An honest mechanic who isn't out to fleece the customers will always have a great reputation in town. That being said maintaining a mountain bike isn't really cheap especially if you have to use the shop to do it.
Where I live I would run out of bikes before shop would have it ready, and not really an advanced shop like Mapdec, I got all the tools they got I think, all special stuff they send to a service centre in Oslo. So even if I did not want to I would have to work on it myself, but the cost saving in the long run is worth it, but investing in tools initially comes with a high price tag, but once good investments were made they last a logn time and get your money worth. Most work is easy. But good there are shops that can fix bikes. But I'm glad I know what to do and how to do it.
Yeah these guys are far more advanced than my LBS. I only need them on more complex issues and say I end up with a broken bike in one form or another and have to work out how to fix what they mullered. Even over torqued a derailer hanger and stripped the threads. Wish I was local to these guys.
The biggest problem with the bike in video? Using a pressure washer to force dirt and water deep into expensive parts. This can ruin a bike from day 1 and do it quickly.
When i was a young cyclist 13yrs old there was a shop in Walton called Walvale Cycles and the mechanic Norman Roberts (rip) would save any useable 2nd hand parts for us young lads who jad no money and neither did our parents. He would build wheels for us out of bits and basically kept us cycling. That was over 50 years ago and thankfully im in a position to pay it forward a little bit. That young lad will remember that hopefully for as long as i remember Norman.
Hell yes, you did the right thing. I was lucky, when I was growing up. We were always very poor. The owner/mechanic at my local bike shop was an awesome guy. I would bring my bike in only when I didn't know how to do the repair myself. John could tell by the look on my face that I couldn't afford it. His solution was to have me come in when he was doing a similar repair and he taught me how to do it myself. He was one hell of an awesome guy.
The right answer is your honesty your attention to detail your empathy 14 year old is learning from you so much how to maintain his bike properly and PG a customer for life i applaud you Mapic.
When I was a lad 60+ years ago your bike was precious, it was your freedom and I could be out all day with my mates on it. You had to learn how to keep it going, a new tube was out of the question, I had patches on the patches. Nowadays kids bikes are almost disposable items, I see them just thrown away. OK, a high end mountain bike is a bit special. I still ride and my early fix it skills have served me well. You did a good job, thanks for the video.
I love this channel and you are a great mechanic with high skills but also high empathy for the customer. I’m also not a native English speaker and today I learned what pay it forward means. So many thanks for everything!
Old guy get off my lawn rant incoming and here goes... I'm 56 and raced motocross starting when I was 8. When I got to be 10 my dad told me that "if I'm old enough to race my bike, then I'm old enough to maintain it". He showed me how to change piston and rings on my YZ 80 and helped me the first couple of times, but after that I was on my own. So by the time I was 13 I was doing all of my own top end, carburetor, tires and tubes (my dad had to help with getting tires on and off) and just general maintenance. This was 1977 and while I was fortunate to have a dad who could show me, I had no other tools to help if I got stumped. Today, whatever you are trying to do, there is a You Tube video or some other help at the click of a few buttons. Mom (and hopefully dad) need to tell this young man the exact same thing because most of the problems were caused by a lack of simple maintenance and just a few hand tools, grease and the desire to do it were all that was needed.... Phew, now I feel so much better.
💯 the right thing to do. A few Ghetto fixes to get him back on the road and the budget for the important bits 😊 I regularly get remedy's in (3 mate's ride them) although a bike shop quoted a customer 40 quid for a dub BB service as it had play turned out the compression washer wasn't wound in or the grub screw wasn't to torque 😮 (no charge) Full swap sram code to xt brake replacement plus components, I even repaired the downtube protection with glue and full service and tune up. We need to do better and look after the little guy/ future privateers pay it forward 😊😊
I partly agree, it is preferable that we have adults teaching this stuff as well as the responsibility, but we don't live in the same world that we grew up in. Lots of people just don't have any grasp of preventative maintenance and are taken by surprise that mechanical things wear out, including with bikes. I have had the conversation more than once in my life, it's not just kids or gen z or millennials either, it has been my parents and their generation as well. You point out to them that they have to get their cars serviced and MOT'd, but it's an alien concept to them that other things are going to wear out in the same way. And while we're getting frustrated by young people and kids and their lack of nous over 'obvious' things like how to do basic DIY or write a cheque, remember that for every boomer moaning about young people, there are a thousand boomers who can't manage utterly trivial tech tasks like email, messaging, online banking, setting up wi-fi, resolving login issues, and not falling for phishing scams.
I've got a box full of bells to donate to customers without (a working) one, mostly used on kids bikes. Couple of batteries here and there, bit of oil on the chain, air in the tires, adjusting a headlight etc.. Small gestures but always greatly appreciated. Got us customers, entire families even, for life
If it wasn‘t that expensive to ship my bikes from Germany to your shop, I would have finally found my mechanic of trust! Great job and thanks a lot for your content!
A nice change to hear an honest mechanic thinking about the customer and not their profit. I get shops have to make money, but ripping people off isn't on. Yes people can get very picky about things needing changing but think about the customer and their budget, a refreshing video this one. Great customer service like this goes along way.
I'm 16 years old and about to get a job as a bike mechanic. The service manger thats training me has told me the same thing you said at 9:55 so I feel confident this is a good store thats not just trying to charge people more than they need to. I appreciate that as I've been in this situation before where my bike needed repair, but I couldn't afford it cause a shop was trying to charge me for things I didn't need. I told them never mind and fixed my bike the best I could by myself, which has lead me to want to me a bike mechanic. Great video, stoked for my new job!
