5 Things Bike Shops ALWAYS Want You to Do! 

🔴 SCRAM CAP: exclusively at The EBD Gear Shop: bit.ly/EBD__Gear_Shop

Ok, so I’ve fully drunk the EBD coolaid. Notification comes up, I stop what I’m doing and watch. I might need an intervention.

All of this 100% true and for the next videos the thing that annoys me the most is when a custommer brings the bike for service and wants it done ASAP for whatever reason and then proceeds to take 2 weeks to come back to take the bike

This is 100%, also please please please remove bags and lights, we have a lot of clutter already on our bench, we don’t want to lose your stuff!

I was in Cyclepath PDX a few weeks ago. Totally geeking on Marks' No 22 Ti commuter! Cool shop, wish I had something like this in my area.

Gotta be honest when I saw the -5 minute length I thought this might be a bit of a softball of a video, but it was a great one!

This is super helpful. It validates me fully stocking a home shop! I buy the tools. I buy the parts. I google and learn how to fix my own bike. It's cheaper and faster and I know it's done right. With five bikes now I'd be poor[er] if I couldn't work on my own steeds. The last thing I need is to have to skip a ride (or two or seven) because the "summer rush" has my LBS overloaded.

This was great! I have always been intimidated at bike shops, because I don’t know much. But riding bikes has always made me happy. Well I just bought my first real MTB, and am excited to use the knowledge from this video to make friends with my Local Bike Shop!

I really wish I could find a shop like this where the staff actually seems to care. I have really unfortunately had bad experiences at every lbs I've tried. From when I first got into cycling as an adult and had an older Schwinn bike as I was just getting started, to most recently when I went in to spec out a custom build for a surly frameset. Theres only one shop I've been able to build any kind of rapport with and its a single guy who owns and operates it, his main business is rehabing and selling cheap bikes to the local community, and he's amazing, but always weeks for something simple and doesn't have a lot of inventory that matches my needs. Any and all of the "bigger" shops in my area have treated me like shit, screwed up repairs, or just flat out turned me away because of the bike I had. Honestly it's easier to buy online and learn to do the repairs myself, it actually makes me sad because I really want a good lbs i can make friends in and depend on.

I fix low end bikes and I'm amazed of the amount of ppl that don't lube their chain, at all. That horrible squeaking noise is just normal to them. When they pick up the bike I always tell them politely you should really lube your chain.

I'm not really into tipping culture. I've lived in Japan and Taiwan and tipping culture doesn't exist there, BUT I do believe in tipping bike stores / shops that hustle and help you fix your bike quickly.

just noticed - EBD went over 100K - congrats.

I love my local bike shops, so it's helpful to hear an insider's perspective on how to make their day. Beer and non-beer will be in-hand from now on, and I will not hide the stoke.

They are awesome! So much knowledge and love for bikes!

Great video and insight. Love CyclePath. I use to go there just to see my dream bikes in person. Moots of course.

This so frickin' awesome DK! Every bike shop in America (and maybe all over the world) should have this playing in their store(s). Be patient, be kind, listen, treat every person with respect - goes a LONG way. That and the 6 (or 12?) pack of local IPAs..😉😎

Oh yeah! My frontal lobe definitely has been tickled! For the past year now. Thanks Dustin! 🤟🏻

Vince is the best!

Love this shop. Some of the best service I've had at a bike shop.

Been a mechanic and a shop manager for 6 years... everything is on point...and yes clean your bike..and yes bring a 6 pack 😂

Love this video

As a shop manager... all this, 100% true!

1:43 love seeing the Hotline cameo in the D Klein video!

Yo the premier graphics are a treat!

In the early 2000s I worked in a bike shop, I think it was western canada's largest at the time. The first summer long weekend we'd sell 300-400 bikes in a day. People would all show up and ask for a tune up, there could be 100+ come in during a single day. I was like... why don't we take appointments with a guaranteed 24 hour turnaround vs holding someone's bike hostage for a few weeks until we could get to it. That was the first summer the department ran with a profit and rather than a loss lead.

Seems like 😮 great place

I feel these guys and hear what they're saying. I'd like to see a video showing the other side of the coin...like, "What should a bike shop ALWAYS do for a customer". My #1 beef with some bike shop bros is the attitude that "I'm way more into bikes than you because I work here and I'm going to tell you that you're wrong on everything that you think you need". They want to be appreciated and respected, but it goes both ways and far too often have I taken my business elsewhere because some bike shop bro was a total elitist a-hole to me.

CLEAN YOUR BIKE BEFORE YOU TAKE IT TO THE SHOP! Got it. :D

STOKED!

+1 for Beaumont Hardware T Shirt

An island of sanity in the cesspool known as Portland.

