JPZ66

So I go down to my local LBS with my VGC 1985 Team Miayata frame and fork......going to get the headset pieces pressed off, and bottom bracket pulled while there.

I ask the guy to go easy.... He takes in back to remove said pieces, and comes back out 20 min later....."that'll be $20" he says....ok, I fork over the bucks....and as he's getting a receipt, Im looking over the frame, and what to my horror do I see......

The flippin' seat tube black and gold Team Miyata decal is ripped the eff up !! I mean in dire need of replacement ripped up.... !!!! Man am I ever pissed off ! I mean, other than a few minor chips and a tiny scuff here and there, this frame is, or rather, WAS, in really nice shape.

So after lengthy heated discussion with the dip wad behind the counter, I have to wait until tomorrow when the owner is in to get this sorted out.

Well, just another reason to buy a few new tools....I HATE taking my stuff in for someone else to work on.

It seems like these days, the level of help in the local bike shops is equivalent to 3 monkeys and a banana !

Ok, I had my rant.......$)@;:/$!

Joe

John E

I am glad I somehow find the time to do my own work on the bikes, the cars, and the house.

JPZ66

Yeah, I normally do all my own work, everything on my house, my '57 MGA and even on my BMW...

....just couldn't find one of my tools (probably still packed from my last move) and figured (wrongly) that the "pros" will do it right, quick and easy ...... What was I thinking !

Joe

Chris_in_Miami

Bummer about the decal! Unfortunately, I have a similar story: I took a frame to a shop that I know to be vintage-friendly to have the bottom bracket removed (a sealed Suntour unit with splines that don't match any currently available BB tool.) I spoke to the shop's owner and specifically asked if he had the correct tool to remove it, and mentioned that I needed the bottom bracket back.

I came back a few hours later and asked if it was ready, and the guy behind the counter ducked back into the shop to check. I wandered around the store a bit, and I recall hearing a metallic "tap tap tap" coming from the back, but I didn't connect the sound with my frame until he came out with it. Sure enough, the shop monkeys used a chisel to tap out the cups and chewed them both up.

I was livid but the owner was apologetic and offered to hook me up with a good deal on the parts I'd need for the build, but I haven't been back there since.

degan

We need to see a before/after shot.

Bianchigirll 

Sometimes I would rather use the improper tools than trust my bikes to some of the shops around me. There is only one or two I would trust and one is run by this great old Amish guy in a barn and is a nice place than the big fancy shop down the street.


Sorry to hear about your bike I hope everythign gets worked out OK.

randyjawa 

I can't even imagine ever taking my bicycle work to someone else to do. It would be like having a stand in for sex.

Chombi

Yup,
You have to be very careful and find out who you are handing your bike to cares as much as you about your bike. I had headset cups pressed on to one of my project bikes two years ago and the mechanic clamped over some seat tube decals that are not protected by any clear coat. I found out after I got the frameset home that the brand letter decals on the seatube right below the seat cluster were twisted out of shape by the bike shop's repair stand clamp, but thankfully not torn. I was able to ease back the decals back into proper shape, but fi they got torn, I would have not been able to replace them.
If possible, it would be best to ask bike shops to clamp their stand on to the seatpost instead so there is less chance of this happening.

Chombi

oldskoolwrench

If you took just the frame and fork into the LBS, the least they could have done was to insert a dummy seat post into the frame to clamp into the repair stand!

Whatever you decide to exact from the LBS owner... make sure he pays up!



edit: Chombi beat me to the punch!

miamijim

My first day in the shop as an employee and the owner says, "dont ever clamp a frame on decals or any of the bosses and if you clamp a frame on the paint put a rag on it first. There's a guy in NYC who clamped a frame on the water bosses and dented the frame....he had to work for 2 months for free to pay for it"

Thats all I needed to hear, I've never messed up paint, decals or dented a frame.

miamijim

Park makes a tool for that: https://www.parktool.com/product/inte...be-clamp-isc-4

wrk101

Very few of the shops around here have any respect for vintage bikes. +1 to the tool above, there really is no excuse! Heck, I have an ICS-1 in my home workshop.

