A mountain bike with a zip-tie derailleur showed up at the shop

This guy wheeled his bike in last Tuesday, and I kid you not, the rear derailleur was attached with a web of zip ties. He said it popped off on a gravel path, and he used the ties from his bag to get home. I told him zip ties are for cables, not for holding parts on your bike. We had a good laugh when he said it had been working fine for a month. It made me notice how many people try these quick fixes instead of getting proper help. I see it more now, maybe because online videos make it look easy. It's a bit scary, but honestly, it keeps things interesting in the shop. You never know what kind of homemade solution will come through the door next.

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3 Comments

bennett.jordan7mo ago

See this everywhere now, people love makeshift fixes.

7

shah.zara7mo ago

It's like we've given up on real fixes and just patch things forever.

1

hernandez.jesse7mo ago

Feel that deep in my bones. We patch the pothole instead of fixing the road. We slap another software update on a phone that's clearly dying. We keep adding new bandaids to old systems, from schools to power grids, instead of building something that actually works for the long haul. It's exhausting.

4