Finally got my build together. Had the LBS put the final touches, bout a wheelset and other stuff from him, spent a bit, I won't get into the details as that is beside the point right now.

Coming home on mile 50 or so and feel a pedal might have a bit of a wobble. It gets worse and I stop to inspect. The freakin crank worked itself loose. I had to walk/limp home. Took the bike to another shop who found the right crank was too loose as well.

Slight squeek on the bike when I put down the hard torque tonight. Had built a bit of slack in the chain and now approaching mile, like 120 or so on the build. Inspect the rear wheel and one bolt, on the cog side, is only on finger tight. The other is so tight I can't loosen it with my adjustable and will have to bum a socket wrench in the morn.

So, on the one hand I could have lost a wheel, and on the other I would have been unable to change a flat.

Should I just give the shop the old lifetime ban? I can't see how someone could screw up like this. On my old fixie, a converted Centurion, I never had a problem like this after almost 3000 miles. Has this happened to anyone else?

It is a fixed gear--- what prompted me to start my own wrenching and wheelbuilding. You don't need a mechanic anymore.

Lifetime ban.

This is the classic sympton of the abandoned task. Whoever wrenched on your bike walked away from it for some reason and never got back to it.

No excuse, but it can happen to you at home too. Use reminders such as leaving a wrench on/in a bolt, turning something obviously askew, removing a part completely, etc. if you need to interrupt your task.

This morning I finally get the wheel off and I notice he had to squeeze the back triangle a bit to get the wheel to fit. Should I return the wheel? It is a fixie.

Hard to tell from here if that's a frame or wheel issue. On steel frames, bending the rear triangle a bit to get a correctly built wheel into the dropouts is normal procedure if the frame spacing is a smidge off. But there's no excuse for the wheel axle spacing to be off, if that's the problem.

This morning I finally get the wheel off and I notice he had to squeeze the back triangle a bit to get the wheel to fit. Should I return the wheel? It is a fixie.

You don't need a new rear wheel but they should have put a couple of spacers on if they squeezed the triangle quite a bit. For your description, I'd take the bike back to owner of the shop and explain your issues. It definately sounds like a bad build.

If you want peace of mind, take to another shop and have them completely go over the bike. Fixed bikes have few moving parts so it shouldn't cost much to have them check everything over.

Must be a spacer issue, the back traingle was bent quite a bit. I am not going to ride it today, and I will take it back to get it aligned. My 125 wheel that I rran on my old conversion fits better.:mad2:

Must be a spacer issue, the back traingle was bent quite a bit. I am not going to ride it today, and I will take it back to get it aligned. My 125 wheel that I rran on my old conversion fits better.:mad2:

It sounds like they put a 120 spaced rear hub in a 126 rear triangle..it's a quick and cheap fix if the axle is long enough

A 120 on a 126 sounds exactly right. I don't know what I would do without this forum!

Just for a quick count lets see the number of ways this build could have killed me
1) Lft crank falls off
2) Rt crank falls off
3) Back bolt loose (wheel falls off)

and
4) Bent frame from misspaced wheel

don't forget stranding me in Harlem...
5) Lft bolt too tight to remove in case of flat.

Oh yeah, I'll be buying from him real soon.

Just for a quick count lets see the number of ways this build could have killed me
1) Lft crank falls off
2) Rt crank falls off
3) Back bolt loose (wheel falls off)
and
4) Bent frame from misspaced wheel
don't forget stranding me in Harlem...
5) Lft bolt too tight to remove in case of flat.
Oh yeah, I'll be buying from him real soon.
If all that doesn't get you to do all future fixin' yourself then nothing will. Trust no-one!

OK, Im going to play the opposit side of the fence hear. I dont know you, I dont know where you live and what kinda shop you deal with. Maby the mech who built you bike screwed up, but coming online is essentialy public and trashing the shop and namly the mechanic who worked on your bike only makes it worse. If it were my shop I would now send you packing for the way you delt with it.

Somthings to consider. New bikes "loosen off". All thr problems you spoke of are normal. If your a big guy or put lots of power thru the bike they occur every ride. Im not saying your mechanic didnt screw up, refer to my first line again, but I do think instead of coming here and hosing him you could have been more discrete.

coming online is essentialy public and trashing the shop and namly the mechanic who worked on your bike only makes it worse. If it were my shop I would now send you packing for the way you delt with it.

...I do think instead of coming here and hosing him you could have been more discrete.

1) You don't know where I live, you don't know whom I am talking about, I ask for advice on an anonymous forum after my mechanic screws up badly and you say I should be more "discreet."

2) How does coming online to ask technical questions make the situation worse?

3) BTW, is bending the back triangle to cram a 120 wheel considered normal?

