plonz 

We could probably debate what constitutes a good bicycle mechanic. Put many of us into a shop with special tools and train us on new technology and I think we’d be capable as bike mechanics. It’s just not that difficult. The need for speed to earn an income is where we’d struggle.

We hobbyists tend to do time-consuming things like diagnose the root cause and weekend test rides to see if something’s worked vs. just change out parts. Think about a drive line clunk where you needed to rebuild the freewheel and add some shim thickness to fix (talking C&V of course). A shop may simply install a new freewheel and chain, adjust the bottom bracket and tell you to ride it for a while to see if it’s fixed. Both scenarios fix the bike but the latter is quicker and frees up the mechanic to work on the next bike. As a hobbyist, I’m not required to operate that way but am still a competent mechanic.

Andy_K 

iab

I work on bikes 8 hours/month, at best. A real mechanic is working 8 hours/day, more or less than muscle memory for them. While faster, Webster's doesn't define that as ept.

Here's the rub. I have absolutely no interest in working on bikes 8 hours/day. I'm happy to go for a ride instead when I get bored working on a bike. I'll drop the work like a bag of wet sand. It is about the only thing I can drop cycling related, and it makes me feel good.

jonwvara

I learned to work on my own bikes because I was often disgruntled by the work from my local shop. I'm thoroughly gruntled by my own work, though.

jdawginsc 

I am unadept, but non-inept.

Chuck M 

I've never been a bicycle shop mechanic. But I have been working on bicycles since I've been riding them and that has been a long time. I also have 40 years of experience working on hydraulic and electrical systems, robotics, CNC machines, this, that, and the other thing. I do those things well enough and efficiently enough that I've made a very good living over the years.

I can confidently make any repairs and adjustments or services on my bikes. But put me in a position where the bike shop and I had to make money and I wouldn't want to do it. Cycling is my hobby and I don't want to screw that hobby up like a football bat trying to make it my occupation.

Oh... One other thing. A fat, balding dentist that decided to "get back into cycling" complaining about his shifting after I put air in the front tire on his $8k bike would spotlight my lack of customer service skills.

ollo_ollo

I'm closer to ept than inept, but slow and getting slower as I age out. However, I may have attained "adept" status when correcting my frequent blunders. Don

SJX426 

I am the only person I trust to work on my bikes. I am not familiar with more modern stuff. My newest "technology" skill set is rebuilding 1st and 2nd gen Ergos. That is about it.
DD's description of himself is much the same as mine. I have been taking things apart and assembling since I was a kid. A mechanic once told me he considered me one, reserved high praise in my book.
I also play with vehicles, Jeeps specifically. With ownership of 3 XJ's, I have taken everything apart and assembled everything except the transmission and dash. I have removed the dash in my 2000 WJ.
The most sophisticated tool I know how to use, other than my brain, is VOM for electrical diagnostics and A/C gauges.
None of my paying jobs have been hands on mechanical. I did do several early years as a mechanical engineer for Freightliner, Tektronix, and some contract work. One was to reverse engineer a sophisticated (patented) carpet cleaning truck where the exhaust was used to heat the water through a couple of heat exchangers to deliver close to 212* water at the wand. that work included producing all the drawings bill of materials and assembly instructions after extensive testing (better results than the exemplar provided).

With my mechanical engineering degree and work history, I think I am good enough for my bikes, most of the issues with vehicles (motorcycles too).

Am I fast? No. Do I care? Rarely? Can I assess quality workmanship? Pretty much. Do I respect those who do/ have done mechanical work on this forum? You betcha!

And thanks to all of you who contribute your knowledge and experience!

sloar

I’m actually pretty fast, I guess an old habit from the Marines. But ask me to rebuild a shock for a mountain bike or setup disc brakes and I’m lost.

Moe Zhoost

Well, I've never been a professional, but have decades of experience working on my own bikes as well as volunteering as a mechanic at our local co-op. I'm still learning, though. I reckon I'm 'ept' due to being offered a job by a local shop, but yes, they would probably want me to work a bit faster.

easyupbug 

From what I see from the neighbors bikes I am sure I am better than some shop mechanics but don't know the conditions or stresses they are under. In my 70's I work at glacial speed by choice, enjoying every minute. Always have several of my 18 and the kids 6 bikes awaiting maintenance, cleaning, experiments or adjustment for me raising bars or the grandkids growing so my 3 repair stands are always full. As a retired mechanical engineer in heavy industry who at times had as many as 1,000 maintenance employees, 250+ pieces of mobile equipment (in the early days bicycles), weld shops, etc., I have the background and with help from you guys a lot of fun.

BFisher 

Just remember this any time you make a mistake and internally measure yourself against somebody who does it for a living: you usually (hopefully) don't see the mistakes that the pros make. They never show you the lumber cut too short on Ask This Old House, right. But you know it happens. Think a pro shop does the same to a piece of cable housing now and then? Cross threads a bolt or two? Punctures a tube upon installation? You bet they do.

And really, bicycles are pretty simple, or at least were. That's part of the beauty of C&V. It's a pretty accessible hobby for most anyone with a basic aptitude for how things should work together. Very rewarding, too.

mountaindave 

Like many of you, I work on my bikes because I trust myself on vintage bikes more than others. Plus, if I screw something up, it’s my fault, not somebody else’s.

The LBS speed argument is legit.

After many years wrenching in the garage during the summer (I’m an elementary teacher) I started working at my LBS when my kids were old enough to be on their own. I wasn’t put on repairs, I was put on assembly. The first thing I had to build was a kid’s bike. I didn’t get it right. That was humbling. I built more Verve’s and Townies than care to remember, but I developed speed, efficiency and new skills (namely disc brake).

