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Old 10-15-19, 01:50 AM
  #16  
cpach
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Mt Shasta, CA, USA
Posts: 2,140

Bikes: Too many. Giant Trance X 29, Surly Midnight Special get the most time.

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I'm also a pro mechanic, though I've been working less long than you, so I am genuinely interested in your points, but seriously there's no way I'm suffering through 20 minutes of staring at your face as you ride a bike into the wind.

A lot of my peeves relate to new bicycle assembly. Too often this is relegated to the least experienced shop employees, and high standards aren't enforced.
-Unadjusted cup and cone hubs.
-Front derailleurs not repositioned from their factory install--usually set up to not rub in the high/high and low/low and usually shift, but don't perform as well as the FD adjusted closer the large ring with the yaw set precisely.
-Hangers not checked for alignment.
-Sloppy attention to detail--tire logos not aligned to valve, etc.
-No actual thought given to cockpit setup.
-A common thing is poorly adjusted B tension--either too far out for most drivetrains, or not far away out on Sram 1x setups. BTW, I love the new line on the back of Shimano 12 sp MTB derailleurs for setting this correctly. In all cases this has a meaningful effect on shift quality, and if its too close on Sram 1x the guide pulley will actually briefly hit the big cog shifting to it.
-Wheels not really trued; significant windup in spokes.
-Not actually testing to see if bars can be forced to turn on quill stems (needs really high torque and/or assembly paste on some bikes).
-A general ignorance of actual manufacturer spec.

Also, in my opinion, too many mechanics assume too much of what customers want. I make it a priority to understand the customer's concerns, and intended use and goals for the bike, and try to give as accurate an assessment of the bike as possible, with a range of options, and let the customer make up their mind. Also a lot of mechanics will simply schedule whatever a "basic tune up" is when a customer asks for a tune up. For most customers this means that they'd actually like their bike assessed and appropriately serviced, not whatever the shop's "basic tuneup" service package entails. More often than one might think, given a clear, professional assessment, people will choose reasonably comprehensive service appropriate to their goals, funds permitting.

Also, a specific detail: poorly applied tubeless tape. The worst offender is when gorilla tape is applied poorly and the adhesive sticks to the tire so that it fails upon tire removal, because then you have to get the old adhesive off, which is a massive pain in the ass. I've also seen too many wheels where aluminum nipples either seized or fail due to contamination from sealant.

Also it's not great to have mechanics who want to simply replace everything with new parts at all times ("parts installers") or to have their opposite, people who want to painstakingly overhaul every component, possibly by comprehensively scavenging parts, etc, regardless of its value or wear. It's good to be able to service everything, but you have to fairly charge for shop time, and weigh that against the cost of component replacement. For example, I certainly can replace the master cylinder on a Elixir brake lever, but charging fairly for labor and for the service kit, it probably makes more sense functionally and economically for the customer to just replace the accursed thing with an entry level Shimano brake (might do it for an XO trail).

In great part I wish a greater proportion of mechanics treated it seriously like a long term vocation instead of a short term job. I'm encouraged by the work that the PBMA is doing to improve things, and distinguish skill sets in the eyes of the consumer.
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