Please don't pee on your bikes.-Page 5: Off-topic discussion forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Aug. 17, 2009 3:07 a.m. Luke Dork

I agree with you for the most part, especially re the attitude of many bike shop owners/employees.

FindlaySpeedMan wrote: I bet an employer could show me how to do everything on a bike in the course of a workday, and never worry about me again. Just keep handing me bikes to fix and sales to ring up all day long.

But, I think there's a bit more to bike fixing than you think. Fer instance, at the shop where I work, one of the main mechanics used to wrench on pro race cars. He crewed for the Mitsubishi Ralliart team, and several V8 Supercar (Australian touring car) teams. At one point he was Mark Skaife's head mechanic. Now working on bicycles, he still gets stuck from time to time, and occasionally has to ask one of the more experienced guys how to do something.
Aug. 17, 2009 6:00 a.m. Wally UberDork

I had assummed it was written to be somewhat funny. I have dealt with many bike shop people as the owner of inexpensive mtn bikes and have never encountered an unpleasant person, but I'm sure like myself if they could spout of anonomusly sometime they could put a pretty good rant together. We all have days where we could bitch about our jobs, but few of us could do it as eloquently as he has. I am impressed, and somewhat inspired to see what I can come up with on a bad day.

And to all the people complaining about a little pee, at least you haven't had a used tampon thrown at you. They stick to the inside of a windshield making it tough to concentrate on your driving.
Aug. 17, 2009 7:01 a.m. bluej HalfDork

ok, threads over, wally wins, we can all go home now.

findlay, i'm pretty sure you just bitched about your job for about as long as that craigslist rant was. that's ok too, you probably need it as much as he did, but until you've been there and actually worked there, don't throw stones.
Aug. 17, 2009 10:36 a.m. Keith UberDork

I started as a bike mechanic before I got into cars and of course I still work on my own bikes. I started off by rebuilding a bike from scratch, every bearing and spoke. There are more tricks to setting one up well than you might think if you've never done it, but they're certainly nowhere near as complex as cars are. A good mechanic should have a fairly steep learning curve. The fun thing about working on bikes is that it's a bit more artistic than cars - truing a wheel or adjusting a set of bearings by feel takes a certain touch.

Everybody who has a job that involves dealing with customers would love to rant about how stupid they are or what a pain they are - but they're a fact of life. And to somebody, somewhere, we're that customer.
Aug. 17, 2009 11:59 a.m. Timeormoney New Reader

FindlaySpeedMan wrote: No I didn't have the manual, I just had cusswords.

That still has me laughing
Aug. 17, 2009 6:48 p.m. donalson UltraDork

a good addition to this thread :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4
Aug. 17, 2009 7:09 p.m. EastCoastMojo Dork

donalson wrote:

a good addition to this thread :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4