Self maintenance?

[madscot13]

Do you gals do your own bike maintenace? Like adjusting cables and replacing headsets? I am too scared to mess with it...

[KnottedYet]

If I have the tools already, and have good pictures to follow, I do it.

If I don't have the tools, and kinda don't know how it's supposed to go, nope.

I replaced my bars, but let the LBS replace my headset.

I'm happy to play with my brake tension with the barrel adjuster, but let the LBS do the cable-length stuff.

I replaced my own pedals after the gurus at the LBS showed me the basic idea and sold me a long-handled pedal wrench (cuz I'm a wimp and know it).

etc.

[enzed]

I'm not that good with mechanical things.

Things I can do for myself - Cleaning and lubing the drivetrain, changing a tube & tyre (although not very quickly), tightening anything that's loose, lubing the cables & applying grease on seatposts and the headset.

Everything else is done at my LBS - gear & brake adjustment, wheel building & part replacement.
I know when something is not quite right with the bike when it doesn't feel/sound right, but I don't always know the exact termonology.

Luckily I have a got LBS (which is only 1Km away from my place) who doesn't mind me asking questions & who looks after my bike well.

[margo49]

Used to do everything (incl bottom bracket bearings) when I was an Intense Young Thing. Had a thing called Richard's Bicycle Book (you know it DebW?)
Then one day I realised there were people I could pay to do it (and no swearing involved either!). Not only that, the people around me didn't have any expectation that I (or anyone else) would fix their own bike. In the meantime had a couple of Health Issues (One started with "c").
Now we have a nice LBS with nice people so I take it there. I may get back to it once I am out of Mother Mode. I enjoy looking back on all that self-sufficiency, tho' I don't need it now and I'm happy with that too. I love DebW's thread on the Old Boy she is restoring.

[Thorn]

Used to do everything (incl bottom bracket bearings) when I was an Intense Young Thing...Then one day I realised there were people I could pay to do it (and no swearing involved either!). Not only that, the people around me didn't have any expectation that I (or anyone else) would fix their own bike

Yep...about sums it up. Seems I had more time then....now, I barely have time to get out and ride, so I pay the LBS to do it. Of course, eons ago I didn't have a close, reliable shop so my repairs were just as good as the local shop could do. Now, I have a friendly, reliable, and really good LBS, not enough time, and can afford the repairs.

I suspect when I retire I'll do my own repairs again. It was fun and I miss the grease.

[DebW]

Used to do everything (incl bottom bracket bearings) when I was an Intense Young Thing. Had a thing called Richard's Bicycle Book (you know it DebW?)
Then one day I realised there were people I could pay to do it (and no swearing involved either!).

Actually, I never had Richard's Bicycle Book or any other because I learned straight from the horse's mouth, ie the owner of the bike shop I worked at. I did buy the Park book a couple years ago when I realized there was alot of new stuff (indexed shifting, sealed bearings) that I wasn't familiar with. And given that I CAN repair or replace any part on the bike, I've upgraded only twice in 30 years (the 2nd is my custom Peter Mooney frame which just went off to the paint shop). Maybe the other reason I keep working on bikes is so I have an excuse to buy TOOLS. Now I need a 2nd tool box.

[SadieKate]

Yeah, I've learned straight from the horse mouth also. Though we don't have the tools for pressing headsets or chacing bottom brackets so those definitely go off to the bike shop. We do have a homemade dowel system for headsets but I'm too lazy and will pay for some stuff to be done. I mean with 17+ bikes in the house you can't do it all and still have time to ride.

[roguedog]

17+ ????!!!!

(said in awe with strong tints of jealousy) What are they and how do they differ for you?

oh... you just made me feel better ...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Do you gals do your own bike maintenace? Like adjusting cables and replacing headsets? I am too scared to mess with it...

Some stuff is way easier than other stuff.
I suggest you get Park's Blue book of bicycle repair & maintenance. You can get used cheaper copies on Amazon.com. Read about the procedure you are thinking of doing, look at the diagrams, and if you think you understand what they are saying then try it.

[KnottedYet]

I really like taping bars. It's kinda like knitting. Quiet and contemplative.

Samson and Cinelli tapes are nice to work with.

[Kitsune06]

Update:
So last night I put Merq up on the trainer and phutzed and farted around until I had the old stem annd handlebars off, brake/shifters off, etc. You're right, Deb, I could tell right away when the 'cap' was on right. The new stem, along with a slight upward tilt on the brooks and slightly different posturing solved some other problems I was having, as well.

The Salsa short'n shallow is proving very comfortable, too.

I'd gotten Specialized bar phat tape, but decided to re-use the old tape as it still looked like new and had come off well (and in one piece)

I did use the the gel pads, though.

Re-wrapping was amazingly easy. I only backed off a couple times in a couple places. There are two small 'burps' in the tape, where the foamy material of the tape had been stretched in the previous wrapping. I ended up doing a figure-8 as well, as that was what had been done previously.

so.... I think I'm going for my first ride after work tonight, if the weather allows....

*hope! hope! hope!*

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

so.... I think I'm going for my first ride after work tonight, if the weather allows....

*hope! hope! hope!*

GREAT! Keep in mind that your body and your muscles will also do some adjusting over time, and things that seem a bit weird and uncomfortable now may not seem so in a month- at least that's what happended to me. I think my core muscles strengthened over the weeks after switching from a hybrid to a road bike posture.

[Kitsune06]

Yeah, I'm told that as I go on the trainer, my body moves back and forth a bit which will make me go ~~~~~~~~~ on the road (not used to something so weight and balance sensitive!) but X says I'll get used to that and get used to being 'very still'. I'm still anxious about clipping/unclipping on a tippy road bike. It's like bass boat vs. canoe... but I'm excited!!!!