Hello all,

we all had good and bad mechanics in South America, and of course best is to do the job yourself, but sometimes there are reasons you cant do it yourself and you have to trust a mechanic to do the right thing on your bike.

I arrived in Santiago de Chile with a new to me bike and some simple things had to be done. As I was really sick and it was freezing cold. Also I didnt want to spend too much time in Santiago to get the bike ready for my ride up North. So I asked for a mechanic to do the job (chain and sprocket set, wheel bearings, oil change and new filter).

Christian from Casa Matte recommended a mechanic.

Vicente from Electrovich, Calle Tegualda y Rengo in Provedencia (the city center)

When I dropped the bike off at his workshop, I told him to get the best Japanese chain and sprocket set that he could find, maybe a DID or RK chain. He told me an approximate price of 150 Usd and I agreed.

Picking the bike up in the late afternoon, he had turned the lights off in his shop and he told he had put a Regina chain and sprocket set on and only this would be 200 Usd plus labor plus all the other parts. I checked the chain tension, and it was far too tight .... so I told him to adjust it correctly. Vicente started to argue that it was not too tight, but I insisted to loosen it. He told his son to adjust it, but his son could hardly hold a wrench and was not capable of adjusting it properly ... so I took the wrenches and did it myself in the dark.

Only three days later, I knew why the light was off in the workshop. Vicente had sold me a Riffle, the cheapest shit Brazilian chain and sprocket set, not worth more than 50 Usd for 200 Usd. And I found other things wrong on the bike, that Vicente or his son or who else worked on my bike clearly messed up.

So be warned !!! Vicente from Electrovich is liar and a cheat. Dont go there.

Confronting Christian from Casa Matte about the scam that Vicente had pulled off, I was not impressed by his reaction, because he blamed me for it, because I didnt do the job myself. More about this in the Casa Matte thread here on the HUBB.

Enjoy your ride.

mika