Back to the bike shop

[stompandgo]

I haven't worked in a bike shop since the late 1970's, when it was one of my part time jobs while attending college. I always thought, though, that when I retired, that taking a part time job at a bike shop might be something that I'd be interested in. I've been retired for two years now, and have been working on weekends as a race official.

So when my bike was in for the dual battery upgrade, I asked the owner if they were looking for part time work. Not much, just a couple of days a week, and not forever. We discussed the opportunities, and he vetted me through people that we mutually know. It's not a lot of money, but it's good pocket change, and interesting work. I start on Monday.

In the beginning, I'll be focused on building high end road bikes for customers and floor stock. They also have a hundred or so overstock bikes that need some repair before sale. They have a part time guy selling them on eBay, but that channel needs to be fed. I'll help out on the sales floor when needed. Finally, they have a Selle Italia idMatch fitting system that they want me to learn, particularly for racing bikes.

It will either work out, or it won't. We shall see. It will certainly be interesting.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I haven't worked in a bike shop since the late 1970's, when it was one of my part time jobs while attending college. I always thought, though, that when I retired, that taking a part time job at a bike shop might be something that I'd be interested in. I've been retired for two years now, and have been working on weekends as a race official.

So when my bike was in for the dual battery upgrade, I asked the owner if they were looking for part time work. Not much, just a couple of days a week, and not forever. We discussed the opportunities, and he vetted me through people that we mutually know. It's not a lot of money, but it's good pocket change, and interesting work. I start on Monday.

In the beginning, I'll be focused on building high end road bikes for customers and floor stock. They also have a hundred or so overstock bikes that need some repair before sale. They have a part time guy selling them on eBay, but that channel needs to be fed. I'll help out on the sales floor when needed. Finally, they have a Selle Italia idMatch fitting system that they want me to learn, particularly for racing bikes.

It will either work out, or it won't. We shall see. It will certainly be interesting.

Switch the coast (east to west) and the racing background (road to MTB), and you could be my friend Gary at Cadence Cyclery Encinitas.

He retired from a high-level IT career — yes, an IT bike racer — to relive the bike shop days of his youth, and he's having a ball. He routinely talks me down from higher-end to middle-tier stuff because the latter's fine, and the former isn't worth the money.

I pass Cadence on nearly every coast ride south and sometimes stop in just to see Gary. Well, that and to wallow in the bike porn. The front showroom's full of Specialized Tarmacs, Colnagos, Cervelos, Factors, and the like — many of them looking just shy of TdF-ready. The mostly Specialized MTBs and ebikes are in back.

That's where I took the Pinarello Dogma photo you recently commented on.

 

[stompandgo]

Looks like a great place. Those are proper pedals on that Pinarello.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Looks like a great place. Those are proper pedals on that Pinarello.

I think clipless pedals would be a lot of fun on my SL, but it does enough offroad to make MTB pedals seem a smarter long-term choice.

Not that I have any experience with clipless. Transitioned directly from road biking with toe clips to mountain biking with MTB pedals back in the Late Bronze Age. Then stopped cycling for 20+ years. What was I thinking??

 

[stompandgo]

I raced and trained on Speedplays, but I commuted on Crank Brothers EggBeaters and MTB shoes with cleats. I'm using the same shoes with my e-bike, but I switched to Candy 7's for the wider platform.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

In the beginning, I'll be focused on building high end road bikes for customers and floor stock. They also have a hundred or so overstock bikes that need some repair before sale. They have a part time guy selling them on eBay, but that channel needs to be fed. I'll help out on the sales floor when needed. Finally, they have a Selle Italia idMatch fitting system that they want me to learn, particularly for racing bikes.

What part of that are you looking forward to most?

 

[stompandgo]

That's a great question that will probably only be answered after some time there. At first glance, it would probably be the overstock stuff, since a large portion of those bikes are incomplete. They are new bikes that they took parts off of for repairs, or they are used bikes that they took in trade. Each one is a puzzle to solve, and the engineer in me loves to solve puzzles. I also love to make customers happy, because riding a bike should always be happy. Bike fits and floor sales are customer intensive.

 

[Base]

I'd say welcome back in the bike- branche

 

[Mulezen]

In reading this thread, particularly as regards to motivation, I think back to a book…Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance…R Pirsig (circa 1980) where the cycle you are working is yourself.

 

[stompandgo]

Agreed. Let's see how long this cycle lasts. I don't need to work.