Serviced

I cycle to work and back every day. It's a fairly substantial distance and the brakes have gradually worn until the bite point is low, the braking distance long and the calipers immune to any amount of tinkering with my new allen keys. I finally gave in and took it to the experts for a service yesterday.

I had a free service at Evans a couple of months ago- one of the perks of having bought it from them, although it seems to be quite a common offer. I took it in, but when I collected it nothing had changed. I raced off to work but returned it at the end of the day, complained, and 10 minutes later it re-emerged from the mechanic, serviced. So I wanted to choose somewhere with a clearer sense of customer service this time round, and where I could come face-to-face with the mechanic.

In Japan, the bike guy is a thriving tradesman. Every neighbourhood seemed to have a leathery old dude with dungarees and wrenches and a workshop dripping in spokes from the ceiling. Sometimes two per neighbourhood. They charge a few hundred yen per job, or part, rather than the package service you're sold in London. Best of all, it's a face-to-face transaction. You get to know the guy. He's the bike guy, and he's your best friend on a monsoon Saturday when you pancake your tire. In London, the mechanic works in a separate room.

I called the makers of my bike, got the address for a family-run independent place down the road in Chalk Farm and ran it in yesterday. First thing the guy does is measure with a chain wear indicator pulled from his pocket. Next he asks if there were any particular problems. I explain the brakes, he tests the brakes. I explain the noisy bottom bracket, he tests it til it makes a noise then says, 'That noise?', I say, 'Yes, that noise'. I picked it up this morning and it rides like a dream. I took it along the canal for a change.