Bikes Blog

Are you able to repair it? Why cyclists want extra bike mechanics.

Posted on by BooksForEveryone

Are you able to repair it? As soon as upon a time it was plumbers. Now bike mechanics are in dismally quick provide. So is it time to contemplate a change of profession?

Bike Restore Repair It

One has a crank that’s making a wierd noise; one other complains that the chain retains slipping; and another person says there is a downside stepping into prime gear. Since doing a one-day course on bike mechanics earlier this 12 months, the requests from buddies to repair their two-wheelers have stored on coming. However what my day within the workshop taught me above all was that – puncture repairs and tweaking brakes apart – it is not as simple because it seems to be. You want the precise instruments; you want persistence; you want precision; it is advisable to be ready for the sudden. And also you positively want greater than a four-hour coaching course.

Inform individuals to take their bike to a motorcycle store, nevertheless, they usually are likely to inform you again that it is extra pressing than that, that they can not handle the wait. In London, fashionable workshops take bookings months prematurely, and a wait of a number of weeks is commonplace. That is a very long time to be with out transport in case your machine has a major problem. It is an age even when you have a minor downside – who desires to journey round with their brakes catching on the wheel? Demand for bicycle repairs is clearly exceeding provide, and the reason being easy: there simply aren’t sufficient skilled bike mechanics.

Not so way back the nation was crying out for plumbers and a spate of tales instructed of graduates coaching as much as make a residing fixing sinks. So is wheel-building the brand new boiler set up? Is it a rising sector in a recession-hit job market, and might it provide the identical rewards to these keen to retrain? I wished to study extra about bike mechanics as a result of I felt I ought to be capable to hold my machine in good restore myself. Doing so looks like half and parcel of the liberty and independence that biking gives. However maybe now could be the time to amass correct experience, and to use that experience to a brand new profession.

Sean Lally actually thinks so. He runs Cycle Methods Academy in north London, which trains round 40 mechanics a month. “Biking has boomed. This 12 months has been phenomenal. There are round 500,000 bike journeys being made a day in London,” he says. However till just lately “fixing bikes wasn’t seen as an actual occupation. It was thought-about a little bit of a Steptoe and Son factor. A secret world that appealed to renegades with little formal coaching. There was the concept anybody might do it. That it was one thing you probably did earlier than getting a correct job.”

Lally is decided to alter that and see it recognised as a correct occupation. His academy is considered one of solely three locations within the UK to supply a 10-day Metropolis & Guilds skilled mechanics course at a value of £1,138. Which suggests – in concept a minimum of – that in lower than a fortnight you might be skilled in an trade that’s determined for individuals. However do not rush to enrol simply but. Ninon Asuni runs Bicycle Workshop in west London. She has been repairing bikes for 30 years and says she nonetheless solely breaks even. “The overheads are so excessive. And I am unable to do repairs at an reasonably priced worth and pay mechanics a wage that they can not get doing one thing else which is simpler,” she says.

In distinction to the world of plumbing, wages are a significant sticking level on this enterprise. A mechanic can earn as little as £40 a day; a senior mechanic about £20,000-£25,000 a 12 months. The common annual wage is lower than £14,000.

And even if you happen to walked in together with your Metropolis & Guilds certificates, Asuni would not essentially give you a job. “I’d somewhat prepare individuals up myself,” she says. “We do lots of specialised stuff and the issue for me is not a lot the scarcity of mechanics because the scarcity of excellent ones. For instance, individuals aren’t considering hub gears. Nobody learns about them any extra. There may be additionally the style for customising bikes: taking 80s street bike frames, changing them to be fastened gear. All types of issues which can be extremely expert.” But these do not essentially get coated by the programs.

Theresa Webb, who works along with her husband Alf, is extra optimistic. Collectively they wrote the Metropolis & Guilds course and skilled Lally at their Bike Inn centre in Spalding, Lincolnshire. They’ve been operating their internationally famend programs there for 20 years. Lots of their college students launch their very own companies. “There are positively alternatives to arrange by yourself. Providing a cellular restore service may be very fashionable, the place the mechanic involves your own home or your small business. Or beginning your personal workshop,” she says.

However to these contemplating getting into the occupation she cautions that the one option to hold these ready occasions down is to “work more durable and quicker”. “When Alf and I ran a motorcycle store in Kent, we might have 20-25 repairs a day. And if it got here to 5pm and we hadn’t completed them, nicely then we simply stored working till they have been completed. Folks want their bikes.”

Prime upkeep ideas

• Maintain all transferring elements nicely lubricated. On fashionable bikes lots of these are sealed however the chain ought to all the time be nicely (although not excessively) lubed.

• Make certain the tyre stress is right. This reduces put on and tear and makes biking an terrible lot simpler.

• Change the chain. There may be lots of debate as to how usually it’s best to do that however whether it is overstretched it would put on down your cassette after which you’ll have to change each. The chain is lots cheaper. You will get a instrument that means that you can take away the chain however it is advisable to know what you are doing – could be time for a mechanic.

• Maintain it clear. Filth eats away at your bike and wears out transferring elements. Make certain your wheel rims are clear and grease-free, and your chain and gears flippantly oiled. A sequence must be a shiny silver color, not black.

