"We don't service DIY Ebikes" said the cycle shop

[made_in_the_alps_legacy]

So... I went to a cycle shop to get my hydraulic brakes flushed and maintained :
Has soon has they saw the e-bike, they told me, "we do not service DIY e-bikes for legal reasons"

...was just wondering if it's often like that and if you had a similar experience in your area ?

[ferret]

Bleeding the brakes is within the capabilities of a A good DIYer, I bleed my own .
Maybe you could remove the brakes from the bike and give just the brakes to the bike shop?

Avner.

[John and Cecil]

You built your own ebike but you don't perform your own maintenance? Maybe Beeline will work on it if they are located near you? When they came to my home and assembled my bike (Raleigh included it with the sale)I was talking about adding the motor and he did not seem to have a problem with it and he even explained future services that I could purchase later.

Oops, just noticed you are in/near Italy. I guess there is no Beeline is there. We are moving to Italy soon, we are really looking forward to the change.

[Voltron]

Even as an ebike guy with a bike shop, there's been a few guys who's glommed together batteries were so scary and puffed but they just wouldn't listen to sense about getting rid of it that I had to send them on their way. And those guys were usually the same type that would have the whole bike covered in every kind of bell, light, bag, and trinkets ziptied all over to where you couldn't get to things.

Not implying that you or your bike are anything like that, because on the other hand some shops are just uppity, and just want any one that didn't buy a bike there, dyi or not, to just get out of their face so they get with on moving their overpriced inventory to suckers.

Disclaimer... In the era of diminishing margins from internet competition, many bike shops are going under, so if I was an owner deep in the red and looking at my stacks of unsold bikes, it might be temping keep focused on your normal, dump a lot of cash without asking you many questions type customer, who then also buy some cute matching bike outfits, and some helmets, etc, which a typical dyi guy doesn't . But those customers are getting rare... Time for a lot of shops to adapt or wither.

[hypertoric_amplituhedron]

In my area, most shops do and have been turning down any motorized bike. But, times are changing, and some of these shops have intelligent, forward-thinking employees, who do see a real future in them. All gas bikes are currently turned down, because of the Florida Man that typically comes with them. But, ebikes tend to attract a cleaner, more respectable type, and they're a lot more palatable to work on in terms of fuel leakage and McGuyver engineering.

[wturber]

So... I went to a cycle shop to get my hydraulic brakes flushed and maintained :
Has soon has they saw the e-bike, they told me, "we do not service DIY e-bikes for legal reasons"

...was just wondering if it's often like that and if you had a similar experience in your area ?

I don't know the laws in your area. I'd check one other bike shop before assuming that bike shop was giving you the straight scoop.

[Voltron]

We should all take geography into account before running down all shops of course... I could understand there being reduced fire risk, and insurance being cheaper etc if you promise to only work on factory bikes, with compliant power levels, and a liability trail, esp in EU for example.

[markz]

Just take off the hub motor and take it in, easy.
Mid drive, a bit more work to take stuff off.

[Dauntless]

Until they have people you can be sure they know what they're doing it's best they don't touch anything. They bleed your brakes, they get accused of damaging something else, they can't say they know WHAT happened.

[2old]

My LBS has treated my e-bikes (that have minimal work done there since I do most of the maintenance) just like my MTB's. They've performed wheel builds and brake work at their "normal" prices.

[Wolfeman]

There are numerous LBS in my nearby cities. Several have told me, "We don't work on ebikes..." Others are great even though my bike is a DIY one. I simply take my bike to the shops that support ebikes. Vote with your dollars, it's the only thing people seem to listen to these days. Besides, LBS that won't work on ebikes will either start doing so, or will go out of business.

[andy1956]

Copped a punture in town about a year ago and had no tools with me,pushed the bike to a local bike shop and he refused to fix the puncture,he would not even lend me the tools to remove the wheel and then me pay him for fixing the puncture

[wturber]

Copped a punture in town about a year ago and had no tools with me,pushed the bike to a local bike shop and he refused to fix the puncture,he would not even lend me the tools to remove the wheel and then me pay him for fixing the puncture

Would he sell you a tube or patch kit and the tools? How 'bout a bottle of Slime and a pump?

While it is no excuse for the bike shop, I don't understand why you didn't have the tools, spare tube and/or patch kit with you. I'm assuming you have them on the bike now? I always have the ability to fix multiple flats with me. But maybe the fact that Phoenix is spread out so much has trained me that way. The odds of being able to walk to a bike shop if you have a flat are just about zero here.

Back to the bike shop, I just don't get it. I'll stop my car or bike and check if a cyclist needs help pretty much any time I see one stopped with an apparent flat or other repair issue. That's just standard behavior - right? BTW, most cyclists seem to have the problem well in hand.

[dustNbone]

I've only come across this once, and it was one of those bike shops that might as well have said "Sales, no service" right on the front.

My actual LBS, the one that's been there longer than I've been alive, loves me and my ebike. I buy all kinds of tires, chains, cassettes, and brakes off the guy that I'd never have needed if my bike wasn't electric.

