How many 50+r's do their own maintenance?

[brownsfan]

I just started riding my bicycle again this year after having not ridden since I was in college. Back then I maintained my own bicycle and I plan to do it now also. I find that the Internet is a wonderful resource, but I have also purchased a few books to help me with items that have changed in the last thirty years.

Looking through the BF it appears there are a lot of questions about maintenance and having work done by an LBS. My question is how many 50+r's do their own maintenance? If not, why not? Are there specific tasks that you feel an inidvidual should not attempt?

[backinthesaddle]

When I started riding again after many years, I decided I would ride and leave all the maintenance to a shop, just like I now do with my car. (I used to work on my car too, until my job pressures and increasing income made it desirable to turn it over to a pro mechanic) As it's turned out, I've started doing minor jobs myself (adjusting derailleurs, fixing flats) because I like it, and I envision I'll be doing more and more as time goes on. But just like the car, the technology is more complicated so I'm not sure I'll do everything I used to do. (I'm not sure I'm going to bother to figure out how the "brifters" work.)

So I'm grateful to have a reliable shop where I bought the bike nearby and they still can do anything for a reasonable price.

Off topic: Brownsfan, I see you have a '73 Frejus, I had a Frejus that I bought in 1967, was stolen in '73, still miss that bike! Don't know if I had a Tdf, though. Do you still ride yours?

[head_wind]

I'll try most anything. The worst is that I can screw it up and need help. I won't face a bottom bracket (I'm not even sure if I have the language right). I probably won't buy the tool to remove or insert a headset. I'm ready to screw anything else up.

motto: start slow, then ease off

[Louis]

I do everything except wheelbuilding.

It's very satisfying and really not that complicated if you have some mechanical ability and are able to employ common sense.

[dminor]

I'll try most anything. The worst is that I can screw it up and need help. I won't face a bottom bracket (I'm not even sure if I have the language right). I probably won't buy the tool to remove or insert a headset. I'm ready to screw anything else up.

motto: start slow, then ease offNever made a tool yet to remove a headset, but installing one is not a biggie, as handy as you already are. A pipe clamp and an assortment of large sockets give you everything you need to install them gracefully :).

Wheelbuilding is not as black of an art as it's made out to be either. It just takes patience - - oh and another wheel laying around to use as a reference helps.

After splitting center cases and rummaging around in dirt bike gearboxes since I was a teen, a bicycle leaves very little mystery.

[Digital Gee]

I was born without a mechanical gene in my body, so the LBS does all my repair. I can change a flat (barely), clean my chain, and clean the bike. Otherwise, it goes to the LBS.

[dauphin]

I keep thinking..."yeah, I can do that..." Why do I keep thinking that???

[HopedaleHills]

I do most anything that does not require a special tool. It's not really rocket science..There are plenty of places on the web to go for help like Park Tools or Sheldon Browns site.

[Hoyt]

Good question.

I just started back after a 13 year layoff. I had a shop do a complete overhaul on my 1991 bike, replace a few parts and cables. I'll probably take it in periodically for an overhaul.

Interestingly, the first shop I went to said I wouldn't be able to find parts and wheels for a 1991 bike -- but a post on here got me all the advice I needed to get it fixed.

I'll do things that I can handle in 30 minutes to an hour -- but, other than that, I'm going to take it to a shop. But, I don't have the time to let them handle all the little things that need adjustment.

I'm probably going to mount a new front derailleur myself and I just changed out the stem to make the bike more comfortable.


What I'm not going to do is get back into the endless tinkering I used to do before most rides. It takes too much time and I've got other things I need to do (particularly those my wife suggests).

I've got most of the tools -- including bottom bracket wrenches and the like -- but it used to take me hours to get stuff like that right and I was never positive I had it 'perfect". Of course, if I get a more modern bike, my tools may be obsolete. Things have changed a bunch in 15 years. Like, what is a "threadless" headset?

Finally, I can afford a little downtime to let a bike shop handle some things because I have other sports stuff I have to work in besides biking.

Come to think of it, I think my brakes need adjusting. Here I go again. . . . . . .

[HAMMER MAN]

mostly everything. except re-build or build wheels.

[pastorbobnlnh]

I do everything except wheelbuilding.

