d51f6e04fbb45f@teranews...

Quoted message said:

B said:

I am researching an article for a bike magazine.

Wondering what the most common repairs are for a bike shop and if any are
out there mobile bike service?

Maybe you can give the top 10 services you guys provide, the tops for
difficulty and also exactly what you cover in atune up.

thanks

Brian

Most common? The one that 20 years ago didn't exist...can ya adjust my
rear shifting?

Most diffucult and most ignored, good wheelbuilding. Many people build
wheels, not a lot of 'wheelbuilders'.

I think the type of shop will determine your responses. For the 'take 'em
outta the box, get 'em sold', vs the type that focusus on service as we
and others like Andy Muzi does. Then you will get somewhat of both with
Mike J.

B said:

maybe I worded it incorrectly...
what I would like is the 10 most common repairs that come through the

shops

Quoted message said:

and on top of that the most difficult and time consuming.

Repairs don't come through shops, problems do: "I've got a flat. I've
got a wierd noise. I can't shift. I want to be more upright."

Difficutly has little to do with the type of repair, everything to do
with the specific circumstances (age/type of bike, parts on hand,
customer's time and financial constraints, etc.). Same for time
required per repair.

-Vee

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

Most diffucult and most ignored, good wheelbuilding. Many people build
wheels, not a lot of 'wheelbuilders'.

Just curious. What separates them?

Mike

On Wed, 6 Apr 2005 15:15:44 -0400, "Michael Dart" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

Most diffucult and most ignored, good wheelbuilding. Many people build
wheels, not a lot of 'wheelbuilders'.

Just curious. What separates them?

A wheelbuilder knows what works and chooses components accordingly,
where others will assemble and/or sell whatever they have. A
wheelbuilder will stress-relieve every spoke, where others will
overlook or be unaware of the need for this step. A wheelbuilder will
deliver a wheel that's really ready to use, where others will deliver
something reasonably round which, after a little additional work, may
or may not be ready to be ridden for many thousands of trouble-free
miles. The difference is in the details, and there are sometimes more
details than you might think.

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

My home shop in the other room. 8 bikes in winter many
more flats due to the trash on the highways and byways. Summer like 1/2
as many mostly from thorns. But I almost lost it spending an hour trying
to tune a Shimano STX RC rear derail- leur that wasn't willing. If
it dies I can upgrade with a LX or XT that are sitting in the spare
parts tote.

Quoted message said:

B said:

I am researching an article for a bike magazine.
Wondering what the most common repairs are for a bike shop and if any
are out there mobile bike service?
Maybe you can give the top 10 services you guys provide, the tops for
difficulty and also exactly what you cover in atune up.

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

Most common? The one that 20 years ago didn't exist...can ya adjust my
rear shifting?
Most diffucult and most ignored, good wheelbuilding. Many people build
wheels, not a lot of 'wheelbuilders'.
I think the type of shop will determine your responses. For the 'take
'em outta the box, get 'em sold', vs the type that focusus on service as
we and others like Andy Muzi does. Then you will get somewhat of both
with Mike J.

By frequency:
1. Flat/new tire tire
2. Gear adjustment/minor bend/cable issues/new lever, der
3. Brake adjustment/new pads, cables
4. True wheel/replace spoke/replace wheel
5. Worn chain/FW/CS/new chainring
6. Noise low in bike - crank/BB/Pedal
7. Wrap tape/new stem/bars
8. Replace saddle/bars/pedals
9. Install carrier/mudguards/cage/etc
10.Loose headset/loose stem/bars/levers

If I thought about it longer the rankings might move around
a bit.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Michael Dart said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

Most diffucult and most ignored, good wheelbuilding. Many people build
wheels, not a lot of 'wheelbuilders'.

Just curious. What separates them?

Mike

The explosion of 'wheels outta a box', marketed well, but not made
well has driven some shops out of the wheelbuilding biz. They would
rather just take 'em out and sell 'em. They generally don't recognize
they are more expensive than handbuilts, when you consider the 'service
after the sale'.

A experienced, good wheelbuilder is tough to find even here in the
'republic', where I can count on one hand the decent wheelbuilders here.

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

A experienced, good wheelbuilder is tough to find even here in the
'republic', where I can count on one hand the decent wheelbuilders

here.

