Totoro

I normally do all the work on my bicycles and the only time I step foot in a bike shop is to buy a new bike, or some parts/accessories. I never take my bikes in for work...until last week.

I got a great deal on a mail order bike for the wife. However, after I got it all assembled, I noticed that the wheels were both laterally and vertically out of true. This is the first bike I have bought that was not vertically true, and rather than spend a ton of time adjusting for both, I thought I would take it in to the LBS because they could do it faster and better with a truing stand (I thought). Anyway, so I get there and the guy says that for a few bucks more he can do a full tuning on the bike including truing adjusting all brakes and cables, lube, etc. So I get suckered into saying yes.

Anyway, I get a call a few days later and the bike is finished. The wife has to go that way anyway, so she picks it up. When it arrives at home I am wondering what the hell I spent $50 for. Sure, they had lubed the thing, but the brake pads were about a half inch from the rim and the wheels were still out of true, BOTH laterally and vertically. I should have spent the money on a truing stand instead.

Long story short, I am never going to waste my money like that again. Funny thing is that they are always busy doing these "tune ups." Don't people notice that they are getting shafted? Anyway, I always hear people saying how I should give business to my LBS rather than order online. They don't deserve it.

redtires

Have you tried to see if they would remedy this for you**********

Totoro

Yes, I called them and they said to bring it in and they would fix it, but I am not sure it is worth the bother. I have already trued the wheels laterally myself and adjusted the brake pads to within a mm of the rim. Both wheels are still out of true vertically (each has a flat spot or two), but I am thinking that I might leave them that way. My wife is a recreational rider, so it probably wouldn't even be noticeable on a ride.

redtires

Well.....look, I'm just sayin...but if they are willing to make it right, then I sure wouldn't just shove them off right away, it really could have been an honest mistake....I wrenched for many years, it's not like I never screwed something up and didn't catch it. Of course if they really are a crappy shop, then by all means, don't go back.

Totoro

Could that much space between the pads and two wheels out of true both vertically and laterally be a "mistake" or just a case of not wanting to spend the time to do the job right. It seems like they left out too many things.

fuzz2050

You do seem rather quick to accuse them of ineptitude, chances are they really are good people who want to be helpful.

waldowales

I have a feeling that both you and the shop will be happier if you don't go back.

PlatyPius

It depends on the mechanic. I set the brake pads "tight" and Rob sets them "loose". He says people shouldn't be able to apply the brakes with only 1/2" - 1" of lever pull. I say they should if that's what they want. Me, I have short fingers, so I set my brakes where they are only about 1-2mm away from the rim. That isn't "normal" though. Most shops, it seems, set them about 5mm or more away from the rim. I just don't like the feel of the levers bottoming out against the handlebar.

I_bRAD

I say as close as possible without rubbing. That includes rubbing induced by the wheel flex in a hard corner. This works out to a couple of mms usually. The closer they are when they leave the shop, the longer it is until it comes back.

rousseau

Nobody is going to spend more time on your bike than you. It seems like most bike shops don't even look at radial true. Once I took a wheel in because it was skipping on my trainer and spinning unevenly--at the time I wasn't so savvy as to know why that was happening. I asked the guy: "could it be out of true"? He put it on the stand, spun it around twice, said it was fine, and handed it back to me.

My problem was clearly one of radial true, so he, naturally, had a look at the lateral true. A year later (hey, I don't ride on the trainer much) I got into wheelbuilding, and lo and behold, I realized I could true that particular wheel radially and fix the problem. So I did.

I also once got a wheel built by the only other bike shop in town. It had a hump in it. I used it for a while, then set it aside when I got a different wheelset. Then, when I got into wheelbuilding, I put the wheel on my homemade truing stand and trued the damn thing radially.

Don't get me started on all of the other shoddy work they've done on my bikes. I should say, though, that the guys in both shops in town are friendly, and I get on well with them. I buy my clincher tubes there, and every now and then I throw them a bone with the purchase of a tool or another item under $30. But I'll never let them touch my bikes again.

Your average bike rider getting those "tune ups" probably won't notice or care that much; as long as the bike attains a modicum of serviceability, it's fine. But when you really start getting into this hobby, you realize that most bike shops are kinda like Walmart when you're looking for artisanal bread; are you looking to just stuff your gullet, or do you want a more refined bakery experience that truly satisfies gustatorially, nutritionally and aesthetically?

cascade168

Yes, excellent observation.

