Southern California - What kinda mechanic are you?

I'm pretty good at maintaining my own now. Big difference in service and quality. Everything from building my own wheels, replacing chains, to installing shifters and derailleurs. Only thing I haven't done is the bottom bracket or the headset. Guess cause I haven't had to do it yet.

It's great to be able to do thing the way I want. Yesterday I rode with new brake shoes on the front. I have a set for the back but won't put them on until I make sure the front is great and safe. Brakes worked great on yesterday's ride. They better cause at one point, the dh took me up to 41 mph. Now that they proved themselves, I'll do the back. Once I paid a shop to do my brakes. As I walked out, the rear wheel skidded actross the floor. The guy blamed me and said I banged the bike on something. Kind of hard when I only had control of the bike for 30 seconds. Now, I do it myself to be safe and you know what they say? CYA!:D

When I uprgraded my Cannondale from Ultegra 8 speed to Dura Ace 9 speed, I saved plenty of dough. Had to replace broken Ultegra shifters, got a good deal on DA, so I went for it. Shop wanted $600, I did it myself for $300 including the tools. Great deal at the time like a DA rear derailleur at Supergo 4th of July sale for $64 (no tax). I bought 2 just to be safe!:p

I've paid up to $100 just on a wheel "build" before at a high end shop. JUNK! When I built the wheel for my Cannondale, the total was about $145 for everything, parts included. Velocity Deep V on clearance rack,$25. Dura Ace rear 9 speed hub,$100 at Supergo. Spokes $20.

Man, it sure pays to do your own! Plus, nobody puts in more TLC than you into your own bike!

You guys do your own or take it in?

You guys do your own or take it in?

I do minor things myself but I really don't have the time to fiddle with anything on a large scale like you have.

I'm pretty awful at true'ing wheels. I almost always take those in, I rather pay $10 then sit there for 2hrs trying to fix what I messed up!

I've done few motor and tranny swaps in cars so working on bikes is a breeze. I built up my last two bike from the frame up with a cheap tool kit and home depot head press. Building them up is fun, tuning the derailers kinda sucks but part of the job.

I don't let bike shops touch my bikes, not even when it's free.

If I break I fix it:D

I'm pretty awful at true'ing wheels. I almost always take those in, I rather pay $10 then sit there for 2hrs trying to fix what I messed up!

Truing is really easy if you know what to do. If you want to pull the rim left, untighten a spoke on the right, then tighten the one on the left. I bet is someone sat down and showed you, you'd be suprised at how easy it is. 1/16 of a turn to start just to see how the rim reacts. Big thing is to make sure the spoke doesnt turn too. If it does, it binds up and pusls the rim to the side big time.

Well, I'm currently in the process of converting my old but nice steel mountain bike frame with a traditional horizontal top tube into a fixed gear commuter. I've already rebuilt the rear wheel with a new eccentric fixed hub. I'm in the middle of grinding off all unnecessary braze-ons, including the rear derailleur hanger on the frame for that clean, uncluttered look. I found a beautiful 1/8" thick single speed 36T chain ring on Ebay, among a couple of other items to complete this project. Yes, this is going to be a hot commuter/coffee bike. :D

everything but the wheels.

I don't let bike shops touch my bikes, not even when it's free.



I hate the thought of the shop touching my bikes. When we bought Gina Pilot a few months ago, they said bring it back for service. I really didn't want to but did as we were in the area. The guy put it in the stand and said Yup, looks good. I asked, what about the crank bolts. oh yeah, they look good too. What about the headset, oh yeah, they look good too. WTF!...I had to tell the guy what to look for!:eek:

When I bought my Cannondale brand new a few years back, I rode it for a mile or two. The BB was loose so I took it back. Machanic clamped it on the seat tube. Clamp was set to a cromo steel frame. He crushed my new oversized aluminum tubing frame!:( ...I got a new frame though but had to settle for a different color.

