Bicycle service breakdown

rowdyflat

rowdyflat

chez le médecin
A few of us went to Mogo and Narooma last week.
After 30 mins a friend's chainring is loose , 2 bolts have fallen off and chainring is bent and squashed and cut an cable outer.
We assess , he walks about 1 km and he goes off to the bike shop at Batemans Bay who were helpful.
Turns out he had the drive train replaced just before coming away.
Seems like the mechanic at the unnamed bikeshop in Albury got distracted and didnt tighten the bolts properly.
Its the 2nd time I have seen it and that was another shop.
Maybe the mechanics should concentrate more and talk less.
 
Distraction is real in a busy bike shop if the mechanic has to cover multiple roles. But still no excuse for not double checking everything.

Might be worth letting the shop know even though there's little chance for recourse.

Once with each of our 2 cars we discovered some oversights shortly after having the car serviced. One issue was a minor annoyance, but the other could have left me with a cooked engine. We told the mechanic both times. He is a really nice guy and usually does great work, but obv can get a bit busy in his small workshop. Maybe a year or two later he decided to retire as it was getting a bit too much.
 
rowdyflat said:
A few of us went to Mogo and Narooma last week.
After 30 mins a friend's chainring is loose , 2 bolts have fallen off and chainring is bent and squashed and cut an cable outer.
We assess , he walks about 1 km and he goes off to the bike shop at Batemans Bay who were helpful.
Turns out he had the drive train replaced just before coming away.
Seems like the mechanic at the unnamed bikeshop in Albury got distracted and didnt tighten the bolts properly.
Its the 2nd time I have seen it and that was another shop.
Maybe the mechanics should concentrate more and talk less.
Click to expand...
Competence is on the wane everywhere.

At yesterdays footy grand final, I got stitched up at the sausage sizzle when one of the attendees refilled the sauce bottle but didn’t bother screwing the lid back on.
 
rowdyflat said:
Seems like the mechanic at the unnamed bikeshop in Albury got distracted and didnt tighten the bolts properly.
Click to expand...

If your gang are 100% sure that this is the case then that shop should support replacing what was damaged. That kind of shit is not acceptable in any line of business. I'd be getting the parts replaced for sure.
 
Yeah he has already rung them, has receipts and they are taking responsibility.
Another bloke with us had previously received a $340 credit from another shop who mangled his ebike cables, inside the frame so it wouldnt switch on.
My worst was when the bike shop forgot to tighten the stem properly ,at the first corner the bike went in another direction.
My wifes new bike the dropper kept slipping in the frame due to excessive grease , so she took it back with instructions to clean most of grease out of the alloy frame.It came back set at the wrong height and the bolt was so tight I couldnt undo it even with an extension bar.
I had to drill it out .
I do 90% of my own repairs and servicing ,I am convinced that some of the staff know less than me, yet shops are charging $120-180 per hour , it is easier work than car mechanics ,it seems like another one of the tradie money grabs.
 
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rowdyflat said:
Yeah he has already rung them, has receipts and they are taking responsibility.
Another bloke with us had previously received a $340 credit from another shop who mangled his ebike cables, inside the frame so it wouldnt switch on.
My worst was when the bike shop forgot to tighten the stem properly ,at the first corner the bike went in another direction.
My wifes new bike the dropper kept slipping in the frame due to excessive grease , so she took it back with instructions to clean most of grease out of the alloy frame.It came back set at the wrong height and the bolt was so tight I couldnt undo it even with an extension bar.
I had to drill it out .
I do 90% of my own repairs and servicing ,I am convinced that some of the staff know less than me, yet shops are charging $120-180 per hour , it is easier work than car mechanics ,it seems like another one of the tradie money grabs.
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It seems like all people care about is making money these days, there's no pride left in doing a good job.
 