DieselDan

Why did you bring the whole bike in for a wheel true?

I_bRAD

its hard to ride just the wheels I assume

DieselDan

I was assuming he brought the bike in by car since he left it there and his wife picked it up and it is January.

PlatyPius

You do have a point.

I think the trick, at least in seasonal areas like the midwest, is to go into the shop in the winter. The mechanic who is still there during the winter is probably the guy you want to work on your bike. The seasonal/temp guys (aka: inexperienced) won't be there. Not fool-proof, but shops tend to only keep their best mechanics on staff during the winter so they don't lose them.

Panthers007

After my LBS built (ruined) my rear wheel I farmed out to them to build (out of true lat and vert., not dished, over 200Kgf tension on drive-side...) - I brought it back. The owner hisself rebuilt the wheel from the ground up. And he did it completely bass-ackwards. Valve-stem off by one, key spoke on wrong side - backwards. But structurally sound and dished correctly. Tension within specs. I can't figure if he did this on purpose to play with me (he knows I'm a mechanic and a wheelbuilder), or if he has the most advanced case of dyslexia I've ever seen.

I accepted the wheel. Even tipped him (rubbing it in? LOL). Rather than getting P.O.ed, I resolved to get a job there. His crew are morons - you know the ones - buck-teeth and a pair of vice-grips in dad's garage. I think he could use my assistance. And he ran across the store to grab me an application!

Totoro

One thing that you notice if the pads are 1 mm from the rim is that if the wheel is out of lateral true it will rub against the pad. This happened on both wheels when I got it back. If you set the pads farther apart, then it is easy to disguise sloppy truing.

This bike won't be used on a trainer, but almost exclusively for recreational riding. So will radial true matter much or not? Will those flat spots cause problems down the road?

Totoro

I was originally planning on checking the wheels out before I left the shop and that is easier to do if the wheels are on the bike. But then stupid me, I let the wife pick it up and she is completely bicycle illiterate.

pacificaslim

The cheap Alex rims on my Bianchi cross bike both are out of true radially to the eye, but I can't feel a thing while riding. I wouldn't leave that on a road bike, but with the wide knobby tires and 50 psi pressure, it's fine. If your wife's bike is one with wider tires run at lower pressures and ridden at moderate speeds, I doubt she'll feel anything either.

I_bRAD

I assumed he grabbed a cab, bus or walked it. January? You're in SC! Surely you don't stop riding in January!

nonfortuna

When I worked in one of the biggest service departments in my state, the stated shop policy was to adjust brakes (of all types) so that full braking power was achieved at half the pull of the lever. This often left the pads quite a ways from the rim. BF is full of haters. +1 come in winter. I might only have 1 bike all day this time of year, and I'll probably spend hours on it just to avoid boredom.

Panthers007

I knew a guy who was fired by Harris Cyclery in Newton, Mass. - Sheldon Brown's old haunt. And I foolishly let this character overhaul my hubs and BB. After riding it a bit and letting it sit for a week or two - something was VERY wrong. The cranks wouldn't spin, nor would the wheels. I opened the hubs and BB to find the grease the critter used HAD TURNED INTO A SOLID CASTING IN PLASTIC!

I called Bozo and enquired what on Earth he had used. It was Volkswagen Constant-Velocity Joint Grease. I had to fracture the castings in my hubs and BB with a sharp screwdriver and hammer to get that stuff out of there. It came out in solid hunks of plastic.

Moral of story: This guy could talk a good story of his prowess as a bike-mechanic (enough so that Harris hired him), but when it came down to it - a cuckoo should have flown out of a little door on his forehead. They're out there, and sometimes they slip in the backroom.

LarDasse74

You have lots of amazing stories about bike shops being inept. It's incredible, really.

PlatyPius

I'm trying to figure out how CV Joint grease, which is simply a low-viscosity, high-temperature, high-pressure grease, turns into Plastic. Alchemists might be interested in that, too. I've played with CV grease many, many times in my life and I have never noticed any cases of it magically transforming into another substance.....

LarDasse74

Didn't you know? Every time you let a VW sit for a week you have to chisel out the old CV grease/ plastic (known as 'grastic' or 'pleess') and reapply.