Saturday, July 25, 2009

Libby's Bike Store Rant - I hate them!!

this is me today, that is how mad I am


I have been riding with a lady in her late 50s, grey hair but fit as a fiddle. Anyhooo, long story short, she bought a brand new bike this spring. 3 times I have been out with her and her chain has broken, yes, broken, 3 times, just comes apart and falls off the bike.

First time she goes back to original store and they "say" they have fixed it. She is again out and voila, chain breaks and is bent. She goes to one bike store and they say, "chain looks fine lady" and they send her on her way.

She goes back to original bike and they say it is bent and "fix it". We are out today and you guessed it, the chain breaks.

So we have 3 ladies, butts in the air trying to fix a chain. It was like the 3 Stooges. First I open the Sram link, set it by my feet and weave chain in and where that Sram link went is anybody's guess. It was for 9 speeds, her gear cog had 10, so maybe it woulda been the wrong size anyhow.

We open the 8 speed Sram universal link and it does not go on and for the life of me I cannot remember anything sweet, kind Viktor O. had told me about how to fit the universal link back in. Viktor, where are you????

By now by hands are so black and I am sweating like a pig and glasses are fogging up. I gave up.

By the way, at least 3 men biked past at break neck speed. Not even a "are you okay?"

Connie and I left Charlene (she called hubby to come get her) and Connie and I blast home as we both have to get back early. We ride on all the roads they tell us not to ride on - Goshen, rt 352 and Paoli Pike. But we get home.

NOW TO MY RANT!!!

How in heck can a person go 3 times to a bike store and NOT have the folks in them actually fix her chain. Whattsup with that??

Is it cuz Charlene like me is an old lady? and by old I mean past 50, obviously if we are riding bikes we are not old but in the eyes of a 20 something bike mechanic, let's face, we look old.

Do you we get lousy service cuz we are old ladies?? What? Someone please tell me what the problem is with bike shops and older chicks?? How can a lady take her bike in for something as simple as a damaged chain and not have the bike store actually replace the chain but tell her it is fixed. I am beyond angry that a Biker Chick can have this happen to them.

SO LADIES, advanced bike repair clinic coming. Hopefully Charlene hangs onto her old chain and we can all practice repairing one.

Advanced clinic will focus on how to change a cable and yes, we will change one. We will work on derailleur adjustments and how to know when you need a new gear cog in back. We will focus on how to change brake pads. NO tire changing, no cleaning, do it before you come. If you do not know these 2 basics, yu can come early. More details to come.

I am convinced that if you are female and past 50, ya'd better learn how to fix your bike yourself cuz from what I have seen, the bike stores in the West Chester area have much interest in fixing your bike as your husband or bf does.

Some bike store owner prove me wrong, please!!! Cuz I am beyond angry that this can happen. Do bike stores actually want to fix bikes?? or do they just want to sell them?? are they only interested in the better riders and their bikes?

What?? I am stymied and have no answers.

7 comments:

Kathy said...

now this is good and you are probably right, store figures this lady is riding a total of 5 miles maybe, on a good day.

what store did she use?

Frey said...

too bad about the bike store. Racer's Edge in Boca Raton is an AWESOME bike store ... helpful even to elderly women like you :)

Ellen Z said...

I wouldn't help someone over 50. Can't blame them!

Stuart said...

Sounds like this shop is more focused on being a retail outlet than staffing a competent service department. Any kook can move product off the sales floor, but good mechanics are hard to find. Keep looking!

rickrides said...

Let me start by saying although I am a bike store manager I am not going to try to defend them. However I thought you would like to know that sram 10 speed chains have been recalled as of today. Maybe you should throw on a shamano?

July 28, 2009 6:34 PM

Frey said...

In reply to Rick... I think libby's point is that the bike store should have made these corrections, such as swapping out the crappy chain. They shouldn't have sent them woman out there three times telling her she was OK.

Unknown said...

I'm thinking there are two potensial scenarios with the chain "repairs": 1. The people in the bicycle store fixed it for free? In this case they either just clamped the chain together again with a pair of pliers or some other tool. (I have done this on my own bike in the past, and this will work in it's self, but it will not hold for long if the reason the chain snapped in the first place was because it wasn't of a strong enough type for Your needs. The cheap chains are usually of a weaker quality) 2. They did actually swap the broken chain for a new one, but either due to some economic reason (Yours or theirs) they swapped the broken chain with an equally weak and cheap one, in the belief that an old lady doesn't need a strong (and more expensive) chain. You obviously do need a stronger chain tho, and i would therefore recommend a Shimano HG93 chain, -You shouldn't go for no less than a HG73 chain. (I have no affiliation with Shimano) One should also avoid using the largest sprockets in the front, and at the rear at the same time. The same goes with the smallest sprockets at the front, and the smallest sprockets at the rear at the same time, as this will exert sideways forces on the chain, increasing the chances of breakage. A stronger chain will also significantly increase the lifetime of the smallest sprockets.