BEWARE - Boxed bike

Just completed another internet bought boxed bike build for a kiddy bike. I get really frustrated about these. An awful lot of the bikes that are bought on the internet do not turn out to be such a bargain especially when you have to get your LBS (most won't) or mobile outfit to put it together for you- a customer wasn't very happy about the price we charged for sorting out his purchase - he felt that because it came 'part built' he should pay a lower charge. I'm sorry but 'part built' only meant it had the back wheel on - everything else needed fettling. The front wheel was well buckled so the brake would never have worked unless we spent a fair bit of time turing it up so the wheel would go round. Both brakes needed a lot of fiddling to get them as right and as safe as possible. The bar grips were made of soft spongy rubber and had been destroyed in transit so needed replacing - which is a pain because we had to cut standard grips down to fit a kiddy bike. The components on these bikes are dreadful. Oh and plus we provided a door-to-door service going out on icy roads saving him the effort and fuel - and a round trip of 36 miles!!! He could have saved himslef this cost by going down to his local bike shop and buying the bike there - and the PDI and problem solving would have been done by them at no extra cost! OK he may have had to pay a little more for the bike than he did on the web but not what it has cost him to get me out. All of the things wrong with this bike we see so often with internet purchases and it may be in future that we decide not to handle them as they can be more trouble than what they are worth!! Rant over

A bit of snow

Having been smug about escaping the worst of the bad weather, it duly arrived last night and we have six inches or so here - very pretty. Even the A6 which is a big road was just passable. Still we managed to deliver a promised bike back this morning much to the surprise and delight of its owner - not that he'll be going out on it at the moment! Let it never be said that we don't deliver on our promises.

Cold weather

Temperatures have plummeted here the last few nights - it was -7.1 on Saturday night,never got above freezing yesterday and down to -5.9 last night. There was a flurry of snow this morning and a balmy 0.8 by lunchtime - now heading down again!
So it is a bit nippy in the workshop so very glad to have nice easy jobs to do today.
We had to make minor repairs a bike after some riders collided with each other over the weekend - twisted front mech and displaced gear cable. Woops! But this has given me some tome to start thinking about the workshop layout -which needs to be more ergonomically laid out - not easy with limited space - and also ordering some stock in.
Good jobs for this time of the year and we have the Rough Stuff Fellowship Xmas lunch to look forward to on Wednesday at Rivington!

Boxed bikes

It's that time of the year again when folk are searching for a great xmas present. Many are now choosing to buy bikes via the internet and these arrive in boxes usually partially built. We don't say you should never buy a bike this way - you can get a real bargain and there are some good dealers but there are pitfalls. All we are saying is - be careful! Check as soon as it arrives - you should really do this whilst the carrier waits - but not so practical - if there isn't time then sign the delivery sheet with a comment 'unchecked'. As soon as you can, check that everything is in the box - it is not unknown for parts to be missing. Often any assembly instructions and/or tools which come with the bike are of little use so unless you know what you are doing then get a qualified mechanic to assemble and check it for you. Remember that if anything is wrong invariably you will have to pay to send it back - and that applies down the line - if it breaks after six months it is hard work geting it back to whence it came. Our advice will always be that it is far better to get a bike from a good local shop with full back up!

End of a busy week

Today is a day of rest as last week was rather busy. Managed to get a couple of hours out on the bike in the sun yesterday before it was back to the workshop. A Scott mtb had the rear pads worn way down and the cable was stiff - the front rotor was down to min thickness so needed replacing. Although a brand new set of pads had been fitted (not by us) to the front it still wasn't stopping - no bite. As we didn't know their provenance we replaced them and it stops fine now.
The new wheels for the 'destroyed rim' bike arrived so they went on along with a new chain cassette and brake blocks.
A 40 year old bike was serviced and made good. All that is left to do is to build up a nice little BMX out of a box... nice Monday job I think.
And I'm still trying to find some time to clear out my old stock and have sale so I can tidy up the workshop and make it more ergonomically friendly for myself.

Demolition jobs!

Two of today's jobs were definitely contenders for the demolition derby - first was a brake block which had worn down to the metal holder and then spent a few weeks still being used despite the 'awful noise' the customer described - result a trashed rim and the cost of a new wheel. Second was a bike in for a routine service making a racket at the rear hub and with a severe wobble. Invesigation revealed a fractured axle and bent q/r skewer - the latter holding the whole thing together of course. On informing the Customer he admitted that it had been making a bit of a squeaking noise at the back!
Motto of the tale - if there is a 'funny noise'don't leave it - find out what is causing it!!

Back to busy-ness!

After a nice long weekend off up in the lakes we are back to a busy workshop again. Lots of folk wanting to get their bikes serviced ready for use in the winter - very sensible. Who wants to be let down by a technical problem on a cold dark and probably wet night on the way home?
It is also important to remind folk of carrying out a quick bike check before each ride - it need only take a few minutes and could save you a breakdown and/or expensive repair. We'll shortly be putting this on our website - so check back soon. An example of how this can save problems - we recently had to fit a new wheel to a newish bike because the customer hadm't kept a check on his wheels and didn't spot a number of loose spokes - by the time we got it it was too late for the rim (RIP)! He did say it had ' felt funny for a while'! If he'd checked it earlier he'd have spotted this and had the wheel tensioned and trued for a small cost...

Old bike problems...

