Midnight bike mechanic

On May 10, 10:04*pm, Andre Jute wrote:

95 minutes spent looking for a quick-link that fell into a flower-pot,
an hour wasted discovering that SKS made the split rivet too short to
go through the mud flaps we fitted front and rear, and so on.

I dropped one down the kitchen drain once. Turns out, I can take an
under-sink J-trap off and put it back on again faster than I can
change a Schwalbe Marathon tire.

On 11 May, 02:47, Andre Jute wrote:
On May 10, 11:13*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:



"Andre Jute" wrote in message

....

Today I gave my bike its annual wash, and between 3pm and midnight,
with a break for dinner, also managed a few other little jobs, with
the rest to be completed tomorrow.

For those 9 hours, if I sent my bike to be detailed at a bike shop, I
woulda been ripped at least EURO 225, plus the hours required to
change the gearbox oil and the front tube (put a standard Schwalbe T19
in because I didn't have a 19A superlight, which has now arrived), and
to take all the bolts out, put anti-seize on the threads, and torque
them up right again.

Call me confused; let's say you spent 8 hours on the bike and feel that 225
euros would have been a rip-off for such work? How much do you make/hour,
including whatever benefits you receive (health insurance or whatever)?

It's been 35 years since my time has been available by the hour.
You're right, of course; it was a thoughtless comment; I withdraw it.
-- AJ

For anyone else, 225Eu is a rip off for work that should be able to be
completed in a couple of hours by a competent bicycle mechanic. Then
again, the specified work request would be so peculier that they'd
lump on 40Eu just to get their heads around it.

On May 10, 7:04*pm, Andre Jute wrote:
On May 11, 1:53*am, Jay Beattie wrote:





On May 10, 3:13*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:

"Andre Jute" wrote in message

....

Today I gave my bike its annual wash, and between 3pm and midnight,
with a break for dinner, also managed a few other little jobs, with
the rest to be completed tomorrow.

For those 9 hours, if I sent my bike to be detailed at a bike shop, I
woulda been ripped at least EURO 225, plus the hours required to
change the gearbox oil and the front tube (put a standard Schwalbe T19
in because I didn't have a 19A superlight, which has now arrived), and
to take all the bolts out, put anti-seize on the threads, and torque
them up right again.

Call me confused; let's say you spent 8 hours on the bike and feel that 225
euros would have been a rip-off for such work? How much do you make/hour,
including whatever benefits you receive (health insurance or whatever)? Or
what do you charge for speaking engagements?

How does one spend nine hours cleaning a bike? *Using Q-tips?
Enquiring minds want to know. *I could clean my bike and repack every
last beaing in less than two hours. *It helps that all the bearings
are sealed except the hubs, but still . . . *throw in wheel truing,
chain change, new cassette, even tape the bars. *Nothing takes that
long on a bike any more. *Back in the day, you could spend nine hours
because there were endless things to buff and adjust and fuss over.
Having a bong and some bicycle friends over also prolonged things.--
Jay Beattie.

95 minutes spent looking for a quick-link that fell into a flower-pot,
an hour wasted discovering that SKS made the split rivet too short to
go through the mud flaps we fitted front and rear, and so on. -- Andre
Jute- Hide quoted text -

As I have grown older, the time I spend looking for things has grown
exponentially. Not that I have become terribly addled, although that
is part of it. It is mostly because I am thinking about five things
at a time and forget where I put a tool or a part or even my cup of
coffee.-- Jay Beattie.

On May 11, 3:40*am, thirty-six wrote:
On 11 May, 02:47, Andre Jute wrote:



On May 10, 11:13*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:

"Andre Jute" wrote in message

....

Today I gave my bike its annual wash, and between 3pm and midnight,
with a break for dinner, also managed a few other little jobs, with
the rest to be completed tomorrow.

For those 9 hours, if I sent my bike to be detailed at a bike shop, I
woulda been ripped at least EURO 225, plus the hours required to
change the gearbox oil and the front tube (put a standard Schwalbe T19
in because I didn't have a 19A superlight, which has now arrived), and
to take all the bolts out, put anti-seize on the threads, and torque
them up right again.