I do all my own work including building up my own bikes. Self taught over the years. The only thing I don’t work on are Fox fork and rear shock dampers. The main reason being expensive proprietary tools. I even build my own wheels now. The amount of money and time I save is incalculable. During the lockdowns, the shops had two week waiting lists whereas I was up and running within the day. Point being, you can control your world best you can, or you have to rely on others for simple things you can do yourself. Most people lack the desire to learn and then do. Not everyone needs to be able to build their own bikes, but if they did the basics, they’d be much happier. Almost everything you want to learn is on UA-cam as others have commented.
Good job. I'm doing the same. I even intend to work on the fox forks so that I don't need to rely on others. First job will be swapping the air shaft (for a longer travel one) when I do a lower leg service...
For paying it forward everyone, may all your dreams come true, there are still decent people in our society which are both humbling and a beautiful thing, cheers 😊
Fairness all round I feel. Your work still cost the customer around £400-£450, and there were still issues to be monitored for the future, in fairness their original quote wouldn’t have been far off BUT… I would have had them as advisories, worked on the things that were crucial for safe operation, much like yourself. Being fully transparent and honest is paramount for my customers as that builds TRUST. Great little video, good job on that too😃👍🚴
The video shows the difference between shops that take the "it's worn ..put new on then" and the "it's worn...lets refurbish it then and save money" attitude. One shop doesn't need the hassle as the customer will just pay if they want it fixed. The job in/job out syndrome I call it, with the least hassle for the shop. The other shop does the work that's needed to fix it, but does that little bit extra on attention and detail, which gives them a bit extra hassle but ultimately gives the customer better service. One shop is a "halfords" and the other is a shop with mechanics in it.
I appreciate your practical, no-nonsense approach to jobs like this one as well as your comprehensive, high-end service to the customers who can afford it. Knowing the difference and acting accordingly is what makes your shop tops!
I took my whole bike , ORBEA Rise to Fox suspension workshop and they said “ oh people don’t usually bring the whole bike for a suspension service “ but they accepted it and charged £329 for both and they put the bike back together afterwards too 😂👍🏾
Oh wow, got a bit emotional watching this, so awesome job. You remind me of the bike shops that used to look after me when I was an aspiring road racing kid in the 80s. I owe so many favours to those shops who knew I could hardly afford anything but yet they helped me anyway in so many ways. It's a pity that all of them are now gone but I'll be forever grateful.
Love the video. You guys did what the customer NEEDED to keep riding not what what you wanted to get it back to it’s best, often a difficult situation to navigate. The idea of a “pay it forward” fund to help out customers in a situation like this while still covering your labor costs is sublime! It’s more like your community pitched in to get them riding again, pure genius. I’ve had so many services get out of hand because I feel like I have to do my best work. Sometimes it’s an awkward call to get the work approved, other times we comp the labor and they’ll just pay for the parts, others we’ll cover everything just to help out. Love all your videos, it’s like the little mechanic in my head egging me on to be better everyday!
Basically some bike shops are like car garages and that’s scam shops, I’ve had one in my town who would quote for work that’s not required. I learned many years ago to learn how to fix you own bike and pretty much everything can be done from UA-cam videos, however in saying that you and your shop sound fantastic and I love your compassion for the customers situations, very rare nowadays.
great work. Best thing being the advice on looking after his bike and not pressure washing. 🤞he listens and is educated by mum to appreciate the "pay it forward" scheme. 👏👏👏
If LBS's ever wonder why nobody goes to them any more, this explains why. I've been fleeced so many times by LBS's. The key is to learn to do things yourself and, over time, buy the necessary tools. What you will pay for quality tools will be a fraction of what an LBS will charge you, and over time the costs will go down. 975 quid is a total joke. Well done to you for doing good for this young lad and his mum. We need more LBS's like you!
Well done. These are honestly the things how kids learn kindness and how to be humble, kid will remember this for ever. Its a great feeling to memorize things from years back and just be glad about it. Half the money saved, kid can ride atleast one season safely and fix things as they go, not needing to spend a grand at once.
Massive respect. I remember when I was 14 and I could barely afford my bike. And I would always try and work on it and balls it up. Well done guys. Your best video yet imo
Exactly how I treat my customers. Always give them options - cheapest = get them up and running, but expect to come back in a few months, or expensive = get all issues resolved and as close 'as new' as possible. Honesty is always the way ! . Cracking channel keep up the good work
£977 seems steep so you used your head and did what was essential to get the bike rideable and safe. You recognised the owners means so hopefully your honest assessment will lead to repeat business. A pressure washers is fine for cars etc. but not for bicycles or even motorcycles. Good job, well done.
Great video, I am an ex instructor/center owner so was the bike maintenance gaffer too, for hard tails and full suspensions bikes, hire only ever broke even even with 30 hire bikes always on hire. Repairs became a large part and like this example people bought used bikes which was fine, the amount of times we headed to the bike bin and replaced parts was steady. I like the idea of the pay it forward. The amount of junior riders that came through the shop from struggling house holds was a lot. I normally did repairs for free and got them to pay by keeping the trails and car parks litter free, help out on trail repair days. So in kind.. I still meet these riders now 20 years on, with the own family out on trails. a forward attitude does workout.
For the "pay it forward," I honestly didn’t think the original quote was that bad, but I’m glad you got the lad rolling again and saved his mum some money.