I find that I have similar issues with the bike shop/mechanics that I go to, where things that I ask to have done, don't get done or the issues are no better than when I handed the bike over. Usable left over parts get binned or forgotten to hand back.
Then I have to try and fix it myself, (by my own admission, I'm not a great mechanic)
I usually vote with my feet, but it's getting harder to find good bike shops around. It's just bitter and disappointing when you have forked over a lot the money for bad quality or service from reputable businesses.
 
rowdyflat said:
A few of us went to Mogo and Narooma last week.
After 30 mins a friend's chainring is loose , 2 bolts have fallen off and chainring is bent and squashed and cut an cable outer.
We assess , he walks about 1 km and he goes off to the bike shop at Batemans Bay who were helpful.
Turns out he had the drive train replaced just before coming away.
Seems like the mechanic at the unnamed bikeshop in Albury got distracted and didnt tighten the bolts properly.
Its the 2nd time I have seen it and that was another shop.
Maybe the mechanics should concentrate more and talk less.
Click to expand...


Dozer said:
If your gang are 100% sure that this is the case then that shop should support replacing what was damaged. That kind of shit is not acceptable in any line of business. I'd be getting the parts replaced for sure.
Click to expand...

That's the kind of shite that bike and component warranties talk about re components or other parts not fitted properly in the warning text box that mentions severe injury or death.

Email the bikeshop - detailing what happened and what was damaged, and ask for a replacement chainring, replace all bolts, and replacement cable outer, and inner, if the cut went right through. and you might want someone to look at the cranks to see if they are damaged, eg the bolt holes etc.
Follow up with phone call.
If the bikeshop wont remedy the problem, call consumer affairs, forward them the email with details, and they will contact the bike shop.
I've done that, and had stuff replaced.

One time, I bought a brand new bike from a certain bike shop in melbourne, took it home. On its first ride, I was 400 metres from my frikken house when I shifted the rear mech to climb a steep hill. the mech shifted right into the fucking spokes and buggered the wheel.
I got replacement wheels after some bullshit grumbling from the shop. sold those wheels and bought some decent ones from Abbotsford cycles. (they are also great for wheel truing and general servicing, IMO.)
PM me if you are in melbourne and want to know a place to avoid.

I will do everything on my own bikes that I have the tools for, except hydraulics, wheel building, and suspension servicing, and I should really get onto hydraulics and wheels part.
There are too many crappy shops doing substandard work.
 
Flow-Rider said:
It seems like all people care about is making money these days, there's no pride left in doing a good job.
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I think its the continual talk about household budget pressures and yapping about house prices going up and how " boomers " dont have mortgages that unsettles some people .
They then try to grab all the money they can and anyone over 50 yo is a target cos they may look like a boomer.
Unfortunately professionals have gone the same way, its dog eat dog.
I am shocked by how much shops are charging people I ride with who admittedly are clueless and dont try..
Rear Shock service/seal repair $400 , drive train $1200 ,general service $600, fork $900 .
Generally the standard of work is fair to poor, its the same with housing last nights 4 corners high lighted the poor work on strata units..
[ Strictly bb were born 1946-1954.]
 
rowdyflat said:
I think its the continual talk about household budget pressures and yapping about house prices going up and how " boomers " dont have mortgages that unsettles some people .
They then try to grab all the money they can and anyone over 50 yo is a target cos they may look like a boomer.
Unfortunately professionals have gone the same way, its dog eat dog.
I am shocked by how much shops are charging people I ride with who admittedly are clueless and dont try..
Rear Shock service/seal repair $400 , drive train $1200 ,general service $600, fork $900 .
Generally the standard of work is fair to poor, its the same with housing last nights 4 corners high lighted the poor work on strata units..
[ Strictly bb were born 1946-1954.]
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure this is the mentality also.

I bought a home back in 2003 and I was under the median average wage earner, the house was 10 times my annual wage at the time, and the same house today is still valued at roughly 10 times the average annual wage. I drove a car that was 13 years old and worth $5000 and practically my social life was non-existent for the first 3 years of the loan, with no finances for kids or to even consider marriage.

I look at the youngins these days, brand new cars, 2 ~ 3 kids, both partners have jobs. No one saw my struggles nor did they care at the time, and I bought in an area that I never wanted to buy in but it was what I could afford.

I told many of my friends to buy but they all told me they would never live in the areas where they could afford it.

