Jagwire Sport Zip Tie Cutter

KDee wrote:

Wow...20 quid! I bought something with exactly the same blade design a couple years ago for about 10 euros in an ordinary hardware store. Can't remember what I initially bought it for (something DIY-ist, possibly wire cutting when I was fitting a new thermostat). Turned out to be crap at that, but excellent for trimming cable ties. Who knew??!!

Edit: I just realised why mine was cheaper...I got the regular model, not the "sport" edition 

I'm holding out for the gravel version

As this one is yellow and black, I guess it's actually a leak of the TdF limited special edition

Why would it be satire? 

if your LBS is so disdainful of best practice and safety as to not bother with something as easy as flush-cutting a zip tie, what else are they cutting corners on - brakes? Steerer tubes? Torque values for stem clamps?  It's a very simple and easy to spot indicator of bad / lazy practice. 
 

I fully accept you may be OK with your bike being worked on in a half-arsed manner. It's a free world. 
 

As for disparaging the industry standard of wearing eye protection at work - you clearly aren't a professional mechanic who wants to end each day with eyesight intact. Again, it's a free world if you're in your shed, but employers have a duty of care under law 🤷‍♂️

I'm 53 years old, and Ive worked at quite a few bike shops, from big (12 mechanics) to very small. Never ever have I seen a mechanic wearing safety glasses while doing normal work on a bike. Only when working with a grinder or something like that, but never while doing the usual bike stuff.

Also, about those zip ties, I'd personally go to another LBS if they were using zip ties regularly. There's no reason for a bike to be full of zip ties.
To attach a hydraulic brake cable to the cable stops on the down tube: fine.
To tidy up the cables in front of the handlebars: maybe.
You'd have to be an acrobat to cut yourself on those.
But otherwise, what the hell do you need zip ties for on your bike, as a permanent solution? Of all the bikes in my shed, non of them has a single zip tie on it.
It's a non-problem.

The only time I have used zip ties is to fix an extra light to a rack.

If you've never seen a mechanic wearing eye protection as a matter of course, you've been working in shops that don't care about their staff or prosecution under H&S law. I acknowledge both exist, that doesn't stop eye protection as standard being accepted best practice. 
 

there are many things that can fly apart/burst/snap etc that are run of the mill repairs. Any tyre inflation, any brake work, bleeding, shocks, spinning wheels ie working on drivetrains etc. all are potential eye hazards. You don't have to agree, but you're flat out in the wrong. 
 

But don't argue the toss here, this is an internet comments page. You need to be lobbying your MP to water down H&S law, to remove the legal requirement for eye protection in workshops. Cheers. 

Funny how you automatically assume I am from the same country as you are.
I am not. We have our own laws, and safety protocols.
And luckily, those responsible use common sense and weigh the chances of something happening when they set the rules. Overal, the chances of something happening are very low when working on a bike, and for those type of tasks that involve some more risk, they count on common sense and people taking the right measures when needed.

When people prepare a meal, they sometimes cut themselves, yet chainmail gloves are not commonly used. Lot's of people fall in the bathroom, yet no one wears a helmet there.
Life is full of potential hazards, but it is not feasible to always try to protect yourself against all of them.

And lastly, you may think it is 'best practice', but reality is different. Google 'bicycle mechanic' and go to Images. I did, and of all the pictures in the first page, one(!) of them wears safety glasses. On his forehead.

Sredlums wrote:

Funny how you automatically assume I am from the same country as you are.
I am not. We have our own laws, and safety protocols.

I don't know which of you is correct - I must admit I've spent a fair amount of time around bike shops and never seen a mechanic using safety glasses - but as you're in the Netherlands and Mike is in Scotland you would have been bound by pretty much the same EU H&S law until just a few short years ago.

If you take workplace safety cues from Google search results, that's up to you.

What you do in your own home is entirely up to you. What you do in a workplace is dictated by workplace safety law, which I agree differs from country to country, but best practice doesn't. If you were my employee and failed to use eye protection as instructed you'd be sacked - why should I risk losing my business? Some people are arrogantly macho about workplace H&S, and bully others into not protecting themselves. Having witnessed workplace accidents myself and seen the life-changing consequences - death, actually - I give exactly zero f*cks for that attitude. 

