Anyone have anything they'd like to rant about?

[Andeh]

Transmission chains cost $100+ MSRP and the PowerLock links only seem to come in 4 packs! And they say the PowerLocks are only single use now? I hope this chain lasts a long ass time, also hope we don’t regret springing for a bling X0 Transmission build on my wife’s new ride.

They're available in single packs, you just need to look around more.

So far my 2 chains (X0, XX) are lasting incredibly long, as are my 2 cassettes (GX, X0).

[XXX-er]

I asked a local bartender who is from this town/ knows everybody what she has seen in the great reset post covid and she said " everybody got better jobs "

The shop where I used to deal 2 of the long time employees went back to their old trades cuz while it was fun hanging out wearing bikeshorts/ talking about bikes and all they needed to put the coveralls back on and make mo money cuz every thing has gone up post covid

They didnt get " replaced " to save money or sft, every body left for mo money including that 16 yr old whom you educated on ghetto tubeless, who had not so long ago been asking a customer " would you like frys with that "

[ASmileyFace]

The shop owner in question owns both his properties. This is the intermountain west, it takes an act of congress to increase taxes. So that excuse is null.

I'm tired of the whining from an industry that made a bunch of shit decisions over the past few years and then passing on the problems to their customers.

This shop replaced all their tenured employees with 16 year olds. I had to spend 15 minutes explaining what ghetto tubeless was and why I wanted a 26 inch tube.

Where is the logic in taking the one thing you had going for you, customer experience, and completely fucking it by almost doubling your prices and not giving the toddlers the talking points?

They took a 15 year customer who dropped in every month to buy some bits with a 60% markup and told them to fuck right off.

Did you get this mad when your grocery bill went up 30%+ in the last four years too?

Shit is expensive these days. $150 for a full 50 hour service is pretty standard in these parts.

What makes you think the bike shop willingly let all their "tenured" techs leave? More than likely they found better jobs or ended up at a different bike shop that likely charge similar labor prices so they can pay better... since shit is expensive. You're in a metro area with how many different bikes shops? 10? 15? Shop around if you don't like 16 year olds trying to sell you an e-bike.

[Touring_Sedan]

Did you get this mad when your grocery bill went up 30%+ in the last four years too?

Shit is expensive these days. $150 for a full 50 hour service is pretty standard in these parts.

What makes you think the bike shop willingly let all their "tenured" techs leave? More than likely they found better jobs or ended up at a different bike shop that likely charge similar labor prices so they can pay better... since shit is expensive. You're in a metro area with how many different bikes shops? 10? 15? Shop around if you don't like 16 year olds trying to sell you an e-bike.

This is the rant thread, cunt, and that's exactly what I'm doing, ranting and going to the other shop.

Clearly reading comprehension is over for most of the octogenarians on this board. I'm pissed because no one at the shop can be bothered to tell me why it's up 33%.

And FWIW, the other shop charges $60 & $35 for labor.

[SchralphMacchio]

So far my 2 chains (X0, XX) are lasting incredibly long, as are my 2 cassettes (GX, X0).

Thanks for that. I’m okay with 2x the price if it also lasts at least 2x as long - with the added benefit of now shifting under load.

This is the rant thread, cunt, and that's exactly what I'm doing, ranting and going to the other shop.

And lol, thank you for that as well [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

[XXX-er]

well hopefully the other shop will still be there in a year

X01 chains and steel SRAM NX are seeming to last me fo eva

[sfotex]

This is the rant thread, cunt, and that's exactly what I'm doing, ranting and going to the other shop.

Clearly reading comprehension is over for most of the octogenarians on this board. I'm pissed because no one at the shop can be bothered to tell me why it's up 33%.

And FWIW, the other shop charges $60 & $35 for labor.

I was hanging out with a buddy that's a mechanic at REI and he was telling me they're the most expensive shop in the valley now, and he's worried they're going to lose all their customers to other shops because they're so pricey.

[ASmileyFace]

This is the rant thread, cunt, and that's exactly what I'm doing, ranting and going to the other shop.

Clearly reading comprehension is over for most of the octogenarians on this board. I'm pissed because no one at the shop can be bothered to tell me why it's up 33%.

And FWIW, the other shop charges $60 & $35 for labor.

You can rant all you want, but if your rant is stupid re-hashed shit we all are experiencing and you keep repeating it over and over again expect a little push back. Maybe no one at the shop is willing to tell you why their rates went up because you are a bit of a cunt yourself?