Well, guess what, 200k homes in the areas they were too good to live in are now worth 1 mil and most of them are struggling to get into the market.
 
rowdyflat said:
I think its the continual talk about household budget pressures and yapping about house prices going up and how " boomers " dont have mortgages that unsettles some people .
They then try to grab all the money they can and anyone over 50 yo is a target cos they may look like a boomer.
Unfortunately professionals have gone the same way, its dog eat dog.
I am shocked by how much shops are charging people I ride with who admittedly are clueless and dont try..
Rear Shock service/seal repair $400 , drive train $1200 ,general service $600, fork $900 .
Generally the standard of work is fair to poor, its the same with housing last nights 4 corners high lighted the poor work on strata units..
[ Strictly bb were born 1946-1954.]
Click to expand...
jeebus.. may as well just buy new fork/drivetrain at those prices...
 
birddog69 said:
That wouldn't be news to any regulars on RB. A very sad state of affairs.
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When we were young kids, back in NI, a family down the road used to wait on my dad every Chrissy morning to head down after he had done all the setting up of our toys, to set up their toys.

The bloke couldn't even put batteries in their remote control cars, couldn't set up games, couldn't assemble their Star Wars toys... a complete paper pusher. I remember vividly going down at one time as his trailer had a flat tyre and playing with my mates, while my dad jacked the trailer and took the wheel off.

There is a bucket load of useless chunts out there.
 
I think they have too many distractions because most of the above is accidentally not finishing something off.
 
ozzybmx said:
When we were young kids, back in NI, a family down the road used to wait on my dad every Chrissy morning to head down after he had done all the setting up of our toys, to set up their toys.

The bloke couldn't even put batteries in their remote control cars, couldn't set up games, couldn't assemble their Star Wars toys... a complete paper pusher. I remember vividly going down at one time as his trailer had a flat tyre and playing with my mates, while my dad jacked the trailer and took the wheel off.

There is a bucket load of useless chunts out there.
Click to expand...
I'm not surprised at all.
It mostly depends on how you are brought up. If you are brought up in a fairly affluent family, it is quite likely that everything that needs maintenance, has someone paid to do that for them.
My family wasn't exactly poor but wasn't rich either, pretty middle of the road, and we couldn't afford to send our second hand parts bin bikes to a mechanic, so we had to learn to do it ourselves. I remember my first dirt bike was a non-running CT90 postie bike that my dad bought, and we had to fix it to get it going before I could even ride it. My dad was an aircraft engineer so was mechanically minded, he built our house himself, he was always making or fixing things and that rubbed off on me.
I know a guy that calls an electrician to change a light bulb. He's a stockbroker/investment guru and has never learnt any hands-on skills.
 
Stredda said:
I'm not surprised at all.
It mostly depends on how you are brought up. If you are brought up in a fairly affluent family, it is quite likely that everything that needs maintenance, has someone paid to do that for them.
My family wasn't exactly poor but wasn't rich either, pretty middle of the road, and we couldn't afford to send our second hand parts bin bikes to a mechanic, so we had to learn to do it ourselves. I remember my first dirt bike was a non-running CT90 postie bike that my dad bought, and we had to fix it to get it going before I could even ride it. My dad was an aircraft engineer so was mechanically minded, he built our house himself, he was always making or fixing things and that rubbed off on me.
I know a guy that calls an electrician to change a light bulb. He's a stockbroker/investment guru and has never learnt any hands-on skills.
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Reminds me of the time when I was around 10 or 11 years old and everyone was too busy to fix a flat tyre on the bike.

Got the tyre off with great difficulty with child hands and patched the tube with one of those gunpowder vulcanising patches then put the tyre back on and then remembered we had no air pump.

The service station was within walking distance, so I walked up to the service station to use their compressed air. The gauge on the inflator didn't work very well and the tyre wouldn't mount the bead because I had no soapy water on the tyre, I put in so much air that the tyre blew off the rim. :D
 
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Flow-Rider said:
Reminds me of the time when I was around 10 or 11 years old and everyone was too busy to fix a flat tyre on the bike.

Got the tyre off with great difficulty with child hands and patched it with one of those gunpowder vulcanising patches then put the tyre back on and then remembered we had no air pump.

The service station was within walking distance, so I walked up to the service station to use their compressed air. The gauge on the inflator didn't work very well and the tyre wouldn't mount the bead because I had no soapy water on the tyre, I put in so much air that the tyre blew off the rim. :D
Click to expand...
Well, you live and you learn, and I bet you learnt a few things that day! 🤣
 
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