Double Up

There is always an adaptation when going from working at bike shops in the East, to the West. I find I am an expert at "making things work" a little bit longer than they should. Being primarily a mechanic on the East coast I've learned that if I can make that old Alivio derailleur work for another year, than do it damn it....make it live!

The difference is that while working on the West Coast, the rule is just to replace it. Ive observed this and because I go back and forth from side to side so often, the differences have actually gotten me in trouble a couple times.

The Alivio derailleur for example costs X dollars. No matter where you are in Canada, it will cost the same(very reasonable by the way.) The difference is that people on the East(for the most part, in my experience) view bikes as fun holiday toys, that are ridden mainly in the summer, just for fun, along the beach or to the coffee shop, things of this nature. As soon as the fall hits, Bam its in the shed or garage for a few months. Because of this I cant blame them for not wanting to spend $30-$40 bucks extra on a part they should have, but don't need.

On the West coast, people view bikes as a legitimate source of transportation. You can easily ride the same bike 12 months of the year. All on bike paths and bike routes, its no big deal to commute 4 days a week. Because of this, $30-$40 bones is a pretty reasonable expense.
The other side of things is that people on the West tend to make about 3 times that of the Easterners(everything is proportional) but when you have a $40 derailleur and you make $5-$10 an hour less than Mr./Mrs Westerner, its not as appealing of an upgrade.

The extreme of this I saw working with Danny MacQueen. Danny lives in Cuba for 7 months of the year. Of course, people are still using bike parts from the 50's there. He said the best mechanics hes ever met live in Cuba. You would have to be a great mechanic to make bike parts work for that long. One time when I was younger, I threw out an old stem of a customers who was upgrading to a much better one. It was rusted to shit, so I just threw it out. Danny picked it up out of the garbage and gave me the 3-5 words that makes you re-think your life, in typical Danny style.

Matt Hadley, anyone who knows Matt Hadley knows he can make a plastic bag last about 3 years before it is too worn out to be used for anything else. Its true! I've since changed my ways and tried to re-use these damn things, and I find I am never out of quality plastic bags. Its amazing just how many uses you have for these things.

Anyway, just odd things I've noticed that don't really have a solid point. Happy Earth Day.