bobbyl1966

I am not pro mechanic i have learn my self some thinks and i work on bikes. department stores bikes is have low quality parts. I not know about pro mechanics but for me is harder to adjust example brakes gears. I worked in one bike i had tgrouble adjust the brakes correctly always i try make any bike i work be 100% prefect. I worked on the bike less for 30 minutes because i had trouble adjust the rear brakes springs is was real soft. Someone came and tell me why no have finish the bike tell me why i do so slow. I explain i had trouble with the cheap brakes. I do frustrated that time i do the right think? because i tried real hard finish that bike. pro mechanics when you work on the bikes you like to be by your self and work on the bikes?

_ForceD_

Yes.

cale

Agreed. I don't like people watching me work. Especially if that person is going to make suggestions. I did work for my neighbor but when he smashed his wheel, he was unhappy that i could not make it perfect again. If he had been watching me work, I think I might have "straightened" him.

cny-bikeman

If you don't like interacting with people when you work on bikes then don't work on other people's bikes.

bobbyl1966

i do like interact with people is not bother me watching i work but when but when i tried so hard make the brakes working right in departement store bike with soft springs on the brakes and the brake lever for stop the bike need touch the handlebar and i tried to see how i make that brakes better and i work for less than 30 minutes in that bike and i do all parts wheels straight but stuck in that cheap brakes and came person and tell me why i do so slow in that bike and that person not know to fix bikes that is bother me.

HillRider

Pick your battles better. No one can make a department store bike work well and you are making a mistake to agree to work on them unless you tell the owner that it will never be perfect.

Jiggle

"Because your bike sucks"

wphamilton

I'm not a pro mechanic either, but we have one advantage over the pros when it comes to cheap department store bikes. When helping someone out for free we can spend one or two minutes on a brake or shifter, and tell them that's the best that can be done without replacing parts. A pro can't easily do that because an actual customer expects serious time spent on it, and for it to be perfect after that (impossible), or he thinks the replacement cost is gouging.

I can keep dept store bikes working pretty well but I'd never do that for a neighbor. When you've done them a favor once, some people expect it forever because they don't really value your time and skills. The only way out is to charge them to begin with, but then you're in the same boat as the pro.

Gresp15C

This is a good point. I'm not a bike mechanic, but my job involves a lot of troubleshooting and debugging. One of my cardinal rules is: "Never troubleshoot in front of an audience," because you end up devoting most of your attention to managing the audience. And people have a tendency to engage in "bikeshedding," which is where they ask questions and give advice just to make themselves feel knowledgeable and useful.

So I suppose a pro bike mechanic has to be someone who's better than me at troubleshooting in front of an audience.

cny-bikeman

My point is that how that person reacted comes with territory (is to be expected). If you can't handle that then don't work on other people's bikes. Judging by past entries you probably should not be doing so anyway until you learn more. Did you follow my suggestion to go to the bike co-op in Atlanta?