Taking over the bike shop...

[Big John]

I look at your photos and wish I worked in a place as tidy as that 👍. The bike charity where I work as a volunteer is huge and it's like working in one enormous scrapyard. The workshop has recently become an extension of the stock pile of bikes, which maybe runs into a few hundred but it would be impossible to count them the way they are stacked. You've obviously got good ideas and a plan of how you want it to look and I think it's great what you've achieved so far.

The essentials we have that you may or may not have (and this list is by no means exhaustive) are :

A compressor for quickly inflating tyres
A heavy duty vice
A bike washing machine. Looks a bit like a huge baby bath!
Specialist tools such as a hanger alignment tool, headset press, bottom bracket threading tool, etc.
An ultrasonic digital cleaner. Cleans parts like nothing else.

Keep on top of clutter too. At our place if we see a space it gets filled. I was in on Wednesday this week and couldn't reach the tools on the board because of stacked bikes. Couldn't reach the compressor either. I ended up picking up a workstand and working outside. I take my own tools because trying to find stuff at our place is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Carry on doing what you're doing and you won't go far wrong 👍

 

[Andy in Germany]

I look at your photos and wish I worked in a place as tidy as that 👍. The bike charity where I work as a volunteer is huge and it's like working in one enormous scrapyard. The workshop has recently become an extension of the stock pile of bikes, which maybe runs into a few hundred but it would be impossible to count them the way they are stacked. You've obviously got good ideas and a plan of how you want it to look and I think it's great what you've achieved so far.

Hi @Big John, and thanks. It's taken a lot of arguing and tidying to get it to this stage; on my first day I had to spend a couple of hours clearing out the mess so I could actually use a corner of the workshop, then another hour looking for tools; the previous mechanic used it as a hobby room, and after he stopped, the clients couldn't keep even that level of organisation.

I've also thrown a lot of stuff out, which was where a lot of the arguing came from.

I have one advantage; the scrapyard end of the department, where the bikes are delivered, is in another town and I have one or two lads there who just take bikes to bits for a couple of hours a day, bless them. I'll take a picture of that at some point, although I have to say that's improved too since we started a system so they know what to do with the parts.

The essentials we have that you may or may not have (and this list is by no means exhaustive) are :

A compressor for quickly inflating tyres
A heavy duty vice
A bike washing machine. Looks a bit like a huge baby bath!
Specialist tools such as a hanger alignment tool, headset press, bottom bracket threading tool, etc.
An ultrasonic digital cleaner. Cleans parts like nothing else.

That's an interesting list, thanks. We had a compressor, but it turned out it belonged to the previous mechanic. As soon as I knew that I bought two good quality track pumps and put the compressor in storage. I personally dislike compressors. I prefer a hand pump because I feel I'm less likely to damage the tyre/wheel because I'll notice a trapped tube quicker; compressors eat space, and the hose always seems to find its way across the workshop floor like a escapist snake to become a trip hazard, and if they're in the same room as me they're noisy, especially when they start automatically because I forgot to switch it off and then they make me jump. There's no logic to this, just personal preference.

We may get another one, one day; if and when we move we may get hooked onto a line from the wood workshop, but in that case I'll want the compressor in another room, preferably soundproofed, with the connection coming from the ceiling.

The heavy duty vice or lack thereof is an issue: the one I have isn't bad, and there's a more solid one in the wood workshop. If all else fails I take the offending bolt or BB to the other town when I pick up bikes and use the vice on the car workshop there, or as happened last week, the impact screwdriver.

We have a hanger alignment tool, currently dumped in a drawer with other specialised tools that really should be in wall brackets. I'm working on that.

A bike cleaner has been suggested although I don't know where we'd put it, I've wondered about an ultrasonic cleaner as well. Do they really work?

Thanks again for the positive comments...

 

[Big John]

The ultrasonic digital cleaner does work but they come in a multitude of sizes. Ours looks like a small deep fat frier and you can get rear mechs, chains, brake calipers, etc in it but not chainsets or bigger. The compressor we have is, believe it or not, silent until you use it. Blows a tyre up in a couple of seconds. It's not a huge one but does the trick. It has a spring-like hose (like a huge slinky) but it can still get in the way if left out. We don't have health and safety at our place so slips and trips aren't considered in our place, sadly ☹️

The bike bath is useful but it's pretty bulky and if room is an issue then I'd skip it. It's not an essential but ours gets used a fair bit.

Every time I go to our place I initially wonder why I'm there because it really is a s*** tip and if I didn't take a lot of my own tools I'd be there most of the day looking for tools instead of getting the job done. I can't see it ever changing, which I try not to think about because it depresses me but I do love fixing bikes so I grin and bear it.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I'm sorry to hear that @Big John; I started by taking my own tools but I'm replacing them gradually whenever I make an order.

Health and safety wasn't considered important by the previous mechanic, and some of the clients came from cultures where the concept isn't really understood in the same way as here. I'm quite strict, which some people probably think is overdone, however I work on the principle that the person who is responsible for something is the one who makes the decision. in the bike workshop that's me unless my boss specifically says otherwise.

