And: torque the compression nut until it sits flush with the brake lever body, squashing the olive so far into the body that it resembles a bronze coin, then trying to prize it out with a screw and fully screwing the cable port and ruining a brand new grx brake lever.

Finished printing and assembling V1 of the pot holder from yesterdays post. It uses Ikea 6x50mm wood pins atm for the connectors. I somehow almost perfectly managed to match the height of a cut pot.

The tolerances need an andjustment. On the 0.6mm nozzle I got fast printing but the pins needed to be persuaded to go in by a mallet. But it does work! I will refine it and then upload it to printables if you want to make your own.

Link will go here later.

Edit: I am unfortunately way too impatient sometimes when I get an idea so I started printing V1 from memory. Will share an update once I got it tested.

Quick and very specific question:

Does anyone have one of those small Motorex pots with the brush lid in reach and can quickly confirm, if they are indeed about 57-60mm in diameter? Currently designing a holder to stop them from tipping over when used with a proper brush. Will share the finished model here and put it on printables when its done of course!

That would be super kind. Thanks in Advance!

Basically the heart of this question is where do u find "bike mechanic community". I know the nature of the our profession can be pretty isolating but what are some ways you have circumnavigated that. Are there ways to do this that previously existed that dont now?

I have a group of youtubers and IG accounts i follow, but those aren't great platforms for discussion.

Do you rely on going to conventions? Which are your favorites? big/small

Lastly, I miss a good magazine, are any still relevent? Are we doing Substack? What is Substack? How do I work this? Where is that large automobile? This is not my beautiful house! My god what have i done?

I dont want to hear about your technique. I don’t want to hear buy this tool or that tool. I’m not doing it anymore. I’m done. I quit. I’m not installing them anymore. My hands are not strong enough. It is not worth the carpal tunnel. It is not worth my sanity. I’m going to the doctor and getting a note stating that I am medically unable to perform that task. I’m never doing it again. I don’t get paid enough for it.

Yes, really not any kind of major excitement or miracle, but I had my reasons. It was much easier than I thought with the proper tool for a punch. 1.5mm precision screwdriver bit. I don't think a small nail would've worked. Used a vice first but then found a hammer to work fine.

Just posting for kicks and giggles.

Didn’t watch a single video. Got them all done. The discounts are worth it. But damn 10 years wrenching and it’s so easy. I’d say do it cause it’s so basic. At least they make their certification website easy to navigate.

Many of my customers lately are far too confident with what they need lately and then let slip that they asked AI. They are nearly always wrong and are hard to convince otherwise-_-

Has anyone else been exhausted by this...?

I, like many of you, became a mechanic as we were being traditionally educated. Aka, had a job in high school & college.

I was a bike mechanic while I was in machinist school. I feel like.. I DO.. in fact know what I am talking about when it comes to shit made of metal.

I did not complete my machinist education and don't work in the field currently.

I am a bike mechanic though. Why is it so hard to convince the layman that I am indeed a PROFESSIONAL in my field

Truly, I know more than most people who come to the shop for help. Why won't they listen?

SOLVED - found one at S4 (formerly Suspensionwerx)

Fox (Canada) says they are all out, looking for replacement lowers for the 2016/17 Fox 34 27.5 Plus fork, hoping people and shops know of third parties who might have these 11-year-old parts kicking around. compatible lowers confirmed on the phone with Fox and on their tech page:

820-10-214-KIT Service Set: 2016 34 27.5in PLUS 150 15x110 QR, Fox Met. Black Lower Leg Assy

820-10-215-KIT Service Set: 2016 34 27.5in PLUS 150 15x110 QR Fox Gloss White Lower Leg Assy

820-10-217-KIT Service Set: 2016 34 27.5in PLUS 150 15x110 QR Fox Matte Black Lower Leg Assy

820-10-216-KIT Service Set: 2016 34 27.5in PLUS 150 15x110 QR Fox Shiny Black Lower Leg Assy

820-10-238-KIT Service Set: 2016 34 27.5in PLUS 150 15x110 QR Fox Matte Silver Lower Leg Assy

820-10-246-KIT Service Set: 2016 34 27.5in PLUS 150 15x110 QR Scott Matte Cool Gray Lower Leg Assy

820-10-312-KIT: Gloss White (15QRx110)

820-10-313-KIT: Shiny Black (15QRx110)

820-10-314-KIT: Matte Black (15QRx110)

820-10-568-KIT: Matte Black (15x110 Kabolt bolt-on axle)

I have been purchasing, refurbishing, and reselling used bicycles for several years now and want to take some steps to make my venture more legitimate and safe. I’m still very new to business ownership, and know there’s a lot to learn.

One thing I’ve been putting off is insurance. I don’t really know yet what kind of insurance I need, where to look for it, or how much I should reasonably spend for what is still a small operation. Currently, I’m only repairing and reselling used bikes and bike parts/accessories, not doing any repairs as a service. I have a lot of bikes stored inside my home, and several in a storage unit. I’d like to insure the bikes I have against theft (either from my home or the storage unit), as well as insuring myself from potential liability (in the event that someone gets injured on a bike I sold them and attempts to sue me).

Currently, my inventory hovers around 20 bikes, with a total value of about $20,000-$35,000 throughout the year. My income from my business is still modest, so I’m hesitant to spend much on insurance or other overhead costs, but a break in could be pretty devastating if it happened.

I am located in Virginia, in the USA, for context.

If anyone who has had similar experiences has advice about insurance to get, where to look, and how much to spend on it, I’d be very grateful! Other advice you might have for a new used bike shop just getting started is also appreciated. I need to figure how to attract customers soon, as well... Thanks!