It’s because of your videos I just had Cyclepath build me a custom gravel bike 😊

Is it not just simple courtesy to clean your bike before taking it to the shop? I’d be embarrassed, these guys have helped me out so many times with NO charge, don’t forget that. Love those new pedals btw, orange is the way. 👍🏻

Great stuff, love the positivity and stoke! However, as a former bike mechanic (shops and race teams), it has always sorta kinda irked me when hearing shops complain about bikes coming in dirty and setting an expectation that customers should clean their bikes before bringing them in for service. Why? Cleaning bikes is a massive part of the bike service trade. I would never want to ask a customer to perform work on their bike before paying me to perform work on their bike. It devalues what I am trying to make a living doing. Cleaning bikes should an ingrained part of any great shop's workflow and shops should be set up to be able to efficiently provide that service, because a clean bike simply works better and it's the shop's jobs to make bikes work better. We're the professionals and it's our job to have the equipment and expertise to clean bikes more thoroughly than customers can. Why would I expect the customer to know that their gunked-up jockey wheels are responsible for their shifting issue? It's not their job to know that, it's mine, and that knowledge is worth money. Shouldn't I be thankful that there are enough folks who don't have the knowledge or desire or space or time or tools to work on their own bike, that I get to make a business out of working on it for them? Why would I demean them for using the product and getting it dirty? That's totally their job! And, cleaning customer's bikes is a really great way to consistently stoke them out. As a mechanic, I don't want to take that opportunity away from myself. Not everyone notices the work you've performed on their bike right away, but what everyone notices, as soon as you roll their bike out, is how clean and shiny it is. They're already primed to have a positive emotional response to the service they're about to pay for. And I get the added bonus of feeling extra proud of my work. Even if someone would come in for a flat repair, I'd almost always at least run a microfiber across the frame and a rag over the chain. Full tuneups would always get stripped down and meticulously cleaned. Why would I care how dirty the bike was when it came in? It's my responsibility as a mechanic to make it awesome again, and I'm proud of the work I perform. The dirtier it comes in, the cleaner I get to make it, the more they'll notice, and the more stoked everyone is in the end. It's an opportunity to literally shine. Embrace the suds! And don't be afraid to charge for it. If a bike comes in for a shift adjustment, but cleaning the parts will make it perform better, offer to sell the customer a drivetrain clean, and be happy that you're able to provide the customer with the service they need. All that being said, if you want to give the wrench a head start by washing your bike prior to bringing it in, have at it. Most mechanics will appreciate the effort. I just don't think it's super rad for shops to expect it. Happy wrenching, y'all!

This shop looks great and the vibe seems awesome but as a former service writer in a smaller shop in a smaller city with a decently wide demographic including families and children, I'm not a fan of the beer drop off. I like a good brew as much as mostly the next person, but I don't like the optics of it: alcohol in the workplace, the appearance that beer=preferential treatment (or reality, if the mechanic skews that way), the "bro culture" of it, and issues with underagers (we employed a couple of junior mechanics who couldn't/wouldn't partake). I'm good with a heartfelt thank you after you've paid for the work and are happy with what we could help you with. However, I also say to each their own. If the shop welcomes it, and the customer enjoys that kind of "tip", then so be it. Just because I'm not a fan doesn't mean I work for the fun police either. You do you, as they say.

Always bring in a clean bike and listen to your mechanic. The shop I use is really great. The only down part is I can't buy one of every type of bike they have and stay married.} Take care, Al

I just dropped off two six packs to my local shop! They're always paying it forward to me so I had to pay them back

Yo Amigo, the six pack/12 pack of frosty deliciousness ALWAYS makes the techs happy campers. IMHO

Compare this to auto repair shops where they charge you $200 just to connect a scan tool to your OBD 2 port.

i need the spiritualized shirt and that scram cap

WOOOOODDDDYYYYYY!

Treat their workshop like an operating room, not an emergency room. Plan ahead. If there’s a season you’re not riding as much, that’s when you bring it in for regular servicing. Not 1 week before the event you signed up for 6 months ago

So you go over the tri bikes with a blacklight?

Clean your bike before you bring it in to the shop! I wrench part-time at my buddy's shop. Almost impossible for me to quickly diagnose your shifting irregularities when your jockey wheels have 1/2" of black crud on them because you like to ride wet limestone trails when the trails are too muddy.

Oh. You went with the mechanic's side!

Oh yeah...I ALWAYS clean my bike before taking it to the shop. A lot of shops don't allow tipping but I always ask.

I do all of my own maintenance and repairs but if I were a bike mechanic I imagine that one of the things that would bother me the most is having certain customers come in repeatedly wanting something fixed that could easily be either done at home, like replacing a tire or tightening a rim brake, or prevented from being necessary with very basic, simple and commonsense maintenance and care, like wiping down your chain when it's dirty and keeping it lubed, or not dropping it onto something hard. I find it hard to deal with people who can't be troubled to do basic stuff like that. It's like letting your dirty dishes accumulate for days. Yeah, I'd make a lousy bike mechanic for that reason alone. 😬

Asking the customer what bothers them the most about their bike. Creaking, cleanliness, cost, turn around time, perfect shifting, quiet disc brakes? As mechanics we all need to ask the customer what bothers them most about the bike. Ask questions and listen to the customer. I personally don’t like a clean bike. The dirt and oil tell a story that helps me service the bike. Similar to steam washing an engine bay, strips all the clues.

