A mountain bike with a zip-tie derailleur showed up at the shop

This guy wheeled his bike in last Tuesday, and I kid you not, the rear derailleur was attached with a web of zip ties. He said it popped off on a gravel path, and he used the ties from his bag to get home. I told him zip ties are for cables, not for holding parts on your bike. We had a good laugh when he said it had been working fine for a month. It made me notice how many people try these quick fixes instead of getting proper help. I see it more now, maybe because online videos make it look easy. It's a bit scary, but honestly, it keeps things interesting in the shop. You never know what kind of homemade solution will come through the door next.

3 comments

3 Comments

bennett.jordan1mo ago

See this everywhere now, people love makeshift fixes.

shah.zara1mo ago

It's like we've given up on real fixes and just patch things forever.

hernandez.jesse26d ago

Feel that deep in my bones. We patch the pothole instead of fixing the road. We slap another software update on a phone that's clearly dying. We keep adding new bandaids to old systems, from schools to power grids, instead of building something that actually works for the long haul. It's exhausting.