So much knowledge in this man’s head! It would take me HOURS of reading to figure out where to start taking that shock apart and he did it straight off the bat! Great customer service and great ethos! 👍
Great work. Not only does this reinstate some faith in humanity, but I also know that keeping youngsters inspired by riding, especially in a day and age of extortionate costs in the bike world, making it not accessible to many, is an excellent way of keeping them fit, healthy and out of trouble! Great work
Fellow mechanic here. Totally love and relate to your ethic regarding listening to the customers needs and understanding their situation. Absolutely love the pay it forward fund idea, just brilliant. Thanks for another great video.
why do i always see and hear people pressure washing their bikes? it's like smoking. EVERYONE knows it causes damage but people continue to do it. as for you guys. it's great you're thinking of the customer and not trying to milk them for all their worth. which is why i never take my bike to a bike shop and do it all myself. i do a better job and i'm not getting cheated. good on you guys for helping this lad and his mum out.
When I was fifteen years old, I just had to do all the maintenance myself on all of my (very) second-hand bikes on a very limited budget, albeit on road bikes. It was a very useful lesson in "engineering sympathy". This was a Very Good Thing. 😁😁
I love what you did there. Just like you said, not everyone wants the best, the most expensive, the new. If bike is safe, rides good, keep riding it. Loved this video for so many reasons. Listening to customer and sensing their situation is a value on it's own. Kudos to you. Subscribed.
14:08 "the original quote from the other bike shop was probably about spot-on" appreciate you saying this, it would have been easy to give a narrative that "this other bike shop tried to rip them off!" rather than just not being on the same page about only wanting the absolute bare minimum to make it rideable
The key is you made it safe, informed him of what will need doing in the near future so that he can save up, educated him on the perils of jet washing but more importantly got him back on the trails. Sounds like a good result. 👍
Nice job! It's funny what you say about pressure washers. The ones at Bike Park Wales are so powerful they look like they could cut your hand off. You usually see long queues of people lined up to murder their bikes with them. It's quite painful to see :-(
MTB can be a pretty expensive hobby, the last thing you need is a mechanic that is out to rip you off. I remember my bike needed quite a bit of work and I kept putting it off and putting it off as I wasn't doing to well financially at the time. In the end I had to bite the bullet and took it to a guy that was local to me. I couldn't believe how genuine he was and it ended up costing me around half of what I was expecting. My bike was given back to me in perfect condition and I could tell that he really cared about his job and the community as a whole. I passed his number to anyone that was willing to listen to me and every single person got back in touch and thanked me for sharing him with them and now use him regularly. That is how people should run their business and karma will always come to those that take advantage of others.
I was doing everything for my bike when I was riding. I just googled and youtubed everything. Haven't done downhilling for like 12 years, so can only imagine how much more helpful content is out there now. I only took it to a bike shop when I didn't have a tool was that cost more than the part lol. Edit: I was about 14 when I started
this is the way to do it, i always have offered customers the option of a no expense spared service to get the bike as good or better than new, or the "make the bike safe and just keep it rolling option". They always remember the time you pulled them out of the shit when they were skint and you end up with a customer for life, never understood the crazy quotes some shops and workshops throw about.
This is class when I was younger. Are used to get ripped off by my local bike shop as I don’t think they were used to the sort of bike I bought in and I remember saving up for years for my bike and it was never done properly. Lovely to see stuff like this.
I was once that teenager boy with a single mum who didn’t know better. I don’t recall being taken advantage of, but my heart broke when you shared the backstory. Thank you for your integrity.
3 місяці тому+1
Yes, splendid; you believe in looking after your customers. The lad should've been well pleased!
Wow, this industry has changed. I was bike mechanic in my late teens/early 20's back in the early 2000's building 3-4K custom builds for the suits in Canary Wharf. Back then i couldn't imagine a repair coming to £900 plus unless the customer was making significant upgrades like a new high end fork or an xtr group set 😂 Back then I was paid the princely sum of £6hr!
One shop wanting the bike to be as good as new loses a future customer, while another gains one by doing what they can to get it working as well as possible without fleecing the customer. Probably advising against using a jet wash as well. My local shop was owned by two guys. One mainly the mechanic, who kept all old servicable parts, and the salesman. The former retired, leaving the shop to the latter who just wanted to sell new, when you tried to get spares. They lost me. On a side note, I really like to use Hope headset caps, they add a bit of bling and are British. BUT, I also use Ritchey stems and owing to the positioning of the steerer clamp bolts, you need a spacer above the stem for these to be compatible. Which looks rubbish. Anyway, a great video and one happy customer. Did he buy a chain bath to help with more kind bike washing in future, with the money he saved?
Whats a pay it foreward fund? I think you did the right thing with regard to the cost/benefit. Always a tricky issue. Well done on looking after the customer and reading the situation
Laughed my socks off when I watched the GCN YT vid on "Can /Should I jet wash my bike, just like to say thanks to the GCN channel for all the work they created for me as a Pro bike Engineer. Great vids by the way bro nice to see someone doing it right! Do it right or don't do it is the way!
I am glad that I have my own service facility and do suspension in - house . My TREK is running beautifully . I rode her this morning . She is well loved and cared for . The Bontrager babies are calling !
Just doing a fixie at the shop for a customer. Bike looks like its prolly worth a couple of quid and they wanted a service with install of the all new parts they chose. Everything at around 550€ which seems a pretty crazy considering what the bike itself is worth, but it's not always about money. Including some little extras here and there for free on top of the whole deal to have a happy possibly returning customer.
Love that ❤️ I’d have been blown away as a young lad to receive such help, but my local bike shop owner was a miserable git! I hope that he appreciates it and STOPS JETWASHING!
