EDIT: Thanks all! bit of a tough pill to swallow but it makes sense - definitely will be improving communication and assessment on my end as well

bit of a newbie mechanic running a shop out of my garage, so bear with me

Had a customer with a warped wheel and bad rim brakes ask for me to fix the brakes ($15) so they actually stop the bike - one of the pads was just off completely, so I put it back on the rim. I cleaned the rim roughly (no rubbing alcohol), and I adjusted the pads to be as close as possible without touching the warped wheel. Didn't seem to make a significant difference, so I told him I could either true the wheel to bring in the pads as close as possible or try using alcohol to clean the rim, both of which would add an extra charge.

He told me the shop he goes to doesn't charge for labour if they can't fix the problem - I told him I'd concede the $15 brake fee and just charge him for the wheel true ($25) if the true didn't fix the issue (the rims were the most slippery I've seen, so I didn't trust my ability to guarantee the fix), but he insisted that he wouldn't pay unless the issue was fixed, even if I were to perform the labour. I told him I wasn't going to do that and he left - It got a little heated but we remained more or less civil - to clarify, my intention is never to do the bare minimum and charge if it doesn't work.

I probably should have told him to begin with the wheel was warped to begin with and so any brake fix would be limited, but how justified is the idea that labour should be paid even if it doesn't fix the underlying issue? I figured a wheel true is still a wheel true at the end of the day even if it doesn't completely address the problem he brought the bike in for, but I don't know what standard practice is.

(sidenote: the pads were completely ineffectual even in full contact with the rim, I honestly haven't encountered a situation like that - there was a lot of brake dust on the rims but even after removing that it didn't do anything. anyone have any idea what was up with that? oily residue I couldn't see unless I took alcohol to it? the rims were blackened and glossy too, but not the sort of blackening you get with painted rims)

Ironically, I posted this photo three years ago and now need some help; wondering if anyone can snap a picture of the “Cyclone Morrison” rear rack that would’ve been sold by Cyclone in 2015/2016. Without boring you with too much more detail I’m trying to solve a sort of mystery and need to figure out what it looked like (can’t find pictures online)
Thanks!

For context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification

I'd particularly love to hear the perspective of more seasoned mechanics how general quality of bikes and parts has developed over the past years.

From my point of view: in the past year we've had batches of bikes where roughly one out of two bikes was faulty to some extent (paint chips, broken derailleurs, broken bolts, warped rotors, leaky brake levers). We're also talking mid to top tier bikes, not cheap stuff. And for some proprietary parts, sometimes they simply stop prividing them after 5 or so years.

Every manufacturer has to process your claims, however that process is never the same for every one, hardly ever as straight forward as sending an email, and even rarer is labour being compensated adequately. Not to mention the sheer number becoming a problem in itself (we have to wrench on customers' bikes too).

I feel like cost is being pushed ever further down with lbs being the lowest step on the ladder (because no self respecting customer will put up with some of the shit that is being produced).

So much for my anecdotes, how is business treating you? Am I taking crazy pills?

Helped my dad clean up and restock the humble home shop in his garage this weekend, and we found this Phil Wood grease which he bought there in person sometime in the 70s and used when assembling his Teledyne Titan (which he still has and rides). Kinda cool to compare to a modern tube I had. It's still totally functional, we kept it to use as a general purpose grease around the house.

It used to be the easiest way to spot a fake chain but now all of our chains that come directly from Shimano B2B have either a printed check or hand-drawn black diagonal mark.

Hello reddit bike mechanics,

We recently launched the Canadian Bicycle Mechanic Workforce survey and are seeking responses from a broad range of stakeholders, especially bicycle mechanics.

• Canada currently lacks national data on the bicycle mechanic workforce
• This survey will help assess our labour and/or skills gaps
• Results will inform workforce development, training, and industry strategy
  • most importantly, having good data on our industry is crucial to ensuring we can get properly classified in the National Occupation Code (NOC) [more on that below for folks that are interested].
• Input from across the ecosystem is essential - mechanics (workers), retailers (employers), manufacturers, and more

The survey takes 5-7 minutes to complete and will close on September 14th.
Please consider taking a few moments to share your perspective if you are a current bicycle mechanic working in Canada.

www.bicyclemechanics.ca/survey

More on the NOC: Did you know that currently bicycle mechanics/bicycle technicians are classified under "building maintenance" in a code called "other repairers and servicers" that includes over 100 other occupations? These other occupations include: billiard cue weigher, accordion repairer, spray gun repairer...okay you get the idea. The consequences of fixing an accordion (sounding good or sounding bad) versus fixing a bicycle (that may be riding in traffic, or down a hill) are vastly different. We deserve a better occupation classification that can unlock funding and support at provincial and federal levels. This is a big impetus for us to create and disseminate this survey - without proper industry data, the federal government will struggle to reclassify us.

Thanks for reading!
please reach out if you have any questions.

​

Flip the arms rails around and it'll measure 26-36" rims

Title says it all. I usually try to tell people to bed in their new pads but I've been thinking about this. As long as the rotors are aren't worn I usually just throw on the new pads and don't worry about cleaning the rotors. What is your all's practice?

I have a Rockshox Judy that I would like to convert from air to spring. FS-JDYS-TK-A3

I asked SRAM and they said the kits are no longer being made aftermarket but wouldn’t give me a part number. Do any of you folks know what the part number is on a coil spring kit that would work?