It's very satisfying and really not that complicated if you have some mechanical ability and are able to employ common sense.

I agree with Louis, and after the fiasco of leaving rims and hubs with the LBS for a month and finding nothing had been accomplished, I've decided to even teach myself how to build wheels. Dminor builds them, Scooper builds them, others build them, I certainly can as well.

If you want to feel more comfortable before working on your main bike, find an old one to completely overhaul, one that does not matter if it is botched up. I found this to be a real confidence booster.

Go for it! :D

[Wil Davis]

Everything. Ever since I was a kid; although back then there were not the resources available (Sheldon Brown, bikeforums.com, web etc.). Wheelbuilding isn't rocket science, but there is a tremendous satisfaction to be had the first time out on a self-rolled set of wheels…

- Wil

[Trsnrtr]

Everything here, too.

[guybierhaus]

Maintenance? What maintenance? Spray oil on chain once a year, put air in tyre.

On a more serious note, that is one of the reasons I enjoy biking, I have something I can tinker with, and the fact I can wheel this vehicle into the family room to work on it makes it more the better. Did pay local LBS to recable bike this past spring, as I was too lazy. But after that big bill, that be the last time. Well I gotta ride.

[WalterMitty]

I do my own work. Dad was a mechanic and so was Grandpa. Many of my early years included work turning wrenches. The only exceptions are when there's a special tool I don't want to buy or I don't have the time to do something myself. I'm also kinda hard to please.:p

[Monoborracho]

It is 60 miles to the nearest LBS. If I don't work on my bikes, they don't get fixed. I do everything except cassettes and cranks, and when I get a new tool set I'll do those. That still leaves out wheel building, but I can true them. Thank heavens for the internet.

[BluesDawg]

I do almost everything on my bikes and my family's bikes. I've built most of them up from bare frames. Whatever tools I don't have myself, like a headset press, I can borrow from my pals at the LBS. I haven't built a set of wheels yet, but I want to do that someday. I love working on my bikes and changing components around. It gets me in tune with the bikes in a way that couldn't happen if someone else was doing the work.

[jppe]

I'm one to do as much as I can myself. The only thing I've asked the LBS to do lately was bottom bracket replacements for cranks. Most of the other stuff I do can be done with an allen wrench (hex wrench) and a chain tool.

I did buy a set of cable cutters just yesterday so I can trim out the cable housing on my bikes and get them the way I'd like for them to be. Having the cable cutters will also let me install the "Dura Ace" gear indicator on the cable housing as well.

Just my experience but it takes me about 3-4 times as long to do my adjustments the first time or two compared to the LBS but I work pretty cheap!!! I get a kick out of being able to do the stuff myself.

[John E]

I have done almost 100% of my own bicycle repairs and maintenance since I was in high school. I do most of my own home repairs, all of my own appliance, stereo, and computer repairs, and all maintenance and light repairs on my family's cars. I do have enough sense to outsource certain major items, such as power steering rack replacement or the slab, framing, and roofing of my 2-car garage addition.

When facing a given repair, I ask myself:
1) Would I enjoy tackling this?
2) Do I know what I am doing?
3) Do I have the right tools, or can I rent or buy them at a justifiable cost?

In addition to money saved and skills, control, and satisfaction gained, the big payback has been spending quality time with my two sons, now 17 and 22. The elder one, who is starting his senior year in Physics at UCSD, is (slowly) restoring my late mother's 1969 Camaro, and the younger one maintains a 1996 Audi A4 Quattro which looks 10 months, rather than 10 years, old. This month, my elder son and I are completely rebuilding his 1992 Specialized Hard Rock mountain bike, and he is getting very excited about doing more offroad cycling in addition to campus cruising.

[Baggsy]

Do it all myself here too...came from working on vintage tractors to bikes, and nothing on a bike compares to a fairbanks magneto or a marvel carb...so I like working on them much more. Simplicity in motion seems to be my new catch phrase...

