Mucking round in the shed

[belly_up]

It's like dentistry. Leave it to the professionals....

People seem to have this misconception that professionlals are some kind of gods. They don't realise that half the time the people they think are professionals are no better / more qualified than themselves, and have simply gained that title by virtue of the fact that they are emplyed in that particular trade.

I know if had the choice of having something welded be a "professional" (who is in fact a first year apprentice that just happens to work at a welding joint) or a "non-professional" (who works in, say, accounting, but has been welding up hotrods in his shed for the last 20 years), i'd be choosing the non-professional. he'd probably be cheaper too!

I worked in a bike store for a while. I had no qualifications when i started, but as soon as i started working there, POW, as if by magic i was a professional bike mechanic, at least as far as all the customers were concerned, and the when i left, POW, i was back to being just some guy who rides bikes.

People place far too much emphasis on people's title's and not enough on thier abilities, and its their abilites that count. And the only way you improve those is to practice.

You're first set of bars may be a total disaster, but i bet you Azonic's first set of bars weren't anything to write home about either. How did they get better? through practice, and research and analysis of past designs. But anyone can do that, it's not magic, it's not cause they're "professionals", ineed they probably were'nt when they started.

So i say, if you want to make something, give it a shot, if you think you have a different idea that might work, give it a try, the way things happen is by people innovating and thinking outside the square.

Especially in the bike industry, pretty much every component company except for the big few, started out as some guys working in their back shed, trying different things, making stuff that suited them.

I'm not sure where this rant is heading, but i just don't think anyone should be discouraged from doing anything because they aren't "professionals".

it's like saying "oohhh don't go doing that downhill riding, you might crash and hurt yourself - leave it to the professionals", and if we all did that, we woudn't have any profesional riders.

um, i think i'll end this rant here, cause i probably need to go and do some work.

Thanks for coming to "The Belly_up rant for June"

Belly_Up

PS, Curly, this rant wasn't directed at you in particular, just at the perceptions that i know i lot of people have, your comment was just a trigger that made me think of it, and then, well i kinda just kept going

 

[Grip]

"Professional"... what does that mean exactly?

Gotta agree with Belly-up. GripSport started three years ago (next week) all because I was FOREVER working on bikes with Talon and sick to death of trying to do it upside down, or on a bench, or slung from the roof or on the floor. My back hurt, my head hurt, I used to throw a lot of tools and I REALLY hated the idea of spending mega-bucks on a Yankee-made stand or semi-mega-bucks on an Asian stand that no one was prepared to say would actually work well and LAST.... so I made one... simple as that. All our other products started the same way... out of a NEED, and the frame repairs came about because Talon just kept on breaking stuff and it was getting bloody expensive. Now fair enough... I'm one of those "professionals", but while a trade background and tertiary study has taught me that "everything can be fixed, repaired made to work or made to work better"... without a doubt it was the ACTUAL EXPERIENCE of DOING it over the next 20 years that taught me HOW to do it. Our first stands were all "designed" on paper etc... me playing "professional engineer"... and the bottom-line is they only JUST worked. It was only after we sat and stared at it for a long time, only when we started to think like blokes tinkering in the garage rather than engineers did they start to work properly. Worth thinking about... that is.

A few points...

People said "you can't engineer something to offer a lifetime warranty"... we do. Well I reckon you can do just about anything once you set your mind to it. We've only had five warranty claims on stands and each one has resulted in model changes. We sell more workstands in Australia than anyone else.

People said "you can't repair frames like that"... well I reckon that was only because no one had TRIED doing it that way before... we did and we've now done over 500 frames with only three that have come back at us... and I'm perfectly happy to admit that those three were our/my fault. (Oh, "Stu's" IDrive from Brisbane was actually number 4 but we're fixing that next week)

The absolute best engineer I've ever known lives down the street from me and is actually a failed accountant. You would not believe the depth of this guy's knowledge and ability... I wish I could afford to hire him! He reckons you've only got to "want" to make something bad enough and you'll teach yourself HOW to make it.

One of the most talented welders I've ever come across has NO "trade" qualifications at all but taught himself in his garage (maybe making handlebars?)

Some of the best inventions and best product improvements I've ever seen have come from the ordinary, non-professional, guy or girl working out of a garage.... and it's often the "professional" and big company that takes that good idea and stuffs it completely!

I reckon we should all applaud and encourage the backyard handlebar makers in our midst... just like the little Japanese bloke who started in a tin shed (I think his name was Shimano san) or the two NSW riders who wanted good gear for their own bikes and turned themselves into Aireal... and you know as well as I do that this list could go on forever.


Cheers guys
Sorry 'bout the extra long post
I'll go have a lie down now.

 

[andrew]

but i bet you Azonic's first set of bars weren't anything to write home about either.

:lol: they still arent!









jk

 

[S.]

but i bet you Azonic's first set of bars weren't anything to write home about either.

:lol: they still arent!









jk

hahahaa

Yeah, I agree with what Jon (Grip) said. Everyone starts out small, and those who actually intend to make good stuff are the ones that become successful. The fact is that you don't need a qualification to make good stuff.... lots of people are overqualified but can't actually do anything, on the other hand some people never finished school but can come up with ingenius ideas for how to make stuff.

 

[adam]

trust me, im not going to use those bars, i might die, like you said the whole stress load is placed on the welds. I just found some steel and was looking for some welding practice, so i fashioned them in the shape of a set of handlebars. Anyway, it was only the second time id ever picked up a MIG welder.

I hear ya guys. Qualifications look nice, but its experience and real world testing that is the real teacher. It almost always comes down to experience.

Yeah, everyone starts out small, you just gotta have the passion to do it. I think many of the best companies made products not for just a living, but to make a better product, and not just to make a profit like some of the larger companies.

Ride
Adam

[/b]