 

[Andy in Germany]

So this was the situation on Friday:

Just arrived this morning to find this:

 

[classic33]

So this was the situation on Friday:

View attachment 655527

Just arrived this morning to find this:


View attachment 655526

Sold, I hope?

 

[Andy in Germany]

Sold, I hope?

So do I...

 

[Andy in Germany]

So do I...

Just checked. All sold.

I made a list of bikes checked and sold since I started; I thought it would be about eight to ten after all the complaints but i's well over 20 bikes so far.

 

[CharlesF]

Those looked like excellent bikes, I’m not surprised they sold so quickly. Congrats!!

 

[Andy in Germany]

Interesting day today. Sorted out a "Break even" bike; an ugly clunker with the full works; plastic canti brakes and steel rims that nonetheless can be made to work and sold at cost price do someone has transport. It'll go for about 45€. Ironically it takes longer to fix this because of the worn/cheap parts but we can't charge much for them, so it may be worth bumping up the more expensive bikes to cover this.

In fact, maybe I could actually advertise the more expensive bikes on that basis, that for every 'nice' bike like sold, we sell another bike at a 'discount' below our costs to someone who needs one. Food for thought there.

I also got some interesting pushback from my client; I've started a weekly meeting where I keep minutes so I can refer to it, and also show where we are progressing (or not). This wasn't popular and this week I moved it from my clients work area to my work area so they couldn't wander off and fiddle with bikes, which gave a very interesting result, especially when a conflict came up.

I've started posting a list each week of the bikes we are working on, and when I'm away longer, a programme of bikes to work on for the week. This is necessary because one issue under the previous mechanic was that the shop/organisation management didn't really know what was being built or repaired, or even how many bikes were being produced every day.

My client really doesn't like this and is trying to avoid following the list and grab random bikes to work on instead; I'm pretty sure I know why this is and it has more do do with my client than the situation, so I'm being quite strict, and today was the day I had to confront them on this. They didn't like it but it's going to happen...

 

[All uphill]

Interesting day today. Sorted out a "Break even" bike; an ugly clunker with the full works; plastic canti brakes and steel rims that nonetheless can be made to work and sold at cost price do someone has transport. It'll go for about 45€. Ironically it takes longer to fix this because of the worn/cheap parts but we can't charge much for them, so it may be worth bumping up the more expensive bikes to cover this.

In fact, maybe I could actually advertise the more expensive bikes on that basis, that for every 'nice' bike like sold, we sell another bike at a 'discount' below our costs to someone who needs one. Food for thought there.

I also got some interesting pushback from my client; I've started a weekly meeting where I keep minutes so I can refer to it, and also show where we are progressing (or not). This wasn't popular and this week I moved it from my clients work area to my work area so they couldn't wander off and fiddle with bikes, which gave a very interesting result, especially when a conflict came up.

I've started posting a list each week of the bikes we are working on, and when I'm away longer, a programme of bikes to work on for the week. This is necessary because one issue under the previous mechanic was that the shop/organisation management didn't really know what was being built or repaired, or even how many bikes were being produced every day.

My client really doesn't like this and is trying to avoid following the list and grab random bikes to work on instead; I'm pretty sure I know why this is and it has more do do with my client than the situation, so I'm being quite strict, and today was the day I had to confront them on this. They didn't like it but it's going to happen...

Good work Andy.

Ever heard about form, storm, norm and perform? Sounds like you are going through those unavoidable stages

 

[CharlesF]

Boundaries and rules are essential (even if people don’t like them) as .they are a reference point that will be appreciated once understood

 

[annedonnelly]

In fact, maybe I could actually advertise the more expensive bikes on that basis, that for every 'nice' bike like sold, we sell another bike at a 'discount' below our costs to someone who needs one. Food for thought there.

Great idea. Like my Elephant Bike purchase sending another to Malawi. As a consumer I'd be interested in that.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Thanks for the comments on here, it's very encouraging. Without going too much into the Office Politics of the situation, there are a few people in the organisation who are very sceptical about people with a professional qualification in my role, and I frequently have to either justify what I'm doing or let them "explain" why I'm doing it 'wrong'.

Good work Andy.

Ever heard about form, storm, norm and perform? Sounds like you are going through those unavoidable stages

Yes, I know the concept. The first two are increased exponentially with our clients, and I have to accept we may never reach the final stages at a team level, and do my best to help the individuals.

Boundaries and rules are essential (even if people don’t like them) as .they are a reference point that will be appreciated once understood

Thanks for the reminder; it's encouraging that I'm not the only one thinking this. This is another point that becomes even more important when dealing with the Psychological issues some clients are carrying.

I need to sort out a few admin jobs today and then take a client to collect a stack of bikes to the triage department and hopefully swap them for a lot of nicely prepared parts and a couple of shinyish bicycles.

 

[Milkfloat]

Great idea. Like my Elephant Bike purchase sending another to Malawi. As a consumer I'd be interested in that.

I think Andy would need to know more about his current and future customers. If they are rich and altruistic enough then it could be great, if however, they are looking for a bargain or just plain hard up they may not want to or cannot visibly subsidise others.