Call me confused; let's say you spent 8 hours on the bike and feel that 225
euros would have been a rip-off for such work? How much do you make/hour,
including whatever benefits you receive (health insurance or whatever)?

It's been 35 years since my time has been available by the hour.
You're right, of course; it was a thoughtless comment; I withdraw it.
-- AJ

For anyone else, 225Eu is a rip off for work that should be able to be
completed in a couple of hours by a competent bicycle mechanic. *Then
again, the specified work request would be so peculier that they'd
lump on 40Eu just to get their heads around it.

Depends of what the annual wash entails. If its cleaning surfaces,
adjusting shifters and brakes, cleaning chain and oiling pivots. That
would be anywhere from $40 to $80 bukcs in the US. If you want bearing
repacking or cartridge replacement, and changing cables, housing and
handlebar tape, truing wheels, etc the price will go up, and it can go
up a lot depending on the price of cartriges to be replaces and
cables, housing and bar tape chosen. A friend changed his handlebar
tape and got some fancy Nokion cables and housing on his bike and had
to take a second mortgage on the home.

My point is that an annual bike cleaning has a range of meanings. The
most basic is wet and soap the frame and components, rinse, and oil
moving parts. On the other end, you have the removal of everything,
wash thoroughly, replace worn things with the highest end possible
replacement and careful lubrication and reassembly. Between these
extremes, you have a range of intermediate services.

I'd bet that the EU$220 annual service is slightly more involved than
the basic cleaning.

On 11 May, 20:32, " wrote:
On May 11, 3:40*am, thirty-six wrote:



On 11 May, 02:47, Andre Jute wrote:

On May 10, 11:13*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:

"Andre Jute" wrote in message

...

Today I gave my bike its annual wash, and between 3pm and midnight,
with a break for dinner, also managed a few other little jobs, with
the rest to be completed tomorrow.

For those 9 hours, if I sent my bike to be detailed at a bike shop, I
woulda been ripped at least EURO 225, plus the hours required to
change the gearbox oil and the front tube (put a standard Schwalbe T19
in because I didn't have a 19A superlight, which has now arrived), and
to take all the bolts out, put anti-seize on the threads, and torque
them up right again.

Call me confused; let's say you spent 8 hours on the bike and feel that 225
euros would have been a rip-off for such work? How much do you make/hour,
including whatever benefits you receive (health insurance or whatever)?

It's been 35 years since my time has been available by the hour.
You're right, of course; it was a thoughtless comment; I withdraw it.
-- AJ

For anyone else, 225Eu is a rip off for work that should be able to be
completed in a couple of hours by a competent bicycle mechanic. *Then
again, the specified work request would be so peculier that they'd
lump on 40Eu just to get their heads around it.

Depends of what the annual wash entails. If its cleaning surfaces,
adjusting shifters and brakes, cleaning chain and oiling pivots. That
would be anywhere from $40 to $80 bukcs in the US. If you want bearing
repacking or cartridge replacement, and changing cables, housing and
handlebar tape, truing wheels, etc the price will go up, and it can go
up a lot depending on the price of cartriges to be replaces and
cables, housing and bar tape chosen. A friend changed his handlebar
tape and got some fancy Nokion cables and housing on his bike and had
to take a second mortgage on the home.

My point is that an annual bike cleaning has a range of meanings. The
most basic is wet and soap the frame and components, rinse, and oil
moving parts. On the other end, you have the removal of everything,
wash thoroughly, replace worn things with the highest end possible
replacement and careful lubrication and reassembly. *Between these
extremes, you have a range of intermediate services.

I'd bet that the EU$220 annual service is slightly more involved than
the basic cleaning.

The sort of service you latterly describe is of course what is done to
a racing bike generally pre-season. In a lot of cases though the only
parts needing to be replaced would be normal consumables such as
chain, brake blocks and derailleur pulleys. But as these are used, it
is as well to leave these items until they have worn out their service
life. This probably applies more to expensive brake blocks than
anything else. I think the obvious expense to which Jute has gone on
his ideal bike has influenced the cost of service.

D'you know the Great War joke about the message sent mouth to mouth:
"Send reinforcements, we're going to advance," which reached the other
end of the line as, "Send three-and-sixpence, we're going to a
dance." (Effing headquarters toffs, never in the fight, always up the
daughters of local squires...)

