Wheelygoodbicycles

We always check these when we do any bike inspection for this very reason - a fatality is a rarity - as in this awfully sad case - but they can cause nasty 'pastry cutter' type injuries. We see damaged grip ends a lot on kids bikes as they do have a tendency to just throw them down when their tea is ready. A new pair of grips cost just a few pennies - don't skimp on them folks

Nice feedback from customer: "Did a ride with the club last night. Bike was suberb. Gear change was really smooth. Thank you." It's always good to know :)

Common sense really - SHARE THE ROAD and look out for each other

So we have got mega busy yet again. We have no availability this week or next and limited time the following week so not able to take any more bookings at present. If you do ring and we don't answer the phone that is because we are fixing bikes - leave us a message or better text/email/FB us - if we stopped to answer the phone every 5 minutes we'd never get anything done. Please do not just keep ringing our number over and over again. I'm sorry if you want it sorted right now but we are only a small outfit with limited pairs of hands so please bear that in mind. If you leave a message we WILL get back to you at some point during the day. But if you do NOT leave a message then we will not ring numbers we do not recognise

A reminder to those running tubeless tyres - the sealant doesn't last forever and especially in this hot weather it can dry up more quickly. Usually it is between 6-9 months for top-ups - but that depends on temperature and how/where bike is kept. This very hot weather can reduce that amount of time. First 'symptom' you will notice is your tyres not holding air for so long. Don't delay get them topped up asap - don't get let down!

Singularly unimpressed with a conversation with an e-bike supplier today - we have an e-bike in with what we thought was a crunching freewheel problem but it turned out to be something within the motor which we were unable to access - could be just bearings, could be clutch or whatever. The supplier was unable to give us any ball park costs - so we could relay that to our customer - for possible repairs or any idea of turnaround time, nor courier arrangements or costs (wheel ...weighs 11lb without any packaging). However, he was on the ball with a hefty new motor price!! The 'company' that the customer bought the bike from apparently went bust some time ago. That tells you something. I won't name the supplier for fear of shaming them but my advice to anyone purchasing an e-bike is to go to a well-known local bike shop and buy a bike with a good brand of motor (Bosch, Shimano, Yamah, Brose) - that way you know it can be repaired/replaced without too much ado and you'll get decent back-up. There are a lot of people jumping on the e-bike wagon at the moment so be cautious folks
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Another disk brake horror in the photo - this must have been screeching like made and making grating noises - pads down to the metal and a scored & heat damaged rotor :(- There are now a lot of road bike owners who are new to disk brakes - mountain bikers have had them for years and most (not all!) have a basic understanding of how to look after them. However, many of our our roadie friends have a bit to learn. So here's a tip or two: For a start your bike disk brake pads wil...l NOT last the same lifetime as the average car disk brake pad - they will NOT do 20k miles - you can easily wear disk brake pads in a month if you ride in really dirty, gritty conditions so you need to check your pad thickness regularly - once a month is good interval. You may have to drop the wheel out to see them properly - a good 3mm of pad material as a minimum. Secondly - stay away from the spray lube - do not spray lube all over the cassette area - it is not necessary AND all those lovely little globules of lube float over to the disk rotor and next time you brake it goes into the pads. Thirdly if you do contaminate the pads you need to bin them and fit new - it is not advised to put them in the dishwasher... If you brakes start to squeal really badly and performance drops off then this is sign of pad wear and/or contamination. You do not cure pad wear by bleeding the brake - poor bleeding causes more problems than it cures. If you drag your disk brakes or do looooonnnggg descents then you may experience pad rub and even 'brake fade' and the brake performance will drop off. There is a common misconception that disk brakes are the infallible answer for those alpine descents! If you leave your bike in the full sun whilst you pop into the cafe/pub then they may rub a little when you come out. These above things are all due to the fluid expanding with heat ( of braking or just the fierce sun). Only change your brake pads yourself if you know exactly what you are doing - it is not unknown for some to undo the wrong thing and end up with brake fluid all over the place - and it is NOT nice stuff - it can be toxic and corrosive to you and your bike. If you are changing your pads due to contamination don't forget to clean the rotor as well or you'll be back to square one. If in doubt leave it to us....
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Our service will not be available from 1st-25th September. Please note we will NOT be answering the phone or replying to voicemails during this period and we'd be grateful if you don't just turn up on our doorstep unannounced - please respect our privacy. We may be at home but we are ON HOLIDAY!

