chriskmurray

That reminds me of one I had the other day. An older guy came into the shop with his hub all sorts of messed up and was so "amazed" that I was able to fix it that it somehow further proved intelligent design to him. I was dumbfounded enough that the best I could get out was "I have been doing this a long time"

corrado33

I'm with the old guys on this one.

Too many kids now-a-day grew up playing video games on the computer with no desire to go outside and play football, or take apart the lawnmower, or watch their Dad work on the car. I grew up playing video games, I loved them, but I ALSO loved to go outside and help my dad work on the car, and ride my quad, and build forts in the woods with a toolbelt that was filled with nails and a hammer. No, I didn't know how to work on bikes when I got them. It took me a good few months to realize that bikes (like cars) are more simple than most people think. Now I can strip a bike and put it back together no problem. (And everything even works!)

I don't think many kids have the curiosity that we had when we were younger. They have the information superhighway at their fingertips so why be curious about something when you can just ask Siri for the answer?

The REALLY bad part is that some kids now-a-day can't even use the computer correctly. They use their Apples (I love Macintosh computers, but today.... who knows) for facebook and checking e-mail. Not many are interested in programming, some don't even know how to avoid getting a virus on a PC. It's terrible. It honestly makes me sad.

dweenk

I don't subscribe to the "young people" "old people" difference. Some people do things for themselves, and others do not and pay $$ to those who can.

I count myself in the group that can - unless it is a task that could be hazardous. I am no expert, but I have friends who "can" do things I cannot do well. We trade skilled talent back and forth depending upon our strenghts.

ThermionicScott 

Sounds like a couple folks are due for their Geritol and clean diapers.

68venable

Supporting his local bike shop.

CACycling

I am an old guy who volunteers with teenagers a lot. We did a project building bunk beds for a transitional shelter a few months ago (not assembling prefab kits, actually building beds from a stack of lumber). Most of the kids arrived not knowing how to use tools and somewhat intimidated by them. All left with new skills and a sense of confidence and accomplishment.

My kids were raised to deal with stuff when it happened. If it broke you did your best to fix it. A lot of kids don't get that any more in the home so it isn't surprising that they don't know what to do when problems arise.

Trevtassie

"They'll never find this hot engine in Grandpa's barn, bwah hah hah"

Trevtassie

But yeh, I've tried to teach my kids to fix stuff, but they just aren't interested. They seem to follow those old rules, never volunteer and never touch anything with a handle...
Funny thing is they can't fix the internet or anything electronic either.

GravelMN

When I was growing up we were encouraged to figure things out. Critical thinking and problem solving are lost arts.

downtube42

Young people come to learn what they need to learn, to survive and flourish. Old people are unhappy when those are different skills than what they needed. And so it goes.

WizardOfBoz

It is the nature of us old guys to speculate that "I would there were no age between sixteen and three-and-twenty, or that youth would sleep out the rest; for there is nothing in the between but getting wenches with child, wronging the ancientry, stealing, fighting."

It is the nature of us old guys to speculate that the young have boiled brains.

I will allow that the chain story reflects a pretty lame mechanical aptitude, but perhaps that young man knows how to do stuff on the interweb that I can't. I am glad that I know how to turn a wrench.

habilis

Look up the word "Sloyd" in Wikipedia. It's the name of an educational system started in Scandinavia in the 19th C. and briefly used in the U.S. It still is used in Sweden. The idea was to incorporate tool use and technical skills in the public school curriculum, and build a complete, well-rounded, self-reliant person.

As many have pointed out here, there are both mechanically competent and incompetent people of all ages. The variation across the population is because public schools offer very little, if any, required courses in mechanics, woodworking, etc. Private schools generally offer none. The individual is on his or her own if they want to learn those skills.

In the 7th and 8th grades (early 1960's), all boys in my public school took compulsory metal working, woodworking, and drafting (mechanical drawing). Girls took compulsory home economics. The gender segregation was wrong, in my opinion, and was especially harmful to the girls. The boys could have done with some "home ec" training as well.

Anyway, I still use the skills and knowledge gained in those "shop" courses, and have built on them all my life. It's a social crime that any young person reaches adulthood with no knowledge of tool use.

Gresp15C

I think that anybody's best chance of becoming handy with things, is to learn it from their parents, or possibly from some other adult taking them under their wing. I'm lucky to have grown up in a house where we made and fixed things, cooked our own meals, etc. Today, my spouse and I are passing along that tradition to our kids.