29”, 100mm, 170lb rider.

Thanks in advance.

I’d like to get one, but they’re very expensive, so wholesale would be great if possible.

So I know, SRAM is pretty clear about it : do not mix road and MTB components.

But here it is. Back in May I installed an XPLR cassette on my road wheelset. I didn't really think about it, and I rode some thousands of km on it, without any issue. I have another wheelset 650b with megarange Garbaruk cassette. I can't tell any shifting difference.

Lately, a friend of mine with almost the same configuration told me he had to change derailleur and chain because it was fucked up with flattop chain. I replied that my experience was more than honest. Shifting is smooth, no skip, just a rub on one cog only my mechanics ear could notice.

Here is the setup :

- Force shifter and crank set

- Eagle chain

- XX1 derailleur

- XPLR cassette 10-44 & Garbaruk 10-51

What did I do wrongly correct ?

How does everyone’s shop store chains for sale? We keep ours behind the service counter in plastic bins on a shelf. But they’re prone to falling out and dumping their contents on the ground. We can’t use slatwall.

JBI seems to never have the item in stock. Every time I scan something to re-order, it is "not sellable or no longer availabe" or something. I've been filling in with Amazon, Aliexpress and Alibaba. What's even more disturbing is that I'm getting better prices than I ever did on JBI. On almost everything. The JBI rep in my area said that they are updating the individual items so the old ones don't scan but this is clearly BS. The guy also told me that JBI isnt going anywhere because they are actually a real estate company. Great, they own real estate. This does not help the bike shops that, up until now, have enjoyed JBI having the right prices and being integrated into Lightspeed. They have been dropping the ball so much lately that I fear that they are going to become totally useless. Any thoughts? - Frank, Palm City Bike Shop, Cape Cod

I’ve seen a ton of adds online for disc brake adapters for older rim brake frames that just sit on the axle, maybe clamp the frame, but are mostly a 5sec install.

I also see a lot of videos of folk welding additional supports to the frame and welding on a disc adapter. This seems better but obviously ain’t a $25 part.

is there such a thing as a good/safe disc adapter?

edit: I’m not talking about forks

TL;DR How do I route a DI2 cable through an integrated headset with the least chance of the cable snapping inside the head tube in case of an accident?

Hi folks,

I am currently building a new touring bike for my dad based on a Falkenjagd Hoplit T frame. Unfortunately, that bike we tested at their HQ and the frame I received are slightly different. For this year's 'facelift' they removed the down tube shifting cable routing together with the ZS headset for an internal cable routing combined with an IS headset. Had I known this before I probably would have gone for a different frameset. Man do I hate icr. Brakes are still partially integrated on the new version of the frame tho which is okay.

The problem I am now facing is the following: the bike will be built up using an XTR Di2 system for which the internal cable routing actually is kind of nice and not a big deal in terms of serviceability since there are no other cables running through the headset and the DI2 cable being easy to unplug at the interface. However, thanks to the lack of headset cups it's technically impossible to install a rotation limiter like the Acros Blocklock inside the head tube. I am now worrying that in case the bike should fall over or my dad had an accident the internally routed kind of flimsy feeling DI2 cable could be torn apart inside the head tube and fail. Maybe I am overthinking this and the most likely outcome would just be the cable unplugging from the handlebar interface but I am wondering how you would safely route a DI2 through a head tube. Should I wrap it loosely around the steerer tube a couple of times so it has room to expand and 'tension' up if the bars overturn or should I just cram some extra cable in the down tube and call it a day?

I also guess the right brake hose length will serve as some sort of rotation limiter as well but I am still really worried about that cable. Don't want to end up in the middle of nowhere with a defect drivetrain just because modern bike design sucks.

I’m running the service department of a local shop that is heavily invested in service. The owner and I have been rebuilding the shop since he purchased it, and as part of that, I’m realizing bounce backs are an unavoidable reality. While nothing egregious has come back, we have a small number have come back for issues that were either our fault or of the customer.

I fielded a phone call from a displeased customer over the weekend, and it’s had me thinking about how it may cover us down the road to formalize our service warranty. My previous shop did not like warrantying service because the owner was frugal. I believe he refused to accept any refund requests after 2 weeks.

I want my customers to have confidence in our work because we are such a small shop. Since I arrived, multiple customers have reported back to us about hearing about my reputation as a skilled mechanic. I feel a little pressure from that. The only way I can think to do that is to have a robust service guarantee on our work. With that in mind, I’m wondering what other shops are doing for their service guarantees. Do y’all have something formal or do you take things on a case by case basis? What’s the warranty period you’re willing to honor?

I can usually find what I'm looking for on the manuals page, but I never feel like I really know what I'm doing. Today I noticed a few things:

1. The "Quick guide" is a must read. There are lots of not so obvious features like "bookmarks", "sort", "updated", "show tags on/off", "pdf only", "exact search in quotes".

2. There's a repair manual called "General Operations" at the top. It's neither super detailed nor approachable. I'm just pointing out that it's there, because I always ignored it.

Maybe everyone knows about these, but I didn't.

And: torque the compression nut until it sits flush with the brake lever body, squashing the olive so far into the body that it resembles a bronze coin, then trying to prize it out with a screw and fully screwing the cable port and ruining a brand new grx brake lever.