08/18/2026
I Hate the Internet!!!
Don’t read this title and instantly think it’s one of those "old man ranting because he can’t change the clock on his microwave" type situations.
My microwave clock is very accurate, as is the clock in my truck, and they both match my phone. This hatred is more about key board courage.
And in all fairness, maybe this still is an old man issue.
When I was younger, before the internet, e-mails, InstaGram, and FB existed to spew how amazing you may be to all your “Friends”, that you’ve never met, spoken to, or know anything about, we had to deal with people . . . in person. And then stand behind our random opinions or statements while looking into someone’s eyes.
I have to admit, it created filters within people. If you’re going to spew out any and every negative thought you may have, but you stand to deal with the consequences of those comments, most of us think twice and maybe even try to see another point of view, before we shout out some random, ignorant opinion to the masses.
I miss those days dearly.
Recently a nice woman came in the store and asked if she could create a reel for her Instagram account, which apparently has a ton of followers.
It sounded like a cool project and away she went.
She had recently purchased a used bike and wanted to get it running like new again. The Swicked tech set the bike up and went through the standard inspection.
After all was said and done, there were many, many things left unattended on this bike over its life, therefore, it needed quite a bit of work to get back to tip top shape.
And, as most of you are aware, if you don’t do regular maintenance on anything mechanical, when you finally get around to it, it’s a lot more work, and more work costs more money. No surprises there right?
I thought the reel was entertaining and somewhat educational if you are in the market for a used bike. A reminder to maybe have it checked out before you buy, or perhaps budget in more $$$ for repairs if you’re not sure of its history. The bike owner in this case knew this full and well, hence coming to a bike shop for maintenance soon after her purchase.
Then I read some of the hundreds of comments from her viewers. And yes, I was reminded of why I truly hate the internet.
There were lots of positive comments, but then the inevitable negativity kicked in.
The one that stood out the most, was one troll stating that we clearly ripped the bike owner off, because she was a woman.
Wow, really? In todays world, does someone out there actually think all women are so naive that they can’t make their own decisions, research something as simple as bike repair costs, have the mindset to step back to think it over, or this is a crazy one, imagine if a woman actually understood how a bike works. Oh no, did I just make the troll’s head explode?
These are just a few examples of how we think when we go outside and interact with other humans, face to face. You know, the real world.
The amount of people that jumped on this guy's bandwagon to reiterate his opinion, was baffling.
This says one thing to me, and believe me, it is not that women are not capable. It's how sad it is, that so many people are sitting behind their computer, never living life on their own, all in the hopes that they can trash talk some random target that they have no knowledge of. They spew out recycled, ancient opinions like they just discovered knowledge. But it’s clearly filled with ignorance.
One dude stated the in all his years of being a bike mechanic, he has never done a repair that cost $950.00. I call BS, unless he has only ever done flat repairs and gear adjustments, but what if the bike needs more to run correctly, or safely, did he ignore it, not understand the needs, or just work for free???
Doesn’t sound like he really has much experience at all, but in the world of high end mountain bikes, E-bikes, and gravel bikes that weigh sub 20lbs and perform amazingly in several different terrains, we have some bikes that cost well north of 10K these days, so yes, sometimes repairs cost more.
For those of you that own mechanical things, here is some advice. If you want to avoid really expensive visits to your mechanic, do your maintenance more regularly and you can break up these costs over a longer period of time, plus your equipment will run way nicer.
As an example, I spend about $1500 per year on my truck maintenance. I skipped two years and on year three, my bill came to $7000. Do the math. I shouldn’t have waited.
Even if it didn’t cost more overall, $1500 a year is a lot easier to budget for me than $4500 all at once . . . but it did cost more, because I abused my truck. Pretty simple isn't it?
Anyway, I also have lots of opinions and one of them is that trolls are useless in our society and bring absolutely no value. Please get out from behind your desk, climb those stairs out of your mom’s basement, and go outside. Maybe ride a bike, or talk to the opposite s*x. And, if you still have some deep rooted opinions on how I do things, feel free to stop by and chat with me, face to face. I’m easy to find and easy to chat with, maybe you’ll learn something, or at least see how the real world works.
I’m James Durand and I’m Goin’ Ridin'
