Marty,
Any good mechanic, young or old, can probably work on the older equipment without much in the way of manuals. There were not manuals back in the day and when I was a young mechanic I did some really fine work on these bikes which were the latest thing back then.
As a matter of fact, the sheer simplicity of these bikes enters my consiousnes as honesty and that is what attracted me to bikes in the first place. I love how the guts are on the outside! I love how, if you just take a look and know a few mechanical principles, you just know how to work on them.
That said, I've seen a lot of hack work. If you could hear my tone of voice and see my face you'd probably chuckle. An uncomfortable chuckle maybe, but you would know what I mean.
Chuck Hoefer
Vista, California USA
From: Marty Eison <meison01@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [CR] Do it yourself, Bike shops and a viscious circle. To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Monday, October 5, 2009, 8:24 AM
While I do most of my own work I think that it's a disservice to discount every shop mechanic who doesn't have either a Masi, any other on topic bike, or grey hair. How are we going to teach this new generation if we don't bring in our bikes, or more importantly if we view any younger mechanic with disdain? Any reputable shop should have access to manuals that cover older gear, and I think we should encourage these young guys to at least learn what's what around an old bike. Now, I'm not saying bring in your prize Confente or Masi but they need to make a start somewhere.
Marty Eison
Frisco, Texas