State of the industry: a running thread

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Agency_Scum said:
Okay, I'm parachuting in on page 30 so I'm probably repeating things so here's my insider view....
First, this gives me a warm fuzzy feeling for my oh-so-unfashionable monthly Bike Jumble.
Second, I called it the David Brailsford ( " marginal gains " ) effect in the past where marketing focused on a thing THAT WAS INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE ( a widget, weight-saving, internal routing, 1mm difference etc ) where people are now seeing the emporer's new clothes.
Third and final. You don't spend £15k on a bike. You spend a maximum of £2k on the best retro bike ever made and the rest on your family or holdays or education or a pet giraffe but not a bl00dy bicycle that's unservicable by you because of internal cable routing.
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I really like your sentiments, apart from 2:

1. 4k max for the bike.
2. High costs associated with pet giraffes. Prob better off with a pet Llama or something less vertically challenged.
 
Halfords have been pricing people out of repairs & onto new bikes for years. Nothing new to my knowledge.

I have a side-hustle repairing bikes, I am all too aware of the horrors going on at Halfords & some LBS'. I can usually undercut, provide a better service & in a shorter timeframe than the other options tend to provide. Sometimes I feel having a great knowledge of our retro/older cycles really pays off for me & my customers. I have sourced replacement parts from this forum & have a good knowledge of compatibility when it comes to obsolete bikes & parts that are broken or worn. I've had a spate of cheap (Acera) Shimano mechs that are so weak the cages literally fold within minutes of being fitted, numerous times now I've suggested we fit an old/stronger/dependable (retro) derailleur & there won't be any further problems - there wasn't.
 
minor_LEGEND said:
Halfords have been pricing people out of repairs & onto new bikes for years. Nothing new to my knowledge.

I have a side-hustle repairing bikes, I am all too aware of the horrors going on at Halfords & some LBS'. I can usually undercut, provide a better service & in a shorter timeframe than the other options tend to provide. Sometimes I feel having a great knowledge of our retro/older cycles really pays off for me & my customers. I have sourced replacement parts from this forum & have a good knowledge of compatibility when it comes to obsolete bikes & parts that are broken or worn. I've had a spate of cheap (Acera) Shimano mechs that are so weak the cages literally fold within minutes of being fitted, numerous times now I've suggested we fit an old/stronger/dependable (retro) derailleur & there won't be any further problems - there wasn't.
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When I looked into doing this as a side hustle (but properly) the insurance was ridiculously expensive. Who have you gone with?
 
d8mok said:
When I looked into doing this as a side hustle (but properly) the insurance was ridiculously expensive. Who have you gone with?
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Public liability insurance shouldn't be more than a couple of hundred pounds or so. The problem for casual bike mechanics is if you do ever make a claim they'll want to see proof of your competence to do the job. ACT certificate or similar. Just having your Auntie and the bloke from down the pub say 'He's very good' won't prove competence. It wouldn't surprise me if Halfords and Evans and the like have their own in house training scheme only applicable under their roof.
 
fettler said:
Public liability insurance shouldn't be more than a couple of hundred pounds or so. The problem for casual bike mechanics is if you do ever make a claim they'll want to see proof of your competence to do the job. ACT certificate or similar. Just having your Auntie and the bloke from down the pub say 'He's very good' won't prove competence. It wouldn't surprise me if Halfords and Evans and the like have their own in house training scheme only applicable under their roof.
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It was around £700-800 assuming you did basic Cytech with a £million limit. Wasn’t worth it as a side gig for what you can realistically charge a hour.

Only takes one person to blame you for the death of their child on a busy road and whether you right or wrong the costs will go crazy.
 
d8mok said:
It was around £700-800 assuming you did basic Cytech with a £million limit. Wasn’t worth it as a side gig for what you can realistically charge a hour.
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That's surprising, my public liability insurance in the building trade is just under £300 and covers me for up to £20 million, this is an elevated figure required for some customers with standard {cheaper) cover being up to about £10 million I think. Obviously cyclists must be considerably more dangerous than anyone in the building trade?
 
fettler said:
That's surprising, my public liability insurance in the building trade is just under £300 and covers me for up to £20 million, this is an elevated figure required for some customers with standard {cheaper) cover being up to about £10 million I think. Obviously cyclists must be considerably more dangerous than anyone in the building trade?
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I think the headline price on the site was £200 but by time you’ve added on the list of items and jobs you’d be doing it ramps up. It was also more if you traded from home , and did mobile.

If it was only a couple of hundred I would have done it , as at that time there was lots of willing customers as we have only a couple of options local to us for LBS with huge wait times.
 
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