Today, lots of things are made to be thrown away, become obsolete before they break, or are quite reliable. But there are still lots of things that do break, and that can be fixed. There's also a wealth of information available via the Web, on how to fix things -- and spare parts available to order. I've fixed numerous home appliances thanks to the Web.

On the other hand, I think that people have less time and are more fatigued. People work longer hours, and commute further. Kids have a lot more schoolwork. And of course, electronic addictions rob us of our time.

fredstrong

That's what leaves (tree or bush) or a handful of dry weeds are for. Or nearby cast-off paper/plastic refuse. A stick? Personally, I lay my ride drive-side down to remount the chain.

dedhed

I think a big part is no one fixes things anymore. Myself being uhmm, frugal, have always tried to repair things even if not meant to be so my kids were always "See if you can fix this Dad". They always were part of the process and got explanations of how and why things worked. Then they were the helpers, usually against their will, on other projects both home and mechanical. When they got their licenses they all had to learn to change a tire (without the impact and floor jack!) and change the oil on the car. Now my son will call and ask before doing something on his car (lives 1500 away) but has done things like brakes, ball joints etc in the driveway with minimal tools and figures it's better to buy some more tools than pay a mechanic. While my daughter's aren't quite at that level they all certainly know their way around a tool box and what most of their general use is. The 16 YO is always impressed when she gets the bead on a car tire broken the first attempt.

I'll also say in the age of the net, if anyone has any kind of mechanical ability, logical thinking, and ambition there aren't too many tasks/problems that someone hasn't already encountered and either posted a video or blogged about. I personally have learned tons about bike repair, especially the nuances of things that didn't exist when I was a kid fixing them. Things like cable pull ratios, spoke tension, threadless headsets any number of things.

Maybe it's the kids I know and their parents, but I see lots of youngsters who not only know the computer world but the mechanical world.

cyclist2000

I don't think that my daughter would know how to fix the chain that came off either. She just rides. Dad is the mechanic.

rhenning

DBrown at least in WI there are almost no shop teachers anymore. When I started working in 1973 in my school were 5 shop teachers. When I retired in 2004 they went to one lady who was teaching everything on a computer half time. Nothing hands at all. Roger

davidad

I can relate to that. I'm 72 and am lucky enough to have a computer nerd wife.

cale

Today's young are smarter and better equipped then ever. I don't know why you'd draw any conclusions. It seems like you just went with the one you liked.

DBrown9383

I was brought up in a family w/o a lot of money. We were taught to try and fix things that broke on our own and if we couldn't fix it we did what dad did. Throw it across the room, swear at it and the people who made it and then go buy a used one.

DBrown9383

That flat pack furniture is the scouge of the earth. I hate that stuff but hey, you don't need a ruler!

Yellowbeard

This young(ish) guy has spent plenty of time teaching old farts how to tell raw beef from chicken, that sharp knives are safer than dull ones, that riding in the small-small is a poor choice, etc. and I'm no great intellect.

Experience is wasted on the old.

FBOATSB

So, I'm riding along on the MUP on my way home from a thirteen miler and I see a good ways ahead of me two small girls on bikes. The younger one, about eight or nine seems to step on her plastic chain guard, shattering it, and knocking the chain off of the front ring. They both stop and I'm thinking I might be able to help. By the time I get up to them, the older girl, maybe ten or eleven, has already checked for possible punctures! I ask if I can be of assistance and she says " No thanks mister, we got this." By the time I get to next curve on the path, I look back and they are already on their way again.

HillRider

One problem with the lack of mechanical skill of the younger people is that so many things are not meant to be repaired. My first car (a 1960 Chevy) needed new plugs and points every 10,000 miles and oil changes at 1500 mile intervals. It was also stone ax simple and could be worked on with simple, common tools. Modern cars have plugs that last 100,000 miles, oil changes at 7500 - 10,000 miles and electronics no one can work on at home.

Radios and early TVs used tubes and every hardware store had a tube tester. Not any more but the new electronics far outlast their predecessors before any repairs would be required.

Appliances were bolted together with soldered electrics. Now they are spot welded, including the electric connections.

bikepro

I question the need to include all "young people" in your assessment. You observed one "young person's" behavior and applied it to all "young people".