The few times that I've needed things done to the bike at the shop, I just remove the battery before I hand it over. It's a mid drive so really nothing is different as far as service is concerned, he's clever enough to know the wires are important and shouldn't be butchered.

A hub motor, especially a big heavy one, might be a different story. I can sort of understand the reluctance to want to wrestle one of those off and on.

Same thing with heavy non removable batteries, it's just starting to veer away from what they normally do at that point.

Oh yeah and if you're riding an ebike, the extra pound for a spare tube, small pump and plastic tire irons isn't going to make any difference to your normal riding performance. It will however substantially improve your recovery time/cost when you get a flat tire.

Plus you might eventually get to be smug when you fix a stranded lycramobile some day.

[wturber]

Plus you might eventually get to be smug when you fix a stranded lycramobile some day.

Its a sad lycra that doesn't carry a spare tube and pump. Between the realities of a thin tire and the potential for pinch flats with skinny tires, these guys tend to learn the lesson early. In fact, I was first exposed to the idea of carrying a spare by a friend of mine in the 70s who carried a folded and pre-assembled "sew-up" under his seat.

[made_in_the_alps_legacy]

There are numerous LBS in my nearby cities. Several have told me, "We don't work on ebikes..." Others are great even though my bike is a DIY one. I simply take my bike to the shops that support ebikes. Vote with your dollars, it's the only thing people seem to listen to these days. Besides, LBS that won't work on ebikes will either start doing so, or will go out of business.

Disclaimer... In the era of diminishing margins from internet competition, many bike shops are going under, so if I was an owner deep in the red and looking at my stacks of unsold bikes, it might be temping keep focused on your normal, dump a lot of cash without asking you many questions type customer, who then also buy some cute matching bike outfits, and some helmets, etc, which a typical dyi guy doesn't . But those customers are getting rare... Time for a lot of shops to adapt or wither.

right: it was mostly an "opportunity cost" issue,
I was not against dropping my bike there for 30min, say 1h at most and get the brakes flushed for 20bucks maybe ? ...so I got my fresh DOT liquid bottle for like 10bucks instead, ...probably 10x the volume required ...and made it myself, ...got spillage on the front brake since the bleeding nipple happened to be clogged of dirt, ...got no issue for the rear brake, voilà, ...I still hate DOT fluid

, to just get out of their face so they get with on moving their overpriced inventory to suckers.

thxs, u made my day
...'cause the background story is : I have 230mm disk and wanted to take that opportunity for a postmount-postmount brake adapter (early HFX brakes on a rockshox boxxer) - "obsolete" they said, "now it's 203mm standard" - and proposed me a 40bucks kit with the 203mm disk and the "pm-pm" adapter... and I was like... "##ck that sh## those standard change stink like a typing mistake" and I literally "just get out of their face so they get with on moving their overpriced inventory to suckers."

I've only come across this once, and it was one of those bike shops that might as well have said "Sales, no service" right on the front.

yep, this shop goes into that "Sales, no service" category now... I read all the posts and it's like "maybe, maybe not" your LBS will service your e-bike... common! those are brakes and it has nothing to do about e-bike or not e-bike

[andy1956]

andy1956 wrote: ↑
Mon Jun 04, 2018 6:37 pm
Copped a punture in town about a year ago and had no tools with me,pushed the bike to a local bike shop and he refused to fix the puncture,he would not even lend me the tools to remove the wheel and then me pay him for fixing the puncture

Would he sell you a tube or patch kit and the tools? How 'bout a bottle of Slime and a pump?

Totally refused to help at all and was totally anti e-bike

While it is no excuse for the bike shop, I don't understand why you didn't have the tools, spare tube and/or patch kit with you. I'm assuming you have them on the bike now? I always have the ability to fix multiple flats with me. But maybe the fact that Phoenix is spread out so much has trained me that way. The odds of being able to walk to a bike shop if you have a flat are just about zero here.

I live in the UK and rarely travel more than 10 miles from home and know where all the bike shops are.

Back to the bike shop, I just don't get it. I'll stop my car or bike and check if a cyclist needs help pretty much any time I see one stopped with an apparent flat or other repair issue. That's just standard behavior - right? BTW, most cyclists seem to have the problem well in hand.

[amberwolf]

I'll stop my car or bike and check if a cyclist needs help pretty much any time I see one stopped with an apparent flat or other repair issue. That's just standard behavior - right?

Around here, it isn't always safe to do that. If I'm on an off-the-main-road path, or it's not broad daylight with a lot of people and traffic around, I don't stop to help because there's just enough dangerous people that feign a problem as a setup to do bad things that I won't risk it anymore.

[wturber]

I'll stop my car or bike and check if a cyclist needs help pretty much any time I see one stopped with an apparent flat or other repair issue. That's just standard behavior - right?

Around here, it isn't always safe to do that. If I'm on an off-the-main-road path, or it's not broad daylight with a lot of people and traffic around, I don't stop to help because there's just enough dangerous people that feign a problem as a setup to do bad things that I won't risk it anymore.

