You've Never Had it so Good?

When I started in the trade in the early 1980's, one of the most popular bikes on the market was the Peugeot Premiere 10, a ten-speed steel-framed sports bike.

The bike had (in it's standard format as we received it in the UK, anyway), CLB or Weinmann side-pull brakes, steel 700c rims, alloy hubs, Huret gears with plastic non-indexed downtube levers and a steel seatpost.

As I recall, the retail price in the mid 80s of this beast was about £110, at a time when a shop bike mechanic was earning about £65.00 a week take-home - so it was around 2 weeks' pay.

These numbers might not be bang on, but I don't think they're too far off.

If we fast-forward to today, most mechanics in the UK probably earn around £325 a week take-home. For, say, £700.00 in this day and age, not only is the choice vastly wider, but the bicycle iteslf will be so night-and day different as to defy comparison. A bike like the Premier (albeit with probably a rather less accomplished frame) might sell for about the same cash price as it's predecessor ... about 2 or 3 days' pay.

So what am I saying here - well, the retail price of bicycles is at an all-time low against earnings, and the bikes that are available to us are technically hugely advanced against their antecedents, that much is obvious.

It's at this point however, that a small, suspicious voice whispers in my ear ... "there's no such thing as a free lunch" or "it may be a gift horse, but it might be worth looking it in the mouth" ...

Virtually every part of that old Peugeot bike was made in Europe. We can say with a fair degree of certitude that almost no part of it's modern equivalent will be made in Europe. Does that matter? Well, fundamentally, I think it does, yes.

I'll grant you that I am sitting here, typing this, on a computer made in China, but in Europe, we've barely had a micro-electronics industry to give away, whereas we have most certainly had a manufacturing base encompassing a huge range of bicycle parts, amongst other things - and as we have chosen to move more and more of that industry to whichever parts of the globe have offered us the opportunity to manufacture and ship at ever lower cash prices, so we have damaged our own society, our own future prospects, and, to boot, we have created a system which encourages a greater and greater ravishing of the environment. Just because that environmental damage is in Taiwan, or China, Morocco or Korea ... to me, it doesn't make it any more acceptable.

I know this is an old saw, but to my mind, it doesn't make it any less true.

Well, whinging about it is all very well, but what to do - we are, after all, where we are.

What it seems to me we need to do, is to promote the recycling of these imports here, we need to re-learn maintenance and repair skills which the apparent cheapness of replacement products have encouraged us to forget, and we need to ask more searching questions about how and where products are made.

We need to encourage industry closer to home, and allow that industry to generate the income that permits the R and D that has allowed distant economies to overtake our own so quickly and thoroughly - and if we can't reverse it, we need to do all that we can to stem the flow of capital from West to East.

Am I an idealist? Certainly. Am I niave? I don't think so - as the use of bicycles increases at all levels of UK society for everything from utility to leisure, commuting to racing, the opportunity exists to open up access to the bicycle by promoting not just the sale of recycled bicycles (allowing those who might never otherwise have been able to afford a bicycle, or those who would be for other reasons disinclined to spend so much on a bicycle, to buy one) but the other elements that promote cycle use - maitenance classes, pressing for better driver behavious, better riding skills and an improved social image of cyclists as a community.

It's only in this way that we'll get to a situation where my Godchildren, for example, should they wish to, will have the opportunity to work actually making something, rather than just working to buy and dispose of an seemingly endless succession of disposable products ...

You know, deep down, that the way we live at the moment, with the drive to constantly consume, is wrong. The revolution has to start. The question is, are we brave enough to face up to what we need to do, and to do it?

I couldn't resist this ...

I claim no credit for the below ... it comes from a website at www.mini-lathe.com and I use it here with absolutely no permission at all from the incredibly knowledgeable owner of that site, Frank J. Hoose, Jr ... I am hoping that by adding his link in here, he won't sue me, kill my as-yet-unconceived children or burn my house down ...

So ... why is it here?

Well, it saved me trying to write something even half as amusing about a tendency I have noted in myself over the years, and as I am scanning the 'net just now for a new lathe & milling machine (or preferably a second hand one, European made, as all the new ones I can afford are from China), I am clearly not fully cured - in fact I suppose having a blog called "pimp my toolbox" probably makes that pretty clear in any case ;-)

It also made me laugh a lot. Yes, I know, I have an odd sense of humour.
So here it is ... enjoy!

