Al1943

Out of necessity I started learning to work on my own bikes 55 years ago when I was 9. My parents couldn't afford to pay a mechanic to fix a bike. For the same reason I did most of my own automotive work from the time I was 14. I Quit doing automotive mechanicals on cars after computers took over. I have no formal mechanical training. Now I work on bikes, including building wheels, as a hobby, plus I'd rather not have anyone else messing with them.

Al

KevinF

While not a mechanic from an early age, I was a computer programmer from an early age. I figure if I can write and debug a couple thousand lines of code, I could figure out why it's not shifting / braking / whatever correctly as well. Bikes simply aren't that complicated!

I also don't like being without my bike for a couple days while waiting for the shop guy to get five minutes to fix it. Let's see. Drive there, drop it off, drive back, wait for phone call, drive back to shop, pick it up, drive home. Find out they did a half-assed job in fixing it anyway. Grrrrrr! I eventually discovered Sheldon Brown's site, decided this wasn't that hard, and that was that. I don't know diddly compared to many on this forum, but I know enough to keep my bikes running.

dbg

Truths I've learned from being a life long tinkerer: (1) If you want it done right you're often better off doing it yourself (real experts who care are very rare indeed). (2) After years and mucho $$ into a new hobby, it clearly was NOT cheaper to build it yourself, ...but you've got some cool tools, full junkboxes, and useless knowledge to bore people with (--which is nice).

Sheldon Brown

When I was a little kid, my favorite toys were cap pistols. I would spend hours daily clcking them off until I got blisters on my trigger finger.

At some point I discovered that if I undid the two screws that held the two halves together, I could get to the internal parts, and that a drop of oil on each of the moving parts would greatly reduce trigger effort. That was my start in mechanickng.

My father died when I was 9, so I was left without anybody to fix my bike for me. I started hanging out around Marblehead Cycle, in Marblehead, Mass. and the owner, Frank Loftus taught me a lot of the basics.

Growing up in Marblehead, one of my favorite places to hang out was the Town Dump. One day I found an almost complete J.C. Higgins 3-speed bike there, missing only the front wheel. On the other side of the dump was a wrecked bike with a good front wheel. Presto, I had my first multi-speed bike! When I was in junior high school, I made pocket money that way, building up bikes to sell from discarded parts.

I set up a mini-workshop area in the cellar, under my mother's antique shop, where I made all of the usual mistakes.

I was in high school when I learned of the existence of butted spokes. I thought that was so cool that I bought a set to rebuild the rear wheel of my Elswick Lincoln Imp. That was the first wheel I ever built, no books to read a that time, I just had to figure it out by looking at existing wheels.

Also, while I was in high school, I built my first homebuilt tandem out of two Raleigh three-speeds. I turned it into a 9-speed by adding a derailer and three sprockets on the Sturmey-Archer hub...

The rest is history...

Sheldon "Autodidact" Brown

bkaapcke

I'm mechanically adept and used to do lots of performance oriented auto work. It just made sense to start doing my own wrenching when I got into biking. It started out with routine maintenance, clean, lube and adjust. Then one day, I walked into the local Performance Shop and they were having a going out of business sale. I got a "Team" tool kit for $65.00 out the door. I've been wrenching ever since. Bought more tools too. You can never have too many tools.
As for learning, I bought Bicycling Magazines repair book. It has got me through everything I've done so far. If you are not afraid of tools and taking things apart, bike wrenching is a breeze. They are not that complicated.
Oh yeah, I have gotten a lot of good tips by reading this forum regularly. It's amazing how often stuff comes up that you can use. bk

AlucardZero

Bike first, problem second. I'll tell you something, get an Xmart bike, and you'll be an expert mechanic on bikes, so true Anyway, thats what I did. I learned new tool, and techniques and it's all pretty cool.

Also, to the post above, I tinker with everything as well, even if not broken. Electronics I mostly end up breaking because of tinkering, but I learn something in the process. learning is fun, except for the boring learning in school, UGH.

George

I remember my father brought home a brand new Shelby ( looked like a Schwinn) for me for Christmas. About a week later I had the whole thing apart. I was about 10 or 11. You wouldn't believe the tools we used, but we managed, and had fun.

wroomwroomoops

If you expect one of your children to be inept at something, he will end up being just that. This is called the Pygmallion effect, and if you're a good father, you won't subject your children to your prejudiced, skewed view of what they can and cannot do. Let them grow and develope their own talents, and support them in anything they want to do.

wroomwroomoops

Hell yea. That, and saying to chicks "I can fix up your bike - for free!"

