Dahon.Steve

+1

This happens when there's one guy that really knows how to fix bikes. In my town, it takes that much time because only one guy in 30 square miles knows how to fix bikes from top to bottom! He's even busy in the dead of winter!

There are LBS's within that 30 miles but the kids there are just learning. Sometimes, they get things right and other times they don't. When you do find someone, who's been fixing bikes since the 1970's, everyone knows who he is.

Sixty Fiver

I normally book bicycles into my shop on a 24 hour turnaround, I don't have the space or the desire to babysit them.

With that being said, I have one bike and 16 spares and bicycles I can lend to customers.



I often tell commuters that having a backup bike is a great idea... the second bike does not have to be as high end but should just be serviced and functional for those occasions you do not want to ride or want use the primary bicycle or when it is down for work.

I also teach a full range of classes on bike maintenance to help people become more independent and self sufficient.

TransitBiker

The bike shop in town is owned by a less than friendly guy & seems to work there alone.

N360 CVT drive. It needs one cable on each side of the shift mechanism to move it in each direction. There is an automated shifting kit, but i'm not sure if they make them available as aftermarket anymore.

- Andy

joeyduck

@TransitBiker. Thanks for the update of problems I must have missed them in my less frequent visits, or my narcotic addled mind forgot.

Anywho I wish you all the best in it's quick return. I actually remember one time when I had a frame cracked on my daily rider and my old Schwinn had been in the middle of something being repaired (grip shifts I think) and I was lucky enough to be able to borrow my neighbor's wife's beater for the day. I then got my beater fixed and eventually got my frame comped and rebuilt.

As for the ride in ride out shop I had an excellent experience with a mobile bike shop in a big sprinter delivery type van run as a shop. I paid a reasonable premium, but they came to my lab did the work in the parking lot and I rode home. It was a nice treat for my bike since a few things hadn't been serviced since I got it, headset and bottom bracket. I didn't have the tools or desire to do them, I'm glad to pay someone to do a full tear down, clean, service and rebuild once every two years or longer.

joeyduck

I've run into a few bike shops with owners like that. I guess they rely on being the only shop around, but like you've done I'd search for a new shop or figure it out myself.

bmthom.gis

That sucks Andy. I thought you had an SE Lager on order?

For those saying find a new shop that is commuter friendly: I would lovr to have one in my city myslf! I don't think they are very widespread outside of big cities.
actually, my old shop would do a quick turn around for someone who relied on their bike for transportation, but unfortunately we sold out to a chain from Florida (the CEOwas also the CEO for HH Gregg) and that company went bankrupt. The shop that has come into replace it is ok enougj, but the owner lives and has another shop in a different city and can't see that people in my town don't want to spend top dollar

steve0257

Time of year has something to do with the backlog. At my LBS the shop queue always takes a big jump on the first nice day of spring. People drag their bikes out for a ride and discover that it needs some work so off to the bike shop it is.

Fargo Wolf

Mine will be going in soon enough for a major tune up. Found a bunch of stuff that needs to be done while putting new tires/tubes on it. *sighs* It seems this wolfess just can't win this Spring....

wolfchild

I am sure OP could find some very cheap beater bike on garage sale or craigslist and use it as his back up bike, when his good bike is being serviced. A beater bike doesn't have to be an expensive, fancy, pretty, hi-tech machine... as long as it rides then that's all that matters.

TransitBiker

Felt and a few others have mobile service vehicles, typically in a sprinter or ford transit connect. I will ask about that when I go to pick it up. If it wasn't warranty related, it probably would have been a few day turnaround, as they too understand transport cyclists can't go long without their primary (or only) bike.

Guy's is the one I go to, as they are very very good at what they do, and very customer oriented.

SE Tripel, and I gotta wait for money. Yea, a few shops here have folded, mostly the kind I mentioned that we have here in Newtown.

Oh yes. I wanted to bring it in earlier, but it didn't work out till I made it a priority to my one family member that has a bike rack on their car. Tire trouble was kinda the catalyst there, couldn't ride at all.

My livelihood depends on useable bike being available 25/8, so it's doubly troubling for me.

- Andy

ThermionicScott 

+1. If a person is going to be car-free and do their work by bike, it behooves them to be more independent than this. They must be able to do more of their own maintenance, and have a cheap beater in reserve. Searching on the Philadelphia Craigslist (since there are apparently several "Newtowns"), I found a handful of candidates under $100 once I weeded out all the kid's bikes.

gsa103

As someone who isn't car free, I'd probably rather go without a bike than ride "beater".

Here's the question for the OP, what's a worse fate: Your current back-up transit situation or riding a $100 CL special that's slow, heavy and has terrible brakes?

Some people prefer taking the bus to a CL special, and that's fine. Personally, there's zero chance I can buy a bike on craiglist's for <$400 at the end of the day. No matter the starting cost, I'd probably spend that much fixing it "just so". That means my minimum back-up cost is $400. What's your?

TransitBiker

It's my first new bike in 12 years. My old bike needed new tubes every now and then, that's about it. I can do most maintenance, but as i've said several times, there are warranty issues and that requires a shop.

I can't be bothered looking for a bike that i don't plan to keep long term.