Tool Envy Syndrome (TES)

Tool Envy Syndrome (TES) is a serious condition that afflicts, in varying degrees, nearly all men who are interested in mechanical things. It is very important to recognize and deal with this condition before it becomes serious; left untreated it can lead to a far more serious condition: Inflammation of the Credit Card (ICC). TES is known to strike under the following circumstances:

* Browsing the latest tool catalogs or sale flyers
* Visiting stores such as Grizzly or Harbor Freight (Warning: while much less so than in earlier years, the tool department at Sears can still trigger small attacks)
* Visiting the shop of a friend who has more and/or better tools than you have
* Surfing the web site of someone with a well-equipped shop
* Seeing a well-equipped shop in magazines such as Home Shop Machinist

Tool Envy Syndrome tends to strike young men particularly hard, due its close relationship to a similar condition: Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS). Over time, in most men, both of these conditions tend to lessen in severity. In fact, it can be shown that gradual accumulation of tools and gear over a period of years can control both conditions while minimizing the risk of Inflammation of the the Credit Card (this is known as the Mature Phase). It has also been widely observed that getting married and having children can moderate the risk; primarily, it is believed, due to counseling from a loving wife and the sobering effect of having lots more bills to pay.

Tool Envy Syndrome cannot be controlled by any known drugs (although its effects can be exaggerated by the use of alcohol). Therefore, treatment is currently limited primarily to counseling methods. The first step is admitting that you have a problem. Here are some additonal pointers:

* Avoid situations that are likely to cause an attack
* When visiting tool stores, leave your credit card at home (Warning: in severely afflicted individuals this can trigger emotional breakdown, fits of crying and other irrational behavior)
* Meditate on the fine collection of tools that you already have; recognize that time will make it better
* Find a quiet place. Visualize your ideal shop. Repeat to yourself "It is coming"

I hope you have found this information to be helpful. As a TES/GAS sufferer myself (now in the Mature Phase) I felt compelled to pass it on to you.

Oh! My Giddy Aunt ... it's September

Well, I suppose September has to come around, the way it does most years ... but it is months since I last sat down to edit this 'ere blog.

Well. there is a reason for that. Several reasons. A whole truckload of reasons in fact ...

London Paris in June is one. A succession of courses run & "Weldtechies" accredited is another. More wheelbuilding than you can shake the proverbial stick at is yet another ... plus all the routine stuff with Campagnolo, general business admin, ongoing stuff with EDI, who will be our awarding body soon, getting a web presence up, ongoing work on the manual, and assortment of retro restoration jobs, the Royal British Legion's Pedal2Paris ride (don't these people know that a "pedalier" in French is a derogatory term for a male homosexual? Maybe that's why the logo is pink ...).

Well, enough of the excuses already - keep em peeled cos I'll be back, presently, to update you on all of the above and some NEW STUFF! Shocking, I know :-)

What's been keeping me away from the blog?

Well, it's been busy ...

We have devolved a certain proportion of the Campagnolo warranty business out to the wholesalers now, but a proportion still fetches up at our door.

We had a good visit to the Campagnolo factory earlier in the month, too, which has bought us up to speed on some new issues and procedures, as well as hopefully laying the ghost of several months of misunderstandings in that direction, though we still have to see action fitted to words in some directions ...

Hopefully all of that will mean a better service to end-users, now!

We've got several great builds in process, and several have recently been delivered - London Road Club have been keeping the workshops busy recently, with wheelbuilding, a full rebuild service on a Cervelo R3 / Campag 10s and the retro icing on the cake, a beautiful 1980s DeRosa to be married up to a Campagnolo 50th Anniversary group, just as soon as I can lay my hands on the cups for an Italian threaded bottom bracket of the right type and vintage - hopefully tomorrow.

Teaching-wise, we are also busy with a roadside maintenance course running this Wednesday evening at Longstaffs, a Platinum week to deliver later in June, and the ongoing re-accreditation of our courses by EDI being organised.

We are running two days of courses for National Bike Week in the third week of the month at Manchester Velodrome - a one day introduction to cycle mechanics, and a half-day introduction to track bike mechanics ... there are places available on both, so if you are interested, please contact Bob Barber at the Velodrome.