Well, I'm currently in the process of converting my old but nice steel mountain bike frame with a traditional horizontal top tube into a fixed gear commuter. I've already rebuilt the rear wheel with a new eccentric fixed hub. I'm in the middle of grinding off all unnecessary braze-ons, including the rear derailleur hanger on the frame for that clean, uncluttered look. I found a beautiful 1/8" thick single speed 36T chain ring on Ebay, among a couple of other items to complete this project. Yes, this is going to be a hot commuter/coffee bike. :D


I liked the fixie you ride. I'ma have to get me somethin' like that!:D

Truing is really easy if you know what to do. If you want to pull the rim left, untighten a spoke on the right, then tighten the one on the left. I bet is someone sat down and showed you, you'd be suprised at how easy it is. 1/16 of a turn to start just to see how the rim reacts. Big thing is to make sure the spoke doesnt turn too. If it does, it binds up and pusls the rim to the side big time.


Well the time that I actually tried it, I read at least 5 tutorials online and then tried it. It was pretty bad and I tried to get it to line up with no luck :(

how and where do you learn the skills?

I have not let a bike mechanic touch my bikes since '78. Why? because when ever I would get a bike back, and I tried many shops, it was never quite right and I would have to adjust something my self. I don't even let them build my bikes. When I get a new one (if I get a compleat bike and not just a frame) I get it in the box and assemble it on my own for the very same reason. Plus I like building them up:D

As for learning the skills, it was all trial and error as a kid. I would sit down with my bike, take it apart, compleatly, and then reassemble it.

MSF:beer:

As for learning the skills, it was all trial and error as a kid. I would sit down with my bike, take it apart, compleatly, and then reassemble it.

So did I!
I also used to disassemble old broken radios and TV's just for the heck of it....:D

Which brand of bike tools do you recommend? Spin Doctors or Park tools? and which work stands are best for the home mechanics?

how and where do you learn the skills?

The Park tools site provides good references for doing a lot of maintenance and repair on your own:

http://www.parktool.com/repair/


Also, Jim Langley's site is very good as well:

http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/wrench.html

Jim used to write for Bicycle mag for a number of years. I also picked up his book " The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair" which is really helpful.


Other than that, I find chatting with experienced riders, people at my LBS and of course posters on BF to be great resources as well. You can pick up great tips from people that have been wrenching for many years.

So did I!
I also used to disassemble old broken radios and TV's just for the heck of it....:D

I know how that goes. Only I was the one who would have to fix my fathers stereo receiver when it would mysteriously stop working while the folks were out of town :rolleyes:

MSF:beer:

I am ordering Zinn tonight so that I can never go to the shop again. I have many of the tools already, but I have been too lazy to even adjust my seatpost.

I've been doing some of my own bike maintanence since I rebuilted my mtb a few months ago. Before that I haven't done any (not even via LBS).

I've used the Zinn book for a full mtb rebuild. It's pretty good and has everything I need for the job. I still go to the shop for things I don't have the tool for; like bb refacing and also sometimes minor stuff... like flat tire change one time! Hahahaha.

The only missing tool I need for regular bike maintenance is a low-range tq wrench. I'll normally fake the tq settings for metal parts, but not carbon ones. Others, such as headset press and refacing tools are more one time deals and I'll just go to the LBS if needed.

My next objective is to build my own wheels, but this will take some time since I don't have a need for them.

I built my first wheelset on my latest bike, that was a challenge but fun at the same time. When I got ym roadie, it had free tune ups for the first yr. I have never took it in after the intial tune up I got when i got the bike. I ended up going through the whole bike on my own and found the fork was a lil loose and seat was too low. This is after my first took me out for a ride to break me in, 55 mile break in ride and I never road a roadie before, boy was I hurting back then.

To this day, that is my most reliable bike, I never have to worry about anything, just air up the tires and go.


Anyone else find turing wheels to be a art....seems like so with amount of time to get it close to perfect as possible.

I do pretty much everything except frame work. I don't have cutters or alignment tools and don't need them enough to justify the cost. I do have a headset press.

It takes more time to take the bike to a shop, tell them what I want, and pick it up than to do it myself. Plus shops around here tend to have a backlog so you can't get same day on anything.

Building/truing wheels is one of those things I do when I can't sleep or something.

Well, for now i still take my bike to the shop for adjustments, but when i finally get my hands on a second bicycle and some bicycle specific tools (and some time), i plan on doing almost everything myself. I've got plenty of experience working on my car and from everything i can see and have already done so far (i've installed afew things and wash/lube my bike regularly), bicycles are sooooo much easier to work on.

