Stupid LBS tricks

A couple of weeks ago I left my bike at an LBS for a teardown and lube
(it's cheap, it's quick, and they don't have to keep going back to the
LBS for parts).

The dufus who finally did the work seems to have greased my shifters.

My /friction/ shifters.

Now every time I get out of the saddle and hammer, the varying pull on
the front der cable (because of the flex in my steel frame) tugs the
lever to a slacker position, dropping the der halfway to shifting off
the big ring, so every time I sit down I have to readjust the lever.

The tension screw is plenty tight, in case you're wondering. I should
get in there with some solvent sometime soon.

Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be wrenches.

--Blair

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
A couple of weeks ago I left my bike at an LBS for a teardown and lube
(it's cheap, it's quick, and they don't have to keep going back to the
LBS for parts).

The dufus who finally did the work seems to have greased my shifters.

My /friction/ shifters.

Now every time I get out of the saddle and hammer, the varying pull on
the front der cable (because of the flex in my steel frame) tugs the
lever to a slacker position, dropping the der halfway to shifting off
the big ring, so every time I sit down I have to readjust the lever.

The tension screw is plenty tight, in case you're wondering. I should
get in there with some solvent sometime soon.


The problem is that many (most?) shops lack "institutional memory". The
guys doing the work know nothing of 5/6/7SP bikes, DT shifters,
barends, friction shifters, etc.,etc. Also, those bikes are often
regarded as "another old, outdated POS" and are treated accordingly.

Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be wrenches.



Watch it, a posse might form! ;-)

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
A couple of weeks ago I left my bike at an LBS for a teardown and lube
(it's cheap, it's quick, and they don't have to keep going back to the
LBS for parts).

The dufus who finally did the work seems to have greased my shifters.

My /friction/ shifters.

Now every time I get out of the saddle and hammer, the varying pull on
the front der cable (because of the flex in my steel frame) tugs the
lever to a slacker position, dropping the der halfway to shifting off
the big ring, so every time I sit down I have to readjust the lever.

The tension screw is plenty tight, in case you're wondering. I should
get in there with some solvent sometime soon.

Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be wrenches.

--Blair


My LBS clamped my vintage Pinarello to a stand without using any
padding. They ruined a vintage Columbus decal.

dcg

David Griffith wrote:
My LBS clamped my vintage Pinarello to a stand without using any
padding. They ruined a vintage Columbus decal.

You shoulda strung 'em up and buried 'em with their cleats on.

--Blair
"Vintage vengeance."

David Griffith wrote:


My LBS clamped my vintage Pinarello to a stand without using any
padding. They ruined a vintage Columbus decal.

dcg

that was so you wouldn't notice where the frame was originally crimped

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
A couple of weeks ago I left my bike at an LBS for a teardown and lube
(it's cheap, it's quick, and they don't have to keep going back to the
LBS for parts).

The dufus who finally did the work seems to have greased my shifters.

My /friction/ shifters.

Now every time I get out of the saddle and hammer, the varying pull on
the front der cable (because of the flex in my steel frame) tugs the
lever to a slacker position, dropping the der halfway to shifting off
the big ring, so every time I sit down I have to readjust the lever.

The tension screw is plenty tight, in case you're wondering. I should
get in there with some solvent sometime soon.

Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be wrenches.

--Blair

I don't know where you come from, but friction shifters are SUPPOSED to
be lightly greased, especially campy ones. That wrench knows his
stuff. The grease allows the shifters to be tightened sufficiently to
achieve smooth progressive lever movement (w/o slipping) instead of
"ratcheting" action. If you can't seem to tighten the lever enough it's
most likely because your screw is bottoming out in the shifter boss, or
you have very worn shifter internals.

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
A couple of weeks ago I left my bike at an LBS for a teardown and lube
(it's cheap, it's quick, and they don't have to keep going back to the
LBS for parts).

The dufus who finally did the work seems to have greased my shifters.

My /friction/ shifters.

Now every time I get out of the saddle and hammer, the varying pull on
the front der cable (because of the flex in my steel frame) tugs the
lever to a slacker position, dropping the der halfway to shifting off
the big ring, so every time I sit down I have to readjust the lever.

The tension screw is plenty tight, in case you're wondering. I should
get in there with some solvent sometime soon.

Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be wrenches.

--Blair

I had a vintage campy freewheel removed by the LBS, because I didn't
have the right freewheel tool. The guy tried it without a vice until his
supervisor suggested putting the tool in a vice and rotating the wheel
instead. So in the vice went the tool, clamped together with a skewer,
and he turned - and turned - and turned - and turned - and turned.

I took it home and spent an hour cleaning and chasing the threads with
the only tools I had - another freewheel, picks, steel wool and
cleaners. Thankfully he only destroyed about three or four threads.

