Any damage caused by this?

[Weegie]

Earlier this week, I got my first rear pun**ure a hundred yards away from the LBS. I was in a hurry, so I asked the owner if he could fix it to save me a few precious minutes. (Lame I know, but I've never fixed a p*e before). He kindly obliged and wouldn't take any money, so I bought a replacement tube, thanked him profusely, and went onwards with my journey.

A half-mile down the road, the chain flies off while changing into top gear on the rear cassette. I figure he's perhaps knocked the rear derailleur when refitting the QR wheel. I continue my journey avoiding top gear, and get home 7 miles later.

Upon inspection, the rear QR skewer had not been engaged properly on one side, and the wheel was sitting at a scary looking angle - no clearance between the tyre and seat stay on one side, 4cm clearance on the other. The skewer had also forced the seat stays apart by perhaps an additional 1 cm.

So, wheel refitted correctly, and everything back to normal. I'm not particularly annoyed with the LBS, he was doing me a favour and I should have checked closer when the chain came off.

But - is any permanent damage likely to have been caused by riding a few miles with the rear wheel mounted at an angle like this? Anything I should check more closely?

 

[yenrod]

What do you expect for a freeby ????????

 

[hodsgod]

If the bike rides smoothly probably no damage, did you check the drop outs for damage?

 

[Banjo]

I know the guy did you a favour but if he cant even put a wheel on straight I wouldnt let him near my bike.

 

[MrRidley]

Just out of interest, can you tell me which shop it was, as i think it might be one of two that i know.

 

[fossyant]

No damage, but I always check wheel alignment anyway (old duffer here).....

 

[swee'pea99]

Nice bloke - good for him. Pretty basic mistake, for sure - not good. But it was a kindly act, so cut him some slack. As for damage, absolutely not. Bikes are more robust than that. Bikes are really basic mechanics. You can tell damage. You can see it. If it rides ok now - and I'm sure it does - it's ok.

 

[Weegie]

Thanks everyone, the bike rides great now, so it's probably fine. Just needed some experts to reassure me .

As for the LBS - I was in a hurry, so it's possible he didn't quality check his work as he would normally do on a regular service job. I think his kindness outweighs the daft mistake in this instance.

 

[Globalti]

I disagree - his carelessness could have cost you a lot or caused you an accident.

If he calls himself a mechanic he should be doing his job with proper care and attention. Read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance if you want to know more about bad mechanics who damage other people's machines by not paying attention and not approaching the job with care.

 

[on the road]

Well maybe next time you'll consider doing it yourself, lesson learned me thinks.

 

[normgow]

The bike you're working on is yourself.

 

[Weegie]

Well maybe next time you'll consider doing it yourself, lesson learned me thinks.

Yeah, what was I thinking, asking a bike shop to fix a bike...

 

[Tynan]

if we weren't there we don't know, OP admits to rushing and perhaps hurrying the bloke in the shop

rider has to take final responsibility for their bike, barring perhaps noobs getting on a new one

 

[Riverman]

At the end of the day just think about how anyone would feel going into complain about that.

It wouldn't be on would it? So is he really to blame for this? My gut feeling says no.