Like I said, don't argue the toss here, this is an internet comments page. You need to be lobbying your MP to water down H&S law, to remove the legal requirement for eye protection in workshops. Cheers. 

FWIW, I'm not a bike mechanic and don't work in a bike shop. However I do wear a pair of Bollé Silium glasses in my home workshop as until some surgery last year, I was partially sighted in one eye and the risk of permanently or temporarily losing the other one due to a frayed cable or splash from degreaser gunk was too great in my mind. 

Also (keeping it cycling), IIRC some years ago, a colleague of mine met a Bollé rep at a medical supplier type thing and was asked "what do cyclists need from glasses, we'd love to get into that", he replied something along the lines of "keep debris out of my eyes, not get scratched and not shatter if they hit something" and was given a couple of pairs to try out. He's still wearing them I think. Although now the cycling ones are much more than the £9 I paid for my workshop ones (of course they are). 

"If you take workplace safety cues from Google search results"

How old are you, 12?
Pretending to be dumber then you are is never a good look. You know damn well that my point was that wearing safety glasses as a bike mechanic is not as common or obvious as you make it out to be.
On the contrary, it is highly unusual, and yes, a simple image search is indeed quite indicative of that.

Is it safer to wear safety glasses? Yes, probably.
But it's also safer to wear safety shoes with steel toe boxes and impenetrable soles. A construction helmet. A bullet proof vest. Have a body guard stand next to it.
Do you use/wear/do all of those?
If not, why not?

Sredlums wrote:

"If you take workplace safety cues from Google search results"

How old are you, 12?

This you?

you may think it is 'best practice', but reality is different. Google 'bicycle mechanic' and go to Images. I did, and of all the pictures in the first page, one(!) of them wears safety glasses. On his forehead.

Sredlums wrote:

Pretending to be dumber then you are is never a good look.

Agreed. 

Sredlums wrote:

You know damn well that my point was that wearing safety glasses as a bike mechanic is not as common or obvious as you make it out to be.

*in your experience*. Which, as you state, is not based on the UK (where the vast majority of this site's readership is from), and is not indicative of widespread best practice or government-mandated behaviour. See https://www.hse.gov.uk/ppe/using-the-right-type-of-ppe.htm - and again, scream into the H&SE void all you like, this is the legislation that will see a bikeshop owner or manager prosecuted if a member of staff is injured. I didn't make this up, so stop coming back at me chum.

Sredlums wrote:

Is it safer to wear safety glasses? Yes, probably.

Glad you agree.

Sredlums wrote:

But it's also safer to wear safety shoes with steel toe boxes and impenetrable soles. A construction helmet. A bullet proof vest. Have a body guard stand next to it.
Do you use/wear/do all of those? If not, why not?

"How old are you, 12?"

The heaviest thing in a bike workshop is typically a hammer, so no, steel-capped boots aren't needed. Nothing is falling from the sky, so no, a construction helmet isn't needed. No-one's shooting at anyone, so no a bullet-proof vest isn't needed. There's no implicit threat from attackers, so no a bodyguard isn't needed. Your arguments are facile, and I'm not the one who makes or enforces H&S rules. We're done. 

Sredlums wrote:

There's no reason for a bike to be full of zip ties.

There are cable ties permanently on my bike - the bolt that secured the bottom front of my rear mudguard (fender) to the frame sheared off where it had rusted through, so I've used cable ties to hold it all in place.

I cut them with scissors, then tidied them up with nail-clippers.

brooksby wrote:

There are cable ties permanently on my bike - the bolt that secured the bottom front of my rear mudguard (fender) to the frame sheared off where it had rusted through, so I've used cable ties to hold it all in place.

I cut them with scissors, then tidied them up with nail-clippers.

I was trying to remember if I'd ever used a ziptie on a bike, and I once did something similar. I used the flush cut pliers that are in my electrical toolbox. Though if I got a hand in between the mudguard and the tyre, I don't think being cut by the end of a ziptie would be my main problem. I didn't put safety goggles over my prescription glasses.