Marianne Vos t-shirt !! 🇳🇱👊🏼

All hail the bike mechanic. When I bring my bike in for service I tell them what I'm experiencing on the road, I bring the bike in clean, and I'm always sure to tell them there is no "special event" that the bike needs to be ready for.

Notice how many times they said “clean the bike”. A good amount of times, the bike not being clean was the cause of a problem.

Question. Bought a Trek hybrid bike love very much.Want a mountain bike now. Trek tells me Trek is great. Conflict of interest. Should I shop at a local bike store with multiple brand offerings?

In many bicycling videos I watch, mention is made that it’s tough times for the bicycle industry. Why is that? Bad economy? Something else? Why are bicycle makers struggling?

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I’ve been in the trade for a long time, I hate people more and more every single day

CLEAN YOUR BIKE. Probably the best shop tip outside of being a nice person in general; which includes cleaning your bike!

When I see RU-vidr vids that feature some LBS I'm like... This is fake news 😂 Most bike shops I go to can't wait to overcharge for parts and service while adding unreasonable delays, all done with the most IDGAF attitude. I live in a tourist trap. Maybe that's why. On the sunny side I learned to do everything on my bike 😂

+1 👍 - be nice to your local bike shops. Scram Sram Scam…

anyone know the name of the funky bars at 1:40 please?

Yo Dustin, I'm wondering if you own more bicycles or pairs of glasses? 😂

For service: be patient. Yes, you finally made it to the front of the line and we're looking at your bike, the amount of work it needs, and when a mechanic has a block of time they can complete it, but the line started days ago, and continues after you leave, so we can't do it right now. Also, don't ask for free labor. I don't mind if you scoff at our prices for being to high, that's fair. If you want skilled laborers to spend their time doing unskilled work, you still have to pay skilled labor rates. If you say that it's easy, then I will remember you as the person who can't do something easy, and then whined about it. For sales: give us info on what you're going to do with the bike. 'Riding around town' is pretty meaningless. Are you going to the grocery store and running errands? Need to carry things? Need to lock it up? 'Riding on trails' is meaningless. Are they paved? Crushed limestone? Chunky gravel? Singletrack? Downhill? Give us some specifics of what you want a bike to do, and we will give you a fantastic recommendation. Believe us, we've thought about buying every bike we even remotely like, and figured out exactly what niche it's best for. I hate selling someone a bike. I love talking about bikes and discovering that I could recommend them a bike that will suit their needs.

Bike owner: This bike is my entire personality. Bike shop: Being annoyed is my entire personality.

wait, you're supposed to clean bikes?

My bike shop likes when I bring them Chickfila.

I don't want you to give your bike a 5 minute power wash before you give it to me. Because if it didn't creak before you gave it to me, it probably does now.

5 things bike shops never want you to do: 1. Not clean your bike Interesting how much they emphasize this. If it's such a big deal, why isn't it just a requirement or a thing they add a fee for? If they don't tell you to clean your bike on the website or when you call or whatever, I don't know how anyone would know, especially people who don't work on their own bike and therefore don't know how much it matters.

OK, ok, ok ... I'll wash my bike tonight after work.

Please dont take alchohol to the bike shop guy i was the bike shop guy and was drunk every day for years please dont turn the bike shop guy into a alcoholic . The only way out for me was quite the bike industry seriously true story .

Clean your bike‼️😂

Sounds like it's a hobby for them! They get paid, don't they!?

Holy *shit for "Clean your bike". NOTHING is worse than when a customer brings their dirty a** bike in.

Why I do the majority of my bike work. BIKE SHOPS> Hacks... BS artists. Don't road test their work Grease where it' not supposed to be . Poor adjustments, did not fix the problem etc. I could go on.. but I won't. Except, one shop in Napa Calif near killed me because of their sloppy, ignorant, incompetent work. Yes, I ended up in t he hospital and got Gravel Rash of the Year Award. Over a year recovery.

Definitely clean the goddam bike - if it’s clean it can be fixed quicker and better… Indexing gears is hit and miss when covered in crap. I now charge a surcharge for dirty bikes.

I’m here to be disgusted by triathletes whizzing on their bikes and then dropping it off for service.

I'm a chiropractor. A lot of this is in my business too. Wash your body before you come in...remove bodily fluids...not joking. I'm also a cyclist.

I'm doing a charity ride, can you service my bike for free.

Those bike guys are full of crap

Wanna make your mechanic happy? Give him five bucks every time someone uses the word "stoked". Seriously, let's retire this one.😂