Fixing bikes for others - mechanical neglect

[smutchin]

On the other hand, for example, I don't enjoy gardening and it's just a necessary chore. As a result I don't hunger for gardening knowledge and so I'm a sh1t gardener.

I can relate to that. I hate gardening. I only do it under duress, and under direction/instruction from the head gardener, who is good at that kind of thing.

She wouldn't have a clue how to carry out even the most basic bike repairs though.

 

[Globalti]

Keeping a bike in good reliable order is not just about reacting to maintenance needs though. A good "coat of looking-over" every now and again will spot problems before they become expensive or dangerous. Washing the bike down after a wet and muddy ride is a good time to do this. I spotted suspicious bulges in my front tyre and realised that a piece of glass had cut so deep into the tread that it had severed the warp or weft of the carcass threads meaning that the carcass was actually opening up, causing bulges in obliquely opposite sides of the tyre. It went straight in the bin as I wouldn't have wanted it to burst at speed.

 

[Dan B]

I do most of my own bike maintenance, however if I were to suffer a personal injury on a ride then I would almost certainly have to cut the ride short and seek help from a professional. Am I lazy because I've never bothered to learn how to remove a tooth, reset a broken bone or perform an appendectomy?

I live in a house which mostly works pretty well, however if I wanted to move to another one I would most likely not be able to without getting advice from a conveyancing professional, because frankly I wouldn't know where to start doing all the "searches" and "contract reviews" that they keep talking about. Am I lazy because I've never learned conveyancing law?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

In the scheme of things, bikes are NOT that complicated and no specialist knowledge is required to work on them. Any competent home DIY'er or DIY car owner could easily master anything required to be a bike mechanic. It does require some skill, but let's not try and make out it's rocket science to fix bikes, because it isn't.

Well, all is relative, what's easy for you might be complicate for me and vice versa.
I started riding regularly at 48, nobody had bikes in my family as a kid so no chance to pick stuff up. Of course, I did not have a bike either.
Fast forward to when I decided to find an easier way to work than the 2 buses each way required (I don't drive) I soon realized that I needed the bike to be reliable.
I made it my business to know how it works, and learned the basic maintenance.
Some stuff though I simply don't have the time to do, I work long shifts, have a garden, other commitments, if it's a nice day and I'm off I'd rather ride than fix something that would take me all day while the LBS does it in 5 min.
Other stuff, like stuck freewheels, take half a day because I'm not strong enough - again, the LBS does it in 5 min.
Then if you buy the parts on line, wait until they come, maybe my shifts don't sync with the delivery, wait some more, maybe I bought the wrong part ...
At one point I ended up with 6 bikes in various state of disrepair because I had no time to learn how to proceed, never mind actually fix them!
Then again, I might not be able to bleed brakes, but I can program an industrial espresso machine, I can speak 4 languages and I can ride 4 miles with a split seat post

 

[Smokin Joe]

I do most of my own bike maintenance, however if I were to suffer a personal injury on a ride then I would almost certainly have to cut the ride short and seek help from a professional. Am I lazy because I've never bothered to learn how to remove a tooth, reset a broken bone or perform an appendectomy?

I live in a house which mostly works pretty well, however if I wanted to move to another one I would most likely not be able to without getting advice from a conveyancing professional, because frankly I wouldn't know where to start doing all the "searches" and "contract reviews" that they keep talking about. Am I lazy because I've never learned conveyancing law?

You can hardly equate surgery and conveyancing to changing an inner tube or twiddling the barrel adjuster on your gear mech.

 

[Ajax Bay]

let's not try and make out it's rocket science to fix bikes

Rocket science is pretty straightforward: it's rocket engineering that's difficult; very difficult.

 

[Dan B]

You can hardly equate surgery and conveyancing to changing an inner tube or twiddling the barrel adjuster on your gear mech.

I agree, the comparison for changing an inner tube might be dressing a grazed knee or renewing home contents insurance. But the OP was talking about rebuilding the bearings in the bottom bracket and rear wheel, which I think is a step up from adjusting your gear indexing don't you?

 

[steverob]

It's all very well people saying "it's not complicated, you're just too lazy to bother to learn", but that does require a certain level of competence first. Believe me I have tried to become mechanically minded, I have made an effort to learn and have followed online guides and videos in order to fix bits of my bikes, but the only thing I have ended up learning is that I am completely cack handed and only have an ability to make things WORSE on my bike!

