The stupidest thing you've heard at a bike shop...

Questions about bike hire abroad and everything light bike related. No off-topic chat please

Moderators: robbosmans, Moderator Team

project3
Posts: 209
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:18 am

by project3

Equinox produced wheel set for zipp

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



TimmS
Posts: 424
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2011 6:46 pm
Location: Amsterdam

by TimmS

Silver brake pad holders do not exist...

User avatar
stella-azzurra
Posts: 5066
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:35 am
Location: New York

by stella-azzurra

Ah but the red ones do Dorothy

Image
I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree

User avatar
mellowJohnny
Posts: 492
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2012 12:56 am
Location: YYZ

by mellowJohnny

"You need to toe-in the brake pads - if you don't you may void the warranty..." (carbon wheel set)

Same shop, owner this time tightening the faceplate on my new 3T carbon bars:
Me: aren't you gonna use a torque wrench?
Him: shows me his hand holding the 5mm wrench "this is my torque wrench" (meaning his hand).

User avatar
Miller
Posts: 2764
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:54 pm
Location: Reading, UK

by Miller

mellowJohnny wrote:Same shop, owner this time tightening the faceplate on my new 3T carbon bars:
Me: aren't you gonna use a torque wrench?
Him: shows me his hand holding the 5mm wrench "this is my torque wrench" (meaning his hand).


He has a point though. Someone with mechanical feel sort of knows what the correct torque is and the size of a hex key limits the torque that can easily be put through it by hand. People get over obsessive about torque wrenches.

User avatar
HammerTime2
Posts: 5813
Joined: Thu May 04, 2006 4:43 pm
Location: Wherever there's a mountain beckoning to be climbed

by HammerTime2

Visited a shop a way down South:

Shop owner: Bubba <head mechanic> don't need no fancy torque wrench, he uses an audio torque wrench.
Me: What's an audio torque wrench?
Shop owner: Well Bubba here, he hears real good like, so when he tightens the stem bolts, he listens real good, and when he hears the first inklings of a crack, he stops right quick, then backs off just a mite. Perfect every time.
Shop owner: This is the best stem there is. When can we install that for you?
Me: When I'm ready for you to install it, I'll call the service department. I'm sure Bubba will hear the phone ring, seeing as he hears real good and all.


This is a dramatization, but not far off reality, unfortunately.

User avatar
ultimobici
in the industry
Posts: 4460
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 2:45 pm
Location: Trento, Italia
Contact:

by ultimobici

Miller wrote:He has a point though. Someone with mechanical feel sort of knows what the correct torque is and the size of a hex key limits the torque that can easily be put through it by hand. People get over obsessive about torque wrenches.
Nope

Far too many people "think" they can feel the correct torque, yet when they are tested they are waaay off. In the days when steerers were predominantly steel or alloy and fasteners were steel it wasn't such a concern. With the increasing use of carbon steerers and Ti and alloy bolts on even entry level bikes it is.

mattr
Posts: 4671
Joined: Fri May 25, 2007 6:43 pm
Location: The Grim North.

by mattr

Funny that.
We used to test fitters at a place I worked, the best were within the allowable tolerances for a normal torque wrench. And were repeatable. The worst were terrible.

On the other hand, most of them would be tightening more fasteners in a day than a bike workshop mechanic would in a busy month.........

User avatar
Miller
Posts: 2764
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:54 pm
Location: Reading, UK

by Miller

ultimobici wrote:Nope


Whatever. I don't use a torque wrench. My bikes don't fall apart nor do I tend to break fasteners or components.

I don't think it's good to make people fearful by dogmatic insistence on this or that.

User avatar
Tinea Pedis
Posts: 8615
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:08 am
Contact:

by Tinea Pedis

"I've called in sick and taken today off work, but just need a few things so I can go for a 50km detox ride later this afternoon"

User avatar
Calnago
In Memoriam
Posts: 8612
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2010 9:14 pm

by Calnago

Lol... crackin' up.
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ

fireball05
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2010 8:28 pm
Location: York, PA

by fireball05

Miller wrote:
ultimobici wrote:Nope


Whatever. I don't use a torque wrench. My bikes don't fall apart nor do I tend to break fasteners or components.

I don't think it's good to make people fearful by dogmatic insistence on this or that.


What's the compelling reason *not* to use a torque wrench on the sensitive bits? I can't think of one. And I'd much rather be bombing down a hill at 55mph knowing my components were properly torqued.

User avatar
ultimobici
in the industry
Posts: 4460
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 2:45 pm
Location: Trento, Italia
Contact:

by ultimobici

Miller wrote:
ultimobici wrote:Nope


Whatever. I don't use a torque wrench. My bikes don't fall apart nor do I tend to break fasteners or components.

I don't think it's good to make people fearful by dogmatic insistence on this or that.

You've simply been lucky so far. I have lost count of carbon bars & seatposts I've seen that have had to be binned due to non use of a torque wrench.

User avatar
Kayrehn
Posts: 1776
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 6:06 pm

by Kayrehn

Dogmatic insistence by manufacturers on safety limits should be heeded, if you want to have peace of mind. You can be assured that carbon parts manufacturers are not saying that to boost the sale of torque wrenches by other companies.

User avatar
Miller
Posts: 2764
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:54 pm
Location: Reading, UK

by Miller

ultimobici wrote:You've simply been lucky so far.


jeez, for someone who's never met me you seem to know an awful lot about my bike maintenance. Or you just assume a lot. Get over yourself.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



Post Reply