Tech - Technique
Information Coming soon!
Technique, finesse, panache, responsibility, KNOWLEDGE! I'd take knowledge for it leads
to proper technique, knowing when to finesse, and when your panache will be
the saving grace.
Bicycle components will only work how they are supposed to work. Grab a hammer
and take it to your bike, it will probably break. And the hammer will continue doing
what it is designed to do, smash things. Hammers can be used on bikes to fix them provided
the hammer is the right kind, used in the proper way, and for a designated purpose.
The problem is never how to abuse or mistreat something but how to give it the respect,
consideration, and nurturing it needs to perform.
My point is simple: there are tools, there is knowledge, and there are designed uses
for products. If a product is abused, mistreated, or used in a manner not
consistent with its intended application, capabilities, or design then
it will break. Same with your body, it can only work how it is designed to work
and if it is subject to conditions outside of the expected operating
parameters, something will fail.
So what does this mean? A lot in the biking industry, perhaps more than other industries.
Many companies are making many components. So many different "standards"
if such a thing existed. A quick look at headset "standards" over the last
few years shows dozens of "standards" that are incompatible with anything
else. You could put one of those systems on a non-compatible bike
using a hammer and reamer, make it usable. Well, it might function but it won't
perform, usability is relative.
No shit, General Dumbass! What do you expect will happen when you use something
that isn't compatible with something else!? Part of the appeal in the biking industry
is all the different ways of doing something without the hassle of worrying about
following someone else's standards. Innovation is definitely sparked without such
constraints but it usually comes at the expense of effectiveness, repairability,
and longevity.
This happens every day in the biking industry just like the above not-so-fictional
scenario. Crap components manufactured to some arbitrary standard that isn't
defined or acknowledged by anyone else in the industry. Those same components are
speced on new and custom bikes. Some bike shops continue the joke by willingly choosing
to either ignore or disregard manufacturer's advice and use the junk anyway.
Only a fool would think this is productive for the client or the industry.
The customer purchases product X because the manufacturer or shop says it is compatible
with product Y and Z. In reality it doesn't stand a chance of performing
or even working well, it is only "compatible", it will function.
Give me a hammer and some duct tape and I can make anything
"compatible" with anything else on a bike. It's a bit juvenile using a hammer
but the marketing campaigns and slick advertising tactics are nothing more than a hammer
cloaked in fancy words.
Then Joe Schmoe is pissed at the (mechanic) because the stuff doesn't
work properly. Like the mechanic is to blame for some piece of shit company making
the all-too-frequent piece of shit and then touting it like it's the best
thing since sliced bread and it isn't even a slicer or bread!
Rider responsibility is the cause of many problems. The number of people who have
been riding bikes for decades yet don't know how to "ride" them is appalling.
Can't shift, can't handle, can't do anything more than pedal a bike in a straight
line...why is it
a surprise their bikes keep breaking or never seem to work properly.
A 10-hour iron distance triathlete doesn't know
how her bike shifts, a top-level athlete with top-of-the-line components who doesn't know how their
bike shifts, endless lists of people who should know better.
As a mechanic, I can offer my valuable, legitimate insight. When I build a new bike I do
not like to take it for a test ride. I want the customer to be the first to ride their bike.
Some employers have lamented this decision but they are wrong. I don't like to take
bikes for test rides to diagnose problems for the same reason. Why? You ask a doctor when
you have health concerns because they are the experts. On the contrary, they can easily
hurt, maim, kill, or disable someone because they have so much
knowledge about making people healthy that the converse, knowing how to hurt people,
is equally true. Fortunately there are not many doctors scheming to hurt people.
I'm not a doctor but I know how to ride a bike, how to shift, how to
handle it, how to ride up and down staircases, take jumps, go off drop-offs, do anything
that any moderately skilled bike rider can do. Knowing and understanding how the various
components and systems
work and interact with each other, I can take a perfect bike
and make it not work on my test ride or take a bike that doesn't work and somehow
get it to function on a test ride. The riding style is paramount to
diagnosing and correcting problems as much as the mechanical aspect.
I have an advantage because I know how things work and can make
accommodations for substandard performance, products, or services. The average bike
rider does not have this skillset at their disposal but they
still need to be responsible for their equipment, how it works, the selection,
interaction, and long-term usability. The bike shop won't dare say these
or those parts are incompatible, they will make the sale the priority.
EXAMPLES
I repaired a Pro woman's
front derailleur no less than six times during a race weekend. The real problem was the
aftermarket pieces of crap chainrings that continually
snagged the chain during shifts and wrapped it in the front derailleur (she was on her second
front derailleur, she destroyed her first one). And she had just gotten the bike
overhauled/rebuilt with new stuff, not so much a serious test ride before the stage race.
She can ride her bike however she wants but the bike will only function as it's
designed and those front chainrings weren't compatible with her riding style
(and the other components on the bike, too).
I test rode it several times without a problem but she could cause the problem
almost immediately. I ended up filing, deburring, and polishing every tooth
with a fine file and emery cloth, this was only marginally effective. Part of the solution
was understanding how the chainrings worked and adapting the riding/shifting
style to match.
The mechanic-to-blame is often true. The condition of some bikes "coming
from the shop" places blame squarely on the mechanic but there are just as many cases
when the rider is at fault. Being the scapegoat for all the problems
someone has on their bike because some shit-for-brains bike store sold
them a bunch of very expensive crap, didn't set it up properly, or is incompatible
with other parts wasn't enjoyable. Nor was the
implication that I was responsible for the problem since I couldn't fix it.
One such scenario had me fixing another front derailleur. 99%+ of the
time I get it right the first time, maybe some minor tweaking after that. For bad bikes,
I might have another go
at it. Never have I done a repair a third time when the equipment is functioning properly.
This rider couldn't shift to the large front chainring. I made some adjustments that
were certain to solve the problem. It worked great on the stand but he came back minutes
later saying it wasn't working. Put it on the stand again, made some very minute adjustments,
it worked fine again, and sent him away. He came back a third time saying it still wasn't
shifting into the large chainring. Put it on the stand again and noticed
it WAS in the large chainring. Diagnosis: rider error.
It probably worked fine the whole time.
As an aside, front shifting is a huge issue and I wish mechanics would take the time
to read and follow the instructions. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! The most completely mechanically-inept
consumer, after reading the instructions on how to install a front derailleur, will
do it better than 95%+ of shops with their "professional" mechanics, no
word of a lie. That is what you are up against as a consumer, mechanics who are too
haughty to read instructions.