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What has your bicycle mechanic wrecked today???

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What has your bicycle mechanic wrecked today???

Old 07-31-13, 10:54 PM
  #1  
waveydavey
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What has your bicycle mechanic wrecked today???

Hey guys,

needed to remove the suntour freewheel from my hub and didn't have the proper 2-notch tool for the job. Thought a simple job like this could be handled by a LBS so dropped the rear wheel off and left them to it. Later that day picked up the parts and to my horror found they had taken to removing it with a hammer and punch.

Man....i could have made that mess with my own tools and saved myself the effort!! That was one nice condition original freewheel up until then.

So i was wondering, who else has trusted their bike to a "professional" only to be slightly disappointed with the results?

By the way, if anyone local reads this....it was NOT the LBS here in Ulverstone but rather from a nearby town.
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Old 07-31-13, 11:31 PM
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What a hack job. Bummer on the freewheel.

Problem with a lot of LBS Mechs any more, is they only know how to throw a bunch of new stuff on a frame to sell. Just a kid making minimum and not caring otherwise. Time to go buy the tool yourself.
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Old 07-31-13, 11:38 PM
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Time to ask said LBS politely (at first, anyways) to acknowledge their destruction and replace your freewheel.
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Old 08-01-13, 01:38 AM
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Jeezus ! That's one of the reasons I'd rather do it myself if I have the tool.
Originally Posted by no_safe_HAVEN
Time to go buy the tool yourself.

$6.00
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Old 08-01-13, 02:19 AM
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I have a great mechanic.
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Old 08-01-13, 03:17 AM
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The 2 notcher is a PITA. I just chipped a corner on the notch with the tool. Need to anchor it with a bolt or QR so it doesn't pop out.
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Old 08-01-13, 03:51 AM
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Originally Posted by no_safe_HAVEN
What a hack job. Bummer on the freewheel.

Problem with a lot of LBS Mechs any more, is they only know how to throw a bunch of new stuff on a frame to sell. Just a kid making minimum and not caring otherwise. Time to go buy the tool yourself.
...is too true. Thought about buying the tool on ebay (as Zinger says about $6) but didn't want to wait....will be more patient in future methinks!

Originally Posted by Gingi
Time to ask said LBS politely (at first, anyways) to acknowledge their destruction and replace your freewheel.
Yeah I let it go at the time but it has been bugging me (obviously!).....will have to go back and see what they say.

Originally Posted by Sixty Fiver
I have a great mechanic.
...and a dashing looking fellow he is too, if i do say so myself.
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Old 08-01-13, 04:24 AM
  #8  
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I once saw a LBS mechanic drive a stuck seat post or what was left of it down into the seat tube and call it "Fixed". Terrible......
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Old 08-01-13, 04:29 AM
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Originally Posted by Michael Angelo
I once saw a LBS mechanic drive a stuck seat post or what was left of it down into the seat tube and call it "Fixed". Terrible......
OMG.....that is hilarious!! Terrible.....but hilarious.
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Old 08-01-13, 04:43 AM
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That's why I always work on my own bikes. No one is going to take care of your bike like you do. I've spent a lot on tools over the years, but I bet I've saved more by not going to a bike shop mechanic. I've bought new bikes before and I still take them apart and redo them when I get em home. Just don't trust them with my saftey.
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Old 08-01-13, 04:45 AM
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Like many, I'm my own mechanic. I do very thorough work generally. But last year, I stripped out the removal threads on the non-drive arm of a set of Sugino AS road cranks. The drive side came right off, and I failed to pay attention to the non-drive side, which had galvanically bonded itself onto the spindle, I guess. The tool backed out, taking the threads with it. Disappointing...
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Old 08-01-13, 06:10 AM
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Originally Posted by Phil_gretz
Like many, I'm my own mechanic. I do very thorough work generally. But last year, I stripped out the removal threads on the non-drive arm of a set of Sugino AS road cranks. The drive side came right off, and I failed to pay attention to the non-drive side, which had galvanically bonded itself onto the spindle, I guess. The tool backed out, taking the threads with it. Disappointing...
Even so-called certified bike shop mechanics won't tell you this, but it's good practice to apply a little PB-Blaster to any crank arm first, then, if you still encounter any resistance, heat it slightly before going further. (It's also good practice to remove the washer if there is one.)
-Don't ask me how I know that!
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Old 08-01-13, 06:27 AM
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I think some of the "bonehead moves" we typically ascribe to previous owners are actually the work of bike shop mechanics.
-Especially when it comes to things like inverted bearing retainers, mis-built wheels, misrouted cables, etc.
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Old 08-01-13, 06:29 AM
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Originally Posted by auchencrow
I think some of the "bonehead moves" we typically ascribe to previous owners are actually the work of bike shop mechanics.
-Especially when it comes to things like inverted bearing retainers, mis-built wheels, misrouted cables, etc.
Agreed. And in another century, when I was one of those mechanics, I was responsible for my share.
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Old 08-01-13, 06:35 AM
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Originally Posted by auchencrow
Even so-called certified bike shop mechanics won't tell you this, but it's good practice to apply a little PB-Blaster to any crank arm first, then, if you still encounter any resistance, heat it slightly before going further. (It's also good practice to remove the washer if there is one.)
-Don't ask me how I know that!
+1

