Where have they gone?

Well, our main supplier just fucked us royally. We bought bikes for the next year in December and then they dropped the cost on them a total of $15k (and lowering the MSRP too) wiping out nearly half a year's income for me.

What's a good brand that's not one of the big 3? Doesn't have to be the absolute best, just a brand that offers reasonable builds with a Bosch or Shimano motor preferably. Most of what we sell is in the $3-8k range.

revenue stream? I think I can sell locks, helmets, etc for a couple of pounds less than other online outlets and still make a profit. Is it worth concentrating on just a few popular item? I've noticed that a few middle-sized brick-and-mortar shop offer practically the entire catalogue of their suppliers on their website and evidently just order in as needed (practically every item is listed as "available to order")

I need a new one for square taper and octalink, but can't decide. I've always used park tool 22 and 44, but i'm not really a fan of tools that comes with handles, I like to attach my own. I run a smal repair shop so it will be used quite a bit.

Anything you guys swear by? Or is for example shimano TL-FC11 a safe bet?

Just wondering for all the shop owners/managers, how to get rid of old bike inventory thats not selling? I have a several carbon full sus mtbs i cant get rid of and dont wanna get in trouble with my brands as they dont allow 3rd party sales (ebay, PB, CL, FB). But i gotta sell em and move on. Ive started a separate FB account not linked to my personal one to use marketplace, but still not selling anything. Yall got any advice?

Figured I would share, even though 1st gen STI shifters are getting rarer and rarer. In the olden days (literally before yesterday) I had a whole series of things I would go through to get shifters working again, with mixed success.

Wanting to try something new, I pulled out my mini heat gun and just shot it into the shifter for about 30-45 seconds. I followed that with WD-40 while it was still hot. Immediately, I got all the clicks out of both shifters. I worked the shifters for a while, then shot TriFlow in there to try to add some lube back.

Probably wouldn't recommend this method on all shifters, as I have no idea what temps are safe for some, but I think this is my new method for drop bar shifters that have dried out grease.

Of the many old methods, one used a really hot water bath to loosen the grease, but that means stripping bar tape, hood, etc. then having to try to get all the water out. This method was done while cables were still in the shifters and still on the bars.

I’ve found the same issue on multiple Cutthroat forks. None of them were subject to the 2020 recall. Today I am submitting a request for a fork they replaced under warranty in 2022 for the same issue. Thru-axle guide comes unglued. Feels like hub or headset play at first.

Cannondale sent us this diagnostic tool to run an update on this warranty? Does anyone know how to use this thing or have a link to a video or guide? Came with no instructions programs or link to anything. Just this in a box

Customer just bought this bike used with less than 300 miles on it (verified)

Is a Trek Allant+ 9.9S. I have never seen a hydro line with a fitting like that as it enters the stem.

Customer was told it's fine sort of a "split line".

He got a great deal on it at 3500.00 with the range extender battery so no harm done there but I'm wondering why he got that answer.

I advised him to keep the bike because it's worth it anyway

Anyone ever seen this?

As it's winter time for all of us in the northern hemisphere work is pretty slow so we're focusing on doing some maintenance on our rental fleet, the rim on one of our longtails had cracked, so I went to work swapping it out.

I wasn't rushing or anything but still it ended up taking me 3/4hrs, I can't help but feel that's too slow. How long does it take you guys? Any tips to speed things up?

(I did the classic taping the new rim to the old one and then swapping over the spokes. I suppose I tend to lose time when I tighten the nipples at first, I always tend to over tighten and the tension doesn't get introduced evenly and the rim goes all wonky and I end up having to go back on my work).

Let's start this story from the beginning.

Shy kid walks in with his dad holding a bag of what looks to be a dismantled shifter. I'm hiding behind the workshop counter tinkering with my own bike so I look up and say "Hey! Can I help you guys with anything?" The dad then looks at his kid and says "Tell this girl what you did". This kid looks at the bag, then at me and says "I took apart my gx shifter and I'm not sure how to put it back together". He then hands me the bag.

I felt bad for the kid because I did the same thing when I was his age but I managed to get back together.

I look through the bag and tell him "it's not busy so I ahould be able to get this together in about 15 to 30 minutes. The dad then snaps at me "how much will it cost" I make a joke and ask the kid how much he would get for his birthday. The kid awkwardly laughs then says "I only have 24 dollars" at this point I was pretty certain as long as it didn't need any parts Ip could do it for free.

It was nicely cleaned so there's that.

I ask the kid if he wants to learn how to put it back together if his dad agrees and the dad instantly goes "yeah I'll be at the mall, you can learn to fix your own mess"

So I take the kid into the workshop and pour out the bag of parts, I slowly put it back together to teach the kid how to do it. (As well as him managing my grease) I give him his shifter back and tell him "you owe me 50 cents for the grease, he giggles and gives me 50 cents.

I ask him if he can call his dad (it had been about 20 minutes and kid says sure. His dad then says "I'm on my way" when the kid called

40 MINUTES later the dad comes, I just hung out with the kid at that time so it wasnt that bad at least.

Anyway, just here to rant/tell tales.

I stopped working as a mech in a pro bike shop quite some years ago, and when I did work I always worked in a touring/Cargobike/utility bike specialist store as well as in a Brompton only store. But I always volunteered at bike co-ops and now I have my own bike co-op.

