Wednesday, October 12, 2005

A Bike Build Pictorial


Boxed Bike: This is a Raliegh P.U.B. bike. Well, it's inside the box, silly!



This is how bikes arrive at the shop. We just unloaded 32 Ralieghs today! They come to our door on a 53ft. semi trailer/ truck after a loooong trip from Asia! (Usually China, or Taiwan)












This is what you have when you pull it out of the box. Lots of cardboard, plastic wrap, rubberbands, and zip-ties. It takes as long to un-wrap some bikes as it does to assemble them!















Extra parts! Well, not really. The assembly process always entails some installation of whatever parts the manufacturer leaves off at the factory. Most of the time that includes the saddle, seatpost, and pedals, although there could be more than that, depending on the type of bike being assembled.









Here's a look at what the bike looks like in the box. It's amazing that they get shipped thousands of miles like this without getting destroyed, or so much as a scratch!












The Final Product: After carefully un-wrapping, adjusting, assembly, clean-up, and a quick test ride, the bike is ready to be entered into inventory. After that quick computer process, the bike goes out on the sales floor. Or, as in this case, goes into the hold area, in the back room, to be picked up by a customer.

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