Well they keep coming...I can't believe that anyone could have kept riding the bike with the headset like this - you could barely turn it. Power washing has not helped either. The lower bearing race has disintegrated and had been run like that for so long that it actually distorted the crown race. In the second photo you can see what a bearing race should look like and on the right the state of the one we removed. It should have been a case of simply cleaning, greasing and popping a new race in but now this needs a whole new headset

There are plenty of other trails to ride over by Roddlesworth & Tockholes

Seems to be turning into 'horror story' week - yesterday was the worn brake pad from hell. I have never in 14 years of the business seen brake pads so badly worn - these had not only gone through the pads but also into the back plate - which of course means that metal grinding away on the metal disk rotor. The return spring was worn away & jammed in the caliper and the pistons were seized almost fully out - however, this was a minor issue as other 'fails' on the bike inspecti...on were the fork bushings, rear shock bushings & air leak and the front wheel maxle seized solid in the frame meaning you can't remove the front wheel, and add in the broken shifter, calpped out bb and wheel bearings - no surprise it is BER!!! Owner said it was fine 'til he lent it somebody for a couple of weeks - sorry but those faults are all long-standing ones...so sad as it was a belting make of bike
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Couple of handy tips here for those running tubeless tyres! Firstly, when you are inflating your tyre it is best to rotate the valve to the top before fitting the pump - that way if anything goes awry then the fluid will not escape in a gushing mess. Second - if you do get a puncture stop and rotate the puncture point to the bottom and allow a short while for the sealant to do its job

Just when you think you have seen it all...over the years we have seen some horrendous things done on bikes by people who think they know what they are doing but just haven't got a clue - or they do anything just to get a bike sold. Bike in today which was bought second had a while ago by a lady - the headset was flopping about badly - when we looked at it it just didn't look right - you get a feel for these things with lots of experience under your belt. Somebody had fitted ...a standard external type of headset into a semi-integrated (or zero stack) type and just tightened it down as far as they could. Not only that somebody had cut the steerer at a horrendous angle - a properly cut steerer should be level and neatly chamfered - and the star nut (which holds everything together and allows the correct pre-load of the headset) was barely inserted. The top bolt of the handlebar stem was also above the steerer. This is all so wrong - and more to the point downright dangerous
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We have recommended a better cleaning regime to the owner of this poor bike

If you are cycling in Whittle-le-Woods area don't try to get down Kem Mill Lane to Cuerden Valley entrance as it is all dug up by the footy pitch for services being laid to new houses & is impassable. Use Factory Lane instead.

Please would everyone note that our working hours are 9.30am-6.30pm Mon-Fri and you need to arrange an appointment to have work done. We do NOT work at weekends and we don't answer the phone or reply to emails then. These will be dealt with during working hours. We are not the RAC or The AA and are not available 24/7. We have a high volume of work at present and we may not answer the phone as it means breaking off what we are doing - at the present incoming rate no repairs wo...uld get done if we did. Leave a message preferably with your name, or better text or email, with some details about what you need doing and be patient whilst we get back to you. If you ring and don't leave a message we won't call you back as a lot of these are spam or marketing calls and we have no way of distinguishing which is which. Our phone also automatically blocks any calls from 'private number'. Thank you :)
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Please don't attempt your own repairs if you don't know what you are doing - it ends up costing you money. Today what would have been a simple £10 job became a £30 PITA job because somebody didn't know what they were doing, messed it up and then gave it to us to sort it out. This happens a lot. You know it makes sense...