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Vent: The rise of 'just replace it' is killing basic repair skills
Last week, a guy brought in a bike with a slightly bent derailleur hanger. He said another shop told him the whole rear triangle was 'compromised' and needed a new frame. I checked it, it was a simple 3mm bend. I straightened it with my alignment tool in ten minutes. Three years ago, that was a standard fix, no big deal. Now, I see this maybe twice a month, where a simple part gets called a total loss. It feels like the skill to diagnose and fix, not just swap, is getting rare. Has anyone else seen shops pushing for full replacements on stuff that's clearly repairable?
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angela_harris26d ago
Isn't it also about the shops not wanting to deal with repairs? Like, a straight swap is faster and easier for them, and they can charge more for a whole new part. It feels like they're training customers to just accept throwing stuff away instead of learning what's actually wrong. That mindset is gonna make basic tools and knowledge disappear, which sucks for everyone who wants to keep things running.
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ray35626d ago
What about the warranty game? If you replace a whole unit, the clock resets on a new warranty. That locks you into their service network longer. It's not just about the repair bill today, it's about making sure you come back to them for the next few years. They're basically trading a simple fix now for more guaranteed money later.
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joel_clark379d ago
Totally makes sense from their side, but man, it's a pain for us. My old car had a sensor go bad, and the dealer's only fix was a whole new assembly for a grand. Found a local guy who just swapped the tiny sensor for eighty bucks. Felt like a genius for a week, then my coffee maker broke.
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reed.skyler26d agoTop Commenter
But is it really that big a deal, @angela_harris?
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