I'm not whining, just expressing how much i really miss my bike. No matter how much i don't feel like riding when i set out, i always am glad i did. When it's out of action i find myself sorely longing for it to be there ready to go. When i get the SE, it will be used for many rides i don't need a rack & fender for till those are acquired.

- Andy

CliffordK

It depends on how serious the warranty issues are. If it is just tightening a few bolts, you can do it yourself and ignore the warranty. Hub and tire? Does that include the wheel? Are these issues that stop you from riding the bike, or can you order the parts, and ride until they're ready?
Will there be future needs? Future downtime? I've ridden mostly one bike for most of my life, although it is only recently that I've gone mostly car-free (and started considering cargo capacity). For a while I maintained a "junker" that I had bought as an interim bike after my bike was stolen. But once I bought my Colnago, the junker was parked until I loaned it out and it was stolen. I've bought a couple of MTBs, but never had a lot of interest in riding them.

I-Like-To-Bike

Different areas, different prices; especially if a cyclist picks up bargains when available for later use.

$5 Bike with $10 trailer; garage sale


Both were Free Dumpster finds in Germany


$5 Garage sale


Both were $15 each at garage sale

GeneO 

Cure it by wrenching your own! Hope you get it back soon.

plumberroy

I have bought many ride-able bikes for <$20 at yard sales and flea markets . I have bought good bikes (C&V) that just needed tires or tubes or cables for $5 just got to look and be patient. Even my Surly's were not bought at full price one was a craiglist find and my L.H.T. was built from New old stock frame and parts I bought along the way.
All this does you no good at the moment, you have to be at the right time at the right place to find deals
Roy

AlTheKiller

many car shops are swimming in money.
few bike shops are.

AlTheKiller

So much for IGHs being the reliable choice. that sounds like a horrible design.

I like having derailleurs. Once you learn how to turn a barrel adjuster, you can pretty much keep them in perfect tune. Hell, the one time a year the rear needs adjustment I'm usually on the bike and riding when I notice, and I don't even have to stop and pull over. Literally reach down and twist the little magic knob and everything is fixed.

rmfnla

More reason to do one's own work...

alan s 

Yup, the old chain, sprocket and derailleur system still works best.

CliffordK

Yes,
The story here could have been much different.

OP says "I took my POS Junker into bike shop for 2 week repair".
"Rode home on the latest Specialized Dream Bike at $5 / day"
"Came back to the shop the next day to put a down payment down on a NEW Specialized Dream Bike".

As it is, many people are questioning why anybody would drop off their primary transportation bicycle for 2 weeks of service rather than completely bypassing the LBS system.

Of course, in this case, the OP has a fairly new bike, and there are reasons he chose to drop it off for service. But, if the LBS wants to keep the business, they need to cater to all their customer's needs, and even drop hints for getting new business.

Those shops that turn away one customer at a time because they can't be bothered with stocking parts, or providing service will struggle or fold.

cyccommute 

As others have said, learning how to do your own work will save you lots of downtime. That said, either you aren't understanding what the problem is or someone isn't explaining it to you very well. When you say

That doesn't fit with the way that cables work on bicycles. Twisted wire cables will elongate during bedding of the strands and, sometimes, the housing has to seat into the ferrules on the outer cable housing. Every cable actuated system has a method of adjusting for these minor changes in cable length. Even your NuVinci system has barrel adjusters to take up slack. From the owners manual

I also can't think of any way that a shop could have "stretched the cable". They might have done something else but actually pulling on the cable enough to stretch it and/or permanently deform it would be exceedingly difficult.

RubeRad

Dude, 2 weeks is crazy! 99% of that time it is sitting around waiting for parts to show up. You could negotiate with the owner to bring it in multiple times for 24hr intervals.

Also, do you have no friends who own bikes that you could borrow? I bet there's somebody on BF who would be willing to loan you a bike, and even drive up to 50mi to drop it off at your house, and pick it up later.

TransitBiker

Um, it is reliable. The shop positioned the cables wrong.

When the last (bogus) shop did work, they pulled the cable to the far side of the light, so when you turned a normal angle on the handlebars, one slipped off, the other stuck and stretched. Since then it has gotten worse to the point where the sheath end bit slides out of its seat very noticeably. To adjust this, the twist shifter needs to be taken apart and the cable snipped and re-anchored. I don't have the tools to do fine measuring and cable work. My goal is to eventually have all the tools needed and carry them in one bag at all times. The last time i broke a spoke i had my tools in the bag on the rack, i broke the bike down so it'd fit into someone's car no problem. The adjusters you speak of on the far end of the shift cables do not look user servicable, but i don't have the bike here for reference. There may be a small screw in the anchor blocks. The anchor blocks interlock into each other, sort of like when a person interlocks their own fingers and rotates that resulting 2 hand combo. If the cables are not within 2-3 mm they will not interlock unless you apply brute force, which could damage the anchor blocks and cause premature failure. It's a really sound system, but you need to have the cables at identical lengths between the twist grip and the anchor blocks on the hub. Thanks for the link by the way.

Nah, i'm a loner. I really don't get on well with others. I'm surprised how well i'm doing on here, to be honest.

- Andy