Working in outlets you get to see and work on some actually lovely bikes, however then, there are the horror bikes. With a can of WD-40, a Phillips head screwdriver and a set of Allen keys in hand, listed here are the six commonest upkeep and restore errors seen from novices. 

Whereas we could also be taking a humorous have a look at these errors, if you happen to’re new to biking, it’s actually value paying consideration so you can also keep away from these easy upkeep errors all of us make when first beginning out.

For these nicely previous these newbie errors, a number of extra are coated in widespread restore errors.

1. Winding in derailleur restrict screws

Little question the most typical newbie mistake — handing over these unfastened derailleur screws David Rome / Fast Media

These screws in your derailleurs aren’t unfastened, however are literally there to set the bounds for which the derailleur can transfer. If a bicycle mechanic has constructed your bike, then likelihood is you don’t want to the touch these screws once more.

In case your shifting has all of a sudden gone out of whack, it’s more likely to do with cable stress (or soiled cables) or a bent derailleur hanger. By no means attain for the screwdriver first.

2. Utilizing the incorrect lube

Ahhh… WD-40, offering bicycle mechanics with one thing to complain about since 1958 David Rome / Fast Media

This one comes up in almost each beginner-focused upkeep article. WD-40 is nice for some issues (like eradicating glue residue from stickers or different cleansing), but it surely’s lower than the duty of lubing a bicycle chain.

That stated, it’s somewhat complicated now that WD-40 really produces a cycling-specific chain lube. Merely put, you’ll solely discover this ‘WD-40’ branded chain lube in cycle shops. 

In the case of lubricating the chain, any lube left on the surface of the rollers and hyperlinks is simply gathering grime and grit. Extra time, this can result in elevated put on and fairly the mess.

After you lube your chain, let the lube settle in after which wipe off the surplus with a rag. Lubing on prime of soiled lube is a surefire option to make your bike offended at you.

It’s good follow to wipe down your chain with a clear rag after each journey — no matter whether or not you add extra lube. And when you’re doing this, you might as nicely give the rear derailleur pulley wheels a fast wipe. 

3. Lubing brakes to repair a squeal 

In case your brakes are squealing, then don’t assume that grease or oil is the reply. Lube and brakes don’t combine.

If you happen to’re utilizing rim brakes, then it’s more likely to do with how the brake pads are arrange. Look into how one can arrange brake pads with toe-in to keep away from the dreaded squeal. In case your pads are outdated and have dried out, search recommendation on new, quieter brake pads.

For disc customers, some brakes simply squeal — there’s sadly no method out of that. Nevertheless, more often than not it’s a signal of contamination. Cleansing the rotors and changing the pads ought to present some respite to close by pedestrians.

4. Over tightening the headset

Trendy threadless headset techniques work by preloading the bearings with the cap on prime, after which torqueing the stem in place with its pinch bolts.

Threadless headsets don’t want all that a lot torque. That bolt up prime is only to set the bearing stress David Rome / Fast Media

Generally, it’s thought the highest preload bolt must be actually tight, typically leading to a stripped star nut or jammed headset bearing. Bear in mind, you solely want this prime bolt tight sufficient to take away any headset bearing play. If it’s inflicting resistance in your steering it’s doubtless too tight.

The exception to that is with older quill stems (distinguishable by a single bolt on prime, with no pinch bolts on the stem’s aspect — nonetheless widespread on division retailer bikes).

This design makes use of a bolt hooked up to a sliding wedge that when tightened locks the stem throughout the steerer tube. For any such stem, torque is your good friend. And when you assume you’ve obtained it tight sufficient, put the entrance wheel between your knees and see if you happen to can twist the bars.

5. Not correctly closing fast releases

Fast launch skewers are a standard merchandise in biking, however are not often seen elsewhere. With this, it’s widespread to see them used incorrectly.

Maybe the obvious instance of that is Trek’s recall of over one million bikes as a result of potential hazard if the fast launch skewer is used incorrectly.

Fast launch skewers have an open and closed lever place. Guarantee you may learn ‘Closed’ or ‘Shut’ from the surface earlier than driving David Rome / Fast Media

Put merely, fast releases have an open and a closed place. Earlier than driving the bike, you want the fast launch within the closed place. After tightening the opposing nut, the fast launch lever must be locked into place with sufficient stress that it leaves a slight imprint within the palm of your hand. Make sure that it’s tight sufficient which you could’t flick it open together with your finger ideas alone. 

6. Poorly inflated tyres

Using with below or overly inflated tyres is one other widespread error. Right here, a good high quality flooring pump makes an actual distinction in merely including air to your tyres earlier than you allow residence.

For minimal and most pressures, seek the advice of the sidewall of your tyre and discover a blissful medium (see our article on mountain bike tyre stress).

One other widespread mistake is in the usage of Presta valves. These will be fairly delicate and it’s necessary to not put an excessive amount of twisting drive on them. Earlier than becoming the pump head, make sure the nut is unwound to the highest of its threaded shaft, then barely depress the valve till you hear air escape.

Join the pump as sq. to the valve as attainable and as soon as pumped, take away the pump head in an equally straight line. If you re-tighten the little nut, finger tight to the purpose that it may’t be depressed is all that’s wanted — something extra and you might harm its seal.

Lets us know what you assume by posting feedback beneath.