What do you mean by the republic? Building wheels isn't exceptionally
difficult, and lots of mechanics do it decently, if that means their
wheels stay true and don't break spokes. Without trying very hard, I
can think of about 10 professional mechanics I've known who build
wheels that meet the criteria above (stay straight/no broken spokes).
Only about four of them have built hundreds or thousands of wheels, but
I don't think that's relevant. Here in Madison, it seems like a
majority of mechanics know about stress-relieving, double butted
spokes, and so on. That doesn't mean all mechanics are building good
wheels, but more than a handful are. Is Madison atypical, or am I just
wrong? This "good wheelbuilder" stuff sounds egotistical sometimes...
just wondering what you mean.
I agree with you about boxed wheels... customers want them because of
marketing, and it's hard to set them straight (the customers and the
wheels).

-Vee

Vee said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

A experienced, good wheelbuilder is tough to find even here in the
'republic', where I can count on one hand the decent wheelbuilders

here.

What do you mean by the republic?

Time to bring back your signature, Peter. Not that heinous .vcf
pop-up-Peter attachment [censored] either. Just the straight sig.

Maybe it'll result in you reverting to your old style of posting.
Maybe it wasn't AOHell's fault after all....

Vee said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

A experienced, good wheelbuilder is tough to find even here in the
'republic', where I can count on one hand the decent wheelbuilders

here.

What do you mean by the republic?

I believe this is a whimsical reference to the "Republic of Boulder",
an ideological enclave in the philosophical desert that is most of
neocon Colorado.

Quoted message said:

Building wheels isn't exceptionally
difficult, and lots of mechanics do it decently, if that means their
wheels stay true and don't break spokes. Without trying very hard, I
can think of about 10 professional mechanics I've known who build
wheels that meet the criteria above (stay straight/no broken spokes).
Only about four of them have built hundreds or thousands of wheels, but
I don't think that's relevant. Here in Madison, it seems like a
majority of mechanics know about stress-relieving, double butted
spokes, and so on. That doesn't mean all mechanics are building good
wheels, but more than a handful are. Is Madison atypical, or am I just
wrong?

Madison is atypical. Here in Houston, most bike shops just sell
machine-built wheels straight from the box unless the customer insists
on a custom-built unit. Some will offer to do the added steps of
stress-relief and proper tensioning and truing on their boxed wheels
at an additional cost, but few will routinely do the wheel build
themselves unless specifically asked to do so. Nearly all will
assemble a wheel to the customer's specs on request, but the price
tends to be significantly higher than a boxed wheel.

Quoted message said:

This "good wheelbuilder" stuff sounds egotistical sometimes...
just wondering what you mean.
I agree with you about boxed wheels... customers want them because of
marketing, and it's hard to set them straight (the customers and the
wheels).

My experience has been that the larger and more fashion-driven the
market becomes, the less attention gets paid to functionality.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

Michael Dart said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

Most diffucult and most ignored, good wheelbuilding. Many people
build wheels, not a lot of 'wheelbuilders'.

Just curious. What separates them?

Mike

The explosion of 'wheels outta a box', marketed well, but not made
well has driven some shops out of the wheelbuilding biz. They would
rather just take 'em out and sell 'em. They generally don't recognize
they are more expensive than handbuilts, when you consider the
'service after the sale'.

I have a question with semantics here. Are boxed wheels ones such as
Ksyriums with proprietary materials, spokes, rims, and hubs? Or are you
referring, for example, to the QBP Wheelhouse wheels that are actually
handbuilt? Or are you referring to some of the more discount wheels that
are out there?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Werehatrack said:

Vee said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

A experienced, good wheelbuilder is tough to find even here in the
'republic', where I can count on one hand the decent wheelbuilders

here.

What do you mean by the republic?

I believe this is a whimsical reference to the "Republic of Boulder",
an ideological enclave in the philosophical desert that is most of
neocon Colorado.

[snip]

Dear Werehatrack,

Actually, the usual full title is the "People's Republic of
Boulder." Omitting that first word gives a rather misleading
impression of what the phrase means.

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

Werehatrack said:

Vee said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:

> A experienced, good wheelbuilder is tough to find even here in the
> 'republic', where I can count on one hand the decent wheelbuilders
here.

What do you mean by the republic?

I believe this is a whimsical reference to the "Republic of Boulder",
an ideological enclave in the philosophical desert that is most of
neocon Colorado.

[snip]

Dear Werehatrack,

Actually, the usual full title is the "People's Republic of
Boulder." Omitting that first word gives a rather misleading
impression of what the phrase means.

I have even heard it further expanded by a West Denver type into
"People's Democratic Republic of Boulder". The speaker was bemoaning
the lack of sympathy he'd found there for his application to put up a
ten-bay self-service car wash of the spray-lotsa-soapy-water variety.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Werehatrack said:

Quoted message said:

Werehatrack said:

On 7 Apr 2005 07:54:02 -0700, "Vee" <[email hidden]> wrote:

>Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
>
>> A experienced, good wheelbuilder is tough to find even here in the
>> 'republic', where I can count on one hand the decent wheelbuilders
>here.
>
>What do you mean by the republic?