Grand Bois

Well said!

cal_gundert05

Thanks for sharing your stories, everyone.

I have another, somewhat different question. When you buy a bike from an online store, do they ship it to you completely assembled? Is most of the bike assembled, and you just have to put the saddle, tires, handlebars, pedals on? Does anyone sell 'bike kits' (i.e. all the parts to a bike, but none of it put together, so you must do it--and therefore learn--yourself)?

Thanks

PhilThee

1. Learned how to fix BMX bikes way back in the late early 80's.You think my parents would spring for a mechanic

Still learning about road bikes as I just got back into it


2. I ordered a Cannondale R1000 from across the country and saved HUNDREDS (not kidding) of $$.
It came mostly assembled.The following is what I had to do.

A. I had to mount the front and rear wheel.Tires were already mounted.
B. Attach the handlebars.Stem already attached.
C. Attach my pedals.


From what I can remember, that's about it.My front wheel and read derailleur did sustain damage from UPS The dealer I purchased it from made it right
He told me they do not remove the rear wheel for shipped bikes as the derailleur can sustain damage that way.
It was a new guy who boxed it and he made a mistake.

wethepeople

Why? Because I'm a male, and I believe that I can make anything better then it is, even though it is seldom true. Plus with my style of riding I'm constantly fixing things.

How? Lots of swearing, cut knuckles, thrown tools.

Bentworker

Picked it up because it was fun.
Then went to U.B.I. as a kid, it was my version of summer camp.
Now I just tinker and try to turn out something nice every once in a while.
Peter

rmwun54

I learned how to work on my bike as a way to really be more in touch with my bike. I had purchased a Bianchi road bike that was easy to take a part and work on. Anything that I didn't know I made sure I found out how by asking those that knew; like a friend who once worked at a bike shop, a local LBS mechanic, from reading off the net and books. I basically tore down my bike from head to toe and even started working on building my own wheel. Now after assembling four bikes from scratch and building 11 wheels, I can say I am very confident at repairing any bike and rims for myself and others. My friends now refer to me as the Bike Dr.. And the best part is everyone of my bikes are always kept tuned. My two cents.

wroomwroomoops

You build rims? You have a rare skill.

Stacey

I think you'll find a lot of us here can build a wheel. It's not hard.

FWIW ~ I can cane a chair seat too.

wroomwroomoops

Wheels yes, that I can do (in fact, mine are quite good, actually), but rims?

Anyhow, thank you for killing my sarcasm, you insensitive clod.

rmfnla

He must be a man of extrusionary talents.

rmfnla

To answer the OP I just like to fix stuff.

As has been mentioned several times in this thread I also learned I can uaually do a better job myself than a paid "professional" but I think that has more to do with the fact that the bike/firearm/car/motorcycle/camera/toilet/(well, you get the idea) belongs to me and doesn't represent just one more item on a busy repair schedule.

I also like tools, but maybe this isn't the correct forum for that subject...

DMF 

Actually, it is.

Oh... wait ...

rmfnla

caloso

A couple of years ago, when DA went to 10 speed, the LBS was offering a screaming deal on the now "obsolete" 9 speed DA. So I had them upgrade the drivetrain on my "good bike" from Ultegra to DA. So, then I had a nice DA bike and a box full of very usable Ultegra parts. I decided I'd upgrade my commuter from RSX to Ultegra. I bought a basic toolkit and the Bicycling Magazine bike repair book, and printed out a bunch of pages from Sheldon's site and the Park Tool website. It was pretty simple to disassemble and then reassemble the bike.

Since then, I've built up 4 bikes from the frame. The next step is to build wheels. Then I'll feel complete.

aaoishi

When I was a kid, riding my bike was the only way for me to get around. I also took apart most things in hte house just to see how they worked, so when my bike got it's first flat tire, I decided to fix it myself. From then on, I just wanted to keep being able to make my own repairs.

dbg

I've been thru several deep dive hobbies (loudspeaker design, golf club building, bike building, ..are just a few) and another thing I like is the ability to loan out even my favorite toys and tell them if it breaks it would just be another cool puzzle trying to repair it. I had someone return a loaner set of golf clubs having exploded the head of a classic macgregor 3-wood. He was apologetic ...and I was just excited to hear the details and look at the "stump". He was pretty surprised that all I wanted to talk about was what it felt like, who was laughing the hardest, and how I was actually jealous it didn't happen to me.