[Closed] " I've got a bike in the shed could you just...." 🙄

I’ve got a bike in the shed could you just….

No.

Ah yes, the old back of the shed bike.

We had some in the summer trying to lead Boy Brigade rides.

I had one parent argue that he didn't need a front brake as he has a back brake...🙊
One who turned up with two completely flat tyres on a 1980's Trek and was surprised that one of them just wouldn't hold air.🙉
The finest though had to be the poor 12 year old lad given his little brothers 12" wheel single speed kids bike to come on a 40km day ride around hilly Perthshire... 🙈

All of them 'fresh from the shed' and avoiding the cost of a bike shop...

You do know when anything breaks on it in the next X years it's all your fault!

Depending on who it is I now say I'm really sorry, I don't have bike insurance anymore so legally I'm not allowed but the LBS is amazing and really friendly. Then try and change the subject.

” I’ve got a bike in the shed could you just….” 🙄

Run away!!!!!
If caught do only what is asked and no more.

I get that. Neighbour asked if I could look at her daughter's husband's bike. Fortunately it was a half decent Scott (snap) from about 20 years ago. Just needed everything adjusting.

You let them get past the word shed? 😯

You should have been in the next county by then, lockdown or not. Pretty sure an emergency run away due to that line would be covered by reasonable excuse for not staying at home.

You miserable sods 🙂

I get asked this stuff by my neighbours as the known "bike guy". Im quite happy to help out.

Nobody would dare approach me with such a request - especially as there’s a fellow STWer across the road who is far more competent.

I get this fairly often. As I also program and run CNC's I'm always first in line to get rounded bolts out too for some reason 🤔

Get asked a lot for friends and family. Don't mind getting people back on their bikes and fiddling with bikes is therapeutic - most of the time. Generally get a pint out of it at the very least, and it's nice to help people anyway.

General filth is bad, but cheap components that can't be adjusted are mega frustrating, and why BSOs are actually such poor value.

Tourney mechs without a b tension spring are my latest annoyance. That and the Halfords that last 'serviced' it just breaking everything and fitted the ergon grips backwards and the bars upside down

I've got a cruiser that's kept outside booked in. I have a feeling that one will require more than cables and a chain...

Gave an Islabike Beinn 26 a clean, check and gear & brake adjustment last weekend. Offered to do it when noticed it hanging unloved in the garage. Must have been there for 10years plus as her son whose bike it was is now at uni.
Don’t mind (quite enjoy) working on decent bikes but used to dread a knock on the door at my last place if it was the local lad with his bso child’s bike. Great kid and enjoyed cycling it but no chance of getting that running nicely. Especially one time when was presented with a headset in (not all) bits that his father had tried to adjust and then told him to go round to ‘the man with a garage full of bikes’. Real shop mechanics you have my sympathy in trying to service and fix those sort of bikes

I've done a few this last year, I quite like it as long as nobody's asking for miracles. I did get a couple of good results but had to just condemn a couple. My neighbour has a 90s Kona which is basically corroded into a single piece, it's amazing, like someone's been using it as an anchor.

Thing is, there was a year when I was the guy with the ancient rusty bike in the back of the shed. I fixed it myself, because I'm a fixey sort of a person but I got good advice from others. And just look what that's led to

(for anyone thinking "yeah, it's turned you into a big hitter, you ****" you are probably right. But there's good stuff too)

Yeah, I sorted out a neighbours bike during lock down.

I am now his bike mechanic for life basically.lol

It's ok, he's a nice guy but genuinely, I've never known anyone so mechanically inept.

Anything mechanical simply does not compute in his head. Took me ages just showing him how to pump up a tyre,no joke.😐

I did a few in lockdown and find it generally satisfying. Apart from chasing ball bearings around the garage floor after degreasing them.

tyres will probably be perished but pleasantly surprised they weren’t

Brother in law's now ex wife had a1970's chopper completely original, untouched for 30 years. Tyres went straight up and stayed up. Bosh.

I have a policy of not touching bso's, more trouble than it's worth, lbs can have that pleasure.

Current bike booked in (2 year old trek fuel) needs, forks servicing, shock servicing, frame bearings, new seatpost, drivetrain, front wheel bearings. Should keep me busy for a couple of evenings.

Poopscoop
Full Member

Anything mechanical simply does not compute in his head. Took me ages just showing him how to pump up a tyre,no joke.😐

I'm reading this fantasy novel, where one of the main things is that there's 2 sorts of races, "apt" and non-apt. The apt races/characters can be engineers, use machines, etc while the un-apt ones literally can't, they don't have the capacity to even use the most basic machines, just cannot comprehend it.

