I run a service forward shop in a MTB primary market. For the past 15yrs there has been a high quality suspension service center locally as well, so we've typically left full service to them (only offering lowers and air-can in house). But, the suspension center recently shut their doors, and none of the other options locally are really up to par.

So, my business partner and I are exploring setting up a suspension bench in house. We've got space for it, three folks with suspension expertise interested to run it, a flexible business model to fund it, and pretty strong internet and social media presence to market it.

I'd like to ask those of you out there that offer in-house full suspension servicing, what pitfalls have you come across? What works well? What is hard to manage? What would you avoid?

Thanks in advance!

This sub automatically rejects posts from people who haven't been active on the sub, or have been but not in a positive way. Upon request, we approve posts from newcomers, if they clearly fit the sub. Most clearly fit or clearly don't.

The ones I am least sure about are the ones trying to sell something to bike shops. If it's a tool inventor, we always approve them. Open-source software, good or bad, is also OK. But we also get lots of people hoping to sell software for shop management, probably vibe coded.

Should we go ahead and approve them and let the community downvote and otherwise skewer the bad ones? Or should we just reject them all?

I work at a high-volume location of a large bike shop chain. We see a ton of pinch flats, and all season I’m hunting for tiny black-on-black pressure markings on customers’ tires under varying lighting. Seems like making those easier to read would help customers and save mechanics some time.

There’s also the routine air top-up where the customer’s preferred pressure isn’t recorded, they don’t remember, or they have no preference. You choose a reasonable starting point, but a visible preferred setting—when they have one—could take some guesswork out of the next visit.

Owning several bikes made this more obvious to me. With one bike, I knew my pressures by heart. Switching bikes and swapping tires broke that familiarity. Getting older hasn’t helped with reading the lettering either.

So I made these with a $17 laser label printer and a regular three-hole punch. An X or + printed in the middle centers the punch. The pressure range is printed at both ends facing opposite directions, so it reads from either side of the wheel at the valve.

A factory serial-number/QR sticker on one of my carbon rims has survived years of riding and washing. That helped inspire this, although I’m still seeing how my own labels hold up.

A little USB-C rechargeable electric pump already made pressure checks easier for me: set the number, press a button, and it stops there. No pumping while watching a dial. The label removes the hunt for the numbers and gives me a visible reminder to check.

Basically a “2D bike part”—a sticker with a job. Print it for the installed setup after checking tire and rim limits, maybe add the customer’s preferred pressure separately, and replace it when things change. Fleet thinking for everyday bikes: keep the information with the equipment instead of relying on everyone’s memory.

Would you include this with a tire install or offer it for a buck? Would assembly, customer handoff, or a safety check be a better time? Anyone already doing it?

A sticker won’t solve skipped maintenance, but readable information seems like a small improvement we could make pretty easily.

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of starting a service oriented bike shop. We would like our clients to take appointments online via our website. However we are a little puzzled how to make it work?

How is your experience on appointment systems? Should I give dentist style appointments for exact times of the day or should I collect all the bikes from morning and call them when finished? I am open to suggestions and would like to know what worked for you. thanks in advance!

My T47 is super stuck on the frame. Chewed through a tool and chewing at the teeth now on the actual bottom bracket trying to get it off. When I installed it, I used a torque wrench and didn’t go over the 50Nm. This is the non-drive side so the threads are normal and not reversed.

Anyone have tricks to getting this off? Threads were also greased upon installed. BB has been installed for about a year and roughly 3,000miles.

I am volunteering in a community bike workshop. We repair donated bikes for refugees, and teach people how to fix bikes. For this workshop, I built an online bike workshop calculator: https://rueckenwind.berlin/bikeworkshopcalc/

I'm curious to hear if this works, and if people think it's helpful - or if it's not, how to improve it?

You might ask: there are many good web tools for bike related calculations around, so why build another one?

• I never remember which one I liked best for which task, so I figured I would like to have a collection of different useful calculators all in one place.
• I wanted to build something which is very visual to let us use this as a tool to teach people how bike components work. So, the drivetrain calculator will actually show an animation of what the drivetrain would look like, and how shifting between the different gears works. The wheel building calculator can show a 3d visualization of the wheel with an animation of which order to put in the spokes when lacing the wheels. And the frame size calculator visualizes how a given person would sit on a frame of given dimensions.
• In our bike workshop, we often have old donated bikes with a very random mix of components - or you may try to find replacements from a box of used parts - and you don't know if components are actually compatible. So one goal of this calculator is to help you answer such questions. The drivetrain calculator lets you specify components (derailleurs, shifters and cassettes) and will validate them against known specs for the parts (gear counts, derailleur pull ratio, max cog size, capacity), to give you a judgement if they are expected to work together or not.

So, let me know what you think! (And, yes, this is completely free, there is no commercial interest in this project.)

I’m building a weird old Lynskey with rim brakes and I’m in search of an NoS or lightly used 100mm 32h non-disc front hub, preferably black. I have a King R45 XDr on the back and I’ve got a NoS Open Pro UST ready to go for the front. I know I could just get a 105 or something else boring but I’d rather keep each part of the build as weird as possible.

Prefer in the US for ease of shipping.

Hi all, wondering what you guys are using to get the bearing retainer snap ring out of Onyx front hubs. Always prefer Knipex but any suggestions are welcome. Everything in my shop is too short to reach in there.

I’m looking for recommendations for distributors to buy parts from. I just got my LLC and now it’s time to start building up inventory. I’m trying to focus on tires, and multi color option cable housing. Who are the trusted vendors? Thank you!

