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Should I Tune up my Neighbors Ride?

3K views 46 replies 23 participants last post by  trmn8er 
#1 ·
"Sure I will" was my first response. This was driven by "I have the skill and most of the tools".
Then I thought about LBS maybe being a better option. We all know the reasons.
Not posting this question also an option-just wondering what some of us do.
 
#16 ·
I've been wrenching the garage the last couple months in the garage....for a fee.

Same thing, I saw local shops were 6 weeks out on labor.....the straw that broke it, seeing people waiting in line for things like a derailluer adjustment for flat tire.

Granted, my listing states that I don't work on B.S.O.'s or bikes that have been left in the shed for a decade. I'm doing more normal/standard maint. that most riders should be doing anyway.

I don't stock parts, I don't buy parts. You bring me the parts, I provide the labor.

Mostly been suspension, dropper posts and brake bleeds.

Business has been good.
 
#21 ·
I've been wrenching the garage the last couple months in the garage....for a fee.

Same thing, I saw local shops were 6 weeks out on labor.....the straw that broke it, seeing people waiting in line for things like a derailluer adjustment for flat tire.

Granted, my listing states that I don't work on B.S.O.'s or bikes that have been left in the shed for a decade. I'm doing more normal/standard maint. that most riders should be doing anyway.

I don't stock parts, I don't buy parts. You bring me the parts, I provide the labor.

Mostly been suspension, dropper posts and brake bleeds.

Business has been good.
You get anyone bringing you goods to barter for your work, like beer, cookies, etc?

I should open up a "barter bike shop" out of my garage. You can pay be in high quality Stouts. lol.

yes. all summer long, a guy in the cul-de-sac below me would spend about an hr a day out riding with his daughter. I can see that cul-de-sac from most of the rooms in my house. kid was on a bike that fit her pretty well. but dude looked like he was on something with 24" wheels and the saddle dropped, so his knees were practically in his chest when he pedaled. also, the hypocrisy of making your kid wear a helmet while you go helmetless bugs me, and he did that for sure.

glad to see him out with his kid all the time. but yeah. one of those where you gotta force yourself to keep your mouth shut.
That drives me nuts!!!!! My wife and I have been very diligent about always wearing a helmet when riding with the kids to enforce why we are making them wear one.
 
#4 ·
My LBS's have been inundated with repair and service work since Spring with most repairs taking weeks. I did exactly this for my neighbor a few weeks ago when I saw him riding a new-to-him Trek in front of his house. He couldn't get it to shift properly. He knows absolutely nothing about bikes so he took it to a "LBS" to have it tuned soon after he purchased it used. He said it was worse than when he took it to them. Now this "LBS" isn't really a bike shop, it's a small engine/lawn mower shop that dabbles in bikes. I told him to bring it by my house when he had a chance and I'd tune it up. Next morning he came by, I adjusted the derailleurs, trued the wheels, adjusted the calipers, helped with his fit and showed him how to use the barrel adjusters. He said he should have saved his money and brought it to me first.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I am more than happy to do small adjustments and repairs for friends and neighbors, or help them do them with my tools. However, I don't have the time for full tunes or larger repairs. I used to own a shop and was a professional bike mechanic for over a dozen years, so I'm not really worried about screwing something up. I guess the concern about liability is real in this litigious society, though.
 
#5 ·
I've been happy to help friends with their bikes for years. Even happier if they learn something in the process. Happier still if it helps them rediscover riding (let's face it, it's often a bike that's been sitting unused for a while).
 
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#7 ·
By nature, I am usually very helpful with things like adjustments, diagnosing a problem, offering assistance/tools/workspace to my neighbors & friends - or at least I used to be. I'll still take a look if asked, but find that my answer most recently has become "you should have a shop take a look at that".

Trailside shifting adjustment? Sure. But that's probably because it's annoying me to listen to your gears being crunched.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Earlier this year, when the local shops were destroyed by traffic, a neighbor of mine asked me about it. I told him I'd be willing to, as I probably have most of the tools his bike would need, but he never followed up with me on that. Not sure if he eventually got it into a shop or if he made a go himself or what. He has an older, but respectable quality bike, so I wasn't expecting anything too rough.

A couple years ago I was visiting the inlaws for the holidays and my brother-in-law wanted some help with a bike he was fixing up for his son. My thoughts were along the lines of "oh ****" and I didn't want to get involved. Sure enough, I avoided touching that one. He had found some cheap, old box store bike with Ashtabula cranks and had a buddy powder coat it fire engine red. Problem is, he left the headset cups and bb cups installed and powder coated over the top of them. He also left the bottle cage bolts in, powder coated over the top of them, and he powder coated over the top of the brake caliper posts. Any exposed threads were not masked, so got powder coated over. You get the picture. Plus, a bunch of the parts on the original bike were cheap, beat up, and nonfunctional, so he had to replace them completely. I don't know if he ended up getting the bike running or not, but I'm pretty sure it was a "costs more than a new lbs bike" sort of project. And he still had a cheap, old box store bike.
 
#13 ·
A couple years ago I was visiting the inlaws for the holidays and my brother-in-law wanted some help with a bike he was fixing up for his son. My thoughts were along the lines of "oh ****" and I didn't want to get involved. Sure enough, I avoided touching that one. He had found some cheap, old box store bike with Ashtabula cranks and had a buddy powder coat it fire engine red. Problem is, he left the headset cups and bb cups installed and powder coated over the top of them. He also left the bottle cage bolts in, powder coated over the top of them, and he powder coated over the top of the brake caliper posts. Any exposed threads were not masked, so got powder coated over. You get the picture. Plus, a bunch of the parts on the original bike were cheap, beat up, and nonfunctional, so he had to replace them completely. I don't know if he ended up getting the bike running or not, but I'm pretty sure it was a "costs more than a new lbs bike" sort of project. And he still had a cheap, old box store bike.
I think that situation deserves the treatment dysfunction is describing:

Being honest about the state of the bike, and whether it's worth 'fixing' isn't a bad thing either.
 
