The time I fixed a customer's squeaky crank at the register instead of in the shop

I was checking out a guy buying chain lube at the store and he mentioned his bike squeaked on every pedal stroke, so I spent 10 minutes with an Allen key tightening his crank bolts right there by the exit and now I keep a set of hex wrenches under the counter at all times.

2 comments

2 Comments

ryanhayes6d ago

keeps a set of hex wrenches under the counter" My buddy Dale did something similar at his shop. Had a lady come in crying because her kid's training wheel bracket snapped on the way to school. Dale grabbed a zip tie and a washer from the drawer, jury rigged it on the spot. Kid rode away smiling. He still keeps that drawer full of random bolts and zip ties. Says it saves more rides than the actual repair bench.

patricia_hayes6d ago

Had a neighbor once who kept a bucket of old bike parts on his front porch. Someone's kid needed a quick fix on a Saturday afternoon and he just dug around till he found a rusty bolt that fit. He was out there in his slippers with a can of WD-40. Fixed the kid's handlebars in five minutes. Now the whole street brings him their broken bikes. Got a whole system going with zip ties and spare chains. Funny how a random junk drawer can turn into a neighborhood hero. You ever stash weird stuff around your place for emergency fixes?

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