Originally Posted by
mrrabbit
The root of the problem:
Your average bike shop, sad to say, especially moreso chain shops, do not spend the 20 minutes they are supposed to spend finishing up the wheels that come with your entry and mid-range bikes. They just slap the bike together - a tad on bike true here and there - and out the door you go.
It only takes a few weeks to a few months for cheap spokes to run the fatigue gamut...might take high quality spokes considerably longer...but they tool will fall victim.
Most entry-bike to mid-range bike factory wheels typically show up in the 70-80 kgf range - which is at best "hold together" tension...and even an occasional one will loosen to a limp spaghetti state...
=8-)
This really is the root of so many problems. Regardless of how the factory machine built the wheel, the person who builds the boxed bike has the opportunity to make it right. In many cases, the owner or manager only sees the bike as a number with a dollar sign in front of it. That number has a corresponding number on a clock face. The corresponding number on the clockface is the maximum amount of time/attention the owner/manager will allot for that bike. They see no problem if the mechanic never lays his hands on the rear wheel's quick release. Somehow, the owner/manager actually starts to believe these mechanically irrelevant bean counting numbers actually do represent the amount of time needed to get the bike working properly, and remaining in proper working order. So a new mechanic starts, these substandards are ingrained into his work ethic.
If owners/managers viewed that bike as a potential form of transportation for their own mother, rather than just a cost/labor ratio to uphold, the customer/shop relationship would improve 100%.