While certain members near Hootersville have bubbling baths of OA awaiting their new finds, I spritz PB Blaster on the crank bolts, bb cups, braze on allen bolts, headset, quill, seat post, seat post bolt, and QR skewers, as soon as the bike comes off the rack. Then whenever I am ready to overhaul, everything is loosy goosy.
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Old 08-01-13, 06:36 AM
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i just got my frame painted , and was in the process of rebuilding, i needed to have the headset installed , so i had a mechanic do it for me (didn't have headset press), got the bike back and the paint was all chipped around the headset, you can see where the tool slipped and hit the unicrown on my forks... that one hurt... luckily it was inconspicous enough where you don't notice the chips
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Old 08-01-13, 06:47 AM
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I'm not fortunate enough to have a great LBS around me....even with 6 bike shops within a 5 mile radius. One shop owner is just rude & condescending every time I go in there, probably jaded after all these years. Sadly he's the "vintage" guy in my area. Three shops are corporate & have about as much to offer me as a car dealership does. One does mainly BMX. The last hope is a decent shop that caters to the everyday cyclist, and they have great customer service, decent prices, etc... but when they tell you that a SRAM PC-870 is a 8 speed only chain, and won't work with a 6 speed freewheel "it's made for indexed 8 speed systems", I have to wonder. This is the same guy that swore up & down there is no such thing as a French threaded pedal when I brought him a TA crankset that I wanted tapped to English threads..."oh the threads must just be messed up, there's no such thing as French threaded pedals, only bottom brackets." ..."what about headsets?"..."no just bottom brackets"...sigh and this was the shop owner
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Old 08-01-13, 06:50 AM
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Originally Posted by GordoTrek
i just got my frame painted , and was in the process of rebuilding, i needed to have the headset installed , so i had a mechanic do it for me (didn't have headset press), got the bike back and the paint was all chipped around the headset, you can see where the tool slipped and hit the unicrown on my forks... that one hurt... luckily it was inconspicous enough where you don't notice the chips
Did the piant have time to cure? That's not always preventable with fresh paint/poor paint job or powdercoat.
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Old 08-01-13, 06:55 AM
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it was powdercoated 3 months prior,, i think it was done in october, and the frame wasn't finished being built up till around march/april, so i think it had ample time to cure...
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Old 08-01-13, 06:57 AM
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This thread is kind of making me sad. Like many other "state-of-the-country" examples I can think of.

I try to resist being nostalgic but, remember when many bike shops could really work on this old stuff without screwing it up?
But, I guess the stuff wasn't old stuff back then .....
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Old 08-01-13, 07:00 AM
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Originally Posted by sloar
That's why I always work on my own bikes. No one is going to take care of your bike like you do. I've spent a lot on tools over the years, but I bet I've saved more by not going to a bike shop mechanic. I've bought new bikes before and I still take them apart and redo them when I get em home. Just don't trust them with my saftey.
Well, that and I've been wrenching on bikes (both my own and professionally) since before most bike shop wrenches were born...

SP
OC, OR

ps - and to answer the original query, I haven't wrecked anything today, thanks.
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Old 08-01-13, 07:05 AM
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Originally Posted by rootboy
This thread is kind of making me sad.
hear hear
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Old 08-01-13, 07:09 AM
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And I agree. That shop owes you a new freewheel. That thing will forever be impossible to remove now.But you'll have to tread lightly. And try to be diplomatic. The sad thing is, it won't be another Suntour freewheel. Unless the owner/manager has a line on them somehow.
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Old 08-01-13, 07:21 AM
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The mechanic (me) just snapped another brake cable bolt on my girlfriend's bike. For some reason, finding the right torque where the cable doesn't slip but also doesn't shear off the bolt is elusive to me.
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Old 08-01-13, 08:08 AM
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Originally Posted by rootboy
And I agree. That shop owes you a new freewheel. That thing will forever be impossible to remove now.But you'll have to tread lightly. And try to be diplomatic. The sad thing is, it won't be another Suntour freewheel. Unless the owner/manager has a line on them somehow.
Agreed. And a replacement freewheel, if not a Suntour, should be commensurate with the quality of the original. I don't think the current Shimanos would qualify... more like an IRD.
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