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For people who work in bike shops, what are some crazy/horror stories that you have?

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For people who work in bike shops, what are some crazy/horror stories that you have?

Old 01-07-22, 01:58 PM
  #51  
SkinGriz
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Originally Posted by cyccommute
Good stories all but I doubt that shop mechanics see a 10th of the horror stories that we see at co-ops…especially ones with “Fix-Your-Bike” hours. We get the bikes that shop refuse. We get things like a bike that someone had been riding for hundreds of miles without bearings on one side of the front wheel and with the cone turned around backwards. The axle didn’t turn in the hub shell. The axle was turning in the fork tips (quick release hub) and had eroded a significant amount of the threads on the axle and the fork tips. The guy was amazed at how fast the bike would go with bearings.

Or the coaster brake bike that someone’s mother’s boyfriend had tried to convert to a freewheel bike by removing the brake lever and about 3/4 of the bearings. And his mother told him that he had to leave it that way. The kid kept coming in for most of the summer with similar problems that, again, his mother insisted that I fix without changing anything. I started to hide in the bathroom if I saw him coming.

Or the guy who came in with a high end Specialized dual suspension mountain bike (probably stolen) who had the great idea of removing the chain by…wait for it…hacksawing through the seatstay. He was totally confused (and angry) when I told him that I couldn’t do anything for him and that he had ruined his bike.

Or the Dad that didn’t have the right size handlebar so he shimmed it to the right size. Since he had a welder, he did it poorly






Completely ground out the inside of the stem.

Or the bikes…yes multiples…that had been left under some tree so long that they looked like this






We counted 15 rings in 2020 meaning the bike had been sitting since 2005 at the earliest.
”Mothers boyfriend.”

Say no more.
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Old 01-07-22, 03:06 PM
  #52  
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Originally Posted by classic carl
Funny and true. I just bought a new carbon Trek Emonda recently and as I was leaving the shop, the owner said, "Don't forget to take those reflectors off the bike."
Weird. My new Trek Domane a few months back didn't come with reflectors, purchased in SC. *shrug*
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Old 01-07-22, 03:09 PM
  #53  
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Originally Posted by jfouellette
I don't understand why someone would remove a safety device from a bicycle. Reflectors add conspicuity to the bikes and cyclists. Maybe a testosterone behavior. "reflectors are for whimps" or "real cyclists don't have reflectors"
If you never ride at night, and/or if you always ride with lights on front & rear plus have retroreflective material on your helmet and gear, what benefit does a reflector on the bike provide?
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Old 01-07-22, 03:09 PM
  #54  
Rdmonster69
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Originally Posted by gpburdell
Weird. My new Trek Domane a few months back didn't come with reflectors, purchased in SC. *shrug*

Same here, Not a refelctor in sight. This bike was bought in Ohio.
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Old 01-07-22, 03:13 PM
  #55  
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Originally Posted by cyccommute
Second, most all states in the US require them under their laws in accordance with the Uniform Vehicle Code. Most states I’ve looked at require a front light, thankfully, but many require a rear reflector with a light being optional. They also require some kind of side reflector (as does the federal reg) even though a study by the CPSC shows that side reflectors are completely useless.
GA only requires a rear reflectors if operating at night without rear lighting.

https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia...tion-40-6-296/

Last edited by gpburdell; 01-07-22 at 03:19 PM.
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Old 01-07-22, 03:31 PM
  #56  
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I don't work in a shop but maybe someone will find this funny.

I can across a fellow on his 2 week old top of the line Trek Project bike who was walking with his cleats in his hands. I stopped to see if he needed anything. He was livid over the flat (pinch flat on bridge lip). I offered to fix it for him. "No, I called the shop and they are sending someone". I was like they are 35 minutes from here, I can fix it in 5 minutes. I explained he probably has a pinch flat and asked if he checked his tire pressure. I might as well asked him is he spoke Chinese. He blamed the shop, the tire company.....for putting lousy tires on the bike. I offered once more and let him stew in his ignorance and thought the shop should just give him a refund and cut their losses.
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Old 01-07-22, 04:59 PM
  #57  
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Originally Posted by cyccommute
I would 'fix' that by sawing the log as close as possible to the spokes on both sides, but leave a sturdy piece of the tree in the wheel.
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Old 01-08-22, 11:53 PM
  #58  
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Not my stories, but I felt like I had to share this.


"This is from my buddy's shop across town, but I see this bike in the wild all the time. The owner insists that this setup is fine. He's got another "more aero" bike, but I'll save that for another time.

Supposedly the guys at the shop got in touch with "the manufacturer" and had them explain to the bike owner that the setup is unsafe. He still insists it is fine."





"This beauty belongs to the same owner as the red monstrosity recently posted. Customer wanted some accessories installed, so he duck taped them to his handlebars and brought the bike in.
Note that this beauty is actually an 'aero' bike, albeit a cheaper carbon one. In order to keep it comfortable, he's installed one of the widest, softest saddles available; in order to keep it aero, he's sent the nose down to an unrideable degree.
I don't even know."
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Old 01-09-22, 06:36 AM
  #59  
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GhostRider62, I have experienced that story many times. Had a lady come in the shop this summer. She bought a Trek with tubeless tires at a shop down the road about 2 years prior, but never rode it. Couldn't understand why the tires were flat. After all they were tubeless. After much explanation I convinced her to allow us to put tubes in it so that it would be like a normal bike. Quite happy she was.