I got a crystal clear message at the largest shop in my area several years ago, when the head mechanic told me that "any road bike over five years old is obsolete and not worth working on." Message received....

mapleleafs-13 

Ill be honest with you guys, I can't stand the majority of shops here in Toronto. When I started with this I had a couple shops just F up my stuff. They got the job done but something else would have problems. That's when I just said screw these guys I'm gonna learn this on my own.

In a way I'm kinda thankful that I ran into those dummies at the bike shops. It motivated me to learn everything myself and now I have a tool collection on par or better than some shops I've seen.

The only shops I ever go to are Urbane and I have a guy who builds my wheels at another shop. Other than that I'm a DIY kinda guy

rootboy 

It's hard to find good help these days. Sad tale.

repechage

Best is to raise the seat post if necessary and clamp it there if you use a Park style stand.
If we could not, siliconeized paper as used on vinyl graphics works pretty well. If you MUST clamp there.

Regarding the working for free to pay off the damage, that is actually illegal but done, the employer can fire the guy, but not demand free labor.
Shop rats get pushed around enough.

Trusting mechanics is really difficult. At the shops I worked for, the mechanics were in view of the customer. This is I would think almost mandatory if I was a client.

Chrome Molly

Bitterly ironic, since with any of the second mortgage CF that sits on their floor, they'd need to use the seat post anyway.

oldskoolwrench

Seems like the norm at most LBS these days; the current crop of 'mechanics' are actually 'parts replacers'; they either don't have the experience to fully diagnose a problem and repair it, or can't figure out the problem due to not looking at the 'big picture', so... they just put new parts on until the problem goes away.

Based on the reply wrk101 got from that "head mechanic"... I wouldn't let that guy help me get the bike out of the damned car, let alone have him put his greasy mitts on it.

marley mission

yeah i'm into f#$%ing up my own bikes

RobbieTunes

Perhaps he drives to work. he has to park somewhere.
His unremorseful, lackadaisical attitude towards your bike merits new decals.
He either should supply them or face the consequences.
Accountabilty starts at the grass roots level.

BassNotBass

As someone who has been a PT bike mechanic from the early 80s until just recently I'll have to agree. Things have changed... it's very rare that you will find a LBS that has the means to employ a knowledgeable and caring mechanic. The typical LBS just doesn't have the income to employ good mechanics anymore. Sure you'll find a LBS here and there that has one passionate mechanic who doesn't mind living in poverty (usually the owner), is a true mechanic at heart and works at a LBS because he/she is passionate about bikes but works elsewhere FT as a primary means of income or is living off of a trust fund and is a mechanic for fun... but for the most part when you go to an LBS, the mechanic will know slightly more than you but has the tools to look like a pro.

Chrome Molly

Great points. I find the really good mechanics work at the bike co-ops. They are doing it for the joy of it, and they love the fact you are a bike nut too. Want to really get on their good side, give a co-op mechanic some parts that you're not going to use. Once you're in, your bike is cared for, not abused.

JPZ66

Yeah, I guess things have changed......I haven't actually taken a bike to the LBS for any work in many years.

Thats what I get for being lazy and not going out to the back shed to find the box that contains the needed tools......just haven't had a need for them until now, and I got lazy, not wanting to dig through boxes !
Needless to say, it won't happen again ! Oh, yeah, even the manager on duty berated the worker for not clamping onto the seat post.

Silly me, I thought they knew how to do it....being in the business and all........



I will post the outcome after tomorrow, and a photo of the damage too. - on the bike, on the bike !!


Joe

Amesja

DIY headset cup remover.

Used/scrap 3/4" copper pipe: Nearly free + Hacksaw + 3 minutes = Tool that will last you dozens of uses.

I second the not ever taking a nice bike into an LBS to get ruined by hipster minimum-wage parts replacers. I bought an Ice Tools BB-chase/face tool for $200 just so I wouldn't ever have to go into an LBS again.

Being self-sufficient=priceless!

jimmuller 

Sorry to hear of your LBS trouble. That sucks.

There is at least one shop here where I'd have no fear to take a nice bike. I've seen how they work, how they respect the bikes, how they have an appreciation for older bikes. That shop is Harris Cyclery. There may other shops like that too. I just don't know of them.

Amesja

I consider Harris, Niagara, and Peter White to be my LBS's...