"I don't even know if you can still buy steel frame bikes."

[SlackMan]

"I don't even know if you can still buy steel frame bikes."

I've lamented here before about the sorry state of my LBS. Yesterday's phone call added to list of reasons I long for a better LBS. Thought some might find it entertaining in a sad sort of way. If you have a good LBS, be thankful.

Me: "I have an old steel frame road bike with 126mm drop out spacing. Could you cold set that to 130mm, and then check the alignment?"

LBS: "Gosh...uh...oh...I, uh...um...is that even possible? Do you know whether it's even possible?"

Me: "Yes, it's possible. There are instructions all over the web. I thought if you guys had done it before and had the tools to realign, it would be easier than doing it myself."

LBS: "Well...no...um...I don't think we can do that. We've never done that before."

Me: "I'll probably do it myself. If I get it powdercoated, could you guys chase and face the head tube, bottom bracket, etc.?

LBS: "Gosh...uh...oh...I, uh...um...yes, we can probably do that."

Me: "I have this old frame that I thought I would respace, paint, and put modern components on."

LBS: "Yes, well if you know the frame, that could be okay. I mean steel frame bikes are supposed to ride nicely. I don't even know if you can still buy steel frame bikes."

[jmoore]

These kids today, sheesh!



Conversation at one of my local LBS with a kid at the counter.

Me: "I need a pair of internal cam skewers please."
Kid: "I don't know what that is."


Me: "Do you have any dropout adjustment screws?"
Kid: "I don't think so. What do they do?"


Me: "I'm building up a lugged steel Mondonico road frame."
Kid: "I've never heard of that before but it sounds cool."

[christian]

Grateful for my LBS every day. Thanks for the reminder.

[cash05458]

Originally Posted by jmoore

These kids today, sheesh!



Conversation at one of my local LBS with a kid at the counter.

Me: "I need a pair of internal cam skewers please."
Kid: "I don't know what that is."


Me: "Do you have any dropout adjustment screws?"
Kid: "I don't think so. What do they do?"


Me: "I'm building up a lugged steel Mondonico road frame."
Kid: "I've never heard of that before but it sounds cool."

ok, that really made me laugh...thanks!

[texbike]

Originally Posted by SlackMan

"I don't even know if you can still buy steel frame bikes."

I've lamented here before about the sorry state of my LBS. Yesterday's phone call added to list of reasons I long for a better LBS. Thought some might find it entertaining in a sad sort of way. If you have a good LBS, be thankful.

Me: "I have an old steel frame road bike with 126mm drop out spacing. Could you cold set that to 130mm, and then check the alignment?"

LBS: "Gosh...uh...oh...I, uh...um...is that even possible? Do you know whether it's even possible?"

Me: "Yes, it's possible. There are instructions all over the web. I thought if you guys had done it before and had the tools to realign, it would be easier than doing it myself."

LBS: "Well...no...um...I don't think we can do that. We've never done that before."

Me: "I'll probably do it myself. If I get it powdercoated, could you guys chase and face the head tube, bottom bracket, etc.?

LBS: "Gosh...uh...oh...I, uh...um...yes, we can probably do that."

Me: "I have this old frame that I thought I would respace, paint, and put modern components on."

LBS: "Yes, well if you know the frame, that could be okay. I mean steel frame bikes are supposed to ride nicely. I don't even know if you can still buy steel frame bikes."

Funny! It sounds like a kid that just doesn't know his stuff.

I helped a friend remove a BB cup from an old Colnago yesterday. A local shop said that it was stuck and couldn't be removed without cutting the cup out. It took us about a minute to remove it. Apparently the shop didn't realize that the BB was Italian-threaded and was trying to remove the cup by turning it in the wrong direction.

Texbike

[cash05458]

Originally Posted by texbike

Funny! It sounds like a kid that just doesn't know his stuff.

I helped a friend remove a BB cup from an old Colnago yesterday that a local shop said was stuck and couldn't be removed without cutting the cup out. It took us about a minute to remove it. Apparently the shop didn't realize that the BB was Italian-threaded and was trying to remove the cup by turning it in the wrong direction.

Texbike

lol...this is just gonna get better and better I have a feelin'...

[ceolwulf]

Chasing and facing bottom brackets definitely seems to be too much to ask anywhere I've tried.

[Ralph]

Many bike shops (but not all) are not in the business of supplying what many of us need and want. They have a different business plan. I figure that's their business. It's their investment to figure out how to make the best return on.

