Why the shop is down...

(do not scroll down if you are squeamish, you have been warned)

click to make bigger...

So that is the picture this is the story. I drove down south to the Blue Valley spot of the Overland Park-Lenexa-Olathe Megatropolis area to an appointment I had made with a purveyor of a two year old Specialized Tricross Sport.

This is a bike that I thought was out of my price range when I was looking for a replacement of my old odd blue Raleigh titanium road bike. I consequently purchased a Jamis Aurora touring framing and have been slowly putting the parts together to put that bike together.

This guy had a good price on it, though it is well ridden and I wanted to go check it out. I thought maybe I buy it, maybe not. If I do I would only keep it until the Jamis is built up, blah, blah, blah. Nice guy, we talked a while and I asked if it was okay if I take it for a ride.

I hop on, ride up the block, shift through the gears, and think, it seems okay. I decide to shift down, stand up, and mash on the pedals. The rest is a flash, some how shifting up I dropped the chain. I was thrown into the front handlebars after I lost my balance, the front wheel and all turned to the right 90 degrees, and acted as the brake. I had enough time for two things: 1) Say the word, "F*ck!" and 2) Turn my head to the side so I wouldn't take the impact head on.

I flipped, smashed, grinded, and then saw the bike go over head. I remember thinking, "I'm okay I think," and "What a eff'ing nightmare." Which I said many times over the next 30 minutes. The bike owner came and checked me out, to his accord he cared about how bad I was, which was pretty bad at least bloody wise. Meanwhile I surveyed that I had messed up his bike.

He helped wash me off, spray on some disinfectant, and dab dry. We talked for too long, I saw that the bike wasn't as bad as I thought (bent bars and front wheel only), and I left to get cleaned up and go see a doctor.

Needless to say I am buying the bike and will get it all fixed up. I don't know if I will keep or sell it but either way it is costing me time and money. I don't feel like I made the right choice.

So be careful while riding, you could get hurt any time by a car, by yourself, or by accident. I don't know what would have prevented this other than me being more careful and not pushing a bike so hard. Ride safe...

Is it a stockbroker, is it a quantities surveyor, is it a church warden...

No it's bicycle repairman.

no repair for awhile...

sorry folks, hurt my righthand and left arm test riding a bike the thursday. i believe the young'ns would call it an epic fail. i am all scraped up and my hand may need some surgeon's care. it makes it hard to type, let alone work on bikes. so the shop is down for now.

truly sorry,
the management

An interstesting article on street mechanics...

(clicky) For Busy Sidewalk Bike Mechanics, the Fix Is In (clicky)

How I typically do Tune-ups...

For those of you that have stumbled upon this website and wonder how I typically do things, I would like to share how it typically works.

First off for a true complete tune-up I charge $35 and it typically takes me about two hours (yes, I am kind of slow), but I am thorough and typically do more than a shop can afford to do for that price. I start with your wheels, repack the bearings, clean rims, and true wheels. I then clean up brake pads (replace if needed), replace wheels, adjust brakes (replace brake cables if needed), and start in on the shifting. I always start with the rear derailleur, replace the cable if needed, lube moving joints, then adjust for proper shifting. Next is the front derailleur, replace cable if needed, lube moving joints, then adjust for proper shifting. Then I check the handlebar setup for anything out of place, realignment if needed, replace grip if needed, and move on. I then disassemble the headset and repack bearings and put everything back together, and tighten the headset. About here I remember that I haven't repacked the bottom bracket and do so if I feel it is needed.

I think I forgot to add that if I don't replace your cables, I always still lube the cable to improve shifting. The last thing I will do is ride your bike over and over around the block until everything is shifting and braking smoothly. My neighbor can tell you how silly I look when I am cruising around on a kid's cruiser or some huge bike.

If things go easy then I charge less than $35, never more than that unless you are wanting me to fix something that it very old or just in terrible shape. Those bikes typically take me much more time than two hours and I charge $50 for those.

Again, I typically do not make any money on parts I replace, so anything I am telling you that I think is replaceable is typically for your best interest. You can ask my previous customers, I will tell you what to look out for, what really needs to be replaced, and what is just fine.

Here is another thing, I don't mind if you want to go to a store instead for this or that, or if you want to find your specific tire, or you want to purchase something on craigslist, or if you don't use me for anything at all. I am doing this to simply build extra income for myself and build a customer base. I do have a pretty good knowledge of bikes, parts, and what works. What I don't know I will tell you, no b.s. If you want to know my strengths it would be all bikes from the late 90's and older and road bikes from any period. I have twice built a recumbent from nothing into a working bike for school projects, I have built fairings out of carbon fiber, machined hubs, and more.

Lastly timing, it typically takes me two days to get to your bike and finish repairs. I typically have only 4 working hours a day to work on bikes which only allows 2-4 bikes to get completed in the time period. Thus, if you drop your bike off and nothing is in front of it, I will probably have it done two days later. If there is 4 bikes in front, then maybe it will not be finished for 3 to 4 days. I am a quality over quantity guy. It should be said though, that if you need your bike done quickly for a race or triathlon, I will try and get your bike put ahead of the line. I can't always guarantee that though.

Again, any questions feel free to get in touch. My contact information is above.

The Garage is Now Open...Again...

Well I am back from my 2 week sabatical and have returned for any repairs that you may have. I probably won't post my Craigslist ad until next week so I can catch up on a few things around the house. Namely, I want to get the garage better setup to handle more bicycles and want to get stuff ready for a garage sale that I want to have a week from this weekend.

But if you are a past customer or simply find me here from the world wide web get in touch and I will help.

Thanks,
The Management

P.S. to see what I was up to go here:

http://dunkinontheroad.blogspot.com/

Also if you haven't seen this already: