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Archive for month: April, 2016

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Seasonal Treats

this entry has 2 Comments/ in Uncategorized / by Ric Hjertberg
April 24, 2016
Pedro2

Little minions to keep you company.

A new product and the return of an old favorite, what good news for the coming season!

We’ve added Pedro’s new spoke wrench. Three sizes, a delightful and original design, likely to become many builders’ go-to wrench. Pedro’s stuff is always a pleasure. Uber sturdy construction, no shortcuts, and trademark screaming yellow…what’s not to love.

Three sizes cover the range for 14 and 15G nipples: 3.23, 3.30, 3.45mm. Each tool features a reversible hardened steel insert offering a fast on and off, straight side opening and a 4-side drive, diamond shape.

Pedro1

Diamond jaw on top, straight side on bottom.

Best news ever is the return of our nipple shuffler trays. While most efficient nipple lubing uses a strainer, pre-oiled nipples tend to drip. When you sprinkle them into your shuffler to begin lacing, a catch tray would be handy. We ran out last year and it’s been many months without.

Oak tray

Routed from a hardwood remanent block.

Your shuffler sits up on the corner shelves. The wood loves oil, so everyone is happy. Just received 50 from Jon, a variety of woods, all magnificent. You’re welcome to make a request in the “notes” area at checkout but I’ll not be listing or selling them by species.

50-trays

50 trays.

 

Why Tensiometers at All?

this entry has 0 Comments/ in Do It Yourself, Reflections, Wheelbuilding Tips / by Ric Hjertberg
April 16, 2016

Since wheel sages know tensiometers are optional for the highest levels of building, let’s ask, “Why use one at all?” After all, some are substantial investments.num_me_vexo

I co-introduced the first consumer tensiometer in 1985 and still sell them today, so I have a bias (or 2) and some perspective.

What do they do?
Experienced builders are right, a great wheel does not require a tensiometer. Even for beginners, everything you need can be learned by trial and error.

Using a tensiometer reduces the chance of incorrect spoke tension, the most common fault of wire wheels. Both the average and the distribution of tension must be in a narrow range for components to blend optimally into a single, rugged structure.

Squeezing spokes, plucking them, and feeling nipple turning resistance are ways to monitor tension besides a dedicated measuring tool. A tensiometer prevents misinterpretation from:
–  Thick spokes feeling tighter than thin because they are stiffer to squeeze.
–  Nipples suggesting higher tension if they resist turning due to corrosion or lack of lubrication.
–  Material and geometry of rim holes and nipples greatly affecting twisting friction.
Tensiometers can see through all of this, a boon for beginners.

hero

A training tool
More than enabling appropriate tension, as you see tension numerically, associations form without conscious effort. You become trained to sense tension just as a heart rate monitor trains you to know your rate.

After thousands of observations, wheel tension becomes more and more intuitive. Rim models, tensions with various spokes and nipples, time to finish, and eventual long term outcomes, all become associated. This mental landscape is best built with a tensiometer and as experience accumulates your expertise grows. This intuition separates masters from learners and enables very fast builds.

The conversation
Since numbers are better than adjectives like “tight,” “not so tight,” “really tight,” etc.; component makers, builders, journalists, and riders can exchange ideas and discuss experiences with a shared numerical language. Kilograms of force and newton meters enable instruction and conversation. This ongoing discussion shapes product development and wheel designs. Without it, the cycling world would be more random and hazardous.

Reassurance
These days it is best to show you use a tensiometer and have respect for the subject. Sure, it’s part marketing but people tend to make snap judgements, especially when trust is involved. There are so few tools in wheel building despite its engineering feat. Callouses and name dropping go only so far to establish credibility. Modern consumers will often defer to a very neat and well equipped workshop over a spartan layout in spite of good reviews.

So remember
There are two levels at work in your building. One is the wheel before you, wanting to be the best it can. Two is the learning brought by experience. Building your intuition for component, especially spoke, behavior is an immense treasure – the key to speed, a reservoir of patience, a resource for advising riders, and a stimulus for design insights. No wonder many builders…

smug

Service ideas for mechanic nerds

this entry has 4 Comments/ in How It Works, Reflections / by Ric Hjertberg
April 4, 2016

This piece is only of interest to a minority of professional bicycle mechanics. That’s my excuse for such a lengthy exposition and references mechanics will catch but others may not. The time for this story is now, mechanics are networking and organizing as never before.

mechanic postcard

A can-do mechanic.

Starting with a cadre of race mechanics, acquainted through events and programs like the USAC Mechanics Program, there is now a professional mechanics FB site that has grown to 3000 members in a matter of weeks. If you are a mechanic and not a member, please check it out. Many important discussions are occurring around shared goals of improved standards, wages, accountability, diversity, technique, and advancement. My two bits are related to those topics.

The following concepts are big but simple, so I’ll tell it like a story. The story is true in message but not every detail is exact. Please follow along and see if the points make sense.

Service in today’s economy
Service is one of the most secure, best paid, and fastest growing employment sectors in the developed world. Fixing and maintaining copiers, plumbing, computers, vehicles, elevators, espresso makers, etc. is in increasing demand.

wheel-guy-logo

Cheer up, it’s going to get better.

Yet bicycle service is plagued by low wages and high turnover. There are few paths to advancement, little diversity, working conditions are often primitive, and access to training is scarce. At the same time, employers (shops, teams, companies, riders) complain of a small pool of effective technicians, widespread low standards, unprofessional attitudes, and lack of accreditation.