I'll keep an eye out for when you come back to rant about your new shop going out of business or raising their prices in the next 6+ months.

[Dantheman]

This tracks with my most recent, and last, stop into GR. I needed a special tool to remove the whacky shock bearing eyelet Rocky Mountain uses. Called around, GR said they had the tool. Get to the shop and was initially told to drop it off and they'd get it done in a few days. I explained that while I understood they were busy, this would literally take 30 seconds and could they pretty please do it right now? Luckily I insisted because they did not actually have the tool. If I had waited 2-3 days to find that out I would have been really pissed.

Drove to Salt Cycles, explained the situation, and while did not have the tool they were condifent they could MacGyver it and immediately got to work on it. 10 minutes later they come out saying it's harder than they thought, but I could leave it and they'd get it done tomorrow. End of the next day I get a very apologetic call that they didn't make it happen. It ate up at least an hour of their time, but they didn't charge me a dime.

[Touring_Sedan]

This tracks with my most recent, and last, stop into GR. I needed a special tool to remove the whacky shock bearing eyelet Rocky Mountain uses. Called around, GR said they had the tool. Get to the shop and was initially told to drop it off and they'd get it done in a few days. I explained that while I understood they were busy, this would literally take 30 seconds and could they pretty please do it right now? Luckily I insisted because they did not actually have the tool. If I had waited 2-3 days to find that out I would have been really pissed.

Drove to Salt Cycles, explained the situation, and while did not have the tool they were condifent they could MacGyver it and immediately got to work on it. 10 minutes later they come out saying it's harder than they thought, but I could leave it and they'd get it done tomorrow. End of the next day I get a very apologetic call that they didn't make it happen. It ate up at least an hour of their time, but they didn't charge me a dime.

That's where I'll be going next. Until they're out of business like all the "experts" up thread seem to think. [emoji849]

[XXX-er]

A rant is a Rant and you are allowed sure but do you really not know why prices have gone up, I'm sure there have been masters written on the post covid hangover

20 yrs ago at an interbike seminar they told us you gotta make your % in the shop or you wouldn't be there which i'm sure has been ignored until they couldn't which is now

the real answer is to fix your own bike

but isnt america wonderful you can vote with your feet

[mcski]

Sure prices can go up and shops deserve to be the profitable but fuck off if you expect the same hourly shop rate as my auto mechanic

[XXX-er]

The auto shops will have to put their prices up so you won't feel taken advantage of by the bike shops

[SchralphMacchio]

Sure prices can go up and shops deserve to be the profitable but fuck off if you expect the same hourly shop rate as my auto mechanic

If the shop looks like this and is within driving distance of my house, I’ll pay them my auto mech’s hourly rate, but only if I get to sit and watch in awe. I’ve never seen an auto shop that looks this good or uses tools with this level of precision!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4gSV...FveDh3aDU0em9l

[XXX-er]

If you do it alot you can get really fast like when i was fixing selectric typers and i was wearing a suit

people alwasy asked why are you wearing a suit ?

[jm2e]

Drove to Salt Cycles, explained the situation, and while did not have the tool they were condifent they could MacGyver it and immediately got to work on it. 10 minutes later they come out saying it's harder than they thought, but I could leave it and they'd get it done tomorrow. End of the next day I get a very apologetic call that they didn't make it happen. It ate up at least an hour of their time, but they didn't charge me a dime.

This has been my experience 2/3 of the times I’ve gotten a DT Swiss bearing change at local shops. If they say “no problem, we do tons of these” they’re full of shit. If they can tell you what the tool is (better yet, show you) and explain how it works, they’re well worth 50% more that other shops. It can not be MacGyvered.
I’m constantly on the hunt for an adult bike mechanic who’s making a career out of it, takes the classes, goes to shows, let’s Sram/Spec/Shim/Fox etc show him how to do the job. I didn’t think the search was any easier Pre-COVID. .




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[jackstraw]

Blaming shops is weak imo. How many fn expensive tools do they need to have on-hand and within 5-10-15 years many of those specialty ones are obsolete. Unless some kook walks thru the door with 20yr old bike that they want fixed and they see the repair cost and say f it and buy a pos $300 bike.

Everyone thinks labor is free. This isn't Ghina where they made your 10k bike for next to nothing. Big manufacturers are fat n happy, but the lbs is hanging on by threads.

