The mantra amongst all cyclists seems to be ‘support your local bike shop, and avoid the retail chains’.
So when my chain jumped away from the chain teeth got itself wrapped around the crank arm on the way home from work, I ambled off to a LBS in the Angel. I’m useless when it comes to maintaining my bike and fixing the such routine problems such as a puncture. Once, in the middle of a shower, and suffering from a back tyre puncture, I hailed a taxi to take myself and bike to a bike shop near Old Street.
The bike manager was just locking up. He looked at my chain and shook his head. I presume car owners routinely experience this reaction from mechanics. He pointed my towards Cycle Surgery towards Kings Cross. He then helpfully labelled staff there were mercenaries and warned me they would take £15 off me.
I stumbled down a busy Pentonville Road, drawing annoyed looks from commuters, as they took offence at a bike sharing their pavements. Happily my mood was lifted immediately as I entered cycle surgery. A bike mechanic gestured to me to push my bike towards his workshop and after a quick analysis, he retreated to gather his tools. He expertly and quickly split the chain and removed a couple of links and fixed it back on it’s teeth. I would say it took him just over 5 mins to resolve the problem. When I got my wallet out, he waved me away and merely told me to pop in with some biscuits when I was next passing.
Is this indicative of all staff in these cycle chains?? Probably not, but it was a welcome show of faith and honesty.
The experience has come soon after being charged a fortune for a full service at my LBS. I guess buying a bike with internal gear hubs makes a full service pretty expensive, but nevertheless, it seemed a sizeable sum. I wasn’t contacted by any of the mechanics to discuss the rising cost of fixing a few issues with the gears. I was just presented with my bike and an invoice to be paid. Anyway, I had been without my bike for over a week, and after braving the commute to work on the tube, I was just happy to get back on the road.