I think you made the right call on what was critical to getting the bike back on the trails. I have been in the same situation with an older mountain bike, the first Specialized Enduro full suspension bike. At some point, it is not worth pumping absurd amounts of money into old tech, but money might be tight and just making the old girl ride worthy again is the perfect answer. For a couple hundred bucks, I got the bike back on the trail and then someone bought it knowing it would need more work down the line.
I like this fix! Gets the rider back in working order and you can use the positive interaction to pass along helpful tips and what to look out for in the future. If I were that customer I'd continue coming back over and over.
50 yrs old now and when I was a kid, I tried to do my own maintenance because my family was poor and couldn't afford to pay others to do things for us. I agree that the best path is to show the kids that failing to maintain properly causes big costs in the future. As a kid, I paid attention when someone told me something like that 90% of the time. For the other 10% that I didn’t take the advice, when the bill came, I learned the hard way and knew I had myself to blame. Sometimes learning the hard way causes you to remember the lesson better. Just my 2 cents.
You did the right thing! I started cycling as a young lad with a very tight budged. I learned to do all the work myself, because i could either afford shop cost or new parts. I invested in good tools and some books how to maintain and build bikes. Later i worked as a bike mechanic while studying to become an engineer. This bike is what, 4K upwards? I saw this often in my bike shop and with buddies. They saved money to get the fanciest ride but then weren't able to afford replacement parts or even a shock pump for their fork. Fancy expensive bikes falling apart little by little. When i was on a budget i rode a hard tail which i slowly upgraded and tuned. And guess what? I was much faster in the mountains than my buddies with badly maintained expensive bikes. A rich guy once told me: If you're thinking about how to afford a Ferrari, you can't afford it.
Top job.... although goes to show a lot of people don't appreciate the cost of maintaining a bike can be a lot.... The main reason back in the day we steered our lad towards a hard tail. He can buy a full suspension bike when he can afford to maintain it.
I really appreciate what you did, 6 years ago when I was a child my father took the money that I had saved for a new bike from school competitions and typing tourneys and used it on hookers. At the time I had a bike which I found on our neighbour's property’s junk pile and took it to the bike shop to fix it up. The Bike mechanic was very nice to include a new derailleur, chain and labour costs for free after I told him that I only had $150. He only quoted $120 for the new airless tyres, spokes, brakes and wiring. He was a very nice guy and I really appreciated what he did for me. However, my dad began cursing, yelling, and threatening him, I really wanted to thank him but I couldn’t because of that day. So if the attitude of the parents might be not nice, the child would always feel more understanding and appreciative. Speak to the child if the parent becomes childish.
OK.. where to begin, I began racing road at an early age, fixing my own bike by 15yrs old, doing this for race events and even my older brothers bike, maintenance & repairs (he was a provincial road champ)... l went from racing to team mech to running a bike shop to having a world renowned bike brand national agency... I agree with others in that one should be able to service and maintain their own machine, however that being said not all of us are mechanically minded so spare a thought for that... As for this bike shop video, which I have no relationship with, what he's done here is a damn good job to help a not so great situation for a this bikes owner... so thumbs up to this bike guy... great job man, great job.....
An honest mechanic who isn't out to fleece the customers will always have a great reputation in town. That being said maintaining a mountain bike isn't really cheap especially if you have to use the shop to do it.
Where I live I would run out of bikes before shop would have it ready, and not really an advanced shop like Mapdec, I got all the tools they got I think, all special stuff they send to a service centre in Oslo. So even if I did not want to I would have to work on it myself, but the cost saving in the long run is worth it, but investing in tools initially comes with a high price tag, but once good investments were made they last a logn time and get your money worth. Most work is easy. But good there are shops that can fix bikes. But I'm glad I know what to do and how to do it.
Yeah these guys are far more advanced than my LBS. I only need them on more complex issues and say I end up with a broken bike in one form or another and have to work out how to fix what they mullered. Even over torqued a derailer hanger and stripped the threads. Wish I was local to these guys.
The biggest problem with the bike in video? Using a pressure washer to force dirt and water deep into expensive parts. This can ruin a bike from day 1 and do it quickly.
Especially when full services are required on front and rear suspension.
@@mtbboy1993 Worked in Gausdal as a mechanic last year. UK is pricey, but there was another level expensive, and parts were hard to get.
Doing my bit to pay it forward. A few shops like yours did me many favours as a youth racer in the 80s, so thank you.
Many thanks 🙏.
Awesome 👌
When i was a young cyclist 13yrs old there was a shop in Walton called Walvale Cycles and the mechanic Norman Roberts (rip) would save any useable 2nd hand parts for us young lads who jad no money and neither did our parents. He would build wheels for us out of bits and basically kept us cycling. That was over 50 years ago and thankfully im in a position to pay it forward a little bit. That young lad will remember that hopefully for as long as i remember Norman.
I used to love that place. Had a Walvale Musette for many years.
For the pay-it-fwd fund. You guys rock!
Wow. Thank you so much.
Awesome!
Nice. Lovely gesture 👏
That’s cool
what a legend
Hell yes, you did the right thing.
I was lucky, when I was growing up. We were always very poor. The owner/mechanic at my local bike shop was an awesome guy. I would bring my bike in only when I didn't know how to do the repair myself. John could tell by the look on my face that I couldn't afford it. His solution was to have me come in when he was doing a similar repair and he taught me how to do it myself. He was one hell of an awesome guy.
Love that.
Wonderful bicycle businessman .
great to see the focus on the customer before the profits. Well done!
Thank you. That is really generous
The right answer is your honesty your attention to detail your empathy 14 year old is learning from you so much how to maintain his bike properly and PG a customer for life i applaud you Mapic.