The absolute majority of bike shop customers are not bike forum members. They are one and done buyers. The Trek guys sold her the latest and greatest tech and she would not have to worry about flat tires anymore because it was tubeless! hahahaha! They did not explain to her that tubeless still needs to be maintained with air and sealant, and if they had she would not have been able to handle it anyway. Reminder to the sales people: KISS.
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Old 01-09-22, 08:37 AM
  #60  
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Originally Posted by grant40
I got this from the bike co op for $10 a couple years ago.



The stem is the only thing that I didn't throw away or give back to the shop.
I have one of those stems in the parts bin. I didn’t think it was anything notable
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Old 01-09-22, 09:07 AM
  #61  
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One window at a local bike store had a big sign that said "SALE - GOING OUT OF BUSUNESS".
In the window, on the other side of the door, another big sign said "FREE LIFETIME TUNEUPS".
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Old 01-09-22, 10:29 AM
  #62  
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This is from my buddy's shop across town, but I see this bike in the wild all the time. The owner insists that this setup is fine. He's got another "more aero" bike, but I'll save that for another time.
Supposedly the guys at the shop got in touch with "the manufacturer" and had them explain to the bike owner that the setup is unsafe. He still insists it is fine."

Well it is colourful. I m trying to understand what is unsafe in this setup. Thanks
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Old 01-09-22, 01:23 PM
  #63  
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Originally Posted by jfouellette
This is from my buddy's shop across town, but I see this bike in the wild all the time. The owner insists that this setup is fine. He's got another "more aero" bike, but I'll save that for another time.
Supposedly the guys at the shop got in touch with "the manufacturer" and had them explain to the bike owner that the setup is unsafe. He still insists it is fine."

Well it is colourful. I m trying to understand what is unsafe in this setup. Thanks
My best guess would be the large amount of extenders.
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Old 01-09-22, 08:21 PM
  #64  
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how about dork disks?
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Old 01-10-22, 10:50 AM
  #65  
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Originally Posted by grant40
My best guess would be the large amount of extenders.
Its like $200 worth of extenders.
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Old 01-10-22, 12:10 PM
  #66  
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Originally Posted by Nachoman
One window at a local bike store had a big sign that said "SALE - GOING OUT OF BUSUNESS".
In the window, on the other side of the door, another big sign said "FREE LIFETIME TUNEUPS".
The 'Free Lifetime Tuneups' pitch was a thorn in my side. We tried to explain that the 'tuneups' they were offering for free were not the same full-service packages shops were charging $40-150 for, but were simple adjustments, mostly not needing tools, and that we can show you haw to do the adjustment yourself. My boss made the point that, if they really were offering 'lifetime free tuneups' then we could go there and buy 10 new cheap bikes and run them out of business by requesting hundreds of 'free tuneups' a week.

Then the shop that was closest to us who was offering free tuneups went out of business, and dozens of people came in complaining that they weren't getting the free tuneups they were promised. Most of them were just a little annoyed, but a few we had to explain that not all bike shops are part of a chain, and whatever deal you had with Shop X is not transferable to us, an unrelated company, just because the products we sell are roughly the same shape.
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Old 01-10-22, 01:47 PM
  #67  
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Originally Posted by jfouellette
This is from my buddy's shop across town, but I see this bike in the wild all the time. The owner insists that this setup is fine. He's got another "more aero" bike, but I'll save that for another time.
Supposedly the guys at the shop got in touch with "the manufacturer" and had them explain to the bike owner that the setup is unsafe. He still insists it is fine."

Well it is colourful. I m trying to understand what is unsafe in this setup. Thanks
Bending force, or 'torque', is defined as a force multiplied by the distance from the point where torque is being calculated. The steerer tube (top part of the fork that goes through the frame) is designed to withstand a certain amount of torque, and this amount would be predicted based on whatever force they expect to be put into the handlebar (weight of the rider, momentum) multiplied by the distance from the top of the headset where the steerer comes out of the frame to some point where they predict handlebars will be.
This calculation would likely be done with some conservative values - a heavy rider hitting an obstacle at some speed with handlebars in a normal place relative to the top of the frame. That red bike has the handlebars up likely much higher than the bike was designed for, and therefore potentially putting a much higher torque on the top of the fork. Manufacturers are likely very cautious to make their bikes so handlebars don't snap off while riding, but they can't predict that someone would modify a bike like this.


Here is a sketch illustrating this principle: Bending force Torque = F x h. If you increase h, you increase torque, and on that bike I would not assume that the fork is made to withstand such extraordinary torque.
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Old 01-11-22, 09:29 AM
  #68  
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Originally Posted by rosefarts
Its like $200 worth of extenders.
That may exceed the cost of the bike itself.
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Old 01-12-22, 03:15 PM
  #69  
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Originally Posted by rosefarts
Slow day at the shop, see a guy park and bring a domesticated duck out of the car. He lifts it out and proceeds to shake the **** out of it. Wings flapping and feathers flying. He puts it back in the car and comes into the shop.

When asked why he did that, he matter of factly responded “for exercise of course”
This can't be for real!
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