I do everything myself. From adjustments/tuneups to building wheels with my swap meet TS-2 with tilt and Tensionmeter. People will follow a good bike mechanic, Bentup Cycles in Van Nuys who was a one man show has a new mechanic, and now all these Tri people are showing up following the mechanic. If you find a good mechanic, stay with them, otherwise, learn how to do it yourself. Good shop mechanics are few and far between btw.

What kinda mechanic are you?
A good one :D

I don't have any frame tools, like BB thread chasers or dropout alignment tools, but these operations are becoming somewhat obsolete in this era of carbon frames.

I do everything else except for building wheels. I used to build wheels fairly well, but when rims got strong enough that you weren't rebuilding them once or twice a year I got out of practice. I have a friend who builds wheels only for friends (and beer). He does a great job for me.

Bought a Bianchi Milano (cruiser) this summer. Got it home and saw that while it was put together OK, there were a number of details that I didn't like, so I fixed them up.

Another time a popular, but unnamed LBS, installed my BB for me on a freshly painted frame because I didn't have the BB torque adapter. They chased the threads and ground the paint off of the BB faces. Problem was that the left side BB cup was secured by a particular torque setting -- not by a lockring. So I ended up with unpainted steel on that side of the BB. I wasn't happy. :mad:

IOW, I am very picky about how my bikes get built. Usually nothing falls off of my bikes after I work on them. ;)

Oh, I also just got back from Sears with a micro torque wrench. All of these parts these days have torque requirements. I have a big torque wrench for things like BBs and cassettes, but I didn't have a torque wrench that I could use on things like stems and seatpost clamps. This things does the trick and it was on sale. :)

Sorry to be so long-winded. :o

I need to get a micro torque wrench one of these days. I'm still using my Craftsman torque wrench I bought back in the mid 70's for torqueing head bolts on my Datsun. That wrench has given me good service all these years including using it on bicycle bottom brackets and crank bolts. I still use it on my bikes but the calibration is too large and broad for smaller torque settings...

If it's mechanical, I can screw it up.

If it's mechanical, I can screw it up.

Me too...wish I could do this stuff...I am trying to learn...

Everything, except I haven't try to build a wheel yet. I built my race bike and a friend's road bike few years ago. She told me she hasn't needed to do anything with the bike besides changing the tires since I built it ( I must be a good mechanic:D ).

She had a flat once and did not carry a repair kit so she rode on her rims for 7 miles:mad: . Thank god for those Open pros.... she is still riding on it without problems . She now carries a tube but no pump! Why doesn't she carry a pump? Somebody with a pump probably will bound to help her out, she says.:rolleyes: :(

I built my MTB and nothing has fallen off yet, the only problem was I had few extra nuts,bolts and oh yeah bearings :)

I should probably start messing with my other bike to get a feel. I've swapped cranks and installed new bars, stems, etc, but nothing involving cabling or derailleur adjustments.

I should probably start messing with my other bike to get a feel. I've swapped cranks and installed new bars, stems, etc, but nothing involving cabling or derailleur adjustments.


I was scared the first time. But once you remove the cables and stops, you see how easy it is.Looks so complicated when it's on the bike. Take it of and it's like,"oh, that's it?".:D

I can do everything except the wheels. I could figure those out, too, if I had a truing stand.

I do all my own stuff.

As for wheels, there's no mystery. Get Jobst Brandt's book, The Bicycle Wheel.
Your bike frame and fork are adequate truing stands if you don't have the real thing.

I do all my own stuff.

As for wheels, there's no mystery. Get Jobst Brandt's book, The Bicycle Wheel.
Your bike frame and fork are adequate truing stands if you don't have the real thing.


Zactly, I've always heard that wheel builidng is an art. I just think it's common sense. Just built a new front wheel for my Lemond this morn. Took me about 2 hours from scratch.

Maybe I'm an artist!:D

As for wheels, there's no mystery. Get Jobst Brandt's book, The Bicycle Wheel.

Great book! I still have that book and I still reference it from time to time. My very first wheel build was a 40 spoke tandem wheelset following the instructions from that book. Those wheels turned out great and they're still on the road.....to the local couple I eventually sold our tandem to...:)

My dad taught me everything I know (I'm proud to announce)

My people hire people to handle my bike maintenance.