Should bicyclists obsess less over their component selection and focus more on developing their motor?

Getting a bicycle is not as straight forward as that. I am serving a generation of customers craving instant gratification with their purchase. Here are some points to note when choosing a bicycle.

When customers enter my shop, the first question I will ask is if they are cycling with their friends. It defeats the purpose of buying a mountain bike if the group of friends you are joining are riding road bikes. Your cycling skills can’t help much here as you will be struggling to catch up on your knobby tyres as your friends sped by on their road bike with 700C slick tyres, heads bent forward on tarred road.

Similarly, size of wheels also matters. In Malaysia, it is now popular to choose bicycle with wheel size of 27.5” or a 29er. So, if you were to buy a 26” bike, you may have a problem chasing after your friends cycling on a 27.5” or a 29er, as with each revolution, it can go a bit further than a 26er.

Once my customers have that settled, they will then have to decide if they would like to consider buying bicycles similar in standard to what their friends are cycling. If they just opt for a cheaper model than there is an issue of "losing face", a cultural behavior that the Asians will understand. That is, the feeling that you have lost self-esteem as “what you have is not better than theirs”.

This is how I help my customers overcome that problem. The general idea of most customers is that better components will be installed on a higher priced bicycle. In order to help them make the right decision, I will let them compare components on one bicycle with those on another instead of comparing price of each bicycle to make the decision to purchase. Sometimes, a less well known brand may have better gearing system installed vs one that is branded even though they are similar in price. Then you will have to decide if you would prefer the brand you are seeking and pay more for higher end components installed, which tend to be lighter in weight.
I let my customers feel the mechanism of the bicycle so that they can tell, for example, the difference of using a bicycle with mechanical disc brake over one with hydraulic disc brake or one with V-brake. I let them lift up a 20” steel folding bicycle so that they can imagine how heavy a steel bike with 26” wheelset or higher would be like. Then they can decide if it is best that they pay more for bicycle with alloy, chrommolly or carbon frame.
The important thing as a customer is that you must ask the shop if spare parts of components on the bicycle of your choice are easy to find and replace. So, even if you opt to choose a lower end bicycle due to current budget, you know that you can upgrade the components at later stage when you understand bicycles better as you ride and are sure that you are serious about cycling.
Once you have cycled on your bicycle (or your friends’) and have a clearer idea of what you really like, you will have reached the stage to be obsessed about components. But this time it is because you want to build up your cycling skills with the right components.

Is it a good idea to buy a used high end carbon road bike?

Many people buy bicycles without checking on the warranty provided for the frame or its components. Eg, I have customers requesting us to repair their hydraulic disc brake and gears on their new bicycle which should still be under warranty.

If you want to buy used bicycles with carbon frames, find one from companies that offer the best warranty. Eg, manufacturers from China like XDS, provides 3 years warranty on their carbon frames and 5 years warranty on their alloy frames for the original owner. Trek offers only 2 years warranty for carbon frame but lifetime warranty on other type of frames. I read that they also have a loyalty program, whereby they will offer a discount to replace damaged carbon frame.

These warranties are for manufacturing defects, so the warranty will be voided if you have an accident which damaged the frame. However, companies like Calfee provide 10 years warranty for carbon frame repairs from the original date of service. They will even perform an inspection for second buyers of their used frame and perform any repairs which are covered under warranty at no additional charge.

So, if you still intend to buy used carbon frame bike, you may want to check with the owner the kind of warranty he still holds for the carbon frame. Then you will have to negotiate with the seller to see if there is a way you can get him to assist you in getting this warranty claim should you face a problem after riding it.

Note though that you may like the carbon frame but not like the components already installed. The next question to ask the seller or discover for yourself is whether you will be able to find spare parts for its components during repairs. It will be time consuming and costly for you to replace parts that are difficult to find, especially if you intend to maintain a complete groupset.

What can we do with old tyre and punctured tubes?

I have lots of worn out tyres from my bike shop.  I can’t leave them outside for too long because mosquito could breed in them should water accumulate inside its hollow space because of the rain.

I was inspired by a photo I saw on Pinterest and manged to tie some up to create a chair.  This is how it turned out.

Raffia strings don’t hold them together too well and after some time, they fell apart.  What will you consider using to tie them up together so that they can last longer?

If the stains on your chair cannot be cleaned, you can cover it up with punctured tyre tubes this way. It can also cover small cracks on chairs so that you fanny will not get pinched.

I also like to consider using punctured tubes as material to explore my creativity.  Here are some of my creations.

This is made with gear cable and tube.

Would the guys wear this?

Here are some tips if you need inspiration to create with waste material you have collected from your bicycles.