It's all ball bearings these days.....


As Bikewise mentioned - and surprised he is on here instead of wrenching or selling at this time of year....wait....me too for that matter. Shops do a ton of service work. Contrary to what the poster above mentioned, many shops have service driving their profitability.

In general there is no replacement for a good shop that charges fair rates and does consistent quality work. Alas - these are in the minority. Many factors contribute - people don't want to pay a lot, it's hard to keep good mechanics, there is a wide array of talent and experience, etc. You could have a great shop that does great work but the one time someone comes in and deals with an idiot ......

Most of you know I have a pretty big wheel business but you may or may not realize that I do an extensive amount of repair work as well. After establishing a local clientele over the last 7 years I have been here I have a dedicated bunch that lines up at my door for service. I perform free service at any time for anyone on the team. As a result I get a ton of people coming by.

As BW mentioned - the VAST majority of riders just DON'T service their own bike. Many have no interest in even remotely learning what goes on below the saddle. Even Pro cyclists that do it for a living. To people like me this can be an amazing fact....but then that's why people like me work on bikes.

Also in BW's statement he talks about all of the people that come in who THOUGHT they knew what they were doing. Yup. Also I get a lot of work from SHOPS that royally f'd something up. Luckily I know them well enough to call the owners and go, "do me a favor and go over to the Loctite and throw it away."

Tune-ups - I never know what to charge so I am horrible on that end. When a bike hits my stand I have the privilege of fixing everything on it that I find that I don't like. Shops aren't that lucky.

So what does all of this lead to? Some simple advice if you are truly wondering how often someone should look over your bike (tune up).

1. I find in my experience that people that are into riding enough that they spend time here on Bike forums - a once a year "go-over" is probably the minimum. Many of my dedicated guys - I will bring their rigs in once a year and tear it down to the frame and rebuild it. It helps run problems off before they become big problems, etc but is definitely oevrkill

2. If something changes about the quality of your ride and you notice it then take it to someone because if it was big enough that you noticed it then something is definitely wrong.

That's it.

Best "maintenance" anyone an perform is to put air in your tires before every single ride, and to replace chain and cables/housings.