Punctures I can fix (although getting the tire back on seems to take me three times longer than most people) and I will make a rudimentary attempt to clean my bike and keep the chain lubed as often as I can. Everything else is a bike shop job for me. Sorry that being inept with my hands is so offensive to a number of people on this forum!

 

[swee'pea99]

Passing a bloke on the footpath t'other day and he was crouched down fiddling with the nut on the other end from the quick release lever. "Can I help?" "No," sez he, borderline indignant, "I'm fine, thanks." "Um...you're trying to tighten up your wheel, right?" "Yes." "Er...well, you're going at it at the wrong end." I crouched down and demonstrated how the QR mech works. "You should be good to go now." He was very grateful, and I've had a couple of friendly encounters with him since. No doubt he'll approach me again next time something goes wrong!

One thing I think people who can tend to underestimate when it comes to people who can't is how it looks when you can't, and you really don't have a clue where to start. My daughter and her friend gamely fixed a puncture, but then spent a frustrating 20 mins trying and failing to get the tyre back on the rim. Once I'd shown them how it's done, they were fine, and I'm sure they'll have no problems next time. But who'd think to teach someone 'how to get a tyre back on the rim'? That's obvious isn't it? Well, no. Not if you've never done it before. I think that's one of the hardest things about teaching anyone anything - being aware of what's so obvious to you that it doesn't need saying, but isn't obvious at all from the other side of the hill.

 

[biking_fox]

Although the converse is usually true, it is also very easy to underestimate how much experience you've picked up. What is simple after you've successfully done it half a dozen times is much harder for someone else the first time.

Also society has massively changed - computerisation, miniaturisation, standardisation of parts, means that "repair" isn't something that crosses most peoples' minds. You can't repair an LCD TV, or just fix a layered circuit board in a game controller. So the mindset becomes replace (or at the very least return to shop) which is partly deliberate policy from companies, but also brings product benefits. Nobody services their own car anymore, not even puts oil in - a light on the dash tells them it needs the garage. Why would such people expect to be able to 'repair' a bike, or even know it needs routine maintenance. Nothing else does. Why hasn't bike technology caught up with the rest of the world?

Yes it is a shame, skills are lost, products needlessly binned and money wasted. But also it's great that everything pretty much just works.

 

[Ajax Bay]

it's great that everything pretty much just works.

Until it doesn't.

 

[Globalti]

95% of the population can't even use a phone camera correctly in landscape so I doubt they could change a tyre, which requires actual thought and planning.

 

[roadrash]

There's different degrees of complexity. In the scheme of things, bikes are NOT that complicated and no specialist knowledge is required to work on them. Any competent home DIY'er or DIY car owner could easily master anything required to be a bike mechanic. It does require some skill, but let's not try and make out it's rocket science to fix bikes, because it isn't.
I'm certainly not helpless, there are very few tasks I will not do myself, and then only because the cost of the necessary gear isn't justified for a one-off. job. All the plumbing, heating, wiring, and general building work in my house was done by me. I would draw the line at replacing my roof, but that's pretty much the only job I would pay someone else to do rather than do it myself. The younger generation, who appear to be the most generally clueless in all practical matters, are going to be rich pickings for rip-off merchants in the future if they aren't capable, (or are merely too lazy), to do anything for themselves.

there is so much wrong with this post, you really cannot or will not try to understand the fact that someone could be different to you,let alone begin to understand why, not that why they may be different matters , because it doesn't. difference should be celebrated not stifled, just because you say bikes are not complicated
It really is of no consequence if someone simply does not want to learn how to fix a bike, as many do ,they simply pay someone to do it for them.

 

[youngoldbloke]

But life is so much richer if you have some understanding of how the things around you work, and the satisfaction that can be gained from being able to perform simple household tasks. Maintaining a bike, or fixing a tap is not the same as dentistry, or heart surgery. It does appear that many people are becoming reliant on the 'expert' to undertake what used to be regarded as straightforward and everyday.

 

[roadrash]

what makes life richer for one person may not make life richer for another , different strokes and all that, I will have a crack at most things but understand why some people don't even want to