[dminor]

Do it all myself here too...came from working on vintage tractors to bikes, and nothing on a bike compares to a fairbanks magneto or a marvel carb...+1. Both technologies seem of the same simple era. "Metering cicuits? What metering circuits?" I was used to working on 'swiss-watch' Mikuni carbs, so when I had to rebuild the updraft Zenith on my AC 'B' I had to look twice to be sure I'd already disassembled it all. (An aside note: my local NAPA store actually had a rebuild kit in stock for it too :eek: )

[Louis]

I've never taken a new bike back to the shop for its free tune-up. Not that I think I'm such a hotshot, it's just that I keep everything lubed and adjusted properly so there is no real need. Also, I'm quite particular about the "feel" of a bike, so for me, even a new bike is not set up quite right until I fine tune it.

I've been wanting to have a go at wheelbuilding but somehow have never acquired a trueing* stand which I'm thinking is necessary (duh!). For me, the mystery about building wheels would be figuring out the proper spoke length to buy for a given rim/hub combination.

*The spelling of this word has always confused me. Websters Collegiate shows it either way, with or without the "e".

[mollusk]

I do all my own wrenching, including wheel building. A stand makes it easier to true up a wheel once it's laced, but you can also do it on the bike using the brake pads for the left/right truing and a popsicle stick and tape for the roundness. Not very elegant, but it works. Just a few months ago I needed to replace the rear wheel on my commuter bike as both the hub and rim were trashed. I bought a pair of used wheels for $10 from a bike shop where one had a good freehub and the other had a good rim. One hour later I had a rear wheel that will give me years of good service.

[dminor]

I've been wanting to have a go at wheelbuilding but somehow have never acquired a trueing* stand which I'm thinking is necessary (duh!). For me, the mystery about building wheels would be figuring out the proper spoke length to buy for a given rim/hub combination.An old rigid fork with a bent piece of wire brazed on the side - - presto! - - trueing stand. Of course, getting the dish right on a rear may actually require a real stand. As for spoke length, that's what spoke calculators are for:
http://www.bikeschool.com/spokes/
http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/spokecalc/
http://www.damonrinard.com/spocalc.htm

*The spelling of this word has always confused me. Websters Collegiate shows it either way, with or without the "e". Websters always lists the preferred spelling first when showing multiple correct forms. In this case 'trueing' is the preferred.

[Gus Riley]

I do most of my maintenance. I haven't tackled building or straightening wheels yet.

[cooker]

Have done/can do:
fix flats, replace tubes/tires
replace cables, brake pads
adjust derailleurs
remove freewheel
replace spokes
repack wheel hubs

Haven't done:
service steering mechanism
replace bottom bracket
replace cogs/chainrings
take apart chain
build/lace/true wheels
braze/weld/repair frame
install new design components, eg "brifters", disk brakes

[webist]

I only have one bike and a strong desire to ride it every day. I try to work it so that repairs, installation or adjustments are done so as to minimize my time off the bike. If I can do it before the next ride - fine. If not, I take it to the shop.

If installation or adjustment is FREE, I take advanage of it.

I do routine maintenance - cleaning, adjusting, lube and flat repair.

I generally do not do one time repairs if it requires specialized tools. Those go to the shop.

[CyberDaug]

My first bike was a English 3 speed back in the 50s, I treated it like a BMX .
I did all my own repairs, flat and ripped tires 4 or 5 master links before a new chain straightened fenders, and lots of shifter chains and brake pads.
Quit riding when I got to high school because it wasn’t cool.
In May I bought a Trek Navigator from the local LBS. I though sitting on a bike would be better then Lazy Boy. After 2 blocks of ridding I had to stop and tighten my set post clamp three more blocks my set was pointing at the top bar. Stopped and adjusted and tightened that. About a mile into my ride I hit a bump and the handle bars dropped about 3 in. tighten them , by then my rear was getting sore.(never did that in my Lazy Boy), so I headed back home.
When I got my bike back after I took it in for it’s free 30 day Tune-up the Seat post clamp was loose the front derailer wasn’t indexed correctly and the chain rubbed on the cage the rear derailer indexed 1 gear off.
Will I take it back for it’s free 90 day tune-up? Yea right!
I bought a Spin doctor tool kit, and in the last 3 months I took 3 MTBs apart and made 1 good one, and 2 Navigators and made 1 good one for my wife. All the information I needed was on the internet.

John
If it ain’t broke fix it anyway :D

[bcoppola]

I do most of my maintenance. I haven't tackled building or straightening wheels yet.