Read what I said below. I did the work myself. Then I estimated 9
hours at a (low) hourly guestimate of 25 euro an hour, total 225.
Within a handful of messages that has morphed into Trevor treating it
as some sort of set charge for servicing my bike...

Yo, Trevor -- and the rest of you on this hiding to nothing too --, no
professional mechanic will be as slow as I am.

On May 10, 3:31*am, Andre Jute wrote:
Today I gave my bike its annual wash, and between 3pm and midnight,
with a break for dinner, also managed a few other little jobs, with
the rest to be completed tomorrow.

For those 9 hours, if I sent my bike to be detailed at a bike shop, I
woulda been ripped at least EURO 225, plus the hours required to
change the gearbox oil and the front tube (put a standard Schwalbe T19
in because I didn't have a 19A superlight, which has now arrived), and
to take all the bolts out, put anti-seize on the threads, and torque
them up right again.

Old Mr Jeffers, who worked behind the counter of the sports shop now
run by his son, once said to a tourist who demanded pre-stretched
fishing line, "Sir, if you don't have time to stretch your own line,
you don't have time to fish." I reckon everyone should make time to do
some work on his bike; it is a peaceful experience that settles the
mind.

Andre Jute
Swami

On May 11, 5:15*am, Brian Huntley wrote:
On May 10, 10:04*pm, Andre Jute wrote:

95 minutes spent looking for a quick-link that fell into a flower-pot,
an hour wasted discovering that SKS made the split rivet too short to
go through the mud flaps we fitted front and rear, and so on.

I dropped one down the kitchen drain once. Turns out, I can take an
under-sink J-trap off and put it back on again faster than I can
change a Schwalbe Marathon tire.

I know what you mean. The undersink J-trap would probably take me half
a day, by the time I've found my sliding pliers and the stopcock to
turn the water off (Shouts of, "You don't need to." Exactly, chaps.)
before discovering it isn't necessary and the bit fell into the
vegetable basket anyway...

Thing is, Brian, you don't know what pain is. Most people have only
one kitchen drain. My wife has hundreds of flower pots, hanging about
with gaping maws, their only function in life to swallow small parts
off my bikes. I'm about to order some more of those quicklinks so I
can have a spare the next time I drop one. Well, actually, I ordered
some in January, and received them, and paid for them, but now can't
find them... Typical.

When my family see me put the bike up on the stand, they start picking
up torches to search the floor for dropped crucial small parts without
which the bike doesn't go together again. That's why I like the Chevy
small block so much: anyone with a primary school education can
assemble it, and it is impossible to assemble wrong, and none of the
parts are fiddly. You'd think that after all these years bike
component designers would learn a lesson.

Andre Jute
Reformed petrol head
Car-free since 1992
Greener than thou!

On May 11, 3:26*pm, Jay Beattie wrote:
On May 10, 7:04*pm, Andre Jute wrote:





On May 11, 1:53*am, Jay Beattie wrote:

On May 10, 3:13*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:

"Andre Jute" wrote in message

...

Today I gave my bike its annual wash, and between 3pm and midnight,
with a break for dinner, also managed a few other little jobs, with
the rest to be completed tomorrow.

For those 9 hours, if I sent my bike to be detailed at a bike shop, I
woulda been ripped at least EURO 225, plus the hours required to
change the gearbox oil and the front tube (put a standard Schwalbe T19
in because I didn't have a 19A superlight, which has now arrived), and
to take all the bolts out, put anti-seize on the threads, and torque
them up right again.

Call me confused; let's say you spent 8 hours on the bike and feel that 225
euros would have been a rip-off for such work? How much do you make/hour,
including whatever benefits you receive (health insurance or whatever)? Or
what do you charge for speaking engagements?

How does one spend nine hours cleaning a bike? *Using Q-tips?
Enquiring minds want to know. *I could clean my bike and repack every
last beaing in less than two hours. *It helps that all the bearings
are sealed except the hubs, but still . . . *throw in wheel truing,
chain change, new cassette, even tape the bars. *Nothing takes that
long on a bike any more. *Back in the day, you could spend nine hours
because there were endless things to buff and adjust and fuss over.
Having a bong and some bicycle friends over also prolonged things.--
Jay Beattie.