Today's 'scratching the head' job was an old 5 speed ladies bike wanting a twist grip shifter fitting instead of the current stem lever as was par for the course in those days. Noticed that the bar grips were not fully on the handlebars when it came in - reason why? These old bars are a good millimeter wider than the standard 22.2mm bar and it makes all the difference. Try as you might you cannot get a twist grip shifter onto the bar - and the reason why the grips didn't fit right. The only option is likely an older style thumb shifter as these have a soft clamp that will probably expand enough to get it on - but the owner doesn't want a thumb shifter! One of the joys of trying to 'upgrade' an old type of bike. Watch this space...

More rain!

Yep, it is still pouring down outside so no excuses for cracking on with work at the end of a busy week to finish off any bikes left in the workshop. Today's jobs included fitting a new freehub body - the old worn was worn out by an energetic customer clocking up about 8,000 miles with it - pretty good going. It was still running (just) but making a horrible roaring noise and a bit wobbly so probably wouldn't last much longer. Brake pads seem to be the order of the day at the moment - probably with all the wet weather combining with our underlying soil in this neck of the woods (gritstone) resulting in a lovely fine grinding paste - and we cleaned a drivetrain of it's gorgeous black 'goo' to fit a nice shiny new chain & casette.

Still raining...

At least I don't mind being in my nice warm workshop when it is so bad outside!
Our 'errant' Hope disk brake was fine this morning but a little test ride showed the pads needed changing as well. Plenty of meat on them but they must have got contaminated. The front brake is juddering and squealing badly so it needs fettling as well.
We fettled a battered Merlin mtb - this bike has had a hard life so new brake pads, cables, cassette, chain. Why, oh why do folk not clean their bikes once in a while and keep them lubed? I must have chiselled off a ton of gunge from jockey wheels in the last week or so - some so bad they no longer rotate! When thing are seized up labour costs have to go up to cover the time taken to sort it.

Wet and windy - November arrives

The rain's pouring down outside and blowing a gale but the workshop is still full of bikes! You'd think things would have quietened down by this stage of the year. But is is a good time of the year to be getting your bike serviced and rrady toface the rigours of winter. Big job today was fitting some new suspension forks to a Scott Aspect and overhauling it's drivetrain. It's owner has ridden several thousand miles on it so it is a good advert for Scott!
We also spent some time on a 'problem' Hope disk brake which was misbehaving after a recent service to replace the seals (not by us I might add!) and the owner was worried about having to buy a new brake. We checked out the whole system and there were no apparent leaks and plenty of fluid in the resevoir but there was a lot of air in the brake fluid - so we have replaced all the fluid and it is working very well now. We will leave it overnight and check it again in the morning.

Scary

Well it is nearing halloween! A bike we fixed today had no working front cable disk brake - it just stopped working apparently - and yes, it would have done - because the brake pads had dropped out somewhere. The pads are only held in place on this particular brake by a very small spring. This must have broken and allowed the pads to wiggle their way out under braking! It now has new pads and the owner had been advised to check the spring is still in place every ride!

Lots of jobs to do

Amongst today's work was a full bike check,fitting new tyres and bartape on a nice Giant in readiness for a customer's C2C ride next week. The tyres were Armadillos - great for not puncturing but they are a pain to fit as they are very tight and inflexible - I think I need three pairs of hands. Next job was fitting new bottom bracket cups, adjusting gears and disk brake pads on a well-used XT specced moutain bike. It's important to ensure the pistons are pushed back carefully when fitting the new pads to make sure the piston doesn't twist and jam as you do so. If you don't push them back then you prbably won't get the new pads in and certainly not the wheel. And for good measure started on bringing a bike back to life which has gathered dust for over 4 years in a customer's garage. It's a really nice bike made from 531 tubing and with Campagnolo kit on it so well worth the new tyres & tubes and re-greasing all the bearings which have dried out. Our only problem with it is the stem expander wedge is seized up in the fork tube at the moment - this is often a problem when bikes are left unserviced for a long time - so lots of penetrating lube overnight and we'll see if it will budge in the morning!

Annual Bike checks and clean bikes

Every year we do bike checks on fleet/pool bikes for a number of organisations to ensure their bikes are roadworthy for their employees/customers/students to use. It's an 'MOT' for a bike checking it from nose to tail. Today was the turn of the local hospital - and it passed with flying colours I'm pleased to say.
It is worth getting an annual check on any bike - it only costs £12 for that peace of mind - and if any jobs do need doing we'll give you a price up front.
Please remember to give your bike a clean before booking it in though - we will charge extra if we have to clean a bike before we can work on it - and if it is very bad we may decline to take it until it has been cleaned up. You don't really need fancy cleaners - warm soapy water, an old sponge and an old toothbrush (for the 'hard to get at' bits). If you use a hosepipe or pressure washer be really careful not to point this at hubs, bottom bracket bearings or suspension untis as you risk stripping out the essential grease!

Today's main job was converting a Claud Butler Leavante from a flat bar set up to a drop bar. The customer wanted to retain his existing 8 speed triple kit so we fitted some nice Shimano 2303 8 spd STI shifters - so no compatibility problems - and Ritchey drop bars with some white bar tape to match his saddle and paintwork. New cables through out and job done!
We also had a nice email from a customer thanking us for the work we did this summer on helping him restore a 1940s Dawes racing bike - apparently his Dad, whose bike it was, was delighted to see it almost back to its former glory.

Suspension servicing

Right now is a really good time to get forks and shocks serviced with quick turnaround times. Don't leave it until the Spring when everyone wants to get them done - you could wait 2-3 weeks.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new Wheelygood blog, okay its in development and next time may look totally different.
Anyway I thought it might be nice to have somewhere to post thoughts and suggestions so keep watching