+1. But hey, I might look for a wheel truing jig on eBay one of these days...

+1 on Gus' signature, too.

[Digital Gee]

I thought I would learn some new skills and build up a bike from the frame. I found this steel frame on craigslist -- what's my first step? :D

[Artkansas]

My question is how many 50+r's do their own maintenance? If not, why not? Are there specific tasks that you feel an individual should not attempt?

I do almost all of my own maintenance. I have for decades. I put a limit at anything that requires welding though. But I've built wheels, swapped out every possible component. My bike is personal. I can't expect a mechanic to take as much care as I would.

[Artkansas]

I thought I would learn some new skills and build up a bike from the frame. I found this steel frame on craigslist -- what's my first step? :D

With all the rounded rocks and pebbles surrounding it, looks like it should be a beach cruiser.

So, just get catalogs and decide what you want to buy to put on your bike. Top quality components only.

That or get a copy of Monster Garage: How to Custom Paint Damn Near Anything (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760318093/002-1029748-1492846?v=glance&n=283155) and go crazy painting the frame.

[Rowan]

Cars are too complicated and expensive. Building houses is expensive and fraught with redtape.

But bicycle mechanics is a great outlet for the mind with a mechanical bent. The mistakes usually aren't too expensive to rectify, and there is nothing like riding a bike you have built yourself from a scrapped frame and various bits and pieces that the "experts" say won't work together. Equally, there is no greater satisfaction in identifying a problem (squeak, rumble) and fixing it.

So... yes. I do all the work on my own bikes, and will acquire the tools I need to do the job properly. It provides me with independence, and saves me money.

I just think of it this way: How many people I see out there driving cars can strip down their everyday transport and rebuild it in, say, a day?

[centexwoody]

+1 altho part of my issue is that my favorite wife insists that 2 cars be parked in the garage every night.

So where does the bike stand get to sit? How can I leave a project 'underway'? I think if I had some mechanical noodling space available, I'd be more likely to work on them. As it is, I've got to move cars out of the garage, move a work table out from the wall - it just gets too complicated to deal with most of the time.

I DO have a large drawer in the garage full of spare parts & a pitiful collection of tools & even a hook with old tires & tubes on one wall.

[dminor]

I thought I would learn some new skills and build up a bike from the frame. I found this steel frame on craigslist -- what's my first step? :DOh, that's easy: find one or two more like that beauty, arrange them in an artful, pleasing pattern on the shop floor and tack 'em together with a stick welder. They'd make a great mailbox holder or piece of yard art :)

Artkansas: "Beach cruiser" - - haha, I like that!

[Rowan]

So where does the bike stand get to sit? How can I leave a project 'underway'? I think if I had some mechanical noodling space available, I'd be more likely to work on them. As it is, I've got to move cars out of the garage, move a work table out from the wall - it just gets too complicated to deal with most of the time.



Kitchen table? Loungeroom floor in front of the TV? I have a solution to every problem :D

[dminor]

+1 altho part of my issue is that my favorite wife insists that 2 cars be parked in the garage every night.

So where does the bike stand get to sit? How can I leave a project 'underway'? . . . . Do you have a basement? My work area is pretty compact. Normally, it's just the pipe flange on the post unless a project is underway. Even then the 'footprint' is pretty small, as you can see:

http://www.aimcomm.com/users/dminor/images/asx_1.jpg

[BubbaDog]

Have wrenched my own bikes since I was a teen. Have a fairly comprehensive set of tools collected over the years as needed, so can work on bikes from the '70's through today. Actually ran a neighborhood bike shop out of the garage in my teens, tinkering little capatalist that I was (still am). Have done everything except wheelbuilding, and am currently looking for plans to build a fully functional trueing/dishing stand so I can build up a few new wheels for my old Volkscycle. Built my new LaRaza from the frame up, and learned a lot about the new shifting technologies that way. Also bought a gently used Park TS-1 stand from a member of the local bike club when I started on the LaRaza, don't know how I ever lived without one....

B'Dog

[Bikewer]

I've done my own maintenance since about 1973 or so. I not only take care of my own bikes, I rebuild/refurbish/resell bikes and maintain our police "fleet" of about 16 patrol bikes.

