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Wrenching?

2K views 30 replies 20 participants last post by  Fiona 
#1 ·
Do you do your own repairs and maintenance? If not, who does them for you (shop, riding buddy/sig. other) and have you tried to do it yourself?
 
#2 ·
Yes, I do everything on a learning curve. I got tired of paying shops for obviously simple stuff.

I am sure for an experienced mechanic to watch me work on bikes is painful and humorous. I stare at the required page in Zinn for sometime before starting something new. Sometimes I even highlight parts. I still wince whenever I have to cut a cable. But- I am getting pretty competent too! I rebuilt an old hardtail for my son to take to college. That was the learning bike. I do regular maintenance ( detail cleaned three drive trains yesterday)

My hubby, who used to do all this, bought me a stand and apron for xmas a couple of years ago.

I end up doing a lot of stupid things like chasing bolts all over the garage because I didn't put out my hand to collect the parts when I undo something. I have a few phone numbers on file for quick questions when I've got something torn apart.

The part that gets me now is the understanding of nuance that only years of wrenching can get you. Not infrequently, once I've done a project, my local LBS guys have to help me fine tune it a bit. But they help me, sell me parts, show me what to do and it's a pretty good deal. I think the fresh cookies I bake the guys every now and then might be helping this part.

This is me with the bike I built up for my son:
 

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#3 ·
I'm a wrench in training. :)

One of the guys in my riding group used to own a shop in San Diego and now builds bikes for a LBS. He's an awesome wrench so I've been slowing gleaning information from him. I'm now able to change my cables and housings all by myself. Fine tune adjustments are going to take some time. I'm getting better at diagnosing a problem and slowly learning how to correct it.

My winter project is to completely take apart my bikes and put them back together without having any extra pieces.
 
#4 ·
I do all my own wrenching except for installing headsets (don't have a headset press), building wheels (too complicated to do it right), and bleeding hydraulic brakes (I've done it before and am too lazy to want to do it again). Everything else I'll do myself, including building my bikes from the frame up. But I chose to work at a bike shop for several months in order to figure it all out. Fortunately bikes are pretty simple, and I think it's well within the abilities of the average person to do most of their own maintenance. If they have the interest, women often seem to make better bike (and car) mechanics than men because they tend to be more thorough, patient, and willing to ask for help when needed rather than just forcing it and breaking something.
 
#5 ·
That's great!

I struggle because my boyfriend is a very good mechanic, but not the most patient teacher. I keep trying to get past the phase of just letting him do it to avoid an argument. I'd like to learn these things, however. Maybe an apron and a stand would help!
 
#7 ·
formica said:
I am sure for an experienced mechanic to watch me work on bikes is painful and humorous.
My neighbor (who spent years as a bike mechanic) loans me his stand *and* provides beer, just so he can point & laugh. ;) Not in a nasty way though, and he's always ready to jump in if I ask for additional strength or experience.

gabrielle
 
#8 ·
I started working on the bike cuz I ran out of patience waiting for my hubby to do adjustments and small repairs. It started with adjusting deraillers and brakes, to changing bottom brackets, rebuilding shocks, and to date I've built three bikes. The only things I don't do are building/truing wheels and fork rebuilds. I'd be lost without the Zinn book and Park tool's website! Working on my bikes is relaxing and very satisfying, and I know it's done right. My bike pals love having me around when there's a mechanical!
 
#9 ·
me to

I learned out of necessity of supporting two racers.

Starting with flats and brakes, and moved to cables, etc. I don't do my own hydraulic brakes either, or shocks. I have taken apart and cleaned and re-lubed my fork. I have also converted a couple of bikes to SS my self. I can true wheels fairly well and want to build one some time.

Over time I collected a pretty good tool set. Then last winter a tool fairy left a brand new complete bike tool kit on my carport. :thumbsup:
 
#10 ·
I was a heavy duty vehicle mechanic in college for 2.5 years and do all my own work on my car. However, I just got into mountain biking a month ago or so and feel pathetic for taking my bike to the LBS for a tune up. I did install new brakes/disc, pedals, levers, and just put on a new fork over the weekend. That's real straight forward for me cuz it's just bolting stuff here and there, but I'm too impatient to learn how to adjust my derailleurs. I typically try to do everything myself but I've been too excited to down my bike, I can't stop riding!
 
