Too busy to blog!

It has been very hectic in the workshop recently. The glorious weather before Easter had everyone getting their bikes out and wanting them fixed ready for the holiday. Lots of folk getting very old bikes out of sheds too and I am always amazed at what folk will spend on geting them fixed up even when we say it isn't worth it. We will fix them but don't expect miracles!
We saw an expensive mistake last week - we had to replace almost new hydraulic brakes as somebody used the wrong fuid in them - and being Shimano they were not serviceable. If you are having a go at doing these by yourself please at least read the manual and check the type of fluid - there are only two types - mineral oil and DOT 4/5.1. Mixing the two is a complete no-no. Other erroneous substances will not do any good either - don' try and save money by using Mum's cooking oil!
We have had lots of kid's bikes in recently too and many of them are in a poor state of repair. Please get them serviced - they need the same treatment as an adult bike - if not more so as most kids are pretty tough on bikes - after all it is their safety at stake.

Back to busy-ness again

Well, the workshop has gone mad this week. Better weather and pending school and Easter holidays mean that everyone is getting their bikes out. Plus many are turning to two wheels due to the horrendous cost of fuel. I filled my van up the other day and it cost me over £100. We had a great start to the week on Monday helping out at the Bike Inn in Lincolnshire where some trainee bike mechanics were doing their City & Guilds qualification - we were there to give them tuition on hydraulic brakes and suspension servicing. It was a really good day with enthusiastic students!
We also sold our last second-hand bike - these are getting to be in short supply now! So if you have bike you no longer want get it advertisied and it will likely be snapped up.

Horrible headset

Had a bike today which came in only for a new bottom bracket - supposedly. When Mike picked it up he did advise the lady that a full inspection was perhaps in order before anything else as, when he saw it he realised there could be trouble ahead. Good advice!
Result of inspection - spds knackered beyond repair, chain off the measuring scale, cassette knackered rings almost worn out, jockey wheels worn out, gear cables almost unusable, forks almost non-compressible, rear tyre worn out, headset so bad you had to forcefully push the handlebars around.
The bottom bracket was fine however, - thank god for that...

Getting busy again!

A lot more bikes coming into the workshop now that the cold and icy weather has relented around here and folks are thinking more about cycling again. One horror story today on an expensive full suspension mtb whose owner said he thought something had broken inside the brake as it was making a racket. Sadly, he has failed to keep an eye on disk brake pad wear since he got the bike 12 months ago. The rear brake was down to the metal base on one side - it has been ridden like this for sometime as we calculated he had worn about 1/2mm of metal off the base plate AFTER the pad material went. The two prongs on the pad spring had also been sheared off in the process(see picture).The other pad was almost down to the metal on the other - the result - a very, very badly scratched rotor which now has to be binned. The front pads were almost gone too but we got to them in time. Please, please - if your brake is making a noise there is something wrong with it. Don't continue to ride - get it seen too. If you don't it will be a Big Bill!

Some nice feedback

We have just carried out a major strip down service for a new customer who uses his bike mainly for commuting and sent us some nice feedback:
"Just a note to say that the bike is performing great, I have had a couple of small runs on it and the gears are perfect again (1st time in 3 years) and it feels like a new bike."
It is so nice to hear from customers like that. It helps to know we are doing things right.

Don't forget to light up!

It has been a busy week or so in the workshop - lots of folks wanting to get out to fulfil those New Year Resolutions! And the weather has got a lot warmer which helps too. But the days are still short and you can be easily overtaken by the dark - we ended up with full lights on on Tuesday by 3.30pm. I was out delivering bkes that evening and I saw a lot of cyclists out in the dark, in dark clothing, no reflectors, no lights or ineffectual lights. Some seem to think that riding down the pavement means you don't need lights - you are wrong on two counts. Please can I persuade parents - if you are letting your kids out in the dark on their bike make sure they have working lights. If you are riding your own PLEASE light up. Whilst you can get very cheap lights - think about where you are riding - not only do you need to be seen, you need to see where you are rding- little flashy LEDs don't give you a pool of light to see where you are going - there are lots of big holes in the roads at the moment and it will hurt if you don't see one and hit it - big damage to your wheels at least - damage to you at worst! Get a decent set of lights - remember the law requires you to have a static light at each end - it's fine to have flashing ones as well - I normally have two LEDs ont the back - one flashing, one static and a very bright front. A tiny little flashy thing cannot be picked out against the general background of car headlamps. So please up your wattage!!!

Fantastic service!

We have just had a great bit of customer service from Hope Technology at Barnoldswick. We sent them a battery for one of their two-LED lights which had ceased working. It had only been used a few times but was out of its warranty period. However, they have replaced it free of charge and the new one was back this morning - only 3 working days later! Now that is customer service. Thnak you Hope!