The changing face of bike mechanics

Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Apr 1, 2014
Messages
4,284
Reaction score
6,168
Location
Wisconsin
Rating - 100%
11   0   0
I stumbled across this looking for a funny image of a bicycle mechanic, and like they say it spoke to me.
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/cyclingactive/changing-face-bike-mechanics-156908
Bike Mechanics.jpg
 
Awesome article. I had a nice convo with the greenhorn at my lbs the other day; he shows a whoooooole lot of promise, but there are some real gaps in knowledge. I'm confident he'll fill that in; i think he's like 18years old....
 
Changing ? I just want someone who knows how to adjust properly and true wheels ! Fair price too I don't need a MD. Everyone I know looks like guy on Right , Some people would avoid the guy on the left ..
 
Not too sure if this is true today, but 5 to 10 years ago, almost every shop in Phila had one of those guys on the right.

They moved down here.
This is why I've learnt to do (still learning, ;) all of my own bike stuff...and RATRODBIKES.COM is my only textbook ..
sure...I always tinkered, but never really knew exactly what was what.now I'm taking apart sprockets / freewheels to make 1X drivetrains, swapping out parts, cutting and welding..the fun is almost unbearable. :happy:

OK...Anyway, I will never, ever go into the LBS here in my town, there are two....not one..uh uh...two bike hipsters that work there...and when I went in to get new tires for an 84 Schwinn World that I fixed up..they just pointed...like "over there".
Apparently, they're too cool to even talk !..both had big beards, proper Brit Caps, white shirt and tie and horn rimmed glasses.
.......I just left and ordered tires online.
F R A N C O
 
Full disclosure: i got me a big beard, but i've had it since '95. It's been in and out of "fashion" a few times these past few decades; i keep it mostly b/c i'm too lazy to shave every day, plus i'm trying to grow a chin...whether or not it's en vogue, i'll probably always be bearded up.

As for leanring to DIY, i applaud you for that, and i want to encourage you to keep going....and RRB is a great resource to ask questions, or search archived posts for tips. But, i wanna add, you can save yourself time by going to the park tools website, and sheldonbrown.com . Those--and many other sources-- can walk you through most fixes pretty easily, and you won't have to wait for a fellow RRBer to respond. Also, if you mess with gear hubs, check out hubstripping.wordpress.com for a lot of exploded diagrams and insight. But, for truly old stuff, truly weird stuff, and off-label kludges, RRB is tough to beat for advice and info.....

They moved down here.
This is why I've learnt to do (still learning, ;) all of my own bike stuff...and RATRODBIKES.COM is my only textbook ..
sure...I always tinkered, but never really knew exactly what was what.now I'm taking apart sprockets / freewheels to make 1X drivetrains, swapping out parts, cutting and welding..the fun is almost unbearable. :happy:

OK...Anyway, I will never, ever go into the LBS here in my town, there are two....not one..uh uh...two bike hipsters that work there...and when I went in to get new tires for an 84 Schwinn World that I fixed up..they just pointed...like "over there".
Apparently, they're too cool to even talk !..both had big beards, proper Brit Caps, white shirt and tie and horn rimmed glasses.
.......I just left and ordered tires online.
F R A N C O
 
Full disclosure: i got me a big beard, ...whether or not it's en vogue, i'll probably always be bearded up.

As for leanring to DIY,you can save yourself time by going to the park tools website, and sheldonbrown.com . Those--and many other sources-- can walk you through most fixes pretty easily, and you won't have to wait for a fellow RRBer to respond. Also, if you mess with gear hubs, check out hubstripping.wordpress.com for a lot of exploded diagrams and insight. But, for truly old stuff, truly weird stuff, and off-label kludges, RRB is tough to beat for advice and info.....


I do check out Sheldon's site....probably everyone does...he was something else. Park tools, I only recently noticed they have some excellent how to's. And WOW thanks Bicycle808 for the hubstripping site...that's bookmarked now..what a cool site.
(I still like RRB the best tho. ...search and read, over and over. )

oh...and yeah..I know about big beards....lol :rofl:
10590525_10152672204643522_8979333290456774999_n.jpg

franco
 
They moved down here.
This is why I've learnt to do (still learning, ;) all of my own bike stuff...and RATRODBIKES.COM is my only textbook ..
sure...I always tinkered, but never really knew exactly what was what.now I'm taking apart sprockets / freewheels to make 1X drivetrains, swapping out parts, cutting and welding..the fun is almost unbearable. :happy:

OK...Anyway, I will never, ever go into the LBS here in my town, there are two....not one..uh uh...two bike hipsters that work there...and when I went in to get new tires for an 84 Schwinn World that I fixed up..they just pointed...like "over there".
Apparently, they're too cool to even talk !..both had big beards, proper Brit Caps, white shirt and tie and horn rimmed glasses.
.......I just left and ordered tires online.
F R A N C O
Scary story about those bike shop dudes....glad you made it out unscathed!
 
Full disclosure: i got me a big beard, but i've had it since '95. It's been in and out of "fashion" a few times these past few decades; i keep it mostly b/c i'm too lazy to shave every day, plus i'm trying to grow a chin...whether or not it's en vogue, i'll probably always be bearded up.