#11 ·
I'm just starting to learn, but think it's important...Frankly, I usually subscribe to the "If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself" mindset, so that's how I started doing basic adjustments. I now have a LBS that I trust, but still want to learn my bike including repairs and tuning.
 
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
iaintdumb2 said:
I'm too impatient to learn how to adjust my derailleurs. I typically try to do everything myself but I've been too excited to down my bike
one idea for this (have been thinking about/want to do it myself) is to pick up a bike somewhere for cheap (goodwill type place/run across someone who just wants to get rid of a bike or whatever) and use that as a "tinker bike" so you don't have to down the bike you normaly use that way if you screw up or spend 3 days trying to do something your not "losing" anything

edit, fixed quote code, Formica
 
#13 ·
Schwinn_Frontier said:
iaintdumb2 said:
I'm too impatient to learn how to adjust my derailleurs. I typically try to do everything myself but I've been too excited to down my bike{QUOTE]

one idea for this (have been thinking about/want to do it myself) is to pick up a bike somewhere for cheap (goodwill type place/run across someone who just wants to get rid of a bike or whatever) and use that as a "tinker bike" so you don't have to down the bike you normaly use that way if you screw up or spend 3 days trying to do something your not "losing" anything
That's a good idea. I like doing most of my own maintenance. But there are things that would just be very expensive to mess up - like cross threading a bottom bracket and screwing up your frame. If I had a tinker bike laying around that I wouldn't stress over if I messed up, I'd go for it.

I'm not great with adjusting derailleurs, but I don't hesitate to try - the worst that's going to happen is that it will be out of adjustment. And I have no desire to build wheels myself when I have one of the best wheel builders around at my local shop who I'd rather pay to do it. That just seems too time consuming to learn.
 
#14 ·
formica said:
Yes, I do everything on a learning curve. I got tired of paying shops for obviously simple stuff.

I am sure for an experienced mechanic to watch me work on bikes is painful and humorous. I stare at the required page in Zinn for sometime before starting something new. Sometimes I even highlight parts. I still wince whenever I have to cut a cable. But- I am getting pretty competent too! I rebuilt an old hardtail for my son to take to college. That was the learning bike. I do regular maintenance ( detail cleaned three drive trains yesterday)

My hubby, who used to do all this, bought me a stand and apron for xmas a couple of years ago.

I end up doing a lot of stupid things like chasing bolts all over the garage because I didn't put out my hand to collect the parts when I undo something. I have a few phone numbers on file for quick questions when I've got something torn apart.

The part that gets me now is the understanding of nuance that only years of wrenching can get you. Not infrequently, once I've done a project, my local LBS guys have to help me fine tune it a bit. But they help me, sell me parts, show me what to do and it's a pretty good deal. I think the fresh cookies I bake the guys every now and then might be helping this part.

This is me with the bike I built up for my son:
That's impressive keep up the great work!

I do some wrenching, but do not like it. I am a male so I guess I should like wrenching but I don't.

I just like using my stuff not wrenching it. But wrenching is an unfortunate part of life for the end user that can't afford to pay someone to do it. And unless you got a butler...who has the time to even cart all this stuff around and pick it up to get wrenched?

I don't just ride bikes, so have a lot of things grabbing at my time.

My little trailer is like a boat and always needs attention I hot wax and tune my many twin planks and snowboards in the winter. I have 3 dirt bikes, a street bike and a jet ski.

Have numerous longboarders skateboards, gas powered motoboards (skateboards) and have to do my own reloading. My custom Colt accurized .45 starts to jam after just a few magazines of shooting and needs to be broken down to cleaned.

Also maintain a dirt bike rail so have many chain saws and weedwackers that need attention.

I hate doing it all as well as cutting the grass and shoveling the snow.

Sure one can get a nice satisfaction from a wrenching job well done.

But I put my pride in using and the less wrenching I need to do the better I like it.
 
#15 ·
Schwinn_Frontier said:
one idea for this (have been thinking about/want to do it myself) is to pick up a bike somewhere for cheap (goodwill type place/run across someone who just wants to get rid of a bike or whatever) and use that as a "tinker bike" so you don't have to down the bike you normaly use that way if you screw up or spend 3 days trying to do something your not "losing" anything
This was my idea in building up a bike for my son. I had all summer to do it and it was basically a spare.
 
