Service

This one might be called a standard tune-up, complete service, full service, comprehensive inspection, etc. Or it could be called corrective maintenance. It all depends. It always depends.

Schedule this in advance, as always as you can.

You and/or your bike will get 60 minutes of my undivided attention. Usually spread out in smaller chunks. When I get the bike, if I haven't done it already, I'll scope out the work and let you know what I'm going to do, and give you an estimate of total cost with parts and labor included. You'll authorize the work. Sometimes this happens in person, but sometimes it happens later via text or email or phone.

If the bike needs more parts or labor than I've estimated, I'll get in touch with you to discuss it and authorize (or not) the additional work.

You'll always get a written description of all work performed. If I'm not doing a specific corrective task, then at the end of this I'll give you a comprehensive and detailed written report on the bike, including the condition of each part and system, and my recommendations for additional or future work.

Again, I figure out what needs doing, and do it in order of importance. If your bike doesn't need any brake work, I won't do any - I'll spend the time doing other things that needs doing. 

This service may involve one or perhaps more of the following:

• Comprehensive wheel truing and spoke tensioning

• Drivetrain deep cleaning (parts come off the bike) or replacement (parts not included). This is common for heavily used urban transport bikes. If you grab the chain of your bike and your hand comes back covered in oily sludge, it could take the whole 60 minutes to clean it up. 

• Installation of new shift and/or brake cables, inner wires and/or housing (parts not included)

• Installation new brake pads (parts not included)

• Headset bearing service (includes new standard ball bearings, but not cartridge bearings)

• Bottom bracket bearing service (includes new standard ball bearings, but not cartridge bearings)

Stuff brakes, we fix it. Stuff wears out and stops working correctly, and starts makes other parts wear out faster - we replace it.

This gets it's own section, but really it's just 15 minute service.

A flat fix usually involves

1. Inspecting the wheel, tire, and inner tube.

2. (Often) removing the offending thorn or glass or whatever.

3. Installing a new inner tube.

Sometimes you'll need new rim tape, or a whole new tire. Sometimes it's hard to tell ahead of time. If we try to rush, steps 1 and 2 get slighted. Ask any mechanic they've ever installed a new tube but left the thorn in the tire, and then punctured the new inner tube immediately. If they say no, they are lying.

TLDR

This does four five good things:

1. Keeps your drivetrain well lubricated and working smoothly.

2. Reduces the time your bike is in the shop. 

3. Keeps your skin and clothes and bike clean.

4. Increases the lifespan of your drivetrain components, and likely other components as well. More chains in rotation => great longevity.

5. Gets your bike in the shop once a month, give or take. Getting my hands on your bike regularly is best way to keep small issues from becoming big issues.

How it works

Here's the set-up: you buy two or more chains for your bike. They all get cleaned and waxed. If you bike is grungy, it gets cleaned too. One chain goes on the bike, the other(s) go in our chain closet. Now...

1. As you ride the wax will wear off. Riding volume and conditions affect how long the wax lasts. You can supplement between swaps with a wax-based drip lubricant. 

2. Whenever you feel like it, ride into the shop. We'll swap the chains and you'll be out the door super quick - no scheduling needed, even on the weekend. 

3. Meanwhile, we'll re-wax your first chain and hang it in the chain closet, ready to be swapped in next month, or whenever you come for it. 

This system should work, right? I want it to work. Let's make it work.

Why it works - blah blah blah blah blah...

This is how I understand it, but I'm sure my understanding is incomplete. I hope it's not just plain wrong. I'm sure the engineers out there in interwebville will LMK.

Chains effectively elongate as they wear. Eventually a chain elongates enough to affect the way it fits on the teeth of the front chainrings and rear cogs. When this happens, the chainrings and cogs begin to wear as well. Liquid lubricants applied to the outside of the chain don't always get deep inside where they need to. Even if they do get there, they bring contaninents (dust and dirt) with them. The liquid lubricant and the dust and dirt combine to form a sort of grinding paste, which hangs out on the chain and increases the wear on the chain, rings, and cogs.

One way to solve this problem is to remove the drivetrain components periodically and clean them thoroughly. This is a messy and time-consuming process. If you've ever tried to clean a bike chain, you konw how it goes: use a solvent or degreaser to pull the lubricants and contaminents out of the chain. Remove the solvent. Wash, rinse, repeat. You watch more black stuff drift out of the chain into the solvent. Skip the rinse, just do another round in the solvent - more black stuff. And again, and again. Less each time, but it's still in there.

Submerging a clean bicycle chain in a mix of hot wax and lubricating additives for 15 minutes gets the slippery stuff deep inside the chain, where it needs to be. When the chain cools, the wax solidifies and holds the lubricants in place. I think the wax itself does some lubricating too, but it also keeps contaminents out. The wax left on the outside of the chain flakes off and falls away, or stays put, doesn't really matter. Either way the chain is left dry. No sticky liquid lubricants to turn to sludge, no oily marks on your calves or clothes.

The people who sell you the wax say it lasts roughly 200 to 300 miles, but I think you can go longer. You'll know it's time because it will start making "dry sounds." Remember you can supplement between chain swaps with a wax-based drip lubricant.