As for leanring to DIY, i applaud you for that, and i want to encourage you to keep going....and RRB is a great resource to ask questions, or search archived posts for tips. But, i wanna add, you can save yourself time by going to the park tools website, and sheldonbrown.com . Those--and many other sources-- can walk you through most fixes pretty easily, and you won't have to wait for a fellow RRBer to respond. Also, if you mess with gear hubs, check out hubstripping.wordpress.com for a lot of exploded diagrams and insight. But, for truly old stuff, truly weird stuff, and off-label kludges, RRB is tough to beat for advice and info.....
Yea, bicycle808, I grew my beard back in '85 when I made the long trek moving from San Jose, CA to New England....figured I'd need to cover up my face for the colder weather here on the east coast. Still have it but self semi-trimmed to keep it out of my soup!
 
Yea, bicycle808, I grew my beard back in '85 when I made the long trek moving from San Jose, CA to New England....figured I'd need to cover up my face for the colder weather here on the east coast. Still have it but self semi-trimmed to keep it out of my soup!

Makes sense; i just mow mine down with my clippers whenever i eat a slice of pizza and find that all of the cheese got filtered out my my moustache. That's time to "start over"; usually, every 3 months or so.

That's rad that your beard goes back to 1985; I was 8 years old in 1985!
 
Makes sense; i just mow mine down with my clippers whenever i eat a slice of pizza and find that all of the cheese got filtered out my my moustache. That's time to "start over"; usually, every 3 months or so.

That's rad that your beard goes back to 1985; I was 8 years old in 1985!
Humm....we're around the same age...39.. just not sure how many times I've been at that age!
 
Makes sense; i just mow mine down with my clippers whenever i eat a slice of pizza and find that all of the cheese got filtered out my my moustache. That's time to "start over"; usually, every 3 months or so.

That's rad that your beard goes back to 1985; I was 8 years old in 1985!
1985 I turned 4...

Luke.
 
I'm also a filthy neck bearded hipster

c6353472b9a782df10e874121149db2e.jpg


It seems to be the universal uniform of craft brewing. I started wearing a full beard around 2002. Mostly during the winter time as insulation in the cold rooms, then I shaved my whole head for saint baldricks and the entire brewery and pub staff told me I was never allowed to ever do that again. So, I stopped shaving all together.
I keep it in the braid most of the time now and it is past my bellybutton

I like to say I'm attached to it, rather than the other way around.


Back to the bike shop stuff.. we got three types in town... corporate, old schol, and new school hipster.

I haven't really dealt with the coporate stores as they are out of the way for me

The old school is a mixed bag. I'm more able to find old stuff in their stores. But they are less willing to deal with old stuff depending on the location..
Never had a problem with the new school guys, in fact, they have been rather supportive of the weird stuff I've brought in.
For example, they rebuilt the rear wheels on my trike for $75, new rims and spokes. ( I got it from a shut down factory and someone had backed into it with a forklift)

I think the hipster shop can make spokes in house which is probably why they gave me a good deal. The old school shop would've rebuilt the wheels on my Peugeot project, but it would be about $75 per wheel to do so. I have yet to see what the hipster shop would charge, I really need to do that.

As for what's going on with the wheels, the rear wheel is decent, but all the spokes are rusted, to the point where it's near impossible to clean, and I don't think I would trust them anyways, the front is the same, but it has a wiggle and a bit of a flat spot..
I would like to preserve the textured rims. But if I have to drop down on some new rims, it will only be around $70 for a new set.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
The secret to staffing a bike shop is, you need a mix of employees. It's kinda like how you had to build your team for the game "Ice Hockey" for the Nintendo Entertainment System in the 80s. You want a high-school aged bmx kid so his friends will come in and spend, you need a road guy, you'll want an mtb guy (the ideal employee is credible as both a road and mtb guy), and these days, you probably need to have someone who RRB-types will identify as a "hipster." (Personally, i believe that hipsters are an endangered species, on the brink of extinction.) Every shop would do extremely well if they had a hott girl who actually rides and knows bikes on staff, but you don't see that much. In this day and age, in South Jersey, it seems like most shops will have the owner working, and a skeleton crew of various bike shop drones, or you'll have a corporate-type place with a bunch of roadies, with a few guys who train on trails during the off-season to cater to the mtb set. Those shops usually will HATE you and your vintage cruiser, from my admittedly limited experience with that kind of shop.
 
The secret to staffing a bike shop is, you need a mix of employees. It's kinda like how you had to build your team for the game "Ice Hockey" for the Nintendo Entertainment System in the 80s. You want a high-school aged bmx kid so his friends will come in and spend, you need a road guy, you'll want an mtb guy (the ideal employee is credible as both a road and mtb guy), and these days, you probably need to have someone who RRB-types will identify as a "hipster." (Personally, i believe that hipsters are an endangered species, on the brink of extinction.) Every shop would do extremely well if they had a hott girl who actually rides and knows bikes on staff, but you don't see that much. In this day and age, in South Jersey, it seems like most shops will have the owner working, and a skeleton crew of various bike shop drones, or you'll have a corporate-type place with a bunch of roadies, with a few guys who train on trails during the off-season to cater to the mtb set. Those shops usually will HATE you and your vintage cruiser, from my admittedly limited experience with that kind of shop.
Whoa, that's heavy, man
 

Latest posts

Back
Top