#17 ·
I do as much as I can and don't mind trying something new. The right tools and a bit of instruction (online or whatever) goes a long way.

Only thing that's a bit beyond me is wheel truing, pulling forks apart is easy now that I've don it once or twice. And it's surprising how easy it is to build a bike (not taking into account the bb / headset removeal or insertion).

My husband wonders why I don't generally spend time outside when he's working on the car - mainly because I end up being a gopher. And the other day I was getting disc rotors off the wheels with him sitting & watching, and I get the comment "you should have got me to do that" because I was trying to break the grip of the loctite without risking rounding out the soft hayes rotor bolts so having a few goes. What is it with men and assuming us women are weak and can't do things ourselves! Yep you guessed it, hubby & I probably wouldn't get on too well in a teacher / student type relationship, think I have too much of an independence streak.
 
#19 ·
I wrench on all my stuff, and all my customers stuff!!! I've only worked with a handful of female mechanics.

As the service manager & wrench at my shop it is pretty interesting dealing with the good ole' southern boys that want to talk to "the mechanic." NUMEROUS times I've had them ignore me and start talking to one of the mechanics that work for me, only for the mechanic to either ask me a question or when the guy says "who's your best mechanic here I have a doozy of a question" tell them it's me & the guy turns blue in the face. :madman:
 
#21 ·
Arsbars said:
I wrench on all my stuff, and all my customers stuff!!! I've only worked with a handful of female mechanics.

As the service manager & wrench at my shop it is pretty interesting dealing with the good ole' southern boys that want to talk to "the mechanic." NUMEROUS times I've had them ignore me and start talking to one of the mechanics that work for me, only for the mechanic to either ask me a question or when the guy says "who's your best mechanic here I have a doozy of a question" tell them it's me & the guy turns blue in the face. :madman:
I had a ton of things like that happen to me, it amazes me how hard it is for some guys to accept things. I've had someone ask if me if I knew how to work an impact gun WHILE I was using it, I've had a group of guys tell me that the horn button was on the steering wheel while disassembling the steering column, etc. It's a pretty sexist world out there. Many men have ignored me but sometimes it's fun surprise them and just make them feel stupid.
 
#24 ·
You know what, ever since I started working on my bike, weather it's just cleaning and fiddling with the setting, installing a new part or servicing the fork /shock. Ever since I started doing that I have begun to understand why blokes like spending time out in the shed or working on their cars etc. It's very satisfying fiddling or doing something with your bike when you are unable to get out for a ride! Who would have thought that even cleaning could be enjoyable!
 
#25 ·
Wrench it!

I do all my own wrenching and building. I have built about 8 or 9 bikes. I work on forks and shocks. I take apart dampers and use different springs with PVC spacers to make it work for my weight. Actually I just finished a build tonight a blur xc. I have all the tools and my own workshop in our basement. My next thing is to learn how to TIG weld so I can build my own frames. I love the looks I get when I go into a new bike shop. They look at me like I have 3 heads. LOL.
 
#26 ·
ducktape said:
My husband wonders why I don't generally spend time outside when he's working on the car - mainly because I end up being a gopher. And the other day I was getting disc rotors off the wheels with him sitting & watching, and I get the comment "you should have got me to do that" because I was trying to break the grip of the loctite without risking rounding out the soft hayes rotor bolts so having a few goes. What is it with men and assuming us women are weak and can't do things ourselves! Yep you guessed it, hubby & I probably wouldn't get on too well in a teacher / student type relationship, think I have too much of an independence streak.
Yeah, I get the gopher syndrome too. I've found it's a lot more fun to just do bike maintenance on my own most of the time. That way I don't have to drop what I'm doing to help him every few minutes and don't get any comments about why I'm doing something the way I am. I do appreciate that he has about 15 more years of maintenance experience than I do, but I really don't need assistance in changing tires. Last time I was apparently "doing it wrong" and he took it, grabbed the air compressor and blew Stans all over the workbench. He tried it 2 or 3 more times unsuccessfully and stated that "It just won't work with this tire" and handed it back and said he had to go do something else. I went back to what I was doing and it worked just fine. Uh, thanks though....

It's not that I never need help, but I'd rather try it myself and ask when I can't figure something out. And while wine is good while wrenching - my latest favorite is a Pear-tini. (organic pear juice, Absolut pears, Pama pomegranite liquor (or framboise), and a slice of pear.) Yum.
 
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