General Cycling Discussion - When do you stop tinkering with your bikes?

Both of my bikes are in good shape, recently tuned and everything is working smoothly. So of course now the urge comes to change out the wheelset on one of my bikes and switch to a single chainring on the other one.

There's nothing wrong with the current wheelset. According to Jamis they are 700c, 32 spoke, Alex ACE18 alloy double-wall eyeletted rims with Shimano Road 2200 hubs and 14g stainless steel spokes. I've been eyeing the Mavic/Open Pro rims at Performance Bike. Similarly the commuter bike doesn't really need fewer chainrings aside from the fact that I never use two of them. It's not like the weight savings will be significant on a Walmart frame (with entirely replaced components).

But I think I'm going to have to put a stop to this. Right now I need both bikes in good working order. Maybe once winter comes I'll start thinking about some type of winter beater I could trash.

So when do you stop tinkering with your bikes?

You don't. Seriously. If you do then you've completely lost it.

When you realize you can't afford to eat after all that tinkering.

When I die.

Maybe once winter comes I'll start thinking about some type of winter beater I could trash.

So you've reached the point where you're contemplating buying a beater bike just so you can trash it. You've obviously got the disease and there's no known cure.

We could start a 12 step group for obcessive compulsive bike tinkerers but I'm not ready to give it up quite yet.

When you realize you can't afford to eat after all that tinkering.

Balderdash! Part of the fun of messing with bikes is that it doesn't have to take a lot of money. I used to wander the subdivision early in the morning on trash day to salvage bike parts that folks had left for the trash man.

Tinkering is just part of it, just to make the bike (even if in your mind) a little bit better.

obcessive compulsive bike tinkerers anonymous (OSBTA) is for quitters!

Balderdash! Part of the fun of messing with bikes is that it doesn't have to take a lot of money. I used to wander the subdivision early in the morning on trash day to salvage bike parts that folks had left for the trash man.

Everytime I tinker my wallet cries.

I can't afford to tinker! Tinkering is expensive.

1) When I realized tinkering with the engine is almost free and gives measurable results.
2) When parents say, Yer Cut off!
3) When gf/wife threatened to leave.
4) Gf demands I pick her up in a Real Car.
5) When I realized I could had made a bundle putting the $ on google instead!
6) No matter what I do, the Joneses' kid always has the better stuff.

I keep offering to tune and fix my friends bikes for the fun of it. :o THAT'S how I get it out of my system...:thumb:

So when do you stop tinkering with your bikes?


I rather think I'll stop tinkering with my bicycles ... when I die. But who knows ... maybe I'll keep tinkering in heaven! :)

The day after I die? (I'm sure I will have tinkered with something on one of my bikes on the day I kick the bucket)

So you've reached the point where you're contemplating buying a beater bike just so you can trash it.Im no doctor but this may be wal-martitis.

I caught this disease after my trek started to fall apart.

I rather think I'll stop tinkering with my bicycles ... when I die. But who knows ... maybe I'll keep tinkering in heaven! :)

I think so too. I mean could it be heaven if there wasn't any bike tinkering? If, on the other hand, you've been bad through life you might not be allowed to tinker with your bike. Now that would be absolute h*ll.

Glad to see this is a common disease.

I haven't owned my bike much more than two full weeks, and I've already been tinkering (to the point where a simple FD adjustment turned into a multi-hour "refining" adventure). This is my first bicycle since I was probably 13 years old, and I had never even changed a tube before this week. Now I'm hooked on learning the intricacies of every component.

A beater might not be a bad idea.

Rule number 1...no bike is ever perfect...so you MUST tinker.
Rule number 2...the perfect number of bicycles is n+1 with n being the current number of bikes. (BTW my current "inventory" is around 20...I think:innocent:)
Rule number 3...if we don't have bicycles in heaven and aren't allowed to tinker I AIN'T GOING!!!


Aaron:)

That's why bikes have all those little bolts and screws and interchangeable parts, for adjusting and changing and such. Ever try to tinker with a Frisbee? Not much to do there.

I prefer to think of it as Improving my ride. With this outlook, you don't quit because you're never done. bk

When you pry them from my cold dead fingers.




Ugh. Did I just say that?

When the missus struts into the room stark naked and says "stop tinkering with your bike."

Glad to see this is a common disease.Its very common,just go to wal-mart,but the long term effects of uncured wal-martitis would be voting for a communist like obama.

Just scheduled my doctors appointment at the local communist free clinic.you see its effecting me already, going to the local free clinic because I have no insurance.

So when do you stop tinkering with your bikes?

Semi-seriosly: When you run out of money (or are digging yourself deeper into debt) or other important areas of your life are suffering/being neglected because of time spent tinkering.

Tinkerers usually accumulate a lot of spare parts over the years. I probably have more than enough parts to put together two complete bikes as I have two bare framesets and a few wheelsets hanging off my garage rafters. With what I have I can easily put together a tourer, commuter, or fixed/single speed.

Semi-seriosly: When you run out of money (or are digging yourself deeper into debt) or other important areas of your life are suffering/being neglected because of time spent tinkering.

There's something more important than cycling and doing cycling-related activities????

When you realize you can't afford the time to eat because of all that tinkering.

And...

If we are tinkering and riding, we already are in cycling heaven.

I get paid to tinker although I sometimes struggle to find the time to do the stuff that needs doing on my bikes... everyone else's bikes get my attention.

The 1940 CCM needs to have a new rear wheel built.

My SS frame just came back from the powder coaters.

My daughter's vintage Raleigh needs to be assembled as it too has been powder coated.

The Lenton needs it's bars re-wrapped with that leather tape I bought.

I need to build up 2 fixed wheelsets.

And then what will I do next week ?

:D

When I die. Unless there are bikes in heaven, in that case never.

Most of my modifications are fabricated from bare materials with a few cannibalized parts from bike-specific accessories. I think my kids summed it up pretty well in saying that I tinker on stuff until I break it; then have to tinker some more to fix what I broke.:o

I finally had to stop myself & start actually riding the bike. The handlebar tape isn't quite right and I need some kind of front light- better check the FD cuz the chain came off once last week..............