sced

A few months ago I went to a bike shop to buy a derailleur cable. The young man that helped me brought me a brake cable. I told him what it was and he argued with me.

For Christmas I bought my wife a Centaur Carbon group off the web and installed it on her TCR. After the install I took it to a high end shop (different than the above) to have it all checked out, where they shortened the chain a few links. After a few miles on the bike the chain snapped where they had rejoined it without the correct hardware. My wife suffered lacerations on her arm and leg, and a big strawberry on he hip. The bike doesn't look new anymore and she's afraid to ride it.

mustang1

The 2nd head honcho at this particular LBS told me the sprockets on the cassette are called chainrings, and that the chainrings were in fact called cranks.

WNG

Did he work as the head crew chief at Winky Dinky Dog before becoming the 2nd head honcho?

(this joke may be too old for some of you younger folks.)

cudak888 

Would have been enough for him to get a middle finger salute straight up his nostril had he been addressing me.

-Kurt

roccobike

Close guess, it's the All Star shop in Cary. They just plain know their stuff. Low pressure sales people, great to deal with.

brandenjs

How about.."My back is bad I can't lift that steel bike onto my workstand"...

lutemake3 

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the local catalog storefront (that starts with a "P") to buy some bearings and cone wrenches for a hub rebuild on my '73 Gitane TdF. The repairman there happily sold me the bearings, and then tried to sell me on a new rear wheel, saying that "it should fit your bike without any modification"...and went on further to state that "axles have been 130mm wide for the last 50 years or so...."

My guess is either that he had a great sense of humor, or he was a normal store flunky playing "Bicycle Repairman."

WNG

^^^ You should have said, "But my bike is 60 years old."

delver

I liked this one.

"you should really get new tires after about 500 miles". Lucky that this place actually has pretty good tire prices. they must move a lot of them.

Same place told me that downtube shifters are to dangerous to ride with. But two of the employees were on brakeless fixed gears

jgedwa

Yes:

-Cole's is useless
-Merv's is fantastic

jim

conspiratemus

Oh well, at least he admitted he didn't know how to do it, rather than wreck your crank doing it wrong.

RobbieTunes

Wow. I need to sell that guy some vinyl siding.

RobbieTunes

You know you're in a good place when you hear LBS owner tell a customer, as he adjusts his DA 10-sp shifters, "They should have quit at 8 speeds."

vincev

We have a bike shop in Highland Indiana that is a real joke.Owner has a sign when you walk in written by hand about how Trek is so bad and ripping you off.He has a fairly well used looking 70's Paramount in there for $3500.I was in there the other day and an older man came in looking to start riding again and the young girl pointed to some cheap balloon tire bike and told him thats what he needs.She never asked any questions about what type of riding he intended to do,etc.She went back and talked to her girlfriend and the customer sensed they didnt want to help him so he left.Shops like this dont get any of my money.

redxj

On a track bike or a conversion? A conversion I would probably say the same thing. With a track bike you might be fine, but 175mm cranks are pretty long for track cranks. I am a very large individual and run nothing over 170mm for fixed gears. It is easier to spin with shorter cranks. I love long cranks for other things and have 180mm on a few of my geared or coasting bikes.

fender1

#1. " NOBODY makes 27" tires anymore, NOBODY."

#2. " You can't use a modern chain (8/9spd) with a freewheel/friction shifting."

#3. "Low spoke count wheels are actually stonger than old 36 spoke wheels because of the "modern materials."

#4. You can't use a 700c wheel on a bike with 27" wheels and cantilever bakes. The frame has to go to a frame builder and be re-worked. It will cost a lot of, money and it is not worth it.

#5. Nobody makes dymanos anymore. They are heavy and don't work well."

#6. "Steel frames are old school and low-tech."

#7. "NOBODY, makes cloth tape anymore, NOBODY."

I could go on and on but I think you get the idea......

jgedwa

[QUOTE=fender1;8346797
#4. You can't use a 700c wheel on a bike with 27" wheels and cantilever bakes. The frame has to go to a frame builder and be re-worked. It will cost a lot of, money and it is not worth it.
[/QUOTE]


Actually, converting from 27 to 700 on a bike with cantis is often a bit dicey.

But still, your list is stunning.

I can understand (even if I don't appreciate it) their motive of wanting to upsell me on things. But why, why refuse to sell me something? There is no way they have not noticed the 27" tires in the QBP catalog. They are lying. Go ahead and feel me out for an upsale if you must, but when you figure out I want to buy 27" tires, why do some refuse to do it? Weird.

jim

cudak888 

It makes less sense when a pair of 27" tires are hanging over their heads from the shop wall.

-Kurt

Buglady

"You can't ride a century on a steel bike!" Watch me...

Possibly silly question: is converting from 27" to 700c easier on a bike with calipers rather than cantis? Because I might be interested in trying that with one of mine. I'm a little tired of not being able to stop in the rain... (KoolStops will only take you so far).

Panthers007

Here's another use for a roll of Tressostar cloth-tape from Velox: Wrapping around the mouth of a salesman.

cyclotoine

I'd take legal action, they probably used a shimano pin. Idiots!

cyclotoine

That's an awesome story! You slightly took advantage of him but it sounds like her deserved it. Wish I could score a BB threading tool for $20!

redxj

Caliper braked equipped bikes are extremely easier to change over to 700c than canti equipped bikes almost always. Many calipers don't even need to be swapped, just the pads moved down 4mm. On cantis sometimes the brakes will do it, sometimes you need different brakes, and sometimes it is completely impossible without major frame work (moving brake bosses).

jgedwa

Generally, yes. Often without even changing to different brakes. Glance at the brakes now set up for the 27"s. If you have 4mm more brake slot below where the pad stud is now, you are in like Flynn. Even if you don't, there are simple ways to deal with it. The worst case scenario, however, is a new set of brake calipers.

Canti's are problematic, because many older touring bikes that have canti's have the posts on the fork narrower than the industry standard (I think its 80mm, and many older forks -such as my old Trek 620 - are considerably narrower than that. So, with the switch to 700s you end up needing to move the brake pad post down 4mm -and many canti's have zero vertical adjustment -and its compounded by not having much horizontal space to swing those canti arms down to their new position where they hit the rim. It can be done, but it sort of voodoo.

Road calipers, however, are usually a snap.

jim

Crast

Can you tell me what kind of dump you go to that had two trek 520 frames? I never seem to find much but garbage bikes at scrap places.