Not something that you would read in 'Scientific American', but I have made somewhat of an unauthorized study of bicycle mechanics. Good ones and bad ones come from all walks of life, but ex racers who have had at least relatively successful careers, and were able to wind down their racing experience gracefully, make for patient and competent wrenches. The ones who crashed out in a less than picturesque blaze of glory, and were more or less forced to become mechanics prematurely, due to a crash injury, these are the ones that you generally want to watch out for. There is one of those in my town here. When he starts to slip on the latex surgical gloves, I remember something that I had to do and and head for the door.
Dennis Young Hotaka, Japan
> Now for the other side. A person that will go nameless but works at a big
> name high end shop lives near my shop and came in and asked to use my tools
> to pull off his Shimano cassette. I said sure and watch him pick up a
> Shimano Freewheel tool and put it in the vise and just about start to take
> it off when I yelled "stop". and got him the right tool and took it off my
> self. So even people working with bikes all the time can do that too.
> Steven Willis