Customer isn't always right!

Customer - My brake needs bleeding! Me - why do you think it might need doing? Customer - the lever comes all the way back to the bars. Me - ok - does it pump up if you activate the levers a few times. Customer - no but it defo needs bleeding. I am now suspicious. Squeeze the lever and it feels like no pressure at all in the brake - feels like all the fluid has gone - but where to? Closer inspection reveals fluid around the lever pivot - not a good sign. It makes a squishing noice like air is being sucked back in on release. It is also impossible to push fluid through from caliper to lever or vice-versa - until hose is disconnected. Therefore it is the lever that has a problem. Strip lever and in doing so find everything wet with brake fluid- seals have disintegrated. Lever rebuild required. End of story :)

Fun Day today

Unable to remove a left-hand crank today - - it wouldn't budge - judicious use of a plastic hammer on the bb puller didn't work,a heat gun didn't work - brute force in the form of the strong apprentice didn't work - so we ended up cutting through the bottom bracket spindle - fortunately, we were disposing of the bottom bracket anyway. And luckily I had a spare l/h crank that was a close match to refit when we put the new cartridge unit in. This is the only crank we have never been able to get off. Why was it like this? Probably when it was assembled in the factory no grease was applied to the spindle before installing the cranks. The bike has then been used, put away wet and dirty and left for quite some time which will not have helped. Answer - bit of grease on the spindle flats before putting cranks on. We also had a tyre that would not come off a rim (different bike)- having gone through several levers we ended up cutting the tyre off - it was being replaced you'll be glad to know.This tyre has obviously been a problem as you can see where its owner has been using metal levers when he had had a puncture and the rim is a bit dinged in several places. Just a combination of poor rims and poor tyres methinks - no-one's fault. There was an interesting pair of 'twists' in the inner tube. The rims are very shallow with very little 'well' for the tyre to fit into so making it difficult to seat when replacing it. The tyres were 26" x 1.75 and the inner tube was a big fat one which didn't help. At 1.75 the rim is right at the bottom end of the range for that inner tube. Might be better to use one that covered 1.25 - 1.50 which is less fat and might have made it easier to get the tyre back on.The new tyre went on without tyre levers - just using a bit of technique,patience and strong fingers. As it was a 1.95 there was just a wee bit more room for the tube to squeeze in. After all that you can bet I'm looking forward to a nice easy cabling job on a lovely Ridley road bike!

Good time of the year

Now is the best time to get that suspension fork and/or shock serviced as things are a little quieter and turnaround times a bit quicker. We can deal with most makes.Get in touch with us for prices etc.

We have a new GPS and are starting to publishing some of our fav rides on the website. Page not live yet but will be soon!

Another big bill

Bike serviced back in November came back today - it needs another new chain. It hasn't been cleaned or lubed since I had it last and has been ridden nearly every day. The rear mech has almost seized up around the main pivot and all the cable adjusters are seized up. It was very dirty and greasy - rubber glove territory!
I think if it had been cleaned the chain may have lasted substantially longer and a bit of lube every now and then would have stopped things seizing up.
But I can now look forward to rebuilding a resprayed Orange Five full suspension bike - though the choice of fluorescent yellow instead of black wouldn't have been my first choice of colours!

Spring is on it's way

Judging by the way the phone has started to ring so often spring must be on it's way! This was confirmed by me being able to work with the sound of new-born lambs in the workshop from the fields across the road. The first three or four have appeared since last night. This reminds me of what a lovely place I live and how lucky I am to be able to hop on my bike and ride the hills and plains of this part of Lancashire. There are more and more folk out on their bikes now - and my friend who runss a local bike shop is as busy as ever selling new bikes - so all in the world is great! See you on the road...

Busy again

Typically, the minute I opt for a long weekend away the phone starts ringing so I had a 'queue' of bikes waiting for me when I got back yesterday. It was a typical day in the workshop - lots of replacing cables, chains & cassettes, cleaning drivetrains and adjusting brakes. On the phone to suppliers for parts we need. One chap wants new forks fitting. Another has just bought a tidy looking Trek road bike for a very good price and would like it checked over please...
With the longer days on the way it'll be busier and busier if this year is the same as previous years - which is great. And I must get around to replacing the chain & cassette on my own road bike - talk about cobbler's children!

A salutary tale

An expensive pair of Fox Talas forks came in which hadn't been serviced for at least three years and put through some pretty tough riding. A normal service will cost about £99. Fox recommend a service every 50 hours for their forks - a bit excessive - you'd get away with 100 hours but 3 years...result - wear to left-hand stanchion. This means we cannot guarantee air/oil loss from the fork. Replacment will cost £134 on top of the service charge. Also, the fork was only partly stripped to ascertain the above - it was quite possible that on fully stripping them we'd find the bushings were worn too - an additional cost of £30 to fit those. Fox Talas need servicing more regularly than other Fox forks as there isn't much room in the left-hand stanchion for oil - so they can wear more quickly if not looked after. If they had had a full service every 100 hrs- followed by a regular lower leg removal clean and refit they would most likely have been good for many years.
These forks new are a £700-800 fork - not a cheap item. Of course my customer was most upset and decided not to go ahead with the work and will probably replace with a cheaper fork.:(

Busy start to the year!

Things have been busy since 3rd Jan wit the phone ringing a lot - milder weather has helped. Sad to say we are getting yet more disk brake bikes in with pads worn completly away to the metal :(. This means as well as new pads- a new rotor and a bigger bill. If the brake hasn't been set up right -one piston coming out farther than the other - this can result in the loss of fluid as well. All owners of these brakes comment that it has been making an awful noise or a metallic scraping noise. This is because IT IS METAL ON METAL!!! If the brake is making a noise all is not well - get it seen too. Some folk think cycle disk brake pads last as long as car ones do - 25,000 miles or more. They don't. Depending on where you live, what conditions you ride in, the way you ride they may only last 2-3 months! If you live where we do in sunny?? Lancs then a combination of gritstone, mud and lots of downhill braking will eat pads very, very quickly. Of course if you clean and tend to your bike regularly then you will spot the wear - if you leave it caked in mud then you won't - could be the diference between a big bill and a little bill. Same applies to chains. Some wear mud as a badge of honour - it ain't it just covers everything up. So don't blame the mechanic for the big bill if this is you!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of our customers and trade colleagues. It's a bit of a wet and windy start to the Newy Year but already the workshop has been busy. Ideal time for suspension servicing!