Then I bought the tool so I could do it myself in the future.

damyth wrote:
Blair P. Houghton wrote:
A couple of weeks ago I left my bike at an LBS for a teardown and lube
(it's cheap, it's quick, and they don't have to keep going back to the
LBS for parts).

The dufus who finally did the work seems to have greased my shifters.

My /friction/ shifters.

Now every time I get out of the saddle and hammer, the varying pull on
the front der cable (because of the flex in my steel frame) tugs the
lever to a slacker position, dropping the der halfway to shifting off
the big ring, so every time I sit down I have to readjust the lever.

The tension screw is plenty tight, in case you're wondering. I should
get in there with some solvent sometime soon.

Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be wrenches.

--Blair

I don't know where you come from, but friction shifters are SUPPOSED to
be lightly greased, especially campy ones. That wrench knows his
stuff. The grease allows the shifters to be tightened sufficiently to
achieve smooth progressive lever movement (w/o slipping) instead of
"ratcheting" action. If you can't seem to tighten the lever enough it's
most likely because your screw is bottoming out in the shifter boss, or
you have very worn shifter internals.

Ah, but it sounds as if the OP's bike *didn't* hava this problem before
it went to the shop. Did the screw get longer, the boss shorter or the
shifter internals wear whilst the bike was in the shop?

damyth wrote:
Blair P. Houghton wrote:
A couple of weeks ago I left my bike at an LBS for a teardown and lube
(it's cheap, it's quick, and they don't have to keep going back to the
LBS for parts).

The dufus who finally did the work seems to have greased my shifters.

My /friction/ shifters.

Now every time I get out of the saddle and hammer, the varying pull on
the front der cable (because of the flex in my steel frame) tugs the
lever to a slacker position, dropping the der halfway to shifting off
the big ring, so every time I sit down I have to readjust the lever.

The tension screw is plenty tight, in case you're wondering. I should
get in there with some solvent sometime soon.

Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be wrenches.

--Blair

I don't know where you come from, but friction shifters are SUPPOSED to
be lightly greased, especially campy ones. That wrench knows his
stuff. The grease allows the shifters to be tightened sufficiently to
achieve smooth progressive lever movement (w/o slipping) instead of
"ratcheting" action. If you can't seem to tighten the lever enough it's
most likely because your screw is bottoming out in the shifter boss, or
you have very worn shifter internals.

Dear Damyth,

I was curious, so I browsed the archives for friction shifters and
grease.

Andrew Muzi at www.yellowjersey.org agrees with you:

"Like their ancestors, Campagnolo 1013s, a nice film of oil or grease
on
clean surfaces moves easily and stays put."

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.b...5fd82737503d34

This makes sense. After all, most metal parts intended to move back and
forth against each other are better off when lubricated.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

I don't know where you come from, but friction shifters are SUPPOSED to
be lightly greased, especially campy ones. That wrench knows his
stuff. The grease allows the shifters to be tightened sufficiently to
achieve smooth progressive lever movement (w/o slipping) instead of
"ratcheting" action. If you can't seem to tighten the lever enough it's
most likely because your screw is bottoming out in the shifter boss, or
you have very worn shifter internals.

The problem might not be where the grease is, but where it isn't. If the
mechanic didn't lube the screw that tightens the shift lever, you may not be
able to get it tight enough to hold things in place.

It's also possible that things are so worn out that the only reason things
were staying in place was due to corrosion etc. Cleaning things up exposed
those issues.

Still, it's not an excuse for not discovering in the repair stand or on a
test ride that the shifter wasn't holding things in gear. Don't know if that
warrants a rant on usenet though. Could be a visit to the shop and someone
will quickly recognize and fix the problem.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

"damyth" wrote in message
oups.com...

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
A couple of weeks ago I left my bike at an LBS for a teardown and lube
(it's cheap, it's quick, and they don't have to keep going back to the
LBS for parts).

The dufus who finally did the work seems to have greased my shifters.

My /friction/ shifters.

Now every time I get out of the saddle and hammer, the varying pull on
the front der cable (because of the flex in my steel frame) tugs the
lever to a slacker position, dropping the der halfway to shifting off
the big ring, so every time I sit down I have to readjust the lever.

The tension screw is plenty tight, in case you're wondering. I should
get in there with some solvent sometime soon.

Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be wrenches.

--Blair

I don't know where you come from, but friction shifters are SUPPOSED to
be lightly greased, especially campy ones. That wrench knows his
stuff. The grease allows the shifters to be tightened sufficiently to
achieve smooth progressive lever movement (w/o slipping) instead of
"ratcheting" action. If you can't seem to tighten the lever enough it's
most likely because your screw is bottoming out in the shifter boss, or
you have very worn shifter internals.