Quoted message said:Phil Lee said:Quoted message said:Andrew: I think this depends entirely upon the type of
personalities employed, as well as that of the owners. I have no
problem performing minor miracles in front of a customer, but no
way do I feel comfortable doing frame alignments or even some of
the more dramatic wheel truings when someone looking over my
shoulder. It's just me. I don't even like hearing loud noises
coming from the shop area. Things that you & I know are normal may
not appear so to the customer.
Quoted message said:I agree. I am on the side that wants customers out in the showroom.
Quoted message said:Today I performed a wheel true that had been written up as
minor... it was definitely not minor. The wheel was off by about an
inch on each side from nominal. Although slamming wheels on the
ground to get them back straight doesn't sound like a good idea, it
has worked wonders in the past. With some moderate slamming today,
I was able to get this wheel to within 2mm before even turning a
spoke wrench. Lateral true was perfect, and radial hop was at most,
1mm, and only in one spot.
I cringe at the thought of this archaic and crude method. It is
highly uncontrolled and requires an inflated tire to prevent rim
damage, a condition under which truing is difficult anyway.
There was no rim damage, even though the tire was deflated prior to
"banging."
Quoted message said:Never bang the wheel on the ground! I suspect that those who do so,
sell "the Bicycle Wheel" but believe that is for amateurs and do not
recognize that there are well controlled methods for straightening
lateral wows in rims.
It has proven effective, very fast, and so far has yielded a high success
rate.
Quoted message said:Place the wheel on the floor with the deviation downward and press
down on the rim at the 1/4 points on either side of that place, if
necessary with both knees on the rim with extra sturdy rims. This
works best with a wheel that is still near its operating tension.
I have tried this using my feet with little success. I have tried to use
wooden blocks also, with little success. I believe that with my low weight,
I'm unable to generate the high peak forces that cause the rim to yield,
even with slight jumping on the rim.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:If the customer were there, there is no way I would have done it,
unless I went out in the back behind the shop, where there isn't a
non-marring surface against which to slam the wheel. So instead of
going and telling the customer that they needed a new rear wheel (we
don't do rim swaps unless the customer asks because it takes too
long), we save them ~$70 and fix it with brute force, which I know
many of us can agree won't have a measurable detrimental effect on
the overall longevity of the wheel.
The reason you don't want the customer to see this is because you
cannot justify and explain the method in any reasonable manner... and
you are aware of that even though you don't want to admit it. Banging
wheels on the ground is an old wive's tale that has no merit. This
can accomplish nothing that isn't better done with measured control.
For a shop that doesn't have the time or manpower to devote to techniques
that take far longer, costing the shop money, it can. With 1, 2, or 3
employees present in the shop at any one time, and 60-90 new bikes sold a
month, it's difficult to spend the maximal time and effort that even I would
sometimes like to give to any repair or bicycle build.
Quoted message said:Just as many restaurants have demonstration kitchens that prepare in
full view of diners, bicycle shops need to develop trust between
customer and the repair shop. Watching a skilled mechanic fix a
bicycle is a kind of magic that is worth presenting to customers.
Jewelers have done this for years.
Again... time = money. If it gets the job done, finesse takes a backseat to
utility. If this were a higher-end wheel, I wouldn't use this technique.
--
Phil, Squid-in-Training