4) "Send you packing the way you delt with it."
A while ago I was an intern in my chosen profession. I asked that all the people they sent me be the psychos, the borderline homeless, the whack jobs that no one else wanted. Why, because not everyone is sweetness and light. You have to learn to deal with the wierdos, not the nice guys. It makes you much stronger and better at sales and interpersonal skills.
I simply do not understand how shop owners can treat me rudely, put my bike together poorly, and then expect some kind of blubbering thanks on my part because they have allowed me to buy from their shop--but not at the favored, cool guy, discount.
Most of the people on this thread got so sick of it all, they decided to do their own wrenching and buy their stuff for half the price online.

OK, Im going to play the opposit side of the fence hear. I dont know you, I dont know where you live and what kinda shop you deal with. Maby the mech who built you bike screwed up, but coming online is essentialy public and trashing the shop and namly the mechanic who worked on your bike only makes it worse. If it were my shop I would now send you packing for the way you delt with it.

Somthings to consider. New bikes "loosen off". All thr problems you spoke of are normal. If your a big guy or put lots of power thru the bike they occur every ride. Im not saying your mechanic didnt screw up, refer to my first line again, but I do think instead of coming here and hosing him you could have been more discrete.

Er ... are you playing the other side of the fence as a hobby or do you actually think that you're right here? The shop is not named in the post. The mechanic is not named in the post. No pictures, no hints. This seems like a fair measure of discretion to me. How exactly has his post actually trashed the reputation of a living person or a going concern?

Sure, things can loosen up. But crank arms should not just fall off in a ride or two. The whole things sounds like a sloppy build. I might well fix it myself, but I think that the poster is well within his rights to go back and talk to the shop (which he paid for a proper build, I gather) and, frankly, if I were a shop owner, I'd want something like this brought to my attention.

At a shop where I used to work, every custom build (that is, any bike not shipped as a "complete") had to pass muster with two mechanics. The guy who wrenched it signed off and passed it either to the mgr/owner, or to the other mechanic. There was a short checklist, and it included stuff just like what went wrong in this case: cranks tight, pedals tight, wheels true, tires inflated, headset adjusted, saddle secure, QRs tight, shifting/braking adjusted, and a quick test ride in the parking lot. The whole process took all of five or ten minutes, but every now and then the second guy would catch something the first guy missed, perhaps saving the shop's reputation and a customer's headache (or injury).

Maybe when things cool off, you could suggest such a policy to the shop in question.

I went to pick up a pair of wheels at a shop and the mechanic that built them wasn't in that day. The wheels were hanging in the area where competed wheels are placed. The shop has a policy that the mechanic has to sign off on all work. This mechanic forgot to sign off on my wheels. The shop wouldn't give me the wheels until they reached the mechanic on his cell phone...That shop still gets my business. The build all my wheels

I waited a month to let this mechanic do the build because I wanted him to get the money, he has been out for a while, but I won't say why just because someone might be able to identify him.:thumbsup:

The builder said the flex was fine. I was just worried because the freakin thing was coming apart at nearly every moving part. I went back to the shop today and told him to go over his work again--I wanted to let him know what he did.

I will still have another shop check things out. Just to be sure.

coming online is essentialy public and trashing the shop and namly the mechanic who worked on your bike only makes it worse. I do think instead of coming here and hosing him you could have been more discrete.
Did we miss something? What was the name of the shop and the "mechanic"?

You're in NYC, aren't there fixed-gear friendly shops on every corner?

well ... he did say he might get stranded in harlem ... surely from that we can deduce the exact shop he went to ... we are the intarweb!

Went back to the shop, told him what happened and said "I want you to check your work, be sure everything is on right." I left some slack in the rear wheel to see if he would take it off and tighten it. The slack was still there when I got it back. So he did nothing.

I can't see any way that I will ever use him again.

If you asked him to make sure everything was fine it's possible he assumed you had the chain tension you wanted. Acceptable chain tension is anything bteween dropping the chain and binding the chain. That's a lot of room. If you don't think a mechanic did the work you wanted him to you have two options: 1, ask him SPECIFIC questions. As an educated consumer, he may expect as much from you. Why did you leave this slack? Why didn't you space the wheel? etc. 2, Don't bring your bike back.

You bring him a bike and tell him to check his own work. What did you think that was going to accomplish? How about asking for a manager, or different mechanic. You brought him a bike, insulted him, and you're expecting him to work on the bike? He may have gone over the bike, checking for loose bolts, lockrings, etc--a safety inspection. You wouldn't see the results of that if everything's fine. All you know after the second visit is that everything is up to his standards. If yours are different, ask him to do it to your own standards. Your bike, your right.

Don't set traps for mechanics. Don't insult them while doing it. Too bad for everyone involved in this situation.