A related question is how do you learn to do the work yourself...I would love to work on my bikes if I knew how, but I don't. Four of my five bikes are old (two early 70's Zeus's, a late 70's Univega, and a late 80's Cilo) and I'm always getting something changed on them at the LBS, which costs a fortune. I usually spend months sourcing the parts on Ebay or Craigs List, and then wait even longer saving up the money to have them put on. I'm a terrible mechanic so I can't just pick up a tool and have at it. Are there classes you can take to learn how to build up a bike yourself?
Tom Sacco
Oakland, CA
From: Louis Schulman <louiss@gate.net> Subject: [CR] Care of Vintage Bikes, was No Subject To: kohl57@starpower.net Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Thursday, October 1, 2009, 3:44 PM
I can understand the feeling. But this brings up a question I have wanted to ask.
Do people on this lists take their bikes to shops? I would think that working on your own bike was part of this hobby. I am 55, and I built my first bike from parts (including lacing the wheels) over 40 years ago. I have owned and built a lot of bikes since then, but have never had the occasion to take a bike to a bike shop.
For those of you who do take your bikes to a shop, what do you have them do? What would you allow them to do?
Just curious.
Louis Schulman Tampa, Florida
kohl57 wrote:
> I must say this is a profounding depressing subject.
>
> About three weeks ago, my longstanding, super, super cycle shop repair guy
> who takes the most meticulous care of my machines to the extent of wrapping
> the frame with foam when they come to shop managed to get a swath of tape on
> the backside of the headtube of my otherwise near NOS 1985 Masi 3v and, yep,
> you guessed it.. when it was removed, it took with it a swath of the paint!
> Just jawdroppingly depressing. It's really too large a bit to "touch-up"
> with nail varnish or brush methods.
>
> Does anyone have a recent and positive experience with any frame painter
> when it comes to touching up issues like this? I could, of course, just have
> the frame repainted but I hate to do that as the rest is in such fine
> original condition. And yes, alas, it's that very fragile pearly orange-red
> of the early 3vs. The kind that mere scotch tape can and will rip off a
> frame in one fell swoop....
>
> Peter Kohler
> Washington DC USA