THE BIKE OF DOOM, COMMUTING ON A BUDGET

I recently found this interesting blog by a fellow Canadian named Steve George of Winnipeg. Steve commutes to work daily and the situation changed where he couldn't bring his bike indoors anymore. He had to leave it locked outside while at work. Bike theft being a consideration, he didn't want to leave his good bike alone during the day. It would seem that broken and busted bike locks are as common as daisies in that area!

So Steve went ahead and bought a $99 department store bike for his daily commute and blogs about the experience. I find that this well written blog could be of use to a lot of you. I have commuted myself on a POS Wally World special for many years. But that was before my blogging days and I didn't keep track of the adventure. I'm glad that Steve has and that he is sharing it with the world.

So check it out, The Bike Of Doom.

Til next time, ride safe and Godspeed.

Gerry :)

TO ALL CRAPPY BIKE SHOP OWNERS!

Before anybody gets their panties in a bunch, let me say this: Most bike shops and bike shop owners out there are good, friendly hard working folks. This post is not addressed to them, I admire and respect them all. No, this post is addressed to idiots who are not confident enough in their work or are only interested in making an easy buck first and everything else comes second.

I know that this blog would ruffle some feathers. Imagine, giving away free information, what a sacrilege in this world that we live in. I had a few stupid comments left and I must admit I was surprised that I didn't get more. I don't claim on knowing everything, but I am confident that I know enough to help a lot of people. This week I decided to promote the site via an ad in Craigslist in the "free" section. Some bozo decided to flag the ad and that just freaked me out! Hence this post and the above image.

If you are a bike shop owner or mechanic and feel that your business is threatened by this site, think again. You WANT to have informed customers. Informed customers will not go out and buy a new bike at Wally world when it breaks down. They will come and see you. If they don't make you fix that bike, they will buy parts from you. Last time I checked, Wally world and the likes don't service bikes or have any kind of serious part inventory, you have. So you won't be making a fortune on selling a few parts to this informed person, but when they get tired of that Wally world special and want to spend some bucks on something decent, they'll come and see you.

You have to understand what your good colleagues have already figured out: you are not selling bikes, you are selling your shop. Informed cyclist will buy more stuff because they are more inclined to become enthusiast about it. They need a place where they can buy there stuff with confidence, trust someone that can fix their baby when they can't and have a long lasting relationship that they will be more than happy to share with others. I have such a relationship with a bike shop. The owner knows for a fact that he will never see my bike in his work stand, but he knows that I will be buying parts that I need, or don't, and that I always refer people to his shop.

Lastly, remember that everybody offers the same thing at about the same price. What people are looking for is good, friendly and honest service and they will be more than willing to pay for it. Sorry for the rant people, I just needed to vent. I'll be back with more how-to articles this week. It's been crazy lately.

Til next time, ride safe and Godspeed.

Gerry :)

p.s. If the people concerned think that I will slow down because of bullying, you should now this: It motivates me even more to go on. ;)