I felt fortunate that I got to work on almost every kind of more traditional bike, but almost never with delicate nor modern parts. In my daily own life/ride I also prefer solely chromoly steel bikes, 26 inch, 3x8 or by 9 drive trains, V-brakes with koolstop pads and stainless cables, 36 spokes front and back, friction or SIS thumbshifters, Brooks. I have worked a decent amount on overhauling gear hubs, but that was primarily the older models. I do enjoy (working on) fixies, singlespeeds, many folding bikes, many cargobikes, steel tour and road bikes etc etc.

These preference has stayed to this day. In that sense i am like the "Bikefarmer" guy on youtube a bit: I just don't enjoy working on parts that generally -not always of course- are more expensive to buy, can be bit more complex to service, that are easier to damage (Carbon) and / or that wear out quicker than some older parts..

I realize that is a very unusual position to be in, almost anybody working in vast majority of bike shops today would absolutely have to want to -and be experienced with- working on aforementioned parts.

But the question is more: if you could have it your way and all things being equal! and you had to choose one (it is a hypothetical of course!) would you yourself prefer working on more Retrogrouch/Tech parts or the new stuff?

EDIT: Linking to my own long reply, to clarify a few things and to pre-empt a buuuunch of misunderstandings (apparent in some replies), in case anyone reads this post above a day after I posted it:

https://old.reddit.com/r/BikeMechanics/comments/1i62hrx/anybody_else_here_an_unrepentant_retrogrouch_mech/m8dgyaf/

Hey all, my shop is contemplating getting a spoke cutter. I'm curious what yall think about the investment. How many wheel builds/spoke replacents per month would constitute the purchase?

My shop is kinda weird. We're located in a small community area with a big gravel event. We get a lot of work for 2-4 months a year, and very little for the rest. The week of the event pretty much pays for our entire year.

Also, if any of you have a connection to a used one, let me know!

Fork replacement on an Aventon Abound. I’m no stranger to oversized threadless steerer or 1 1/8” threaded. This was 1 3/8” threaded. When we asked Aventon what size flat wrench size we needed, they said 45mm (despite the lock ring flats measuring 47mm.

It’s more time consuming and maybe should charge an additional amount?

See pics. What tools do i need to remove the chain ring?

I have compared the pics and specs quite carefully ->

https://www.amazon.com/Hozan-C-217-Wire-cutter/dp/B002OFW5Q6 = $26

vs.

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005006110968301.html = €8,50

Especially because in my neck of the woods the Hozan costs €42 or more and not $26, the Zitto is attractive to me.

So is it the same cutter, same material and just re-branded? If not the tooling to make it was near identical, I just didn't spot any differences, anyone else?

I have never met a Hozan tool I didn't like, I would put any of their tools up against any Park Tool.

And since the Park Tool is $44,.. or even if you get a better deal, the Park is still never less than 4x the ZITTO... -> https://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-CN-10-Professional-Housing/dp/B000OZBINY?

Zitto also has -!for the money!- decent reputation by now. What did I miss! Any thoughts?

I know I need to temper my performance expectations somewhat but I just rebuilt this hub with fresh Park grease. Internals were dirty but not worn. Did a thorough clean and repack. The braking went from almost non-existent to just piss poor. I can barely lock up the wheel going downhill. Very dangerous to ride in any traffic. Curious who has experience with these. Can they be made to brake acceptably? Bike is a Burco brand with just the one brake.

The self extracting crank bolts on Domane+ SL7s don't seem to be strong enough to remove the cranks. Anyone else having issues with them stripping?

I've had 5 or these bolts have stripped of their threads when taking the cranks of a Domane+ in the last week, across 3 different jobs. UK Praxis dist. Is out of stock of crank bolts too.

Does anyone know of a crank removal tool that has reverse threads?

Edit: Spoken to Trek UK - they're aware of the issue. Apparently it's due to the washer being installed backwards... They're replacing cranks though.

This is half rant, half potential call to action.

Our shop has been hammered this past year with warranty brake swaps, facing crooked brake mounts, paint defects, pulling bikes out of the box with mold all over them, crossed cables in the down tube, the problems are non-stop. We haven't pulled a bike out of a box without a problem in over a year. We've just about had it. I'm mostly talking about the low-middle range of products.

At what point does Trek get held accountable for these problems? We're not allowed to charge Trek a labor charge for swapping brakes, or uncrossing cables, or any number of consistent problems. They've been pretty good about accepting warranties for this stuff in terms of giving us a credit for parts, or sending us what we need. However, I'd much prefer to not have to deal with this stuff to begin with.

Is there a government body that we can contact about these problems? The way I see it, they owe us tens of thousands in labor dollars to fix these problems, and our shop cannot be the only ones who are getting shafted on this stuff. Our margins are getting slimmer and slimmer as we have to consistently do more and more work to get these bikes worthy for the sales floor.

I'm considering starting an open letter / petition for Trek to take more care in the manufacture and assembly of their products, signed by a collection of Trek dealers. Our customers deserve better. Thoughts on this?

We do it everyday on customers bikes, new builds, etc. the ol fashioned way. What’re yall doing in 2025? You got a machine? I guess some shops don’t do that and just tell the customer how to do it? 😮

Has anyone ever weighed it? New to having a shop and want a way to measure how much I have left. Yeah, I should just order a backup, and probably will, but need to strategize my ordering because of a spread apart back order schedule and high minimum because I live on a silly island. I could also go over my sales records and estimate how much should be left, but thought it'd be cool to just weight it.