Fear of wrenching...

I thought I'd post my experience learning to work on bikes, there was a comment on another thread,

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And yes...I need to start learning to take care of my own bike! I am just so afraid i'll end up breaking something

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I finally started to tentatively learn to wrench after an experience where I had some free work done by a friend to two bikes, that cost me $100 to have redone correctly on just one of them. Ahhhh!

I found a different friend who was very willing to walk me through my first "job". He had the stand and the tools, and basically handed me each tool, and stood at my shoulder and told me what to do next. That day I replaced a chain ring and a derailleur cable all by myself.

That encouraged me. I dug out DH's old bike tool box, bought a copy of Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance, and started to try different things. I changed some pedals. I put a new chain on. And then... I rebuilt my old very first mtb that had been collecting dust.

Now, you have to picture this. I find the directions, get out my highlighter, read them, read them again, go into the house and get a drink, stare at the bike for a bit and THEN cut the first cable. OMG, I was so sure I was going to break something!! Or that something would explode. But nothing bad happened.

Slowly I've added the tools I didn't have. I've also found that there are lots of knowledgeable people out there willing to give advice, or help with nuanced adjustments. I've cultivated the heck out my favorite LBS's with home baked goodies. I do buy all my small parts locally, support the LBS and all that.

Now, I maintain the fleet at our house. DH got me a Park stand for Xmas one year, complete with tech apron. :cool: He thought it was a crazy request but now that I detail his bike for him... different story. Sure, it takes me at least 3 to 5 times longer than a pro but so what. :p

Moral is, you can't break anything. Worst case scenario is that you have to drag your bike to the LBS ( cookies in tow) and say, "guys, what did I mess up here". That hasn't happened yet, but I have need help with some old v-brake spring adjustments.

Go for it!:D

+ a bajillion!

Working on your own bikes is empowering, and can garner you a lot of respect.

I want to add that it is immensely satisfying, and soothing too. There are days when being out in the shop and detailing a dirty mountain bike is just the best thing to do.

My most recent project was converting a nice old Ti hardtail to a singlespeed...whee.....

Hey, that's my comment! :)

Irulan, can you come over to LA and show me how it is done?

you can get group long distance support here. :D

Seriously, I was so freaked out about getting started, but then I decided to just DO IT. Worst case scenario is I'd have to pay someone to put it back together, which hasn't happened yet.:cool:

Thanks for the encouragement on this, Irulan.

Yesterday, I did my very first tiny adjustment on my own bike-- I adjusted the pedals to release my cleats more easily on my new-to-me cross bike. It was a simple small adjustment, but I felt great doing it myself.

Way to go Irulan!

I've done a lot of maintenance in past years, but it's been a while for a lot of it, and one thing I've never done was install a derailleur.

So, it TOTALLY freaked me out to have to remove my rear derailleur to put my bike in the shipping crate. (Didn't even know which side the wrench went until I looked at it closely :o)

We'll see how it goes when I have to re-install it in Dallas :confused: Worst case, my sister says she's got a great mechanic :rolleyes:

Great post, Irulan! :cool:

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Originally Posted by Irulan

Now, you have to picture this. I find the directions, get out my highlighter, read them, read them again, go into the house and get a drink,

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Originally Posted by Irulan

Sure, it takes me at least 3 to 5 times longer than a pro but so what. :p

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Isn't that the point of the drink?

Excellent post.

Kudos!

I am so inspired by your post!

I'm glad I'm not the only one that enjoys working on bikes. I am jealous you have an apron. Christmas is coming.

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Originally Posted by Irulan

Now, I maintain the fleet at our house. DH got me a Park stand for Xmas one year, complete with tech apron. :cool:

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I was thinking about getting the Park stand... How do you like it? Is it pretty sturdy?

Yes, good post and good work!

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Originally Posted by dachshund

I was thinking about getting the Park stand... How do you like it? Is it pretty sturdy?

Yes, good post and good work!

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I'm not sure which one it is, one of the nicer ones but yeah it's great.

http://www.specialtyoutdoors.com/pen...wrenchette.jpg

Very inspiring post. I've been day dreaming for a couple of years about riding coast to coast. Lately, I've been thinking about buying a used steel bike and rebuilding it and getting it ready for my big ride. This way I could take care of some maintenance and repairs on my big ride. I know very little about working on my bike. So far, I've changed tubes/tires, cleaned chain and rear cassette. I'd love to learn more. My husband recently bought me a Park Tool bike stand. I take care of our 3 bikes (what little I know).

I have to say that "fear of wrenching" has to be one of the funniest titles for a post that I've seen.

Bravo with learning to tinker with your bike. It's commendable to say the least.

For the moment I'm taking a different approach.

I learned to strip a car down to a pile of nuts and bolts and put it back together again. Once I learned this, I decided to let someone else do it. I could afford it and wanted to spend my time elsewhere.

Now that I have a bike, I am totally not interested in working on it. I take this into account about when and where I bike so that I'm always within reach of a bus or a bike shop. The trade-off is worth it to me. There is too much else I want to be doing and there are only so many hours in the day. Bike mechanics doesn't make the list.

For those who work on their bikes...much applause.
For those who don't....much applause.