[Mustonen]

What? I work on like 3 bikes and I have lotsa tools. If I worked on 15 I’d be setup for most shit. If it was my job?

Having the tools is not the barrier.

[Dantheman]

Blaming shops is weak imo. How many fn expensive tools do they need to have on-hand and within 5-10-15 years many of those specialty ones are obsolete. Unless some kook walks thru the door with 20yr old bike that they want fixed and they see the repair cost and say f it and buy a pos $300 bike.

Everyone thinks labor is free. This isn't Ghina where they made your 10k bike for next to nothing. Big manufacturers are fat n happy, but the lbs is hanging on by threads.

I wasn't mad at either shop for not having the tool. I was mad at GR because they said they had the tool when in fact they did not and I wasted time driving to the shop.

I wasn't upset about my experience at Salt Cycles at all. I showed up knowing they didn't have the tool hoping they might be able to make something happen. They jumped on it immediately and went out of their way to try to help me even though it made them no money in the end.

I did find it odd that every Rocky Mountain dealer in a major metro area didn't have a tool for a very specific part that only Rocky uses.

[XXX-er]

Blaming shops is weak imo. How many fn expensive tools do they need to have on-hand and within 5-10-15 years many of those specialty ones are obsolete. Unless some kook walks thru the door with 20yr old bike that they want fixed and they see the repair cost and say f it and buy a pos $300 bike.

Everyone thinks labor is free. This isn't Ghina where they made your 10k bike for next to nothing. Big manufacturers are fat n happy, but the lbs is hanging on by threads.

actualy wandering around an LBS when shop bro was running it wherei had worked long ago there was a LOT of stuff, lots of bits and parts and I took note of it all

Kona just went under, mofo'ing Kona so maybe they weren't all fat n happy ?

yeah labor has probably gone up cuz they gotta pay the mechanic more

best thing an LBS can do on a bike they can't make money is quote HIGH and suggest the end-loser try the competition cuz the LBS gotta make money

Nothing wrong with it but my park wheel stand was obselete cuz 26, I bought it cheap used and never even used it sold it to a buddy who wanted it anyway after i told him it might be osbselete

[joetron]

I did find it odd that every Rocky Mountain dealer in a major metro area didn't have a tool for a very specific part that only Rocky uses.

Yep. That sucks, especially considering that the national sales manager for Rocky lives in PC. Edit: He apparently left that job a year ago

It’s a bummer about GR, but to be clear, the only thing in that shop that’s getting 60% margin might be the inner tubes, so Sedan’s ghetto tubeless setups are really keeping the lights on in there.
Scott and Kris have worked their asses off for over 20 years to build an amazing business and have both contributed SO much to the mtb culture in the valley. If Kris can make it work coaching and work less in the shop, I say fuck yes. Scott probably has his eye on retirement and wants to pad the coffers by gouging Draper elites for another couple years before selling the business to Hanger 15 (I’m kidding….kinda), I say fuck yes to that too.




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[rideit]

Kona is back, period. We have been receiving product.

[XXX-er]

Kona is back, period. We have been receiving product.

well i know that but why did they go under

and then come back ?

[rideit]

Because they lost their way, and THEN the industry shit the bed.

[bamboocoreONLY]

This tracks with my most recent, and last, stop into GR. I needed a special tool to remove the whacky shock bearing eyelet Rocky Mountain uses. Called around, GR said they had the tool. Get to the shop and was initially told to drop it off and they'd get it done in a few days. I explained that while I understood they were busy, this would literally take 30 seconds and could they pretty please do it right now? Luckily I insisted because they did not actually have the tool. If I had waited 2-3 days to find that out I would have been really pissed.

Drove to Salt Cycles, explained the situation, and while did not have the tool they were condifent they could MacGyver it and immediately got to work on it. 10 minutes later they come out saying it's harder than they thought, but I could leave it and they'd get it done tomorrow. End of the next day I get a very apologetic call that they didn't make it happen. It ate up at least an hour of their time, but they didn't charge me a dime.

hold up, they really couldn't get the eyelet bearing cups out? My shop is a rocky dealer and while the special tool makes it easier, it's also quite easy to do it with a vise and some softjaws if you're careful of the stanchion. If Salt couldn't get them out, I wouldn't trust them to do much else haha just saying.

Sad that no rocky dealer around you has the tool though, I just asked RM if we could have one (we're not spending money on that if we're buying tons of their bikes) and they obliged quite easily.