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Useless Bike Shops


hypermobilty

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I have to say my local Halfords is pretty poor. I got told by one lad that 160mm disc brake rotors were really rare and near impossible to get a hold of, another told me the reason I got punctures on my old trials bike was because I had lots of holes in the rim (drilled rims), went in with my bmx to get a tube and was told my bike was illegal as it didn't have brakes and that they shouldn't let me leave the shop without making it road safe!

They also seem to go through staff quicker than I can keep track of because every time I go in there is a new numpty working n telling me a load of crap!

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But now I work in Halfords in Middlesbrough so i now have access to all the tools and lubes i need and there is two of us who are trials riders who work there so all the repairs that come in and all the new bikes that go out are set up perfectly like we set up our own bike.

I'm pretty sure all good bike shops treat a customers bike like there own.

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I don't setup the bikes like they are my own. Most customers wouldn't come back if i set there bike up for 5'5" guy with unusual taste for abnormal setups.

I know what your getting at though. By treat is as if it were your own. When repairing bikes you should ask yourself epistle you ride it in the condition its in.

Although that depends on what you are used to riding. If you ride a 20 year old raleigh covered in rust, i would guess the standard would be low.

Key to being a great mechanic is knowing what new feels like and what current trends are. To get the bikes to feel and look right.

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I don't setup the bikes like they are my own. Most customers wouldn't come back if i set there bike up for 5'5" guy with unusual taste for abnormal setups.

I know what your getting at though. By treat is as if it were your own. When repairing bikes you should ask yourself epistle you ride it in the condition its in.

Although that depends on what you are used to riding. If you ride a 20 year old raleigh covered in rust, i would guess the standard would be low.

Key to being a great mechanic is knowing what new feels like and what current trends are. To get the bikes to feel and look right.

I am a cycle mechanic, what I mean by "treating it as your own" as in, taking care of it, making sure it works, for example, if you wouldn't ride it with the cabling frayed then the customer probably doesn't want that either.

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I went to the Stockport Halfords branch on the hunt for a freewheel tool and had a word with a lad working there who seemed pretty sound, said they didn't sell them and I had no chance of getting one from there as his own manager wouldn't even let him have one for the workshop?!

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Portsmouth cycle exchange is really good.

They were more than happy for me to use there huge vice out the back to get my busted freewheel off so I could fit a new one for the memorial ride. Very helpful guys and didn't charge me.

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to be honest i used halfords middlesbrough before brad got there and i took my old mtb in the bike came back with all the brakes so loose that you could pull the leavers to the grips the gears did not change the seat was actually on backwards! and the front tyre was on the wrong way around aswell as there being lots of scratches around the seat tube area/ toptube. So i shall never take my bike there again unless i'm certain that either alan or brad works on it

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Honestly I don't think any bike shop employees should be able to touch a customers bike until they have a Cytech level 1 as a minimum qualification.

Too many people see bike shops as a quick fix and an easy job, not many people see it as a profession. Those sorts of uncaring and uneducated muppets have no place working on any mode of transport and should be weeded out of the industry to regain the trust and respect people used to expect from their local bike shop.

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re: halfords, i've worked there for over a year now, the avid comment is rediculous most of our premium range use avid. it's not a bad store when you get legit staff in, but we ride a very niche sport and we pay a price for that, home diy *** anyway.

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Honestly I don't think any bike shop employees should be able to touch a customers bike until they have a Cytech level 1 as a minimum qualification.

I disagree, as long as you show you are competent then you should need such qualification.

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If you know you can fix bikes then there's nothing stoping you getting a qualification and its free in most cases.

I checked ages ago and seemed pretty expensive to get Cytech qualifications? I was thinking of getting the qualifications after I left uni in case I wanted to do anything bike related, but I figured having a clue and having actual experience working in a shop was more valuable (and according to most people in 'the industry', they don't really give a shit about Cytech anyway).

I just checked their site and it's £450 for the Level One. f**k that.

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