Bicycle shop expertise or lack thereof

[Midget87]

I brought an old Murray middleweight fork in from the 60s to a local bike shop that I have worked with this summer in Colorado Springs. A few threads up top were a little damaged and I asked if they had the die to be able to chase the threads. (3 threads) The manager said he had the die and took it to the back to perform the service. He was gone much longer that I thought he should be which had me concerned. He started to bring the fork back once and said something then disappeared for awhile longer. I caught a glimpse of the threads at that moment and I knew this had been a mistake. He came back later with the fork as if it were good to go. I told him I could not use it then discussed what was wrong. You could tell that he knew he had jacked it up but wasn’t going to admit that it was a problem. He was not apologetic, concerned and had no suggestions. I have spoke to a few other friends who are like me very mechanical and fabricators. They shared similar experiences of this place. I am adding a few photos of the fork I am now searching for a replacement for.

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

It's sad, but likely a valid problem to any profession you can name today. It seems like no one cares anymore. Professionals used to take pride in their finished work. We just went through this poor work level with a "Professional" paint shop.

He knew he had a problem after the first thread or two, but spun it all the way to the bottom to compound the problem. Many fork tube dies are adjustable with a set screw. You can enlarge the die to screw over the damaged thread, turn the die loosely by hand down until you find good threads, adjust the die back to a normal size, reinstall the die handle, and run the die back up to straighten the damaged starting threads. It's all about indexing the die to fit the original thread, NOT cutting new threads on top of the original thread.

Sorry,
John

 

[IngoMike]

How old was the "Manager"? If he was younger than the fork, I would not have let him touch it.....

 

[49autocycledeluxe]

I've had good luck using a thread file when I don't have the proper die

.

 

[Krakatoa]

If the first three threads were damaged to begin with hoping to correctly start the die is optimistic. Using a thread file is definitely the way to go in a situation like this.

 

[SirMike1983]

I agree with the above - looks like a case more for the file than for a die.

 

[juvela]

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...wonder if he could have mistakenly gone at it with a 26TPI die...


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[Midget87]

First off..I usually don’t air stuff like this online. I do believe mechanical skills should transfer. I do believe you should care about what you are working on.


Initially it was a fight to disassemble the headset because of the threads. Someone had stuffed the tab on the washer into the top threads and tightened it down. After working on it I was able to get the nut off and it would go back on. A 2nd nut also went on well. I could have threaded a die on this no problem and made it work. I think the issues are as follows:

1) I brought in something old that this guy didn’t deem as "worthy."
2) I walked in and he was busy already. I will knock this out move you along.
3) He is a Remove and Replace guy and has no "feel" for what he is doing.
4) He didn’t lubricate it, forced it. Once he was in a bad spot he kept going. Perhaps out of inexperience.
5) Once he screwed it up he didn’t care to even apologize or make a decent excuse.

I asked for the older guy I usually deal with that possesses "people skills" and has experience. He was busy... fair enough and I was concerned when this guy wanted to take it on.

I have a friend that had issues with them cross threading a new hub on a single speed. He hasn’t been back.

Other bike shops in town here have bled brakes on my Stump Jumper and handed it back to me in worse operating condition than I brought it in.
One shop accepted a vintage bike that I didn’t have time for (race car priorities) and hung onto it for over a month before he asked me to pick it up. He said I can’t work on this. Although his shop sign is a vintage bicycle.

I have a shop in Littleton that I deal with when I can get up there and they are fantastic.

I do the majority of my work and fabrication. I am picky I will admit that. I do however accept responsibility for my mistakes and really can’t understand when others don’t. In the end I told myself when I walked in the door that it was a mistake handing this fork off.
I had some spokes to purchase and a few other things so that’s why this went down like this. I passed on the other purchases. I still need the parts but am going to have to figure this out.

The bike hobby is new for me and I will be building up a set of tools specific for this. I just would like folks I can work with... buy materials from and rely on for information. I believe in supporting a local business for this. It’s also a matter of sharing the hobby.

 

[Midget87]

If the first three threads were damaged to begin with hoping to correctly start the die is optimistic. Using a thread file is definitely the way to go in a situation like this.

I should explain this better. Top threads. I had a decent starter thread. I was not clear on this.

While I have used and own thread files and believe they have their place I personally use them as a last resort.

I am a file guy.

 

[Midget87]

I would like to add… Thank you all for the therapy on this. I am in need of a fork for this bike in case someone here would sell me one.