For the pay it forward fund! Bless you guys!
Thank you 🙏 that’s really generous.
Loved your approach to the lads MTB and as ever love your content. Thanks
thats a real nice ride for the kid. very lucky to have such supporting parents
Hats off for your work and mindset
When I was a lad 60+ years ago your bike was precious, it was your freedom and I could be out all day with my mates on it.
You had to learn how to keep it going, a new tube was out of the question, I had patches on the patches. Nowadays kids bikes are almost disposable items, I see them just thrown away. OK, a high end mountain bike is a bit special.
I still ride and my early fix it skills have served me well.
You did a good job, thanks for the video.
I love this channel and you are a great mechanic with high skills but also high empathy for the customer. I’m also not a native English speaker and today I learned what pay it forward means. So many thanks for everything!
Thank you so much. ☺️
Massive kudos for the 'Pay It Forward' fund. I hope you inspire other indie bike shops to do similar. This is community! 👏👏
Old guy get off my lawn rant incoming and here goes... I'm 56 and raced motocross starting when I was 8. When I got to be 10 my dad told me that "if I'm old enough to race my bike, then I'm old enough to maintain it". He showed me how to change piston and rings on my YZ 80 and helped me the first couple of times, but after that I was on my own. So by the time I was 13 I was doing all of my own top end, carburetor, tires and tubes (my dad had to help with getting tires on and off) and just general maintenance. This was 1977 and while I was fortunate to have a dad who could show me, I had no other tools to help if I got stumped. Today, whatever you are trying to do, there is a You Tube video or some other help at the click of a few buttons. Mom (and hopefully dad) need to tell this young man the exact same thing because most of the problems were caused by a lack of simple maintenance and just a few hand tools, grease and the desire to do it were all that was needed.... Phew, now I feel so much better.
Great comment... Spot on
I feel you
Exactly my thoughts
💯 the right thing to do. A few Ghetto fixes to get him back on the road and the budget for the important bits 😊
I regularly get remedy's in (3 mate's ride them) although a bike shop quoted a customer 40 quid for a dub BB service as it had play turned out the compression washer wasn't wound in or the grub screw wasn't to torque 😮 (no charge)
Full swap sram code to xt brake replacement plus components, I even repaired the downtube protection with glue and full service and tune up.
We need to do better and look after the little guy/ future privateers pay it forward 😊😊
I partly agree, it is preferable that we have adults teaching this stuff as well as the responsibility, but we don't live in the same world that we grew up in. Lots of people just don't have any grasp of preventative maintenance and are taken by surprise that mechanical things wear out, including with bikes. I have had the conversation more than once in my life, it's not just kids or gen z or millennials either, it has been my parents and their generation as well. You point out to them that they have to get their cars serviced and MOT'd, but it's an alien concept to them that other things are going to wear out in the same way.
And while we're getting frustrated by young people and kids and their lack of nous over 'obvious' things like how to do basic DIY or write a cheque, remember that for every boomer moaning about young people, there are a thousand boomers who can't manage utterly trivial tech tasks like email, messaging, online banking, setting up wi-fi, resolving login issues, and not falling for phishing scams.
Thank you Paul. This shows that your shop isn't all about the money. Building a relationship that may last a lifetime is the best focus.
A good honest reputation comes first .
right/wrong, the comprehensiveness and transparency is invaluable. 👍
I've got a box full of bells to donate to customers without (a working) one, mostly used on kids bikes. Couple of batteries here and there, bit of oil on the chain, air in the tires, adjusting a headlight etc.. Small gestures but always greatly appreciated. Got us customers, entire families even, for life
If it wasn‘t that expensive to ship my bikes from Germany to your shop, I would have finally found my mechanic of trust! Great job and thanks a lot for your content!
A nice change to hear an honest mechanic thinking about the customer and not their profit.
I get shops have to make money, but ripping people off isn't on. Yes people can get very picky about things needing changing but think about the customer and their budget, a refreshing video this one. Great customer service like this goes along way.
For the PIFF…keep up the great work! 🇨🇦
Thank you 🙏.
I'm 16 years old and about to get a job as a bike mechanic. The service manger thats training me has told me the same thing you said at 9:55 so I feel confident this is a good store thats not just trying to charge people more than they need to. I appreciate that as I've been in this situation before where my bike needed repair, but I couldn't afford it cause a shop was trying to charge me for things I didn't need. I told them never mind and fixed my bike the best I could by myself, which has lead me to want to me a bike mechanic. Great video, stoked for my new job!
That’s awesome. Good luck on your journey dude.
I do all my own work including building up my own bikes. Self taught over the years. The only thing I don’t work on are Fox fork and rear shock dampers. The main reason being expensive proprietary tools. I even build my own wheels now. The amount of money and time I save is incalculable. During the lockdowns, the shops had two week waiting lists whereas I was up and running within the day. Point being, you can control your world best you can, or you have to rely on others for simple things you can do yourself. Most people lack the desire to learn and then do. Not everyone needs to be able to build their own bikes, but if they did the basics, they’d be much happier. Almost everything you want to learn is on UA-cam as others have commented.
Good job. I'm doing the same. I even intend to work on the fox forks so that I don't need to rely on others. First job will be swapping the air shaft (for a longer travel one) when I do a lower leg service...
For paying it forward everyone, may all your dreams come true, there are still decent people in our society which are both humbling and a beautiful thing, cheers 😊
Great to see the pay it forward approach you take - bravo!
