Originally Posted by
Crankycrank
That's a pretty important detail you left out of the first post. The shop can say that you should have stopped and determined what the problem was before continuing on riding.
I suppose, though I really didn't get far - I mean, we're talking literally three (mostly uphill) blocks, and scarcely more than a minute into my ride. Also, in hindsight, yes, I really should have stopped after the first 3-4 times of hearing that sound, but it wasn't super loud or egregious sounding, just an odd sound I'd never heard before. I recall too that I was thinking about stopping after another block or so anyway if that sound had continued.
But for argument's sake, I think when you have a sound like that, that's not glaring or alarming, you can't necessarily put the blame on the customer if it is discovered that the mechanic is at fault. I mean, speaking generally, I don't think a shop can expect every rider to have instant knowledge of what a particular sound could indicate and what they need to do in that moment.
Originally Posted by
Crankycrank
It does sound as though there is a good chance that the chain was coming apart at that point and shifting put enough sideways stress on it to make the link come apart but still, not absolute proof, could have been something else. Was it just popping or was it skipping as well?
Just popping, not skipping.
Originally Posted by
Crankycrank
Changing your own chain is something most can learn and takes much less time than driving to a shop to drop off and pick up your bike not to mention however many days you have to leave it there. You basically just need to get a chain tool, remove excess links from new chain, install chain with a quick link (available separately if not included with your chain) and you're done.
Well, this shop does walk-ins on weekends, and on this morning, there was no wait, and I was in and out of the place in less than 10 minutes, so it actually was quite convenient. But yes, I'm
fully aware there's no excuse for me to have not bought a chain tool by now and spent time with YouTube videos and learn how to do this myself. The irony is, the low confidence I have in my own mechanical skills - and the resultant fear of severely damaging something - is what prompted me to just swing by the bike shop in the first place! Sigh...