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.