Massive respect for doing your best to get that lad sorted out as cost effective as possible. It’s nice to see a good honest bike shop. Brilliant work
Fairness all round I feel. Your work still cost the customer around £400-£450, and there were still issues to be monitored for the future, in fairness their original quote wouldn’t have been far off BUT… I would have had them as advisories, worked on the things that were crucial for safe operation, much like yourself. Being fully transparent and honest is paramount for my customers as that builds TRUST. Great little video, good job on that too😃👍🚴
The video shows the difference between shops that take the "it's worn ..put new on then" and the "it's worn...lets refurbish it then and save money" attitude. One shop doesn't need the hassle as the customer will just pay if they want it fixed. The job in/job out syndrome I call it, with the least hassle for the shop.
The other shop does the work that's needed to fix it, but does that little bit extra on attention and detail, which gives them a bit extra hassle but ultimately gives the customer better service. One shop is a "halfords" and the other is a shop with mechanics in it.
I appreciate your practical, no-nonsense approach to jobs like this one as well as your comprehensive, high-end service to the customers who can afford it. Knowing the difference and acting accordingly is what makes your shop tops!
Excellent content as usual and fantastic customer service. Shining example of how all bike shops should be. Well done Paul
😊
I took my whole bike , ORBEA Rise to Fox suspension workshop and they said “ oh people don’t usually bring the whole bike for a suspension service “ but they accepted it and charged £329 for both and they put the bike back together afterwards too 😂👍🏾
Oh wow, got a bit emotional watching this, so awesome job. You remind me of the bike shops that used to look after me when I was an aspiring road racing kid in the 80s. I owe so many favours to those shops who knew I could hardly afford anything but yet they helped me anyway in so many ways. It's a pity that all of them are now gone but I'll be forever grateful.
I was the same. Skint student in adventure racing and something breaks the day before a race. My local shop was so cool.
Nice. A good reminder for people that it’s wise to learn your own wrenching, at least for basic stuff.
Nice work guys, pay it forward 👍
Thank you 🙏
Love the video. You guys did what the customer NEEDED to keep riding not what what you wanted to get it back to it’s best, often a difficult situation to navigate. The idea of a “pay it forward” fund to help out customers in a situation like this while still covering your labor costs is sublime! It’s more like your community pitched in to get them riding again, pure genius. I’ve had so many services get out of hand because I feel like I have to do my best work. Sometimes it’s an awkward call to get the work approved, other times we comp the labor and they’ll just pay for the parts, others we’ll cover everything just to help out. Love all your videos, it’s like the little mechanic in my head egging me on to be better everyday!
Good job, keep up the great work and service
Thank you Martin
Basically some bike shops are like car garages and that’s scam shops, I’ve had one in my town who would quote for work that’s not required. I learned many years ago to learn how to fix you own bike and pretty much everything can be done from UA-cam videos, however in saying that you and your shop sound fantastic and I love your compassion for the customers situations, very rare nowadays.
Fair play Mapdec. Finally, a YT channel that shows customer empathy in these challenging financial times. Well done all.
Good video as usual. Shows that being a mechanic doesn’t just require wrenching skills but also people and communication skills.
great work. Best thing being the advice on looking after his bike and not pressure washing. 🤞he listens and is educated by mum to appreciate the "pay it forward" scheme.
👏👏👏
Just fantastic work all around.
I had a bike shop help me out as a kid. I never forgot that. Well done to you and your team!
If LBS's ever wonder why nobody goes to them any more, this explains why. I've been fleeced so many times by LBS's. The key is to learn to do things yourself and, over time, buy the necessary tools. What you will pay for quality tools will be a fraction of what an LBS will charge you, and over time the costs will go down. 975 quid is a total joke.
Well done to you for doing good for this young lad and his mum. We need more LBS's like you!
Well done. These are honestly the things how kids learn kindness and how to be humble, kid will remember this for ever. Its a great feeling to memorize things from years back and just be glad about it.
Half the money saved, kid can ride atleast one season safely and fix things as they go, not needing to spend a grand at once.
Massive respect. I remember when I was 14 and I could barely afford my bike. And I would always try and work on it and balls it up. Well done guys. Your best video yet imo
Exactly how I treat my customers. Always give them options - cheapest = get them up and running, but expect to come back in a few months, or expensive = get all issues resolved and as close 'as new' as possible. Honesty is always the way ! . Cracking channel keep up the good work
£977 seems steep so you used your head and did what was essential to get the bike rideable and safe. You recognised the owners means so hopefully your honest assessment will lead to repeat business. A pressure washers is fine for cars etc. but not for bicycles or even motorcycles. Good job, well done.
Great video, I am an ex instructor/center owner so was the bike maintenance gaffer too, for hard tails and full suspensions bikes, hire only ever broke even even with 30 hire bikes always on hire. Repairs became a large part and like this example people bought used bikes which was fine, the amount of times we headed to the bike bin and replaced parts was steady. I like the idea of the pay it forward. The amount of junior riders that came through the shop from struggling house holds was a lot. I normally did repairs for free and got them to pay by keeping the trails and car parks litter free, help out on trail repair days. So in kind.. I still meet these riders now 20 years on, with the own family out on trails. a forward attitude does workout.
I love how much pride you take in your work. Great job. Thanks for the content.
For the "pay it forward," I honestly didn’t think the original quote was that bad, but I’m glad you got the lad rolling again and saved his mum some money.