And that's my little brother.

^^Lol. You love him really though.

It all depends on whether the neighbour could reciprocate when you need something fixing that is beyond your knowledge or current tool stash.

Nah, I always help folk out where I can. If It can't be fixed just tell them. This is why I never chuck anything out no matter how crap, old parts usually end up getting used somewhere. My stock are dwindling though...

And people generally give me booze, do it's all good.

It’s the same at work. “I work in IT Sales”. “Ah, I’ve got a printer upstairs which doesn’t work...”

I fitted some spare tyres I had, to a neighbours bike. Some years later he was still riding the said bike and by this time the tread was starting peel away. I ended having to tell him 5 or 6 times to buy some new tyres otherwise he was going to end up having a nasty crash. I now tell people I'm not confident repairing bikes for others.
He was going to complain to the local bike shop as his chain snapped after they adjusted his brakes (albeit badly).
He got the humps when I said perhaps trying to oil the chain might help in the future.
Oh and he asked my why his sons brakes weren't working and it took a little while to realise the frame was buckled after his wife had reversed the car over it 😉

@kryton57 laughing at that I no longer tell people I work in IT for that very reason.

Real shop mechanics you have my sympathy in trying to service and fix those sort of bikes

My full time job is renovating bikes which have been scrapped. I do about 1000 a year. I get excited if I get one with v brakes, most have canti's or calliper brakes. I particularly enjoy the ones with chains so rusty I have to cut them in about 6 places to get them off. And the ones covered in mouldy dog crap.

But the recipients are generally really happy to get them, I'm on holiday for a couple of weeks and the sun is shining. Life is good!

I get this a fair amount from friends and colleagues. The only thing I insist on is clean tyres and a wiped down frame. Mainly because someone once took the piss and brought me a bike covered in dog muck.

I quite like doing it TBH, especially if I can rummage around and find some spares to sort them out for nothing. I have also had a few old bike donated to me and I have either used them as parts donors or refurbished them for people as ‘free to them’ bikes. That feels very rewarding!

I tend to intervene when I see the kids out playing on some of their bikes. "Hey, you. Yes, you, bring that thing over here. Now let me fix that.."

I responded to a request for help the other day - "My husband tried to assemble my new bike but couldn't figure it out, can anyone help?" Actually went pretty well. He'd fitted the bars (complete with controls mounted) upside down, and was a bit surprised when I told him it was upside down. The bike had apparently come from France, cable discs needed swapping over, but it was overall actually surprisingly decent for how much it must've cost. All I really had to do was align the front mech properly and tweak the barrel adjuster slightly. Very serviceable. Then I discovered it was being used to ride to work which was about 600m away!

I take in neighbour's bikes as well. I just make it clear that if its junk and not worth repairing I'll tell them that.

My next door neighbour had some hideous "Shockwave" BSO. It had perished tyres, chewing gum brake blocks and the rear hub had so much play in it I was amazed he could ride it straight. I told him not to ride it and I found him a s/h bike on Gumtree instead.

Neighbour across the road had an unloved GT avalanche, it was basically mechanically sound and just need adjustment except the fork which had about 7mm of travel. It was some shitty RST thing but I figured I couldn't make it anyone worse so undid the foot nuts. I was greeted with about a litre of brown water and a really basic coil design. I cleaned off all the old grease and repacked it with fresh stuff, it actually worked okay. My neighbour was absolutely delighted and brought me a slab of Brewdog beers.

Saw them a few months after that on a shiny new bike. They said that after I had fixed up their old bike they realised how much better it was to ride a bike that worked properly so they went out and spent some money on an even better bike. 🙂

it's a nice bike. Cost nearly £200

I dont mind for friends or people in the village, especially if its the difference between someone getting back to riding or just abandoning the thought forever, but, in first lockdown I got a random call from someone, my number had been passed through three parties as "this bloke will help you out". This particular bike was in a different town and they wanted me to come round and get it.

10 years ago I was the LBS mechanic that got the BSOs.

They really are horrible to work with.

Its not just the cheap level of componentry, but the poor assembly, cheap materials, often old standards and lack of maintenance all coming together in a nasty ménage.

You have to do things like account for the flex in a cheap front mech to get it to shift, which it won't do if you set it up like you're supposed to.

I sold my last bike (Devinci Atlas) to my brother last year for a nominal price as it was completely shagged and he wanted to try mountain biking again. I made it's condition very clear. Now it comes back to me like a bad penny to be fixed, because various things don't work or are worn out. No shit sherlock!!!