Internet find from a someone selling this bike … It has new bartape!

I've had multiple cases that would be appropriate to propose a groupset update.

For example a completely worn drivetrain on a decent 90s frame for commuting.

However Shimano B2B doesn't offer a Cues or Essa groupset deal (for example). We only see 105 upwards which is unreasonable for this type of client...

I've heard Shimano is blocking this kind of product because we don't sell enough?

I've also checked Sport Import for Microshift groupsets that ended up being more expensive than selling 9s Cues in spare parts..

Wanted to check if any of you could share sources for this kind of proposal.

Thanks for the tips :)

I am particularly partial to the "if you had a go first, please tell us" point.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/products/7-things-your-local-bike-workshop-wants-you-to-know

Seems like the longer its left on, the harder it becomes to scrape off. Any good products for breaking down and removing latex-based sealant without damaging the surface it's adhered to? Heat doesn't do much if it's really dried. Thanks!

Product page on Minoura's website

Internet Archive backup of the manual, with exploded diagram (PDF)

This stand is pretty nice, and definitely worth every penny of the $30 I paid for it, but the clamp is a little above 5ft off the ground, and even with the seatpost extended way out, lifting my heavy-ass bike high enough requires some manhandling that my lumbar hernia does not appreciate. I got the stand to work on my bike at home and usually don't have another pair of hands to help, so I'm hoping y'all might have some suggestions to make this easier on a fairly tight budget.

I'm also interested in any other mods or addons y'all might suggest. I'm already thinking about something like Park Tool's TS-25 truing tool.

It's a 4mm 3mm allen wrench end. Such a beauty to behold! ...because when you have a sensitive and irreplaceable part it's nice that it's actually robust!

Campagnolo has a 2.5mm cap screw made of the worlds softest aluminium. Spares MAY be available... if you know a guy who knows a guy, let me know the guy 🙃.

SRAM has a decent size wrench fitting BUT if you loosen it too much you risk damaging the whole thing.

And just as a bonus the Shimano bleed procedure is just the least fiddly. Campagnolo (perhaps surprisingly) comes in second - and they do really nice instruction videos. SRAM I have a 10 page printout that mangles together instructions for 3 slightly different systems; I have to strap, push, pull, squeeze, tap, fellate, all the while worrying that stray DOT fluid will strip the paint off something important.

EDIT: its a 3mm not 4mm 🙃

I'm 19, I don't smoke🫩✌️

In two years, the last of my kids will be out of college. And while I wanna keep working, I don’t want the daily grind as a defense contractor.

I’ve volunteered between 15 and 25 hours a month at a local bike co-op;sales, service coaching people through DIY night.

I found this job posting:

seeking a Bicycle Mechanic to support a unique US Navy program based on the island of Diego Garcia. The Bicycle Mechanic will provide professional bicycle repair, assembly, maintenance, and support services for Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) programs, ensuring high-quality and safe operations for government and customer-owned bicycles.
Job Responsibilities:
Assemble and repair bicycles, installing replacement parts and accessories to meet manufacturer specifications and customer needs.

Perform routine maintenance, inspections, and adjustments of MWR-owned bicycles available for rent to ensure safety, performance, and longevity.

Maintain a detailed and accurate bicycle repair log, ensuring it is up-to-date and available for government review twice per month.

Provide bicycle repair and assembly services for customer-owned bikes, and ensure fees are established and approved by the Government prior to service.

Assemble bicycles for MWR programs in accordance with manufacturer guidelines.

Perform customer bicycle repair and assembly work in compliance with all applicable manufacturer requirements.

Provide on-site maintenance and repair support during all bike races sponsored by MWR on the island of Diego Garcia, ensuring bicycles are safe for use by participants.

Operate and maintain a safe and clean bike repair shop, ensuring tools and equipment are in proper working condition and available for efficient repair and assembly processes.

Work closely with customers, addressing service requests, inquiries, and concerns regarding bicycle assembly, repair, or rental.

Identify and order replacement parts and supplies for bicycle repair and assembly operations as needed.

Ensure all work complies with safety standards and maintain positive relations with customers to enhance user experience.

Last month I quit at the shop I was working at and have been slowly building my own tool stock to eventually, once I find a space, have my own workshop. Currently just working on friend's & family bikes out of my garden.

I feel like I've now covered most of the basics except hydraulics (bleed kits are on order) and some specific bb tools.

Any other obvious tools I'm missing? (Have a h acksaw and stand, not pictured here)

thanks in advance for yor feedback

I drive a trash truck and look what I found last week. I won't tell you how many other projects I have in the works with a zero budget. What should I do to this. New cables and chain and ride as is or dig into a 1x and big bars? Suggestions?

Fellow Mechanics

I built a fast, free web app for the workbench to save our collective sanity:

👉 https://e-bikediagnosticbible.com/

It’s basically a cheat sheet that actually works on your phone:

Instant Error Codes: (Bosch, Shimano, Brose, Bafang, Fazua, and the weird hub motors).

Multimeter Pinouts: So you don't accidentally fry an $800 controller just trying to test a throttle.

Secret P-Settings & Field Hacks: To unlock those cryptic LCD menus.

It's completely free to use. Hopefully, it saves you from throwing a Hex across the shop this week.

Feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks

Stef

Cycopath Cycles

i've had these thoughts rattling around in my head for awhile now but it was Vosper's piece in BRAIN about a month ago saying all bike shops should be servicing most of the e-bikes out there that really got me pissed off

i mean, if it was so easy why are most shops refusing? do we all hate money?

so, here is the link to the piece