Working as a wrench again.
#1
ambulatory senior
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Working as a wrench again.
Bushwhacker in Peoria IL has its bike shop open as an essential service. Turns out they must be desperate for an initial build guy because they ask me to work for them again. Did 6 hours today and enjoyed it.
Commuter vehicle.
Commuter vehicle.
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#2
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Are/were you a full-time musician or weekend warrior?
#3
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#4
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How 'bout a weekly blog of all the wrenching goodness (and badness) during this bat wing plague?
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#5
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Good on ya! I trust all is well and you folks are being safe in this silly period of our existence. Be safe and keep posting. Smiles, MH
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Nice build in 6 hours.
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#8
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I'll offer that I spin wrenches for my LBS when he gets busy....attempting to pay off my coffee bill. What he knows is I will not touch disc brakes, hydraulic or mechanical. It is a skill that I have no desire to acquire. We laugh about this often.
Dean
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#10
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i wish i could say that. Actually it hasnt been bad but i have only been trained on cable disc brakes. Hydraulic tomorrow.
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....but are they paying you a good salary?
i.e. are they paying you in toilet paper??
Glad that you can make a few bucks and serve the community at the same time!
Steve in Peoria
i.e. are they paying you in toilet paper??
Glad that you can make a few bucks and serve the community at the same time!
Steve in Peoria
#13
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I was only doing it as a favor anyhow, and had donated all of my previous earnings back to them to use for local charity bike donations. I never earned a dime, but did get a decent discount on parts/accessories I purchased. It was a learning experience, so that was good.
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#15
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I was building bikes for a local LBS until one day I went to pick up a few to build, and the day manager said he didn't have time to grab me a few at the time I showed up. Nor would he give me a time to return saying he just didn't know when he'd have time. Granted, it was a Monday morning, but I had already said I'd be by the previous Friday. Well, it's an 18 mile drive from my house, so that was the end of that. If he doesn't have the time to take 5 minutes to grab me 3 boxes, I don't have the round trip 45 minutes (or fuel) to go home and back again.
I was only doing it as a favor anyhow, and had donated all of my previous earnings back to them to use for local charity bike donations. I never earned a dime, but did get a decent discount on parts/accessories I purchased. It was a learning experience, so that was good.
I was only doing it as a favor anyhow, and had donated all of my previous earnings back to them to use for local charity bike donations. I never earned a dime, but did get a decent discount on parts/accessories I purchased. It was a learning experience, so that was good.
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I am only a couple years from retirement, so I was talking to the LBS about maybe working there when the time came. I joked that I would probably owe them money after we settle up for the bike stuff I bought.
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For the Shimano ones I've done, the process is the same as for SAAB and Ducati. I like to call it the reverse reacharound bleed. Reverse because you push fluid back up through the system from the caliper to the lever. Reacharound because well, you're reaching around, especially in a car. After that, it's all in how you flick the lever. Tell 'em you can use baby oil instead of the Shimano fluid, see what they have to say!
Full disclosure, I basically got fired from my very first job, as a builder at a chain bike shop in the twin cities, for saying stuff like this. Management warn't fond of my irreverence to doctrine.
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Owner & co-founder, Cycles René Hubris. Unfortunately attaching questionable braze-ons to perfectly good frames since about 2015. With style.
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Last summer I was restoring a Raleigh Super Grand Prix so I went to a local bike shop to get the parts and was assisted by the store owner. While checking out we got to talking, he said he had a hard time finding a good mechanic. He then asked if I knew how to service headsets, bottom brackets, hubs, etc. I said yes, yes and yes. He then offered me a job. Now, I am not uneducated, I clean-up well and am currently employed so when I asked how much per hour I expected to hear something reasonable. His offer? $11.00 per hour, no benefits..... ooookay
Last edited by branko_76; 04-10-20 at 05:54 AM.
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After I "separated" on Halloween of 2013, I bought 2 old bikes which each got a frame up rehab which honed my mech skills. Over the following year I got into a position where a local LBS owner asked me to help him at a warehouse where he stashed his "vintage" fleet - some nice bikes but a lot of old Schwinns and entry level stuff. After a few months he asked me to come to the main shop and I went 'on the books'. Now I regularly work there one day a week, wrenching bikes, acting grouchy and generally being an old fart, but steady and reliable. The pay sucks but I don't care. As 52telecaster said, the employee discount is nice, the diversity of problems to solve is interesting and the people are a good team.
REALLY weird these days with all the guidelines but at least we're open and income is flowing. Feels like working in a speakeasy. I've even told the owner that if money gets tight he can delay my pay as I don't need it to live on. C&V hobby money.
We had a cute young gal at the back door recently with a bike for service. I mentioned that working out of the back door (knock, knock, Joe sent me) felt like working at a speakeasy. She smiled and HAD heard of speakeasys and agreed. Fun.
REALLY weird these days with all the guidelines but at least we're open and income is flowing. Feels like working in a speakeasy. I've even told the owner that if money gets tight he can delay my pay as I don't need it to live on. C&V hobby money.
We had a cute young gal at the back door recently with a bike for service. I mentioned that working out of the back door (knock, knock, Joe sent me) felt like working at a speakeasy. She smiled and HAD heard of speakeasys and agreed. Fun.
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52Telecaster once posted a video of his band playing a blues tune. He's a terrific guitar player (and the other players were great,too).
Hope all of us can get back to playing gigs soon.
Hope all of us can get back to playing gigs soon.
Last edited by Trakhak; 04-10-20 at 06:06 AM.
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#25
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Last summer I was restoring a Raleigh Super Grand Prix so I went to a local bike shop to get the parts and was assisted by the store owner. While checking out we got to talking, he said he had a hard time finding a good mechanic. He then asked if I knew how to service headsets, bottom brackets, hubs, etc. I said yes, yes and yes. He then offered me a job. Now, I am not uneducated, I clean-up well and am currently employed so when I asked how much per hour I expected to hear something reasonable. His offer? $11.00 per hour, no benefits..... ooookay