Ha, ya... I guess the caveat to my above comment being that... I'm also willing to spend x number of hours in my workshop and have the knowledge to keep the bikes happily spinning (personal philosophy is that spending a few minutes after or before each ride to sort things out when keeps the larger repairs/failures low).
This has been an interesting year... met a number of families this year getting their kids into the sport and then deciding they should join as well. Went from being the guy to help sort through the intense Coivd-hyped used bike market, to the guy to help them sort out and set up their bikes, to the guy that when they realized all the shops are backed up 3 weeks and have severe parts shortages..., teach them some basic bike maintenance and/or repairs and/or tubeless conversions because just like everything else... there are zero tubes out there (especially 24" and 26" presta). Anyway... my beer fridge is now packed to the brim!
I've also slowly been showing the kids how it's done in order to get them to take over some of the basic maintenance. The priority was getting them hooked on the awesome-ness of riding first. And now that they can't live without it... I'll be moving some of the cost and maintenance onto their little shoulders... sorry kids, it's not all kittens and single track!
Aug. 16, 2021, 11:52 a.m. - IslandLife
Ha, ya... I guess the caveat to my above comment being that... I'm also willing to spend x number of hours in my workshop and have the knowledge to keep the bikes happily spinning (personal philosophy is that spending a few minutes after or before each ride to sort things out when keeps the larger repairs/failures low). This has been an interesting year... met a number of families this year getting their kids into the sport and then deciding they should join as well. Went from being the guy to help sort through the intense Coivd-hyped used bike market, to the guy to help them sort out and set up their bikes, to the guy that when they realized all the shops are backed up 3 weeks and have severe parts shortages..., teach them some basic bike maintenance and/or repairs and/or tubeless conversions because just like everything else... there are zero tubes out there (especially 24" and 26" presta). Anyway... my beer fridge is now packed to the brim! I've also slowly been showing the kids how it's done in order to get them to take over some of the basic maintenance. The priority was getting them hooked on the awesome-ness of riding first. And now that they can't live without it... I'll be moving some of the cost and maintenance onto their little shoulders... sorry kids, it's not all kittens and single track!