I believe this is a whimsical reference to the "Republic of Boulder",
an ideological enclave in the philosophical desert that is most of
neocon Colorado.

[snip]

Dear Werehatrack,

Actually, the usual full title is the "People's Republic of
Boulder." Omitting that first word gives a rather misleading
impression of what the phrase means.

I have even heard it further expanded by a West Denver type into
"People's Democratic Republic of Boulder". The speaker was bemoaning
the lack of sympathy he'd found there for his application to put up a
ten-bay self-service car wash of the spray-lotsa-soapy-water variety.

Dear Werehatrack,

Any city whose chief industry is catering to college
students at a heavily subsidized state university is likely
to have a philosophy and wisdom reflecting that of its
13th-grade employers.

One-third (30,000) of the population of Boulder (94,000)
attends the University of Colorado:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder,_Colorado

Another 6,500 are directly employed by the University, not
counting another 250 who vanish due to hand-waving:

http://www.colorado.edu/masterplan/plan/plan.cgi?1&4&2&1

This amounts to one employee for every 4.6 students.

"D'ye think th' colledges has much to do with th' progress
iv of the wurruld?" asked Mr Hennessy.

"D'ye think," said Mr Dooley, "tis th' mill that makes th'
water run?"

"Colleges and Degrees," Finley Peter Dunne

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

I think the type of shop will determine your responses. For the 'take 'em
outta the box, get 'em sold', vs the type that focusus on service as we
and others like Andy Muzi does. Then you will get somewhat of both with
Mike J.

The main thing is to keep it relatively quiet about what Mike J actually
knows and has done in a past life. The last thing in the world he needs is
for people to start bringing in things like SA 3-speeds for overhauls. Wheel
builds he still very much enjoys doing, but has, alas, little time for.
Probably because in his "spare" time, he's answering questions in 3rd person
on newsgroups...

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Quoted message said:

Any city whose chief industry is catering to college
students at a heavily subsidized state university is likely
to have a philosophy and wisdom reflecting that of its
13th-grade employers.

Blame also should be laid at the feet of the fools who fail to
remember that the real purpose of a university was supposed to be
academic education, not providing bread and circuses.

http://www.instantattitudes.com/gifs/bs473.gif
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Werehatrack said:

Quoted message said:

Any city whose chief industry is catering to college
students at a heavily subsidized state university is likely
to have a philosophy and wisdom reflecting that of its
13th-grade employers.

Blame also should be laid at the feet of the fools who fail to
remember that the real purpose of a university was supposed to be
academic education, not providing bread and circuses.

http://www.instantattitudes.com/gifs/bs473.gif

Virtually the entire purpose of university football/sports is to
encourage alumni donations. It works splendidly. The culprits are the
graduates who are old enough to have made their pile. I figure it's
their bread, let them have their circus.

Quoted message said:

Any city whose chief industry is catering to college
students at a heavily subsidized state university is likely
to have a philosophy and wisdom reflecting that of its
13th-grade employers.

Aren't the "employers" the administration of the university? In that
case, wouldn't it be fairer to describe them as 16th(+) grade
employers? What's the mean grade level of your town's employers
(assuming you don't live in Boulder)? Is lower better?

Vee said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

A experienced, good wheelbuilder is tough to find even here in the
'republic', where I can count on one hand the decent wheelbuilders

here.

What do you mean by the republic?

" People's Republic of Boulder"...I guess that bit of humor zoomed past ya.

Building wheels isn't exceptionally

Quoted message said:

difficult, and lots of mechanics do it decently, if that means their
wheels stay true and don't break spokes. Without trying very hard, I
can think of about 10 professional mechanics I've known who build
wheels that meet the criteria above (stay straight/no broken spokes).
Only about four of them have built hundreds or thousands of wheels, but
I don't think that's relevant. Here in Madison, it seems like a
majority of mechanics know about stress-relieving, double butted
spokes, and so on. That doesn't mean all mechanics are building good
wheels, but more than a handful are. Is Madison atypical, or am I just
wrong? This "good wheelbuilder" stuff sounds egotistical sometimes...
just wondering what you mean.

Just from my experience. never been to the 'republic of Madison', I
guess I'll ask Andy Muzi about how many wrenches in Madison actually
build good wheels. As for wheelbuilding...no it's not difficult but it
isn't 'easy' as you imply.

Quoted message said:

I agree with you about boxed wheels... customers want them because of
marketing, and it's hard to set them straight (the customers and the
wheels).

-Vee