Well, I haven't received any freebies for writing this review, but I am a friend of theirs so this is just a shoutout to any lovers, fighters, riders and writers who feel like hating on Firehouse. Let me say that I'm proud of everyone who's riding a bike on our mean streets, so don't feel disrespected or talked down to, por favor, I'm just asking people to give a bike shop I know to be way above average as a fair shake
1 Bike shops won't work on a bike that they would have to charge you more to work on than it is worth, and/or that they can't fix. This is especially true if you want to/need to leave it. Bike shops are full of bikes that people abandoned that the bike shop put more work into than they can sell it for. This is why they do this, not because they don't like you, are snooty hipsters, etc.
2 As someone noted, if you don't like this fact about bike shops you can take your bike to Neighborhood Bike Works and fix it yourself with the help of volunteers. But you might be interested in knowing that the people you are hating on started Neighborhood Bike Works and are instrumental in keeping it going. Funny that, eh? Perhaps next time you go to NBW/bike church you could match Firehouse Bike's donations to the program.
3 I know it seems snooty, but it's a fact that department store bikes are not made to be worked on. It's snooty to say that in the same way that it's snooty to say that if I have and apple in my hand let go of it, it will fall to the ground. It's like the law of gravity. Bikes from Wal-Mart are made to be sold, not to be ridden or repaired. Now, having said that, you can give it a shot. I have done so myself. But it's not fair to expect people who do, in fact, have a right to make a living, to do this for you.
4 They can, in fact, build wheels. I have bought several from people who work there. I am old school, so I don't know anything about the new fangled wheels with only a few spokes, whatever they are called, but old style bike wheels with a couple of dozen spokes or so... no problemo.
5 Someone related a story about a mechanic there breaking their brake cable. I have worked in bike shops for 27 years and have done this to customers' bikes on many occasions. It is not because I lack skills. If you can't see that this is a good thing, I don't exactly know what to say! A mechanic should give a customer's brakes a really good squeeze, harder than the customer would in normal use. If the cable breaks, it means it was going to break anyway in the not-too-distant future. So if this happens at a bike shop you visit, you could think that the people are clumsy and/or trying to rip you off, or perhaps you could think that they just saved your ass from a violent encounter with the side of SEPTA bus.
Peace and love, y'all. read more