At the end of the month, we'll be off to France with the usual crew for the Londres-Paris cycle sportif.

Right now, it's back to the grindstone, with a Campagnolo Bora rebuild and a string of ergos needing fettling ...

So much to do, so little time

Yes, OK, I know, I've been away far too long again ...

Since my last post, I've worked fingers to the bone on London - Cannes (www.cycle2cannes.net -well done guys and girls!) run some training and accreditation in Northumberland for a super Sustrans project in Ashington (Go, Adam and Emma, Go!), a Campagnolo course in Staffs and have done a couple of extra days at Longstaffs.

We've also run a first training event for track coaches and staff at Manchester Velodrome to some very positive feedback.

There's a fair bit of work going on in adjusting & developing the Weldtech accreditation just now, too - we are expanding the availability of the accreditation through a network of partners, which means a total re-write of all of the training and assessment material so that someone other than just Jeff, Nigel and I can understand it, plus we are developing some new courses, both at the highest level (manufacturer-specific) and at the entry level - roadside & trailside repair.

Upcoming courses include a Platinum week starting on April 19th (still places available on all days), a Campag course on My 6th & 7th (one place left, trade only) and an introduction to bicycle maintenance course at Manchester Velodrome on June 20th, at the beginning of National Bike Week.

All go!

As it's now heading for stupid-o'clock I'll sign off with a promise to write more often ... believe it if you will!

Life on the Ocean Wave ...

I've delivered training in some funny places over the years - an underground car park in mid-winter (not recommended - we could only stand 30 min at a time before having to go and warm up for 15 mins ...), a condemned building, a derelict barn and an old people's home are just a few that spring to mind ... so an island closer to Bergen in Norway than it is to London seemed like a walk in the park ...

That was, until I decided to go by boat. Now, I'm no wimp when it comes to boats - in the last 20 years I have crossed the Channel umpteen times in conditions varying from millpond to do-we-don't-we on the part of the ferry line with all the trucks AND the cars chained down in the hold - but the trip over to Shetland can only be described as well, how should I put it ... "technicolour"? I think you know where I am coming from.

I arrived, shaken and very definitely stirred, in Lerwick at 7 in the morning, having left Aberdeen at 5.30 the evening before, short on sleep and long on bleary eyes and a lack of appetite (!), and found my way to the Shetland Community Bike Project, tucked away in one of the beautiful little alleys that run up from Old Lerwick Harbour towards the main street of the town. It was snowing, as it would pretty much all week, but this was hugely compensated for by the warmth of the welcome I had from Caroline (who runs the scheme), and her volunteers, who were at the Scheme to receive training and accreditation.

It was a great week, punctuated by some fantastic "moments" that you can only get when the trainees and the instructor are totally relaxed - and I'd just like to say to Caroline, Willie, Margaret, Scott, Joe, Jake, Geordie and Neil, that boat trips notwithstanding, anytime you want me back, I'd be delighted!

Thanks to Billy Fox for the above image - click here to visit his website!
Thanks also to Jim and Lynne at Fort Charlotte B and B for a fantastic week - worth going back just for the breakfasts!

X-mouse holidays and all that

Well, Christmas (white in nature if not in name, cos it didn't snow on the roof of the Weather Centre, despite being cold as you like ...) has come and gone & the cunning plan to catch up on repairs and re-write our training manual for cycle mechanics were each only in part fulfilled.

Given that this blog is called "Pimp My Toolbox" I suppose I ought to mention my toolbox & the odd pimpings that have occurred recently - the most notable and useful of which isn't actually that recent - it's over a year old, in fact, but it's been a boon in servicing Ultra-Torque cranksets. It's VAR's too for pulling & replacing the UT bearings.

Now I KNOW there are a squillion mechanics out there who are going to say you can grind the feet of a three-legged puller off so that they fit under the bearing and you can tap the new one on using a 1" headset crown race slide hammer BUT a) if there is a right too for the job, why the hell not use it and b) some problems occur with percussive force on sealed (or any other, for that matter) bearings and with CULT ceramics costing somewhere north of £100.00 a set, I'm not about to take chances.

All you have to remember when using the removal tool is to remove the circlip before you try and pull the bearing, as the tool exters enough force to tear it out of it's groove, with damage to both circlip & spindle resulting (haven't done it myself, thankfully, a colleague told me about this ...)