Thank you so much. 🙏
So much knowledge in this man’s head! It would take me HOURS of reading to figure out where to start taking that shock apart and he did it straight off the bat! Great customer service and great ethos! 👍
Thank you. 🙏
Great work. Not only does this reinstate some faith in humanity, but I also know that keeping youngsters inspired by riding, especially in a day and age of extortionate costs in the bike world, making it not accessible to many, is an excellent way of keeping them fit, healthy and out of trouble! Great work
Fellow mechanic here. Totally love and relate to your ethic regarding listening to the customers needs and understanding their situation.
Absolutely love the pay it forward fund idea, just brilliant. Thanks for another great video.
Great to see someone with a passion for their job and a duty of care towards the customer.
Refreshing to see/hear.
Thanks for helping out that young rider with your skills and kindness and empathy and tip jar. Beautiful.
why do i always see and hear people pressure washing their bikes? it's like smoking. EVERYONE knows it causes damage but people continue to do it. as for you guys. it's great you're thinking of the customer and not trying to milk them for all their worth. which is why i never take my bike to a bike shop and do it all myself. i do a better job and i'm not getting cheated. good on you guys for helping this lad and his mum out.
When I was fifteen years old, I just had to do all the maintenance myself on all of my (very) second-hand bikes on a very limited budget, albeit on road bikes.
It was a very useful lesson in "engineering sympathy".
This was a Very Good Thing. 😁😁
That, and the fact I only had to look at stuff to break it (according to my dad) made me the engineer I am today.
@@jurikristjouw You just have to know how stuff works. I get it :)
Appreciate the high level of service for all budgets. Good work 👏
I love what you did there. Just like you said, not everyone wants the best, the most expensive, the new. If bike is safe, rides good, keep riding it. Loved this video for so many reasons. Listening to customer and sensing their situation is a value on it's own. Kudos to you. Subscribed.
i would more likely move to the UK all because of his quality service and honesty. Cheers from the USA.
Thanks. It rains a lot here, but kids are a lot safer in schools.
This is beautiful, someone that really knows. Doing what the community needs.
We need more bike shops like yours. Mechanics who care and know what they are doing
14:08 "the original quote from the other bike shop was probably about spot-on" appreciate you saying this, it would have been easy to give a narrative that "this other bike shop tried to rip them off!" rather than just not being on the same page about only wanting the absolute bare minimum to make it rideable
The key is you made it safe, informed him of what will need doing in the near future so that he can save up, educated him on the perils of jet washing but more importantly got him back on the trails. Sounds like a good result. 👍
Never use a gurney on a bicycle !
Well done mate. We always had the same pragmatic approach when spinning wrenches. We've got to keep people on bikes! ❤
Nice job! It's funny what you say about pressure washers. The ones at Bike Park Wales are so powerful they look like they could cut your hand off. You usually see long queues of people lined up to murder their bikes with them. It's quite painful to see :-(
At that point, just wash them off at home, even if the mud dries!
I don't even use one on my car any more
Awesome! Big kudo's to you for finding what works vs the ideal. He'll be back when it needs more work, so will his friends.
MTB can be a pretty expensive hobby, the last thing you need is a mechanic that is out to rip you off. I remember my bike needed quite a bit of work and I kept putting it off and putting it off as I wasn't doing to well financially at the time. In the end I had to bite the bullet and took it to a guy that was local to me. I couldn't believe how genuine he was and it ended up costing me around half of what I was expecting. My bike was given back to me in perfect condition and I could tell that he really cared about his job and the community as a whole. I passed his number to anyone that was willing to listen to me and every single person got back in touch and thanked me for sharing him with them and now use him regularly. That is how people should run their business and karma will always come to those that take advantage of others.
I was doing everything for my bike when I was riding. I just googled and youtubed everything. Haven't done downhilling for like 12 years, so can only imagine how much more helpful content is out there now. I only took it to a bike shop when I didn't have a tool was that cost more than the part lol.
Edit: I was about 14 when I started
Love watching these videos. Only my 3rd so far, but IMHO these are the best produced and informative videos in the subject. Fabulous work!
this is the way to do it, i always have offered customers the option of a no expense spared service to get the bike as good or better than new, or the "make the bike safe and just keep it rolling option". They always remember the time you pulled them out of the shit when they were skint and you end up with a customer for life, never understood the crazy quotes some shops and workshops throw about.
This is class when I was younger. Are used to get ripped off by my local bike shop as I don’t think they were used to the sort of bike I bought in and I remember saving up for years for my bike and it was never done properly. Lovely to see stuff like this.
I was once that teenager boy with a single mum who didn’t know better. I don’t recall being taken advantage of, but my heart broke when you shared the backstory. Thank you for your integrity.
Yes, splendid; you believe in looking after your customers. The lad should've been well pleased!
You are definitely going to go to bike mechanics heaven. No really, you give us hope.
Wow, thank you! 🙏
Refreshing to see a mechanic/tech take pride in what they're doing and being open and honest with the service being done. Full marks lad 💯 🏆👌
Wow, this industry has changed.
I was bike mechanic in my late teens/early 20's back in the early 2000's building 3-4K custom builds for the suits in Canary Wharf.
Back then i couldn't imagine a repair coming to £900 plus unless the customer was making significant upgrades like a new high end fork or an xtr group set 😂
Back then I was paid the princely sum of £6hr!
One shop wanting the bike to be as good as new loses a future customer, while another gains one by doing what they can to get it working as well as possible without fleecing the customer. Probably advising against using a jet wash as well. My local shop was owned by two guys. One mainly the mechanic, who kept all old servicable parts, and the salesman. The former retired, leaving the shop to the latter who just wanted to sell new, when you tried to get spares. They lost me. On a side note, I really like to use Hope headset caps, they add a bit of bling and are British. BUT, I also use Ritchey stems and owing to the positioning of the steerer clamp bolts, you need a spacer above the stem for these to be compatible. Which looks rubbish. Anyway, a great video and one happy customer. Did he buy a chain bath to help with more kind bike washing in future, with the money he saved?
