You are reading a single comment by @itsbruce and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
-
Heh. A friend bought a cheap bike in a box from Halfords when the lockdown started and did the assembly herself.
- Front tyre pointing backwards
- None of the break pads properly aligned (either wearing holes in the tyre or only half touching the rim)
- Handlebars loose
- Saddle much too low
- Left pedal constantly falling out because she didn't know about the left-handed thread and just tried to force it in (amazingly, she didn't destroy the thread)
- Kickstand not properly tightened
- Misaligned kickstand was pinching the gear cable so that she couldn't change gear
Unusually, she was suitably embarrassed. Most people seem unwilling to accept that there's some skill to assembling and maintaining a bike and that they didn't put the effort in.
Nearest bike shop has closed its doors and is only doing pre-booked repairs/maintenance/bike-building this week, to cope with the demand.
- Front tyre pointing backwards
itsbruce
TM
My favourite phone conversation at the moment is “hiiiii erm do you guys build bikes? Like I bought a bike online and it came in a box and I just don’t know how to put it together?! (Giggles being cute)”
Yes we build bikes, it’s £60 and there’s a 4-6 week wait.
“WHAT?!”
Followed by “bought a bike online and it’s fully built, just needs a quick fettle, I’ve indexed the gears but they’re just not quite right”
Yeah that’ll be a case of leaving it with us for 4-6 weeks...
“But it’s just a quick fettle can’t you just do it when I come in?”