It’s safe to say that I don’t think that you can buy this on the internet, not literally anyway, though I’m sure that there are millions of videos out to show you how to fix things.
As I said last week, if you have the skill and the tools then in theory everything’s possible, if you have neither there is only one option. Something else that might deter the DIY mechanic is that often the tools to do the job are more expensive than paying someone to do it for you. How often are you really going to fit a new headset? The correct tool for the job is about £70, and that’s just for a very basic home mechanic’s version.
Secondly, do you know how to do the job? These days, bikes are quite technical. Can you bleed hydraulic brakes or replace a damaged brake line, even if you had the right tools?
‘It’s only a bike’, is a phrase that I’ve heard a lot, either in dismissing the difficulty or as an excuse for complaining about the cost. That phrase is one that ranks alongside: ‘it must be a design fault’. I don’t want to generalise, but I’ve always felt that most of the people who uttered those words would have difficulty in counting up to ten, never mind discussing the merits of bicycle design.
So given all this, what do you think is the most popular bike shop repair? Is it something very technically tricky or something that requires a massively expensive gadget to do the job properly? Actually neither; from my recollections, the simple puncture repair is far and away the job that is top of the list. In fact, it was a job that shop staff did in between customers.
As a rule, we used to prefer that people booked their repair in, though it didn’t really matter if it came in a few days beforehand. It was normally difficult to fit a job in, if it arrived at 4 pm on the day we were expecting it. For us, a good rule of thumb, if people hadn’t shown up by mid morning, you wouldn’t see them. This was particularly the case on a Saturday, when they didn’t have to get up to go to work. Naturally all bike shops do their utmost to oblige with regard to how fast the job can be done. I have even heard that some shops will promise to get a repair done faster, providing the customer is happy to pay over the odds for an express service. It’s not something I’ve ever tried, probably because I feared the express customer, and the guy who been waiting ages, and whose bike wasn’t ready yet, meeting.
Another old favourite would be the customer who’d rush in, magnanimously say: ‘fix anything that needs doing, whatever it costs!’, and rush off. Experience taught us to always give an estimate, both for these folk, and others who trod a much more modest path. It’s quite surprising what people expected to pay, given that we are in Jersey, in the early part of the second Millenium.
So what does all this add up to? For the smoothest path to a pain-free cycle repair; phone first to make an appointment, ask for an idea of cost before the job goes ahead and ask to be notified if something unforeseen crops up –it often does.
Braking News
Cyclists – spawn of the devil?
It’s been a tough week for cycling in the media and it isn’t getting better; going out on air today (February 22nd) on the regional BBC programme: Inside Out London, is a piece by ex TopGear reporter Adrian Simpson. In the report, he asks: ‘has pedal power gone too far?’ See the action at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes, but that piece certainly will have a long way to go before it achieves the vitriolic and unsubstantiated reporting of Petronella Wyatt in the Mail Online last Sunday.
Germany goes against the grain
If mass market bikes are growing at the expense of the smaller bike shop, then this is something that seems to have by-passed Germany. In Germany, over 75%, by turnover, of bikes that are sold, are sold by independent bike shops. In fact bike sales in independent bike shops are actually up since the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Another thing that defies the current trend is that almost 75% of all German shops sell only bicycles, something which is quite unusual on the Continent, and if all this isn’t unusual enough, the average amount spent on a new cycle is just under 600 euros.
World’s first indoor BMX track takes shape in Manchester
Hopes for British BMX stars of the future go some way forward with the start of the construction of the world’s first indoor BMX track in east Manchester. The 110,000 square foot facility, that will seat 2,000 spectators, was hailed as ‘fantastic’ by local girl and Olympic BMX rider Shanaze Reade.
The new facility, which sits beside the Manchester Velodrome, will form part of the National Cycle Centre and become the headquarters of British Cycling.
Sprint Bonuses
- Cycle distribution company, Madison has just announced a distribution partnership with energy drink manufacturers Red Bull.
- A Federal Court judge in South Carolina has approved an almost $5 million settlement against a driver, who while using her mobile phone, knocked down and killed two cyclists.
- An interesting charity ride is taking place in Greater London on 5th June this year; the 150 mile ride hopes to visit every football stadium within the M25 within 24 hours. The aim is to raise money for the London Cycling Campaign and the Southall Black Sisters, a charity that addresses domestic violence. Check it out at http://kickballpedalbike.yolasite.com
- Environmental campaigners, Susie Weeldon and Jamie Vining have just completed a 13,500 mile around-the -world ride. Their chosen charity was SolarAid. Their navigation equipment was powered by thin solar panels attached to their pannier bags. Read the SolarCycle Diaries at http://www.thesolarcyclediaries.com
- A report from the Office for National Statistics reveals that the number of cyclists killed on British roads has halved in the past fifteen years.
- National Bike Week has been set to take place on the 19th to 27th June this year. The headline sponsor is EDF Energy.
- Car maker Opel has produced an electric bike to mark the anniversary launch of its new Astra. The car has an integral bike rack that pulls out from the rear bumper.
- 2009 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has set his first mark of the season by winning the Tour of the Algarve.
And finally,
You may remember my ‘And Finally’ piece from a couple of weeks ago, when I mentioned that Italian cyclo-cross rider Vania Rossi had been suspended from racing due to a positive drug test? Well you’ll probably be as astonished as the rest of us, to discover that her partner, and the father of her child: Riccardo Ricco, who himself is serving a 20 month ban for drug use, has officially left her.
Arthur Lamy is a freelance writer who has written books, guides and articles for, among others, IPC Media, Ottaker’s Bookshops, Seaflower Books and Jersey Tourism.
He is a Blue Badge qualified tourist guide specializing in cycling and walking tours.
He is also a keen photographer – Joint winner of the 2009 Jersey Telecoms ‘Front Page’ competition.
More information can be found on his website: www.arthurlamy.com