Great content and awesome to see you help out this family!
Tack!
tack så mycket
Whats a pay it foreward fund? I think you did the right thing with regard to the cost/benefit. Always a tricky issue. Well done on looking after the customer and reading the situation
It’s when customers pay a little more on their bill so that we build a fund for someone when they really need it.
Laughed my socks off when I watched the GCN YT vid on "Can /Should I jet wash my bike, just like to say thanks to the GCN channel for all the work they created for me as a Pro bike Engineer. Great vids by the way bro nice to see someone doing it right! Do it right or don't do it is the way!
I am glad that I have my own service facility and do suspension in - house . My TREK is running beautifully . I rode her this morning . She is well loved and cared for . The Bontrager babies are calling !
For future headset emergencies 🎉
Thank you. Heard you are having a great ski season this year.
Just doing a fixie at the shop for a customer. Bike looks like its prolly worth a couple of quid and they wanted a service with install of the all new parts they chose. Everything at around 550€ which seems a pretty crazy considering what the bike itself is worth, but it's not always about money. Including some little extras here and there for free on top of the whole deal to have a happy possibly returning customer.
These are your best videos - really useful real world stuff.
You guys are a credit to UA-cam. Thank-you much!
For the pay it forward fund
Thank you 🙏
Love that ❤️
I’d have been blown away as a young lad to receive such help, but my local bike shop owner was a miserable git!
I hope that he appreciates it and STOPS JETWASHING!
Our youth are our future 👍
I think you made the right call on what was critical to getting the bike back on the trails. I have been in the same situation with an older mountain bike, the first Specialized Enduro full suspension bike. At some point, it is not worth pumping absurd amounts of money into old tech, but money might be tight and just making the old girl ride worthy again is the perfect answer. For a couple hundred bucks, I got the bike back on the trail and then someone bought it knowing it would need more work down the line.
I really like the way you run your shop and how you do the most you can while taking into account their budget
Thank you Gary.
I like this fix! Gets the rider back in working order and you can use the positive interaction to pass along helpful tips and what to look out for in the future. If I were that customer I'd continue coming back over and over.
50 yrs old now and when I was a kid, I tried to do my own maintenance because my family was poor and couldn't afford to pay others to do things for us. I agree that the best path is to show the kids that failing to maintain properly causes big costs in the future. As a kid, I paid attention when someone told me something like that 90% of the time. For the other 10% that I didn’t take the advice, when the bill came, I learned the hard way and knew I had myself to blame. Sometimes learning the hard way causes you to remember the lesson better. Just my 2 cents.
Amazing tools, and thoughtfulness. Great combination.
This sort of customer service is lacking in so many businesses. Tell you what though, I am so glad I can do all my own bike maintenance!
Great job, Outstanding customer service. End of. Well done you realigned my faith in humanity.
Wow! This is how you build bike shop reputation, what a great job you’ve done there mate. 👍
Thanks 👍
You did the right thing! I started cycling as a young lad with a very tight budged. I learned to do all the work myself, because i could either afford shop cost or new parts. I invested in good tools and some books how to maintain and build bikes. Later i worked as a bike mechanic while studying to become an engineer. This bike is what, 4K upwards? I saw this often in my bike shop and with buddies. They saved money to get the fanciest ride but then weren't able to afford replacement parts or even a shock pump for their fork. Fancy expensive bikes falling apart little by little. When i was on a budget i rode a hard tail which i slowly upgraded and tuned. And guess what? I was much faster in the mountains than my buddies with badly maintained expensive bikes. A rich guy once told me: If you're thinking about how to afford a Ferrari, you can't afford it.
Very true. Folk forget what makes an expensive bike expensive. Like not servicing suspension and letting it wear out. Ouch.
Well done on the fix, and great content keep up the amazing work ❤
Top job.... although goes to show a lot of people don't appreciate the cost of maintaining a bike can be a lot.... The main reason back in the day we steered our lad towards a hard tail. He can buy a full suspension bike when he can afford to maintain it.
I really appreciate what you did, 6 years ago when I was a child my father took the money that I had saved for a new bike from school competitions and typing tourneys and used it on hookers. At the time I had a bike which I found on our neighbour's property’s junk pile and took it to the bike shop to fix it up. The Bike mechanic was very nice to include a new derailleur, chain and labour costs for free after I told him that I only had $150. He only quoted $120 for the new airless tyres, spokes, brakes and wiring. He was a very nice guy and I really appreciated what he did for me. However, my dad began cursing, yelling, and threatening him, I really wanted to thank him but I couldn’t because of that day. So if the attitude of the parents might be not nice, the child would always feel more understanding and appreciative. Speak to the child if the parent becomes childish.
Wow. Sounds like your bike was therapy. Hope you ok now.
OK.. where to begin, I began racing road at an early age, fixing my own bike by 15yrs old, doing this for race events and even my older brothers bike, maintenance & repairs (he was a provincial road champ)... l went from racing to team mech to running a bike shop to having a world renowned bike brand national agency... I agree with others in that one should be able to service and maintain their own machine, however that being said not all of us are mechanically minded so spare a thought for that... As for this bike shop video, which I have no relationship with, what he's done here is a damn good job to help a not so great situation for a this bikes owner... so thumbs up to this bike guy... great job man, great job.....
Thanks Nigel.