[quote=emor]Please don’t be offended. I don’t really like talking to any retail customer service folks – I like going in, buying what I need, and leaving. That said, I think the worst bike shop employee is typically worse than other bad retail employees.
Many of my friends work in or have have worked in bike shops. Honest.[/quote]
I don’t think anyone is offended. Just a little puzzled why you’re posting here. You can put an end to that quite easily.
[quote=Emor]Please don’t be offended. I don’t really like talking to any retail customer service folks – I like going in, buying what I need, and leaving. That said, I think the worst bike shop employee is typically worse than other bad retail employees.
Many of my friends work in or have have worked in bike shops. Honest.
[/quote]
[quote=Petr5]I’m not _____, I swear! My best friend is _____!
Dyin![/quote]
lol
Was wrenching at buddies shop, on Monday.
Grab a new repair. Tag say’s ‘fix kickstand’
Kickstand was installed to deploy to the drive side…
[quote=liquify][quote=Emor]Please don’t be offended. I don’t really like talking to any retail customer service folks – I like going in, buying what I need, and leaving. That said, I think the worst bike shop employee is typically worse than other bad retail employees.
Many of my friends work in or have have worked in bike shops. Honest.
[/quote]
[quote=Petr5]I’m not _____, I swear! My best friend is _____!
Dyin![/quote]
lol[/quote]
“that’s the joke”
I’m posting here because I like posting in and reading this thread.
People are sharing their opinions about bike shops, including “I never go to them” or “This one bike shop guy is so annoying” and I shared that I don’t really like talking to bike shop employees. That said, I go to bike shops quite frequently and enjoy buying things from them.
Today I bought some $12 plastic platform pedals from a bike shop.
The dude at the counter was wearing a tshirt from a different bike shop.
I asked him about it and he told me it was cool because the only real competition is amazon.
for the common brake designs yes that’s right
the shorter arm brakes develop more power, and the longer arm brakes have much more pad clearance
the javascript for his calculator wasn’t archived, but the explanation’s still there in the paper: http://web.archive.org/web/20160310232841fw_/http://circleacycles.com/cantilevers/canti-geometry.pdf
Someone affiliated with circle A has kept it up:
[quote=Rusty Piton]Today I bought some $12 plastic platform pedals from a bike shop.
The dude at the counter was wearing a tshirt from a different bike shop.
I asked him about it and he told me it was cool because the only real competition is amazon.[/quote]
Not wrong, really.
I am always wearing Recycled Cycles socks, even though I never worked at Recycled Cycles. We are all in it together.
for the common brake designs yes that’s right
the shorter arm brakes develop more power, and the longer arm brakes have much more pad clearance
the javascript for his calculator wasn’t archived, but the explanation’s still there in the paper: http://web.archive.org/web/20160310232841fw_/http://circleacycles.com/cantilevers/canti-geometry.pdf[/quote]
[quote=Blakey]Someone affiliated with circle A has kept it up:
http://www.chapmancycles.com/cantilevers/[/quote]
These lead me to believe that I was correct all along and that I’m misunderstanding your argument.
A longer lever at any given angle = greater MA, yes?
a lot of it depends on straddle cable setup. more mechanical advantage at the brake doesn’t always mean better. full size v brake with road levers barely works because the MA of the brake is so much higher than the MA of the lever
A customer with a $3-4 bong trek domane specifically asked for me to do his tune up on his bike. Feelsgoodman
I had a fun day yesterday. There were two mechanics working at the shop, the head guy Steven and my buddy Noah who is an excellent mechanic and salesperson. But, Steven just bought a house and the plumbing work he did on his new bathroom went south in a very sudden and expensive way and he had to cut out to fix it.
So I get a text asking me if I can come in and work. I have worked exactly one shift in 3 years, I don’t know how much anything costs, I can’t fix bikes because I’m not good enough, I don’t know how to use the register, and I have no sales mojo. Of course I said yes!
So it was Noah and I playing alley-oop all day. I’d run interference on whoever came in the door and chat with them in a friendly way and figure out what they needed, and then pass them off to Noah. We handled a 15-person summer camp bike rental and a few emergency fixes. It went surprisingly great.
I like working in the shop. But I would never do it for a living because I definitely suck at it. I really respect the level of expertise and practice it takes to price out labor in a way that doesn’t turn customers away, because the average person is not ready to hear and understand how much anything costs. Yeesh.
.
I actually know that feeling and it is great in the most stressful way. A long time ago I got hit by a car and lost my job. My homies at the tattoo shop hooked me up with a desk position. Just sit at the front and feel out the walk ins (it was a street shop, 95% walk ins). Basically run interference and suss out if the tattoo they want is viable or worth the time and effort. Then I’d eventually bother one of the artists to actually come out and price out something. What sucked was when all the artists were all actually tattooing and 2 or 3 people would walk in and I’d have to juggle the shit out of them because I never felt comfortable actually pricing out tattoos on my own.
I have a lot of respect for Noah holding it down. Three years ago, he was my student in a class of 200, but I remembered him because he had grease all over his hands and I just knew he wrenched. He’s not even 21 yet and he’s like 5’2", very young looking but the way he carries himself is so super-professional and approachable that he seems to bypass people’s skepticism. Steven, by contrast, is 40 and is constantly aware of people “looking for the owner” or underestimating his expertise. Noah just kind of goes with it and he owns it, I have no idea exactly why. I definitely don’t have that same authority and I am pretty sure it was clear, but he did and the shop worked like a well-oiled machine all day because of Noah’s honest, succinct, and clear way of doing business.
So i’ve been letting Noah do all my wheelbuilds and stuff because I am betting big that if I live in this town in 10 years he is gonna be running shit, and I will be pumped.
Anyone want to buy a shop and retire at the same time?
http://mongcycles.com/
It’s around the corner from where my parents live. Dude is getting old and wants out.
Bonus: you get to have beers with my parents after work. They’re pretty rad.
all my money is tied up in bruce gordon cycles, sorry
Speaking of, they have raised $1026 of their $250,000 goal. Maybe this is yet another example of the market speaking about the value of Bruce Gordon Cycles.