Second summer I graduated to tune ups of non-suspended bikes. Third summer I graduated to basic repairs of non-suspended bikes. (Suspended bikes require a skill set I'm not interested in developing and they understand that.)

I don’t know how other LBSs work, but I would trust any mechanic there to do the work right and the owner could fix just about any vintage bike even though he’s only five years older than me (I’m not 50 yet).

The shop is also happy to fix any bike that comes in, but they are very up front about the real costs. In the time of bike shortages, we routinely charged people ~$300 to repair bikes you couldn’t sell for $200 because there was no alternative (or they had sentimental value).

There are many jobs around the house that I can do, but a professional can do them in a third of the time and get it done right the first time. They can even solve problems that arise on the fly because they have seen most of it all before. My life is pretty busy so I’m happy to pay someone to do a difficult job right while I go ride a bike. We all have to eat.

pastorbobnlnh 

The only part of bicycle repair, maintenance, and service where I claim to be "ept," is with freewheels. And since 99.99999999% of the current LBS mechanic's SOP in regard to freewheels is to throw them in the scrap metal bin.

Now to be fair to LBS mechanics, economics dictate they do so. If the shop rate is $50 +/- hour, combined with zero experience in freewheel service, 99.99999999% of customers can't afford to have an LBS service his/her freewheel.

mountaindave 

-ept is a combining form of -apt. They are the same thing used in different combinations of prefixes. As humans we are adept at adapting our language as we see fit.

bamboobike4

You missed the play on non-words.

bamboobike4

Or adopting new definitions to old words if we don’t like the old ones, without permission.

“This is now the new definition, because I say so.”

3,000 years of language/history are not meaningless, but change is now “enabled” in different ways than simply use over time.

As far as wrenching. I’m good, but as a product, my supply can’t meet demand enough to sell other than at a loss. My wrenching meets a spot on Maslow’s hierarchy, for me, but not for anyone else.

seedsbelize2

ime

CliffordK

I've always believed the demands on a bike shop, and the demands on a home shop may well be different.

Take your bike into a shop for a tune-up, and what will they do? Adjust the derailleurs, and perhaps check the cones?

That same bike tuneup at home might involve taking every bearing out, cleaning, repacking, etc. Truing the wheels. One quickly ends up with a day's worth of work, perhaps more.

I was in a bike shop once when someone brought in a bike with damaged rusted spokes. The only solution the shop gave was to replace the wheels. I'd have just bought new spokes and rebuilt the wheels. Oh, and of course also repacked or replaced all the bearings.

Different demands based on different environments.

curbtender

I was asked to assemble bikes for a Chrustmas give away. I found myself caught in a Twilight Zone hell of what is acceptable, lol. You are right. You can spend a day tweaking and cleaning your bike and not care about time management.

gugie 

I can torch up a frame from scratch, build wheels, and full bikes from a gruppo, if that gruppo is vintage-ish.

I've got a 9 speed Shimano brifter that I could use some help adjusting, and I barely can set up a TRP HY-RD disc brake. I installed my first 1-1/8" threadless headset last year. There's always something new to learn.

Retirement is now only 361 days away, and I'm thinking of getting a part time job at a local framebuilder or bike shop then just to keep busy. Even though I worked as a wrench and also managed a bike shop 35 lbs ago, I'd pitch myself as an enthusiast willing to learn. I'm betting I could be classified as competent after 6-12 months.

I guess I'm ept enough for my own needs.

cyccommute 

Depends on what you want to pay for. Bike shops have long experience with customers and sticker shock. A full tear down like you are talking about can quickly add up to more than a bike is worth. I’ve had discussions with a professional mechanic elsewhere he claimed that he spent 12.5 hours on a “tune up” that didn’t include a brake bleed, servicing the pivot bearings, nor front and rear suspension service. He handed a bill for $1500 to the customer and claimed that the customer didn’t even bat an eye about the cost. Most customers would have exploded.

Frankly, bikes of any kind seldom need the kind of “tune up” that many people do. Unless there is a problem, there is seldom a need for removing every bearing, cleaning them, and repacking them. If you use cartridge bearings, there is even less need.

I teach wheel building classes and the very first thing I tell my students is

I do go on to tell them why to build wheels…higher quality parts, parts that you can’t buy off the shelf, stronger spokes, etc. A wheel with “damaged rusted spokes” doesn’t speak “quality” to me. If the spokes are rusted, they are of low quality. That also implies that the hub and rim are of similar quality. Rebuilding the wheel would cost $60 to $120 in parts and another $50 to $100 in labor. That’s $110 to $220. If you need to replace the hubs and rims, double that price or more. A new wheel set can be had for $175 per set.

To rebuild the wheels at home is only slightly more economical but it depends on whether the bicycle owner knows how to build wheels.

John E

I have worked on both sides of the bike shop service counter. I have built or rebuilt bikes from a bare frame up, and I am fully confident in my skills as a mechanic. I am not as fast as some, but I am accurate, and I don't snap or strip bolts or blast tires off their rims. As others have pointed out, bicycle repair is not particularly difficult if you have a good mechanical knack and can follow directions. Doing my own bicycle repairs gave me confidence to do much of my own automotive, appliance, and home repair work, as well. I can change a timing belt and water pump on a VW or Audi, I have replaced my home forced air gas furnace and water heater, etc. My biggest joy was raising my two sons to work on cars, bikes, house, and appliances with me. Both know how to use tools safely and accurately and when to defer to a professional, such as with car repairs requiring a lift.

CliffordK

You could probably work out of your own shop.

I bumped into TiCycles not long ago. I didn't get to see the shop, but I'm pretty sure it is basically a home shop. It certainly would be worth a tour.

gugie 

Oh, I plan to do that as well, but I'm sure Mrs. Gugie will appreciate the peace and quiet of having me go to work a few days a week.