Why the contradiction?
When I left retail in 1999, my shop was trying some novel service ideas. That experiment was interrupted but interesting points were raised. I dove into cycle manufacturing, particularly large scale wheel building. I found the economics of manufacturing surprisingly similar to shop service departments. Yet, in shops, service is usually managed like a subdivision of commodity retail.

Seeking answers for the mechanics’ dilemma, I interviewed service operations in motorcycle, auto, marine, and aviation. Perhaps their practices would help explain the contradiction. A telling experience in my quest was a visit with Cal BMW’s owner, Kari Prager (much admired and since passed). His Mountain View, CA business was among the premier BMW motorcycle dealerships in the US. I explained my quest and he asked a few questions.

“What’s your shop rate?”
I said “$95/hr.” My shop was 20yrs old and regionally well known. We had mechanics with high level experience and an impressive service department. Other shop rates went from $50 to $85, so we thought it wise to stake out $95 for ourselves. That’s the way most shops do it: we select a rate rather than generate it from our costs.

Kari said, “Great, I’m impressed. So you pay your mechanics $45/hr? I wish I could do that. Our starting wage is over $60/hr and still we have turnover trouble. They’re poached by auto performance shops that pay better.”

I said, “Whoa, we pay around $20/hr and are locally famous for such a high rate. I couldn’t pay more if I wanted.” Kari said, “That’s incredible. You charge $95/hr and only pay $20? What a clever guy you are. What do you do with all that money?”

I said, “No way. I’m always broke and challenged to make payroll. I can’t buy a new car. There’s no gold mine at my shop.”

He said, “Something is wrong. If you charge $95, where is the money going?” This led to a simple experiment: determine the ACTUAL labor rate. It’s simple: pick a period, divide all receipts for labor by all hours devoted to those jobs. Exclude phone calls, customer consults, and parts chases. Count only hours for jobs. This will identify the ACTUAL labor rate as opposed to the ADVERTISED rate.

We did this and found our ACTUAL rate was 1/2 our ADVERTISED. I have since done this calculation at a number of shops and never found an ACTUAL rate that was more than 1/2 the ADVERTISED rate.

Huh? Customers are asked to pay a labor rate, they agree and, without being told, are charged half. Mechanics are told their work is being charged out at a specific rate but then paid less than 1/4 in wages. Service business in the larger world doesn’t do this. This is broken thinking and everyone loses.

What do other service sectors do?
In auto, marine, and aviation service operations, I found similarities to each other but little resembled bicycle practice.

time clock

One way to make it easier.

The point is to know more precisely how service makes money, which usually leads to higher wages for mechanics. Here is how it is done: each task is assigned a flat rate that represents expectations (not necessarily outcomes) for each job. Mechanics record (with a time clock) the beginning and end of every task. Answering phones, service writing, selling, unpacking orders, these are clocked accordingly, NOT as service labor. This record keeping must be diligent, it’s nearly impossible to track without time clocks.

Time clocks are unwelcome in most bike shops, seeming impersonal and authoritarian. However, service is more like manufacturing than commodity retail. In manufacturing, time clocks are the worker’s best friend. They defend proper compensation. Management must prove that all clocked hours are paid. Time clocks are not exploitative but empowering evidence on behalf of mechanics. Likewise, if your efficiency as a mechanic is brought down by interruptions, the evidence should be available.

Using a time clock does not mean piece work pay. That is another discussion. The time clock gives the shop data to become smarter and, in turn, mechanics are usually winners.

Each week, data must be analyzed. Every job type (overhaul, tire install, etc.) is checked against hours to see how close it comes to expectations (flat rate). Each mechanic is measured for efficiency. Some are fast, some are slow. We know whose work is better (compliments, come-backs…) but who is consistently faster is often barely known.

What to do with this insight?
Some jobs need re-pricing, up or down; others require better specs so time spent matches time expected.

Mechanic productivity varies more than most think. Interruptions are extremely expensive. Mechanics who are best paid are too often slow. No other service scene employs so many that are not particularly mechanical. Intuitive mechanics solve problems while they move forward, anticipating parts and tool needs, and try and work as quickly as possible. It seems programmed into the very core of a gifted mechanic. Like commercial chefs, they do not work like home cooking aficionados. Many bike mechanics are enthusiastic riders. Some should be service writers, not mechanics.

Shops are like race teams. In general, the quickest rider is the best paid. Many shops do not know enough about speed. Faster mechanic numbers jump off the page. They can be 2-4X faster, may lack an interest in chit chat, may not ride so much, may prefer mechanical hobbies.

Our industry does a poor job of retaining them because they are not paid according to their productivity and drift to industries where they are. Too many cycling mechanics are not mechanically intuitive. Service businesses outside cycling normally pay at least 1/2 of their labor rate to the mechanic. If paid less, the shop rate may be bogus.

There is no correct response to this collected data. Anyone with it will have ideas. Slow mechanics are welcome but shouldn’t be paid too much. For tiny shops, time clocks may not be an option. The point is: too few in the service end of cycling seek or have these numbers. We’re not trying to make shops like factories. We want to be as smart as possible and not suffer any avoidable handicaps.

Until more shops measure service the way successful operations outside cycling do, gifted mechanics will have trouble being paid and the career will remain backward. Many improvements in the profession are needed but if the engine that pays is busted, progress will be slow!

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