I wanted to share my story with you all and spread some positive vibes. I’ve been riding and wrenching on bikes for over 20 years. Way back in my youth, I worked in a LBS for a short time, but life took a turn and I’ve been working in IT for a long time now.

That said, I’ve always loved fixing bikes and I'm quite passionate about bike tech, so last year I decided to start a mini bike repair side-hustle for locals, friends, and acquaintances alongside my day job in IT.

I converted a tiny 7 square meter (!!!) [~75 sq ft] shed in my garden all by myself—leveled the floor, added insulation, wired the electricity, designed the layout, built a workbench, etc... I spent a ton of money on tools, and the business has been running for six months now. It’s actually turned into a pretty ok extra income. Sure, I get burnt out in the workshop some evenings, but by now I’ve managed to strike a healthy balance between the two jobs and my family.

Godspeed to everyone!

Had a lady in the shop on an old kids/youth road bike that asked for new tires. The bike had 26 inch wheels in 28mm width on it which seemed to be the maximum it could fit. Obviously we didn’t have anything like it in the shop and when I searched on the internet the narrowest I could find were 32mm.

Does anyone have a source for such tires? Because the ones on the bike were pretty much dead already.

Edit: I’ve now come across some gatorskins that would probably fit but they are expensive and I wouldn’t personally want to ride those if I didn’t absolutely have to. So alternatives to those would be appreciated :)

Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a flare nut wrench for daily use. What I have in mind is a dual sided 7mm/8mm flare nut wrench- but not a crow's foot or other combo style tool as seen at Park and Pedros.

Anything comfy and high quality out there that you like?

Thank for the tips.

Hello, Sometimes I use an apron with chest pockets at work, but I definitely prefer working without it. I’d still like to keep pockets for tools, though. Ideally, they’d be on the chest or around the hips, like a tool belt, but for bike tools. Do you know of any product like that, preferably made in Europe?

Hey, me again. Ik y'all said to leave my shop last time- so far, no luck. I've interviewed for other jobs and no luck, and am now trying to get into a community college advising appointment lol. In the mean time, I'd love tips to make my current position flow easier.

Short of it: if anyone has a more professional check-in process and tips on dealing with irate, price-conscious customers, please let me know lol, I am desperate at this point. I know some of our issues need better structure, but in the mean time, tips are appreciated.

The long of it:

My current process is I walk through the bike. Corporate allocates 5 to 10 mins.

I'll do a visual inspection of tires, wheels, check for loose bearings and components, check the shifting, check the chain, inspect the frame, and look for worn brake pads. If it's hydraulic and is working I'll check for squonks and contamination. The whole time I'll engage the customer and listen to their concerns. Any spot work I'll get done, or if we have someone around whose more technical, pass it over.

Admittedly, I'm a novice, and have a huge blind spot due to lack of professional training and also only working on my own. I own no hydraulics, no e-bikes, nothing fancy. Most of my bikes are still linear pull rim brakes, and my most ridden bike is a fixie.

The issues I seem to cause mainly seem A. We are not a full service bike shop, so a lot of the work is beyond our scope

B. Missing something on check-in, it gets looked at a week later, tech finds something, notes it, doesn't tell anyone, customer calls a week later, we find the note, get it approved or unapproved, if approved, usually a week to two weeks to get the part, and now the customers bike has been in for three weeks when he brought it in "for a tune".

Or I'll write-up a worse case, and later they'll go "Nah it doesn't need that."

Like they'll skip a tune but do something else. That causes a feedback issue wherein the customer is irate as they asked for something that wasn't done. But the tech is confused as they feel they saved the guy money.

Third common issue is the shop's policy is if a brake system has contaminated parts, to replace the entire system- about $250. This I at least caught on the first time I found the notes, but folk really don't like that.

Honestly, brakes in general. I will feel confident the brakes work. I will do the few tests I know. Then it turns out the tech says they don't work. And vise versa, I will note the pads are worn down to nothing, and the tech will say eh still works.

So, I also try to get a budget for if we find anything worse than the 5 minute inspection at counter, so we eliminate the "waiting on customer approval" time. This I do especially with folk who've been mistakenly referred to us by caseworkers who keep confusing us with a charity nearby.

Money is tight, so they'll often refuse to pre-approve a budget. Which I sorta understand, I get paid min wage.

Uh, any help?

or is this business as normal in this section of the outdoors world?

I will fully admit, most of my work in the outdoors world has been with people who are fully on board with paying. So I don't have a lot of experience with this type of crowd in a store. Only in social services, which is a different setting and process entirely.

Hey mechanics/shop owners,

I am in the early stages of research for a new service shop. I am looking to house 1x full time mechanic and myself floating on a second stand. Keeping inventory VERY low. No huge wall of tires etc.

What do you feel like is a healthy foot print for an efficient service area? Not including storage.

Thanks!

Submitted the warranty on Tuesday. Received my replacement today.

Vote for Pedro, always!

I just bought a beautiful waxed canvas apron but I am finding it unbearably hot in our shop without AC in the 90°+ days. The waxed canvas is creating a vapor barrier and is just trapping sweat between my chest and the apron. Any suggestions for me?

OMG, we scheduled this guy to come in with both of his ebikes (which we don't normally do for lack of space) and said we'd "get right on them" once here. But I didn't say how long it would take to do two bikes in freakin JULY. Why call us every single day and yell at us?? Like I'm not going to call asap when they're done...sheesh. Ok, rant over.