How many bike shop workers plus ex on here ????

I worked in a shop for a while after uni - it was pretty good fun, but a badly run shop that took no notice of the local riding scene. Got a good deal on a Demo 9 though as Specialized were trying to get shot of the last couple of frames.

Most of our customers were pretty good, although some never seemed to buy anything and just wanted to chat. Which was fine on a quite day, but a pain when busy.

I do miss the deals from reps....the Sram guy was pretty good. We all got some crazy deals on the newly out trigger shifters, loved it and then sold loads.

Steve, where was on yer bike in B'ham, was it the one next to snow and rock??

Mike

Never worked in a bike shop per se but I do make a part of my meagre living * from working with bikes during the week - building, repairing, servicing and restoring new & old stuff.

Have costed up a premises and it's just not a viable option at the moment, unless I sell my soul and start retailing stuff I don't like I think! Even then I'd never be able to compete with online stores.

So my service / business offers a more personal experience than most bike shops I've been a customer at. I've started to pass up really low end stuff, and also the odd rare occasion I can't actually do the job required.

It's hard but rewarding work, and I have built up a nice customer base mainly from a 3-4 mile radius around my home based workshop.

But a good rep alone doesn't really pay the bills so I'm looking at ways to make my time and experience pay a little better.

* my weekend job pays on average 10x better hourly rate!

South minster cycles as a Saturday boy
Maldon cycles age 16 to 18
High street cycles maldon 18 to 20
Bought high street cycles, changed name to
Stoddys bike shop 20 to 24 did not listen to any advice on business over stocked on expensive stuff pace dealer ect ect
Spent too much on sponsored riders, custom vw's.
24 year old went bust.
Stopped riding till this year now I'm 43.

Now I only rember the good stuff, making snowflake wheels with anodised nipples. Lot of good friends.

Now I can't work out why my 20 year old link extractor won't take off a 8 speed chain?..

But might be able to help with the old stuff. Khs Montana pro bike. They were a good buy.( full xt for £750)
Some dawes tandem knolage

Anyway I will stop rambling on.
We used to call the old timers that come in talking about their claud buttler's
I'da's
I had this I had that
I sound like an I'da now.

Anyone else have repeatable names for coustomers?

Stoddy

Oh no not him again - for most of them.

I had a long term customer with an adolf hitler moustache who had endless problems with his flashy bikes. In order to get closer to his techy problems a splendid false moustache was fashioned which was glued to the top lip of whichever mechanic had the privilege to work on his bikes before said bike was test ridden. If the hairy add on was not worn the problem could never be detected never mind remedied.
Moustachio was the chaps nickname, facial hair aside he was a nice fellow but I always dreaded the day when he walked in and caught me dressed as him.

2 years as Saturday boy and holiday work when I was 16 for Yeovil cycle centre. That was about 20yrs ago now.....

Then I became an Engineer! lol

I have a full time job as a researcher, but that is actually only to fund my own custom bike shop which I have with my best mate. We don't have a real shop open for customers yet, but do design, build and sell our own bikes and do some (charity) work on bikes from other mates. Some would call it hobby, but I see it a bit more serious. Although in a friendly way, we organize some MTB trips as well (last was the Swiss Bike Masters!).

My shop CV goes somethign like -

On Your Bike (London Bridge) Sales monkey
Halfords (various) Cycle dept supervisor
London Independant (long since gone) Manager / sales bod / mechanic
Evans (Croydon) Assistant Manager
Wheelie Serious Gropup (Covent Garden, Wimbledon and Baker Street) Sales
Cycling Today magazine Technical Editor
Cycles Plus (Croydon) Part time /Cycle King (Croydon) Part time mechanic (These two jobs ran concurrently)

I then joined the real world and had some proper jobs before starting Sorted Cycles (as a part-time ventrue) with my partner to import nice frames and bits from North America.

After that I've done a bit of freelance cycle journalism and have had content appear in Singletrack and on Road.cc

Oh almost forgot back in the mid-90s I also wrote a cycling fanzine.

6 months at the dreaded Halfords as bike (cough) mechanic from 89-90. They did send me on a wheel building and mechanics course in Redditch though. Got sacked for advising people to use the other bike shops in the area (amongst other things).