I know a bike shop would starve if it relied on my business and people like me. I get what I can locally, mostly stuff I need to try on....shoes, jerseys, shorts, etc, and that adds up to considerable dollars for whole family each year, but otherwise most of us don't need the typical services of a modern large bike shop tied to a name brand bicycle company like Specialized or Trek. I just don't need much from the Trek store (CO2's or tubes
maybe). Any tools I don't have for repair work, I know guys who have them....and know how to use them.

I would not even consider walking into my local Trek store and asking them anything technical about a bike (although in fairness....many of them do have an old wrench who does know......you just don't usually get to him at first).

[maxcolumbus]

A lot of the shops locally are Trek, Specialized, or Giant sponsored "superstores". Anything that's out of the box is usually not going to get done. I brought my new Hampsten to a local shop and hear "Whoa.. Steel frame and Campy??? Old school!!"
I explained that I heard a constant click in the rear wheel when pedaling. Two exasperated mechanics later, they could not find it. Finally, the manager grabs the bike and rides it for all of 20 feet, then smugly declares that my chain line is out so there must be an issue with the frame.
Needless to say I take the bike back home only to discover I had a broken pawl spring in my free hub. 75 cents and 20 minutes later I'm riding click free.
Unbelievable. However i have found two very good shops here that I use all the time. Great mechanics and very nice people.

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by ceolwulf

Chasing and facing bottom brackets definitely seems to be too much to ask anywhere I've tried.

Yep. I tried the local shop and most of the main shops in Des Moines. All of them claimed to not have the tools. On the flip side, the first three shops I called in the twin cities didn't hesitate to say they could do it.

[wildboar]

I visited one of my LBS looking for a Campy seatpost binder bolt. After the mechanic declared he didn't know what one of those was, he brought a drawer with 10 pounds of misc. used stem bolts for me to look through. No, they did not have one.

[stronzo]

Ha, guess we're lucky to have some decent shops in ATX. Still do most of my own work because I have trust issues...

[MattTuck]

In their defense, a young kid starting out is probably not dealing with some of these more esoteric issues on a day to day basis. For the average mechanic, I bet it is a lot of "tune ups", derailleur adjustments, new cables, truing up a wheel. To get enough reps to be competent and comfortable on something like cold setting, you either need to do them frequently, or have worked as a wrench long enough that even infrequent attempts add up to a decent number.

I really wouldn't fault a 20 year old kid for that. It is a function of the type of business the shop gets.

It is like a surgeon. Do you want the general surgeon right out of his residency or grey haired specialist with 20 years cutting on a particular body part?

[FastforaSlowGuy]

I think MT hit it - bike shops spend 99.5% of their time dealing with issues that folks on this forum would do on their own without thinking twice. I spent 2 years working as a mechanic in a reputable shop when I was a kid, and apart from building up bikes for the sales floor, 50% of my day was spent changing flats and tuning shift cables. Wheel truing was pretty rare, and anything on a frame was rarer still. I certainly had to know how to do all that stuff, because the head mechanic demanded real skills from his team, but it would have taken me a second to realize that I was being asked to do some REAL work for a change.

This was 20 years ago, and with the proliferation of carbon bikes, I would guess the number of people who have ever seen a frame re-aligned or BB chased is dwindling.

[bcroslin]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

In their defense, a young kid starting out is probably not dealing with some of these more esoteric issues on a day to day basis. For the average mechanic, I bet it is a lot of "tune ups", derailleur adjustments, new cables, truing up a wheel. To get enough reps to be competent and comfortable on something like cold setting, you either need to do them frequently, or have worked as a wrench long enough that even infrequent attempts add up to a decent number.

I really wouldn't fault a 20 year old kid for that. It is a function of the type of business the shop gets.

It is like a surgeon. Do you want the general surgeon right out of his residency or grey haired specialist with 20 years cutting on a particular body part?

THIS. You can't fault the kid making minimum wage at the LBS because the owner is hanging on for dear life while we buy $500 group sets from Ribble. I know there's other factors in play but I don't see how a bike shop owner can afford to pay a master mechanic what they're worth when 80% of your clientele wants to know why you can't sell them a complete for the same price as bikesdirect.com.

I had an eye opening conversation the other day with a mechanic I respect. A client came in to the LBS and dropped $40k on 2 high-end bikes and we were both commenting on how insane that was. He then said it was unbelievable to him because that's more than he makes in a year. Damn.