The only thing I don't do is build wheels.

[jazzy_cyclist]

I've been learning as I go along. I'm not a guru, but I've built a bike up from the frame, and taken another apart down to the frame and reassembled it (yes, it still works). My mechanical aptitude is "average" at best, but bikes are, for the most part, pretty finite and I enjoy learning the mechanical aspect if I'm not riding. Haven't built any wheels yet, but I may tackle that once the snow starts flying...

[centexwoody]

no basements in Texas, for the most part. Closest thing we have are called 'split-level homes'...:D

obviously I'm not going to get off with this complaint about insufficient workspace - maybe I just really don't want to learn wrenching so I should just shut up & try to learn sump'n from everyone else

[nedgoudy]

I don't do ANY maintanence on my bikes
short of changing a flat if I have to in the
field.

I would sure like to take one of those month
long bicycle repair classes though, like the
Barnett Bicycle Institute in Colorado:
http://www.bbinstitute.com/ OR even
better for me would be the United Bicycle
Institute in Ashland, Oregon: http://www.bikeschool.com/

I am just not too mechanically oriented... YET!

[genec]

I do my own... have learned to buy any strange tool for any part that I bolt onto my bikes.

Have had LBSs tell me they don't have a particular tool when I wheel my bike in and ask for a part... "oh well we couldn't work on that bike anyway... we don't have the tool." Fine, can you get a new part... I have the tool.

I was talking to the LBS last night about how much it would cost to repaint my frame... and I mentioned I have freewheels... the owner replied: "oh we can't work on that, those old freewheels never come off." I mentioned that I had them off just a year ago and can do it fine myself.

It's funny... as I talk to the LBSs in my area I just keep getting a reinforcing notion that I should just keep on wrenching... they sure don't seem to want to do it.

Now if I could just paint.... How hard can it be anyway...

[centexwoody]

Now if I could just paint.... How hard can it be anyway...

When I was in high school, my first cousin (in law school & poor) bought a very-used sports car convertible with a bad paint job. My cousin grew up doing paint & drywall repairs in an apt. complex so he went out & bought a gallon of peach-colored paint & we painted that convertible. Then put terrycloth leopard skin seat covers on the seats to cover the holes. Boy, did we have fun cruising around in that car and it looked great from about a hundred feet away.

[starship]

I do all my maintance work, except wheel truing and building. No equipment for that (yet).

[bkaapcke]

Walked into a bike shop in the middle of a going out of business sale. Walked out with a $229.00 tool set for $70.00. With the tools, I'm stuck doing my own maintainence. Bought a good book and am having no problems to date. However, I'll leave wheel trueing to the pros. I've learned how to read and adjust R ders, changed the cassette & chain and recabled the bike to accomodate new h-bars. If you are mechanically inclined, this stuff aint that tuff. Get a book and give it a go. You'll get to know your ride much better. bk

[mollusk]

Now if I could just paint.... How hard can it be anyway...

Actually it is pretty easy if you are patient. I repainted this old bike last winter between Christmas and New Year's Day.


http://img464.imageshack.us/img464/2074/1986cdale13rn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I recently had it out on a ride and somebody wanted to know when Cannondale had their name looking like that on a bike. I had to tell them that they never did and that I made the decals myself.

[centexwoody]

sweet ride, my man, sweet ride...

[genec]

Actually it is pretty easy if you are patient. I repainted this old bike last winter between Christmas and New Year's Day.

I recently had it out on a ride and somebody wanted to know when Cannondale had their name looking like that on a bike. I had to tell them that they never did and that I made the decals myself.

Any painting tips you want to pass on?

I frankly was thinking to just remove all the parts, sand down the frame with some good emery cloth, primer it with some spray primer and then hit it with some good color. Since it is a lugged frame, I thought I would follow up with some fine lines at the lugs, just for the heck of it.

Figured I would do it in the garage with some tarps around to contain the spray.

I was just planning on using canned spray paint.

[Thrifty1]

Since restoring antique motorcycles is my favorite hobby (currently restoring a 1953 Velocette LE MK-II), I perform ALL maintenance on all 7 of my bikes (MTB, hybrid, road) including wheelbuilding. I avoid the Minot LBS like the plague.