Being the third shop

For the second time this week I have heard the opening line… "You are the third shop we have tried so I am not real hopeful but…"

We were able to square the customer away within a few hours in each situation, but it got me to thinking what is it that we are doing differently that makes these "impossible requests" something that we consider a normal part of our day. In both cases the request was simple, but the customer was looking for a low cost, slightly uncommon part. What I realized, was that the issue was not the availability of the part, but the quality of the people we have on board, and the basic philosophy of the shop.

Despite our internet side allowing us to grow a little too big for our own britches, we remain at heart a small town shop. Small town shops have the simultaneous advantage and disadvantage of having a limited customer base. This means that we know most of the people who walk through our door. We race with them, we live and work next door to them, and if they come in twice, we consider them a regular.

Where we might differ from the typical small town shop is that because of our internet division we don't shed half our employees for the winter like many shops do. Everyone who works at Goose Creek Cycle is here all year round. This means that all the guys have a better idea of how our systems work and have more of an interest in the quality of service we provide.

So twice this week, we were the third and final stop for customers who may have come to us from a little further than normal. The first was actually from a business that had a contract with another local shop to do their work. They were looking for a specific seatpost that their shop didn't have in stock. Neither did the second shop they tried. Neither did we.

The difference was that our guys took the time to look up the part, realize that a Louisville based distributor had them in stock. I took the long way in to work, picked up the part and had the customer rolling by 10am the next day. This was something simple that any of the other Louisville base bike shops could have done, but for some reason or another they didn't know they could or weren’t willing to go that little bit extra on a $13 seatpost.

As I wondered why the other shops wouldn't do this, I started watching my guys and realized that this was not an isolated case. This is just how they have become accustomed to thinking. Twice today I heard Schoen say "I don't have one in, but let me check if they have it in Louisville I can probably have it tomorrow"

Now a Flashback. Back to when I worked for someone else in a medium sized shop in Lexington. I don't actually remember much about the repair, except that is was something that most mechanics wouldn't bother with. I think it was a cone and axle that were trashed out in the hub of a WalMart bike. I was able to fix it with some parts out of both the shop and my personal junk box. What I do remember is the smug little smile my boss gave me. "Congratulations, you fixed his baby" he said. Whether he meant that he wished I had just sold the kid a new wheel, or that he was glad that I had done it, I never did figure out. What was clear to me in that little smile was that he along with most mechanics wouldn't have bothered. I guess maybe it is that I never knew which way he meant it that made that moment stick with me. Either way, I did in fact fix that one persons baby, and since then I have always prided myself on being able to, and willing to work on and fix things that most mechanics won't touch.

Back to today…

"Well I have already tried two other shops, but you guys said you were always up for a challenge, so here it is." We had related to her earlier how we had completely disassembled a big-box exercycle and replaced a bushing (in a spot where if the manufacturer cared about quality they would have used a bearing), and about the time we used Stans solution to fix a chronically flat dolly wheel. So she thought she would push us.

Sitting in front of us was a trike. None of the parts were standard bike shop type parts. The trike was the favorite of a special needs child, but the front tire was completely destroyed. The tire was hard rubber and the rim not designed for clinchers. The hub had a huge bolt for an axle, larger than a 15mm through axle, but not quite a 20mm. I will have to admit I was stumped. I was sitting on the floor trying to figure out a way to hand build a 20mm through axle hub around a 12 in rim, and shimming it in without being cost prohibitive when Schoen figured it out.

30 minutes later, Schoen was back from the tractor supply store with a perfectly matched wagon wheel. "Congratulations, you fixed his baby"

So anyway, it may be that we just have too much free time at Goose Creek. Or it may be that we just like a challenge. Maybe it is just pride in what we do. But it sure did feel good to be that third shop that took the time to figure out the problem and solve it.

Here is hoping that we never get so big we don't have time to try the weird stuff.
Here is hoping that we never get too good to look in the junk box.
Here is hoping we never tell anyone "If it didn't come from here we won't fix it"
Here is to being the third bike shop