#27 ·
As the OP I got some great info.
So, yup I will show/help a neighbor, but no unfamiliar people (except a situation of dire need) how to make a fix to their bike.
I want them actually to do the fix to give them confidence via ownership of their work. So satisfying to fix a bike problem.
Lots of pitfalls to being helpful, but I do love bicycles.
 
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#28 ·
I once played with the idea to make some extra money (and have an excuse to buy tools) for bike stuff by offering some paid repairs. But my wife got all nervous and wanted me to have insurance etc. She has a point, because that person may be too stupid to ride, and then sues me because of ... reasons. Obviously buying any insurance ruins any pretense of at least making tool-money.

Another problem is, I'm comfortable working on bikes and on the types of stuff MY bikes need. I'm also comfortable learning new things for my bike. If i end up with a scratch, I have to eat that. but for a stranger, the bar is higher and it may be a new thing I rather try out on my own bike before offering it as a service. For example, all my bikes have threaded BB, and I would hate to deal with PF at all, and to deal with it the first time for a stranger.

Different for friends, but you don't make money that way. Better buy an old bike, fix it up, and sell as-is. that way you don't get sued because you made a scratch in someone else's bike (and that scratch may have been there before) or get blamed because now the brakes work and that person goes OTH.
 
#41 ·
I'll talk shop with homeowner friends of mine on ideas & stuff for renovations. I haven't done side work in many years now though, I simply say "not interested".

However, good friends of mine recently spent 30k on a kitchen renovation. That got them exactly melamine cabinets made of presswood and faux granite countertops. That's it and nothing else. The cabinets aren't even build well at that.

When I saw it and they told me how much they spent I couldn't believe it, still can't. In so many words I told them they got way ripped the f#@k off. I think they kinda knew that but tried to justify it. Franky it was kind of weird they didn't consult with me.

Other friends of a friend just spend 35k for a foundation for a 700 SF home on their property for their ailing mother. Still trying to understand the logic in that one...

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#6 ·
I typically will help with smaller repairs but a gal at work just bought a bike that needs a full assembly and she was scared to give it a go herself. One thing led to another in the conversation and I said, well a bottle of whiskey could get it built for free. She agreed to that. We get along well and laugh at each other so it's all good. It's a very basic bike so should be hard at all.

Normally, my buddy who doesn't know a ton will bring a couple of beers over and we'll shoot the crap while I wrench on his ride. He always asks questions so he can learn which helps.

So in short, yes but sometimes no. It depends on who's doing the asking. Someone I like and joke with or someone I just chat with here and there.
 
#9 ·
I regularly maintain friends bikes. These are not neighbors, but folks I ride with or have ridden with. I have known most of these guys for many years that are bike enthusiasts with upper end and high-end equipment. Occasionally I will have another enthusiast level rider ask me to assist in maintaining their ride and depending on my free-time, I try and accommodate them. I am only willing to work on bikes that are regularly and properly maintained.
 
#22 ·
Riding by a guy on a 8-10k road bike squeaking like the chain has literally never seen lube since leaving the showroom floor is a common occurrence here.

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#31 ·
After years of watching what my friends do to their bikes, and myriads of posts here, my biggest concern would be what said neighbors do to their bikes after they leave my sight. People's mechanical ineptitude knows no bounds.

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#33 ·
After years of watching what my friends do to their bikes, and myriads of posts here, my biggest concern would be what said neighbors do to their bikes after they leave my sight. People's mechanical ineptitude knows no bounds
Thats why as a previous auto mechanic I never worked on anyone's cars outside of work. Friends most of all. I always hated the "well I started to fix it myself".
 
#43 ·
Something like that...

She brought the bike over. I unboxed it, put the seat on, threw it on the stand and an hour later it was done. The bike was 80% built. I had to do minor rear derailleur and brake pad adjustments but that was it.

However, the wheels are slightly out of true and thats something I will only fix on my bike. The brakes don't rub and it's a simple grocery getter so it's fine. She was shocked how quickly it came together. So simple stuff like that I don't mind doing.

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#44 ·
OMG this is so true. I'm in IT also and when someone asks for help I say "I don't really work on PCs anymore so I'm rusty. I wouldn't want to mess it up anymore than it is." Then if they continue to ask, I throw out my rate and that usually ends the conversation just about forever.



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#45 ·
"Sure I will". I am guilty of saying those exact same words to friends and co-workers, but learned years ago, that could get you more than you bargained for. Unless it is someone I know personally, rides regularly, and I have seen the bike, I do not even opt to take a look at it. I used to host a Wednesday evening, no drop Hump Day ride and over the years, I got to meet some great people. Some of them now ride more than I do and it is always a treat to run into them somewhere and laugh about what many showed up with for the first couple rides. I always tried to help them, although I usually had a pretty good idea what I was getting into before putting the offer out there.

At the same time, nothing like offering to take a look after work at a co-worker's Rockhopper, that he used to supposedly ride a lot and just needs the flat tires repaired, only to find some POS with dry rotted tires, rusted chain and cables. Telling them what it would cost to actually repair it and then that I am not willing to spend my time to do it, always kind of feels awkward.
 
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