Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Sadly departed? Is he brown bread?
Let's Talk Bicycle Mechanical Ability Here
- Thread starter MrBeanz
- Start date
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winjim
Smash the cistern
I sincerely hope not, but he's showing as 'guest' so it looks like he's left us. His avatar has, ironically, been replaced with the masculine symbol. Fitting, some might say.
Isn't that a custom title entered by the OP ?
derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
He sounded like a right nobber.
- Location
- Manchester
Mod note.
It is not appropriate to discuss the character of another member on an open forum. - whether they have left or not.
Thanks
It is not appropriate to discuss the character of another member on an open forum. - whether they have left or not.
Thanks
keithmac
Guru
Only things I've paid for over the years are guttering and roof repairs (I can't do heights or working off ladders!), having the gas boiler serviced and the dentist!.
Everything else is fair game and to be fair I enjoy understanding how things are built and how they work.
Each to their own, I'd be out of a job if everyone was the same..
I don't see people who would rather pay for work to be done any better or worse than myself, I can see the benefit of letting someone else sort it out.
Everything else is fair game and to be fair I enjoy understanding how things are built and how they work.
Each to their own, I'd be out of a job if everyone was the same..
I don't see people who would rather pay for work to be done any better or worse than myself, I can see the benefit of letting someone else sort it out.
vickster
Legendary Member
Only that this post got locked and some got uppity
confusedcyclist
Veteran
Great idea! If it's a DIY job, there's no need for fancy equipment, you can just use an old fork flipped horizontally in a vice, or even more ghetto, a bicycle frame suspended on a mechanic stand, or even more ghetto ghetto, turn your bike upside down on the floor (this one might do your back in a bit though). I tend to use a rubber band and a pencil to assess lateral and radial true, a zip tie, or piece of stiff card works in a pinch.
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confusedcyclist
Veteran
With the right tool, strength isn't an issue, you just need enough leverage.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
I can, and have done all my own mechanical work on my bikes since I was 14/15 years old. The only task I have not mastered is wheel building, mainly because I have never tried, although I have trued wheels in the past with good results. I find it quite calming at times, and infuriating at others, depending on how things work out.
Nigelnightmare
Über Member
I do all my own maintenance/fettling and have done so since I was about 10/11 yrs old.
I find that I go through stages where I get more enjoyment from fettling than riding.
I also find it calming/soothing to tinker with the bikes making small adjustments/alterations/repairs.
I've been building wheels since my early teens and have only just bought a truing stand this year (I'm now 55).
I mainly use LBS for parts or to remove seized items
and once to repair a rear derailleur that had gone into the spokes and twisted the parallelogram 90deg (an old Campagnolo Record Mk1).
The mechanic (John) said that it would probably break so don't get your hopes up!
It didn't break and has now been going strong for over 30yrs.
I took the bike in to show him when he retired last year and showed him the marks from the vice where he had straightened it all those years ago as he didn't believe it was the same one.
His son and grandson still run the shop.
I find that I go through stages where I get more enjoyment from fettling than riding.
I also find it calming/soothing to tinker with the bikes making small adjustments/alterations/repairs.
I've been building wheels since my early teens and have only just bought a truing stand this year (I'm now 55).
I mainly use LBS for parts or to remove seized items
and once to repair a rear derailleur that had gone into the spokes and twisted the parallelogram 90deg (an old Campagnolo Record Mk1).
The mechanic (John) said that it would probably break so don't get your hopes up!
It didn't break and has now been going strong for over 30yrs.
I took the bike in to show him when he retired last year and showed him the marks from the vice where he had straightened it all those years ago as he didn't believe it was the same one.
His son and grandson still run the shop.
ChrisEyles
Guru
- Location
- Devon
For a long time I was utterly useless at bike maintenance, even repairing punctures seemed like a right old faff. I either put up with non-optimal performance or took my bike into the shop if it was anything more serious.
I only started properly wrenching on my bikes five years ago, when I was given my father-in-law's lovely 1960s Cinelli, and had to rely exclusively on my bike for transport for a little while.
Working on the bikes I relied on to get to work was too stressful at first, so I bought a couple of old junkers to strip down and rebuild, generally do up and learn my way around a bike. I put up a build thread on here, asked loads of questions, and learnt a lot. I still have and love the 1950s Raleigh Sport, which is now the first of many bikes I've restored.
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/1940s-raleigh-rescue-should-i-or-shouldnt-i.168167/
After that I discovered mountain biking and went through a similar process on a late 90s MTB - again I learnt a lot as bike tech obviously changed quite a lot from the 1940s to 1997.
Those builds were all pretty painfully slow and riddled with mistakes that I subsequently had to fix, but by the end of it I'd got to grips with basis on which all the various parts of a bike function, picked up a degree of mechanical sympathy, and learnt what bodges were appropriate where necessary. This was enough for me to do all my own work on my (and a lot of my friends!) bikes.
Since I've never owned a carbon bike I'd still be very wary of working on this, as I don't have a feel for what torques are appropriate where. Never worked on hollowtech BBs or cartridge bearing hubs yet either, but I'm sure I could puzzle these out if I needed to.
I didn't realise how addictive rebuilding bikes can be though... since then I've done up two or three each year, from BMXs to full sus MTBs to vintage racers. I'm even gradually managing to turn a small profit rather than a small loss in the process!
For me, wrenching on bikes is now a second complementary hobby to riding them.
I've not yet built a wheel from scratch (though I've trued up some thoroughly knackered ones that had been in crashes). I'd like to have a go at a fancy snowflake lacing pattern one day.
I only started properly wrenching on my bikes five years ago, when I was given my father-in-law's lovely 1960s Cinelli, and had to rely exclusively on my bike for transport for a little while.
Working on the bikes I relied on to get to work was too stressful at first, so I bought a couple of old junkers to strip down and rebuild, generally do up and learn my way around a bike. I put up a build thread on here, asked loads of questions, and learnt a lot. I still have and love the 1950s Raleigh Sport, which is now the first of many bikes I've restored.
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/1940s-raleigh-rescue-should-i-or-shouldnt-i.168167/
After that I discovered mountain biking and went through a similar process on a late 90s MTB - again I learnt a lot as bike tech obviously changed quite a lot from the 1940s to 1997.
Those builds were all pretty painfully slow and riddled with mistakes that I subsequently had to fix, but by the end of it I'd got to grips with basis on which all the various parts of a bike function, picked up a degree of mechanical sympathy, and learnt what bodges were appropriate where necessary. This was enough for me to do all my own work on my (and a lot of my friends!) bikes.
Since I've never owned a carbon bike I'd still be very wary of working on this, as I don't have a feel for what torques are appropriate where. Never worked on hollowtech BBs or cartridge bearing hubs yet either, but I'm sure I could puzzle these out if I needed to.
I didn't realise how addictive rebuilding bikes can be though... since then I've done up two or three each year, from BMXs to full sus MTBs to vintage racers. I'm even gradually managing to turn a small profit rather than a small loss in the process!
For me, wrenching on bikes is now a second complementary hobby to riding them.
I've not yet built a wheel from scratch (though I've trued up some thoroughly knackered ones that had been in crashes). I'd like to have a go at a fancy snowflake lacing pattern one day.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
I build up bikes from frames these days and build my own wheels. I mastered hydraulics from initial installation last year.
