The fallacy of "servicing" a bicycle.

[vernon]

I generally do the fettling things meselph, trouble is when I disassemble a component I often drop the odd washer or piece in the grass and the thing does not work quite as well afterwards.

Serves you right for not doing it in the living room over a light coloured carpet which will instantly show up any dirty greasy parts that you drop. .

 

[mustang1]

I would have if it had been the less expensive option . I'm quite happy to take it apart again and reassemble it if required.

That's why I give my bike to the mechanics to fix, its less pricey for me.

BUT I was being a touchy arsey by saying I give my bike to the lbs to fix every time. The truth is most of the time I replace my own brake pads and do my own maintenance. I've striped bikes down and rebuilt them, just to see if I can do it. Its very convenient for me to drop the bike off at the lbs (only one minute away), go to the office, and at end of day pick the bike up. I'll even do that for a puncture.

So in summary, sometimes I'll work on the bike myself, and sometimes give to the mechanic. :thumb:

 

[confusedcyclist]

For me the elephant in the room, well in the hallway, is my new bike's SRAM Apex indexed shifters. Great big mysterious modern things sitting on my handlebars. I can just about set up the indexing if it goes off, but I have no idea what I'd need to do to replace the brake or gear cables (well, I do know - I'd download the SRAM manual and go on youtube). I ought to really, to be prepared for roadside emergencies.

I can do most other things - provided they don't have anything to do with spokes. Wheel trueing is beyond me.

I do lift the bonnet of my car. I'm a dab hand at filling up the windscreen washer resevoir. I even mix my own screenwash sometimes (really hard core car maintenance)

GCN on youtube is pretty good for the how-to's

 

[Dogtrousers]

GCN on youtube is pretty good for the how-to's

I made one small step towards understanding my brifters last night. The right one has come a bit loose, so I downloaded the manual, folded back the rubber cover, and located the bolt that tightens up the bracket that holds it to the bars. Hooray for me!

I still think indexed gears are more trouble than they're worth and introduce too much fettling complexity. When I ride my bike that has friction shifters I never think "oh, how I wish these gears were clicky". And I definitely never think "oh, how I wish these shifters put the derailleur in exactly the wrong place and nowhere else" But that's way off topic.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I still think indexed gears are more trouble than they're worth and introduce too much fettling complexity.

I'll disagree with that. They made gear changes so much faster (Invaluable if racing) and after taking up the initial cable slack on a new system i've never found any further adjustments necessary.

 

[Colin_P]

But if you are not racing the ability to 'trim' a friction lever to achieve silence is something wonderful. That said a properly adjusted indexed system should be silent.

 

[Drago]

You can't beat a bit of neatly trimmed, eh Colin?

 

[Smokin Joe]

But if you are not racing the ability to 'trim' a friction lever to achieve silence is something wonderful.

Eh?

It took me two minutes to learn it when I first got a geared bike.

 

[Colin_P]

Eh?

It took me two minutes to learn it when I first got a geared bike.

I'm not talking about how long it takes to learn how to do it but the ability to do it all. You cannot do it on the fly with indexed gears whereas with frictions silence is easily achieved.

 

[Globalti]

You can do it "on the fly" if you've got inline cable adjusters and you can work out which way they need turning!

 

[wrenchloather]

I posted this in a thread on Technical Know How but I think the point is so important that I'm re-posting it here as a new thread, with a couple of edits:

The idea of doing a "service" on a bike is misguided; it's not a modern car where you only need to change oils and filters and not much else. A bicycle is a collection of delicate lightweight systems that need to be tweaked and kept in adjustment to get the best from them and the only way to do that is to learn to do it yourself.

I despair when I see people posting that their bike "has just been serviced " and they expect it to be running perfectly. You will only know when a something needs attention if you are attuned to the sound and feel of it or you take the time to inspect it carefully; which you can't expect a mechanic in a bike shop to do when he's under pressure and being distracted by colleagues, customers, loud music and his mobile phone. Read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance if you want to understand more about quality work and the futility of handing your precious machine to a so-called "professional".

Bike "servicing" is a dirty, boring, tiring, tedious job that makes no profit no matter how much the shop charges. Speaking as a bike fettler who has tried, briefly, to make a living from servicing bikes, there's nothing more depressing or demotivating than receiving a bike in a filthy or neglected condition from a customer who expects you to wave a magic wand and make it like new again, especially when you know that your efforts won't be appreciated and they will continue to abuse and neglect the bike.

The simplest and cheapest answer is to buy some tools and learn to do your own maintenance. That way, when the bike breaks out on the road, you've a better chance of fixing it yourself.

Not all bike mechanics are muppets; I know a couple of excellent mechanics at my LBSs who certainly know more than me but I would not expect them to be able to perform routine maintenance or adjustments, which is the rider's job.

All well in theory, and most of us would like nothing more than to fix any problems or keep our bikes ticking over in our garages or sheds.

Yet some of us dont even own a shed, garage or garden...try getting an oily bike apart in a one bed flat or bedsit - try doing that after a 10 hour night shift.

Then there's those of us who are not in any way mechanically or technically minded. Not all of us owned a Mecanno set from the age of 18 months. Saying "learn" how to service your bike is all well in theory, but some of us struggle to change a plug or light bulb. Calibrating speedos and messing around with wrenches is best left to those with the aptitude for it.

Bike mechanic work is doubtless tedious, frustrating and poorly remunerated - join the club! We all have to sell our labour to put food on the table - if bike mechanics want to improve their lot they'd be better off organising against capitalism rather than pointing fingers at folk for not owning enough spanners.

 

[Tim Hall]

I made one small step towards understanding my brifters last night.

There's your mistake right there, Brifters. What a horrible word. Shifters, purlease. The wrath of $Supreme_Deity has come down on your head and caused all kinds of grief just for saying it. Or if it hasn't, it will do in a minute.

 

[Tim Hall]

I've taken my bike in the car to get puncture fixed...the disc brakes frighten me and Evans only charge a fiver + tube

I do fix roadbike punctures myself but never alone yet by the roadside...I have both walked and cadged a lift from friends and family

I hate fixing punctures, source of dirty hands, sore thumbs and much frustration for me! I only replace the tube, life's too short for repairs and I seem to end up with gaping holes not teeny slits anyhow!!!!!!

Disposable gloves (latex or nitrile) and a VAR tyre lever are your friends for the first two problems listed. Hopefully they'll banish the third too.

 

[Dogtrousers]

There's your mistake right there, Brifters. What a horrible word. Shifters, purlease. The wrath of $Supreme_Deity has come down on your head and caused all kinds of grief just for saying it. Or if it hasn't, it will do in a minute.

Well if I've got to just call them one thing, it's brake levers. Fat brake levers, with ideas above their station, but brake levers all the same.

 

[gurninman]

I've not had my bike long , so apart from adjusting cables and levers to the right position and changing the qr skewers , I've not really done anything
I have been fixing my own motorbikes for 30 odd years though , so have *lots* of tools and like spending quality time in the garage.
Having said that , if people can't or don't want to do stuff themselves , then that's fine.All about personal choice, innit ?