Sure. There are times and situations where I wouldn't stop.

And I suppose if you are in the UK or some other place where bike shops are more common, you might not be as keen on self-sufficiency.

[sonnetg]

When I first started with ebikes, I took one of my wheels to be trued at my LBS, and they refused and recommended I take the wheel to a scooter shop. Their excuse was they did not have the tools to work with hub-motors due to the axle width. I have no idea how true that is, but since then I learned to do everything I need to related to bicycles. Thanks to youtube!

[Chalo]

When I first started with ebikes, I took one of my wheels to be trued at my LBS, and they refused and recommended I take the wheel to a scooter shop. Their excuse was they did not have the tools to work with hub-motors due to the axle width. I have no idea how true that is, but since then I learned to do everything I need to related to bicycles. Thanks to youtube!

A lot of hub motors are built with 12ga spokes and thus can't be repaired in any permanent way (they just immediately resume disassembling themselves). Most of them are so much heavier than normal bicycle wheels that it's easy to get hurt or to damage the wheel in the course of trying to repair it. Also, most hub motor wheels I've seen are made from super trashy components and built in the most clueless way possible (e.g. all spokes laced on the inside of flanges that are only 32mm apart).

It's very easy for a bicycle mechanic to have a quick look at something like that, recognize that none of the tool sizes are familiar and that it's all so wrong that you'd have to start completely over to make the result worth the work. It's a reasonable judgment call to decline the job at that point.

I'm not sure that taking on a super advanced, super messed-up situation like that as a DIY project, when you don't already have a lot of experience with the normal less-messed-up kind, is a good bet. If that's your best option, then what have you got to lose? On the other hand, if you can get a seasoned professional to agree to it, that's probably best.

[sonnetg]

@chalo...yeah...i suppose that is true at some extent. Most of the bike mechanics are probably not familiar with such large hub motors, and if damaged it could be liability for the LBS, so I dont really have anything against them. And every 100 miles or so, I notice the spokes seem to come lose...so I now have good practice with truing the wheels. Its not 100% perfect, but works for me...

[Chalo]

I've had pretty decent results from relacing hub motors with 14-15ga butted spokes (supported with washers) all routed through the outside of the flanges. Where the rim permits, I also lace the spokes to the opposite side. This approach seems to be working acceptably even for six passenger pedicabs.

[markz]

I have not taken my bicycle in to a bike shop for repairs since I was a child. I have a habit of riding long distances and not taking a pump, levers or tube and the few times I get a flat, I go to a store and buy everything I need to ride again or if nothings around I hop on the bus, train and call for a pickup.

What LBS' charge its crazy.
http://images.mec.ca/media/Images/pdf/B ... 783276.pdf
https://thebikeshop.com/about/service-t ... -pg435.htm
https://thebikeshop.com/about/a-la-cart ... -pg315.htm

They gotta charge what they charge in order to stay in business but it aint that hard. Even just wiring the motors internals are easy, soldering up connectors, truing a wheel all easy. Trouble shooting a running problem, can only come here and ask or take it to the one store in town that can help. I've seen the odd ad on Kijiji where people offer up their ebike services.

[Chalo]

What LBS' charge its crazy.
http://images.mec.ca/media/Images/pdf/B ... 783276.pdf
https://thebikeshop.com/about/service-t ... -pg435.htm
https://thebikeshop.com/about/a-la-cart ... -pg315.htm

Don't forget this:
http://www.rideyourbike.com/tuneup.shtml

Aaron Goss is an old hand at this, who pays his people a living wage and gives them benefits. It sounds funny to some of us in the industry, but why not? We do stuff people need to make our living, so it seems sort of fair to make a living doing it.

It's not crazy. In fact, it's not enough to keep most bike shops afloat.

Consider this: Plumbing is easier than half-decent cycle mechanics. Doing a good job on a bike is similar to doing a good job on a musical instrument.

Now compare hourly rates for plumbers or musical instrument techs against what cycle mechanics charge.

Compare what an auto mechanic charges. Compare what an exterminator charges. Massage therapist. Accountant. Computer programmer.

Is it crazy, really? Being a capable cycle mechanic takes as much time and commitment to master as any of the above. That's why almost none of the above can do it worth a damn.

Yes, you can do a passable job of your own plumbing repair, or spraying for bugs, or changing out your water pump-- just like you can do a passable job of fixing your bike. But do you really think you are as capable as someone who's been fixing bikes for decades? If "pretty okay" and "not busted" are the measure of what you want, go for it.

I hear "it's like a whole different/new bike!" often enough that it might as well be "see you later." And I sort of almost make enough money to live where I live.

Cycle mechanics are pretty much the least valued tradesmen around, paid less than lawn mowers but expected to understand more than electricians. Why, I just don't know-- probably because big-box BSOs have folks convinced that bicycles should cost $100, so therefore fixing them should be almost free.

But I hope it won't always be that way.