Good Flapjack Tuesday morning bike racers! I hope you all can understand how it is to be a pregnant bike racer now...after yesterday's workout. Now, I want to see some empathy from here on out. Oh... Swooning?? Now that yer here a readin' this Ol' Blog... we thought we'd welcome you by posting yer iPod contents in the sidebar. Thanks for your contribution even if you are a bit of a drag.
Now Ol' Curly had to glue on his track tires last night. Curly hates gluing on tires. It's messy and takes a helluva long time to git the tire just perfect. Now I know what yer sayin'... "But Curly... you can use that cool tape" or "I have a way that's better..."... and I'll say "shut yer gluehole!" Ol' Curly likes to do it the ol' fashin' way. 2-3 coats on the rim, 2 on the tire... let it git tacky... stretch it on, get glue all over your hands... pump up the tires... try like hell to git it straight. It's the way it's always been done. For road tires you use a pressure sensitive, softer glue and for track you use a harder glue... you don't mess with tried and true methods... especially on yer track bike.
Now Ol' Curly had to get him some glue over the weekend. The fine folks (really it was just Carl) at B-Dub hooked Ol' Curly up with their last tube of Mastice. While Curly was there he got to witness the bain of every bike mechanic's life... the "I was just ridin' along" customer... the 2 fellers before me both had bikes and we're talking with mechanics... both said the same thing about their issues... "I was just ridin' along". Now "Just ridin' along" seems to cause all sorts of problems... from a broken brake lever... to flat tires... bent frames... cracked helmets... even broken sunglasses. Now both mechanics used this approach to help their respective customers.
- Let the customer know that you'll help them... and that you know that THEY did something to their bike...
- Ask "did you hit something?"
- Ask "are you sure? Cuz I noticed... INSERT OBVIOUS CUSTOMER-CAUSED ISSUE HERE
- Tell "Ok... let me get it on the stand"
- Ask "Are you sure you didn't hit something or drive it into a bridge on your rack?"
- Fix problem
Using this approach will get the customer out the door and on his (ladies don't seem to have these issues) bike. The only step I left out is the step where you educate the customer on how to NOT ride like a jackass and hit stuff and to pump up yer tires before rides...
Your Training: I want you to practice NOT "just riding along". This is the one time I want you to be careful to NOT do something. You see... "just riding along" is too dangerous... and on those nice matching Bontrager Carbon Aero Super Comp wheels... you just can't afford the problems that "just riding along" causes. Have fun at PR folks... I'll be helping some customers figure out that the reason their review work isn't done yet is because they haven't spent time on it and NOT because it's too hard or they don't understand it. Here's something creatively brilliant for you to buy. CLICK HERE
7 comments:
What's with all the not racing? Product placement, doctor visits, helping customers...can't you get your priorities straight? Rory and Dave are counting on your Tues-Thurs contributions to their kids' college funds....
yeah I know... I'm muckin' up their business models. They count on out-of-shape. Things will be on the up and up now that the yard project/shower/baby's room is done. Tonite is a work-related mishap...
I used the "I was just riding along" line when I cracked my Arione. I then explained that the riding had occurred on the root-riddled BGT and Perf said ok. Like I'm going off jumps on my rain bike!? What do they expect?
fatass...
JRA...
JRA...
The best JRA stories are archived over in Big Jonny's forum...
okay not all the best...
but there is nothing... nothing to get a mechanic chuckling than listening to a tool trying to explain just how it 'broke' as he was.... "just riding along"
so when you walk in with a broken part and reply to the "how'd it happen" with "just riding along" the mechanic will get a twinkle in his eye and nod sympathetically, oh yeah... just riding along...
Oh and... take a look at a shop's warranty bin... Often the tags will have in big letters: JRA
ahhh...
amazing how nostalgic one can get from those simple three words...
JRA... I totally forgot about that. That and POS for service tickets...
Andrew: I'm riding the same circa 1992 Flite Ti saddles and I have yet to break one... and I have some kgs on you dude... I think you're just too damned big for carbon rails.
It didn't break on the rails, it's the "wing-flex" that cracked. It was a cold night, so maybe the plastic shell of the saddle got brittle, but I apparently hit the root hard enough while seated to crack it. I thought my post had slipped beacuse the thing sagged a good 1/2" in the middle.
Swear to god JRA. I worked in a shop for a couple years. My favorite was the messenger who brought in the Specialized shoes where the heal had worn through. Dude rode a fixed gear and used his heal as breaks somehow.
Post a Comment