95 minutes spent looking for a quick-link that fell into a flower-pot,
an hour wasted discovering that SKS made the split rivet too short to
go through the mud flaps we fitted front and rear, and so on. -- Andre
Jute- Hide quoted text -

As I have grown older, the time I spend looking for things has grown
exponentially.

How do you know you've become middle-aged, middle-class, altogether an
embarrassment to the lean, mean, liberal scholarship go-getter you
once were? Hell, I wasn't just a liberal, I was an actual, state-
certified revolutionary. It's real simple. When your family gets
****ed off with you for not knowing what you want for birthdays and
Christmas, you should take a long hard look at yourself in a
convenient mirror. You have too much stuff, too much clutter in your
life.

*Not that I have become terribly addled, although that
is part of it. *It is mostly because I am thinking about five things
at a time and forget where I put a tool or a part or even my cup of
coffee.

I don't see why you feel sorry for yourself. I've been like that all
my life, since I was a boy, and I believe other artists are too, their
minds always elsewhere.

We carry altogether too much irrelevant clutter in our minds. We
should clear it out, to make space for actual thinking. One of the
advantages of the internet is that you no longer need to remember all
that crap you once learned off by heart to make you a professional:
you can instantly recover it.

Andre Jute
The advantage of backwardness (this is a doctrine in economics that
I'm applying to the mind tabula rasa).

On 09/05/10 7:31 PM, Andre Jute wrote:
Today I gave my bike its annual wash, and between 3pm and midnight,
with a break for dinner, also managed a few other little jobs, with
the rest to be completed tomorrow.

For those 9 hours, if I sent my bike to be detailed at a bike shop, I
woulda been ripped at least EURO 225

snip

I got ripped off by the Toyota dealer the other day. $19.50 to change
the oil which took them only about 20 minutes. The wholesale cost of the
bulk oil was probably only about $3 and their cost for a Toyota filter
is about $2.50, so $14 went to the dealer and the ASE union mechanic.
That's about $42 an hour. I'm going to write a letter to someone about
this but I'm not sure who to write to.

What's worse is that the coupon price was $18.88 but they could not get
their system to accept a price under $19.50 for an oil change so I paid
62¢ more than the coupon price (the coupon was from another dealer, but
my dealer price-matches).

Of course for me to change it, I'd pay $11 for a gallon of conventional
oil (maybe more because it's 5W20) plus $5 for a Toyota filter and drain
plug gasket, so it'd be about $16 in parts and at least an hour and a
half with clean-up.

On 12 May, 00:13, Andre Jute wrote:
D'you know the Great War joke about the message sent mouth to mouth:
"Send reinforcements, we're going to advance," which reached the other
end of the line as, "Send three-and-sixpence, we're going to a
dance." (Effing headquarters toffs, never in the fight, always up the
daughters of local squires...)

You thieving git, it was three and fourpence. Did you get an extra
can of bully for your tuppence?



Read what I said below. I did the work myself. Then I estimated 9
hours at a (low) hourly guestimate of 25 euro an hour, total 225.
Within a handful of messages that has morphed into Trevor treating it
as some sort of set charge for servicing my bike...

Yo, Trevor -- and the rest of you on this hiding to nothing too --, no
professional mechanic will be as slow as I am.

On May 10, 3:31*am, Andre Jute wrote:

Today I gave my bike its annual wash, and between 3pm and midnight,
with a break for dinner, also managed a few other little jobs, with
the rest to be completed tomorrow.

For those 9 hours, if I sent my bike to be detailed at a bike shop, I
woulda been ripped at least EURO 225, plus the hours required to
change the gearbox oil and the front tube (put a standard Schwalbe T19
in because I didn't have a 19A superlight, which has now arrived), and
to take all the bolts out, put anti-seize on the threads, and torque
them up right again.

Old Mr Jeffers, who worked behind the counter of the sports shop now
run by his son, once said to a tourist who demanded pre-stretched
fishing line, "Sir, if you don't have time to stretch your own line,
you don't have time to fish." I reckon everyone should make time to do
some work on his bike; it is a peaceful experience that settles the
mind.

Andre Jute
Swami

Stop writing with ambiguity then.