I started by helping my son rebuild an old steel bike. I rebuilt my tourer. But I'm like Pardes, and now when there is something I really want changed that may take more of my time than I'm willing to give, I take it to the shop.

That's why my tourer has barcons and new brake levers interruptors and Koolstop brake pads. It would have taken me too long! Only took a week at the shop. ;)

Karen

it's all in what floats your boat, ya know? I like it, it makes me happy. I like not paying someone to do it. But I refuse to do any car stuff. Whatever. :D

My whole thing is that it's nothing to be afraid of, why not give it a try? You might like it, and then again you might not.

and are not afraid to cut that cable, what's next??? I like getting dirty and turning wrenches, but would feel better if I had a guide.

what books or websites would you suggest for those who want to try it out and see if it is for them?

Hey Boise Birder -
I have found these to be great starting points!

http://www.parktool.com/repair/byregion.asp
www.sheldonbrown.com

So, ladies I need a little help to get me past the point where these great sites left off....I am intrepidly attempting a tiny adjustment on my front derailleur and am stuck on a small point. After a recent cleaning I noticed that a little nasty sound on downhills was caused by my chain rubbing in the big ring while in the the outermost gears....

So I know I just need to allow the cage to move slightly farther out from the bike frame when its in the big chainring. (I am using a 3 chainring Shimano 105 on a new Bianchi road bike). From the Park Tool website and the SheldonBrown website I know I need to tighten my H screw like 1/8th of a turn. Tiny. However, the screws aren't marked L and H and I'm way way too scared to test it like the site suggests... And google isn't finding me a handy diagram...

Can someone just tell me which screw is the H? Is there anything else I need to do after I tighten the screw that tiny bit? Am I stupid to try this?

Thanks guys for any suggestions you have!

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Originally Posted by Boise Birder

and are not afraid to cut that cable, what's next??? I like getting dirty and turning wrenches, but would feel better if I had a guide.

what books or websites would you suggest for those who want to try it out and see if it is for them?

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Irulan already pointed out Zinn & the Art of Bicycle Maintenance in her original post. There's a version for mountain bikes & one for road bikes.

Thank you for this post! I've been wanting to do maintenance on my bikes for a while -- saves money and, in my opinion, is therapeutic and rewarding -- but I've been too chicken to really get in there and do it.

My goal is to learn enough to learn enough to fix my battered winter mtb (needs everything, including headset and bottom bracket, replaced) and convert her to an Xtracycle. I hope to do this by spring of 2009. Where to start??:p

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Originally Posted by kfergos

Thank you for this post! I've been wanting to do maintenance on my bikes for a while -- saves money and, in my opinion, is therapeutic and rewarding -- but I've been too chicken to really get in there and do it.

My goal is to learn enough to learn enough to fix my battered winter mtb (needs everything, including headset and bottom bracket, replaced) and convert her to an Xtracycle. I hope to do this by spring of 2009. Where to start??:p

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I'd start with brake cables, housing and pads, and then same for deraillers. Then, bottom bracket, headset last. There are parts of the headset process that usually require a stop at LBS for them to use their headset press on a thingy in there.

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So I know I just need to allow the cage to move slightly farther out from the bike frame when its in the big chainring. (I am using a 3 chainring Shimano 105 on a new Bianchi road bike). From the Park Tool website and the SheldonBrown website I know I need to tighten my H screw like 1/8th of a turn. Tiny. However, the screws aren't marked L and H and I'm way way too scared to test it like the site suggests... And google isn't finding me a handy diagram...

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According to Zinn, and for a mtb derailleur (lets' assume it's the same) he says that MOST front ds have the low limit screw closer to the frame. Sometimes they are labeled L and H too.

Option B is to take some warm fresh baked cookies down to the LBS with your bike and ask nicely "would you guys please show me how to do this?". Works great for me.

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Originally Posted by fidlfreek

I'm way way too scared to test it like the site suggests...

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You'll be fine. Take a deep breath. Get a bright shop light and, if you need it, reading glasses or magnifying lenses. Shift onto the big ring (and if your shifters have a trim click, do that too). Now you're up against the H screw. If you can see the end of the screw contacting the stop, you're done (except for adjusting it to where you want it).

If the ends of the screws aren't where you can see them, observe the position of the slot or the Phillips star on one of them. Turn it out exactly one-half turn and see whether your derailleur moves. If the derailleur doesn't move, that's your L screw, so turn it back to where it was and try the other one.

It's a good practice when making adjustments that you're not sure of the effect, and/or when making adjustments that have to be the same in more than one place (motorcycle chain adjustments is what immediately springs to mind) to move by increments of 1/4 or 1/2 turn (or 1/3 turn, if you're turning hex nuts). Then you can go back exactly where you were before, if the adjustment doesn't work, and also you know you're doing the same thing on both sides.


PS my derailleur went back on fine... and it shifts fine on the stand... taking it out for a shakedown ride this afternoon, my first ride in TEXAS! :D


ETA: I read your post too quickly and didn't notice it was a late model Shimano derailleur. Shimano's website has technical data for most of their parts. The EV documents are parts fiches, the SI documents deal with installation and adjustment. According to that, the top adjustment screw is the one farther from the frame; with the chain on the big ring and small freewheel cog, there should be 0-0.5mm clearance between the chain and the outer plate of the cage.