I work two jobs, so I don't wrench on my bike very much, so I depend on the LBS. I tour every six months somewhere in the country. This year, I am replacing a wheel set, and most of the components. I usually buy my parts over the winter, and have the local shops replace them in early April. I toke my bike into the shop this year, and expected it to be finished in a week. Well, April has been warmer then most, and people are bringing out their Huffy, and Schwinn bikes to get flat tires fixed. Going into my third week, my bike was looked at yesterday for the first time. Nothing done. This poor lbs is being over whelmed with repairs, and assembling new bikes.

The other LBS is going on 4 weeks waiting to get new spokes for my rear tire, and he is busy. I don't blame these guys, but I told them I need this bike in two weeks. I start the katy trail in Missouri by May 18th. I guess I should wait for updating my bike in the fall. Usually I am preparing my winter bike during this time. I wanted a new road bike this year, but afraid to order one. It may never come until the end of the year. I am one frustrated tourer.

In the places where I've lived in Canada, April, May and June are the worst times of year to take your bicycle to the shop. 6+ weeks to have the bicycle looked at is not unusual. And the trouble was that most of the shops were ski shops in the winter and cycling shops in the summer so they made the switch to cycling shops in late March/early April ... prior to that they didn't want to know about bicycles.

So ... usually anytime I got work done, I got it done after the July long weekend.

There's a solution to this problem: buy some tools and learn to do your own maintenance!

I order parts via the Internet and generally have them in 2-3 days, maybe a week at the most. I save money on parts, the labor is free, and I know that everything which needs to be checked is going to be checked and properly repaired or updated. I don't trust the over-worked minimum-wage mechanic at my LBS to put the same amount of care into my bike that I would. Plus, if anything breaks on the road I know how to fix it.

Bicycle maintenance is easy people! I'm an absolute klutz and have no innate mechanical ability, but I've managed to build 5-6 bikes from the frame up over the last couple of years. Bookmark Sheldon Brown's site, buy yourself a copy of Park's Big Blue Book of Repair (or bookmark their repair info) and you're good to go! Run into problems? Grab a cell phone or digicam, snap a few pictures, and post them on BF to get advice.

As far as tools go, you can do a heck of a lot on a bicycle with full-sized equivalents of the stuff you'd find on a basic multi-tool: hex keys, screwdriver, chain tool, etc. Add a cheap cassette lock-ring tool (~$5), a bottom bracket wrench (~$20), a spoke wrench (~$5), and a cable+housing cutter (~$40) and you've covered probably 95% of the tools you'll ever use... A repair stand is really nice to have and it will cost some money, but there are deals to be found and you can get by without one if necessary.

The beauty of doing your own maintenance work is that if something happens out on the road (a) you have no-one to blame but yourself but (b) more importantly, you will know what the problem is and how to fix it. Which also means you will have a toolkit that is capable of fixing most things. About the only thing I can think of that my on-road tool kit wouldn't be able to fix would be removing a cartridge bottom bracket, and I should know the condition of that before I depart anyway.

Yes, time is a factor, and if you are working two jobs, then that might be limited. I have heard Americans say so many times that if your job value is so high and so important, that you should pay someone else to do the bicycle work for you... but three weeks is a hell of a lot of lost time (and then you can convert that to money value) when you could have ordered the stuff off the internet, spent a couple of hours on a couple of nights a week and done the rebuild yourself. And learned something of value to you as a cyclist.

The reason I work two jobs is I have a lot of medical cost from the past, and present. I have lost a wife to aids, and a 17 month daughter who is HIV positive. I took up cycling to escape my stress. Each daily ride become a passion. I work two jobs to pay medical bills, and to give my daughter a nice life. I am an aircraft mechanic by day, and work at a casino at night. And I am a single parent. I do can do the work myself, but I have little time. Every 6 months I take ten days away from life, and spoil myself with a tour. My sister will watch my daughter for those ten days. This is why I have the lbs do my work. I use my bike to commute to work at night. I get one day off a week, and it is spent with my daughter. This one day off, and fours hours everyday is spent with my baby. Still I feel it's not enough time with her. I cannot wait til she is older to share cycling with her.

Sounds like you're in a tough spot. I feel for you!

Do you have time to ride recreationally now? I'm assuming you don't, but I wasn't clear on that... If you do, it might be worthwhile to skip a ride and work on the bike instead. If your LBS can't get the work done, you might pay a local buddy or a knowledgeable person from a local bike club to do the work. At my office, I'm the local Bike Guy: if people need help with something, I'll bring my stand and tools to the office and help them work on their bikes during my lunch hour. As they say: where there's a will, there's a way...

Do you need to replace wheelset and components? Are they in such bad shape that you can't use the old stuff? If its not that bad then use what you have and go on the ride. If you need some new wheels in two weeks the call some of the internet wheel builders and they may deliver within 2 weeks (this may be a problem).

Good on you KingNut. Unlike everyone else here, I totally agree with letting the lbs do the work. I'm assuming they have a good crew and you have been happy with their work before. I would never take time away from riding or, more importantly one's young child, to work on my bikes.

That said, I do feel your pain. Last year I was finally able to replace my beloved '82 Trek 720 touring bike that was stolen by an lbs with a nos of the same year. The build I wanted was quite unusual so I expected it to take a while. After 4 months (long story, and I still had other bikes to ride) the lbs was awaiting only the rear gears to finish the build. When I returned to the shop to pick up my bike, the lbs was out of business and there was a notice of a landlord's lien on the shop contents posted. Fortunately, a phone call to the landlord's attorney resulted in the immediate return of my bike (in OR, preventing someone from using their property is theft). It was oh so nice to be back on "my" bike for this winter's ride down the OR/CA coast. I think the long wait made it even better.

As far as I can see, there is no riding time while the bike in the shop for three weeks. But B.Carfree does have a point about having another bike to ride to cover these situations. Perhaps this is a future option if a cheap but good bike comes up that fits you.

I, too, sympathise with the OP's situation. Life is tough enough without having those sorts of challenges tossed in. Maybe playing the sympathy card with the LBS might get your machine moved up the waiting list a bit?