Perfect is the enemy of good - chasing perfection in the bike shop.

Perfect is the enemy of good.

I heard this expression once, and something about it resonated with me.  As professionals and craftspeople, I think all good bike mechanics strive to produce good work.  What separates the novice mechanic from the good/expert?  Is it the proximity to perfection in their work?  Perhaps.  In many respects, repairing a bicycle is a lot like folding a piece of paper in half, then folding it again and again, ad infinitum.  A novice mechanic may be able to fold that piece of paper once or twice and adjust a derailleur or true a wheel to an acceptable point.  An expert mechanic should be able to fold that piece of paper a dozen times in the same amount of time as the novice, and produce work that’s many times closer to perfection.  Where, though, is the work good enough?  When truing a wheel, for example, it’s generally accepted that 0.5mm of lateral deviation is acceptable.  For reference, 0.5mm is about the same as 5 sheets of paper.  That’s not a lot, but it’s not all that difficult for a skilled mechanic to true a wheel to a tighter tolerance.  Remember the paper folding analogy?  This is where it really kicks in.  Every step closer to perfect the mechanic gets, the harder it becomes to keep folding that piece of paper.  Is it possible to true a wheel to 0.0mm of deviation?  Of course.  Is a wheel with 0.0mm of deviation any better than a wheel with 0.5mm of deviation?  No. Professional bike mechanics must produce good work.  Their work must be of such high quality that the bike they’ve serviced functions exactly as intended and does so safely and for as long as possible.  The wheel must not wobble.  The derailleur must not miss a shift.  The difference between bad and good may be that the paper was only folded once.  It may even be that the paper wasn’t ever folded at all.  The difference between good and perfect may be that the paper was folded 50 times rather than 51.  As a rider and a consumer, you should both expect and receive good service.  Good service ensures your bike is functioning as intended and you paid a fair price for the service.  As a professional mechanic and a business owner, my goal is to produce good work.  The bikes I service are serviced to a high level of quality so that they work exactly as intended, consistently, safely, and for as long as possible.  Perfect is always on the menu, and good mechanics love to make things perfect, but keep in mind what they say about perfect…