JustAName

Just curious as to how easy it is to maintain a bike yourself if you're not mechanically inclined? Wish I was, but them's the breaks.

Looking to get a bike with mechanical discs brakes and well, I'm just curious.

SnowCYYCling

Maintenance is easy until you get into bearings. I used to avoid getting my hands dirty, visited the co-op a couple times and have been hooked ever since. I now overhaul my parts often (3 different bikes from 3 different eras) and it's interesting to see how things work and how things have changed

rydabent

Bikes are very simple machines. With a good book and a few tools you can do most of your bike maintenance youself.

Doctor Morbius

There are also lots of good youtube videos on bike maintenance.

Senrab62 

Yeah, YouTube is great. I had limited knowledge from childhood, and can follow instructions, but between Sheldon Brown, park tools, and YouTube, my skill set has grown and flourished. I do everything for my bikes, except wheel truing. But my next project is to lace my own wheels!

Also, bike co-ops are great. Find one and use it. Don't let a bike overwhelm you.

Maelochs

I have been trying to fix myself for decades ... so have my girlfriends and now my wife ... so far, it has Not been easy or really much successful at all.

Maintaining myself has been a bit easier. If you, too, can survive on peanut butter sandwiches, the maintenance part of the question is not the hard at all.

caloso

It's not rocket science. It's literally 19th century technology for the most part, just with better materials and machining.

CliffordK

I've been doing all of my bike maintenance since about age 10.
Easy to learn. Just do a little at a time, and pay attention to what happens.

As others have mentioned, there is a lot information on the web. And one is never too old to learn new tricks.

chasm54

It's not difficult, I've made myself reasonably competetent so I can be self-sufficient on tour. If you don't enjoy it (I don't) it then becomes a choice between cost and irritability: I'll sometimes pay a LBS to do work I could have done myself. I never bothered to learn to build wheels - I can replace broken spokes and re-true the wheels, but get others to build or rebuild them.

So it isn't really about aptitude, but inclination. There's nothing difficult about it.

ironwood

In many places it is a lot easier to learn basic maintenence yourself than it is to find a good mechanic.

One way to start is with an old bike. In some towns you can find them in the dump or at a yard sale for 10 bucks or so. Then take it apart and put it together. You might screw it up but its better to mess up a dump bike than your nice new machine. And you might get a nice bike out of for little money.

Maybe it isn't that your'e not mechanically inclined, but that youv'e been directed away from practical or mechanical activities by our educational system which emphasizes filling in squares on standardized tests.

Looigi

That could be the problem. I'm quite mechanically inclined, but the standardized test I took required filling in ovals.

rekmeyata

Bikes are simple machines and most repairs can be done at home, but a lot repairs done on modern bikes need to be torqued properly so you need to mindful of that. I do all my own stuff but about once every 5 to 8 years I take my bikes in to have them professionally gone through to make sure I haven't missed something and for peace of mind.

I work on my own cars too except the ones i work on are my old classic cars I have for which I have tools for, but I take my modern computer controlled cars in because I'm not about to spend a small fortune on new tools, not to mention new tools specific to each car you buy, so it's cheaper just to run the cars into the shop. Some things I can fix on a newer car, I replaced a starter on my truck, and a water pump on my friends Lumina which was ridiculously simple to do while it took 2 hours to replace the battery in the same car...freaking weird.

In short, do what your comfortable with, if, like most of todays people who are more computer minded and don't have a mechanical brain at the very least learn how to fix a flat on the road, if you take your bike in once a year to your shop it's highly unlikely you'll have a mechanical failure on the road anyways. Also you can watch You Tube videos and learn how to do anything from fixing a flat to adjusting brakes and derailleurs, all the way up to the most complicated repairs, so make sure you watch that stuff when you're ready to tackle something. But start with the simplest stuff first and slowly work your way up.

Dave Cutter

I am not sure what "mechanically inclined" means. Mechanical things are all learned... don't expect a natural ability. Think of bicycle repairs as any hobby activity. Follow directions in repair manuals & Youtube videos. Use the correct tools! Never use pliers and a butter knife. Study your project/repair before you dive in.

Take your time and enjoy the repair process. It should be as relaxing as fishing or baking bread.

JustAName

Thank you for the replies, I appreciate them all.
YouTube is a definite set I've been looking at already.

Recommendations for a start tool kit?
I live in Canada so Canadian tire is golden when they have tool sales, because when they mark down their prices, they really mark down their prices.

As for whoever mentioned not being mechanically inclined, you're right, my old man never and I mean never let me work on things around the house.
He said just worry about school, which clearly did me no favors. I Really hated that.

Thanks for the replies, it gave me the extra push I needed in the direction I was about to take a step in.   

Maelochs

Okay. I am not “mechanically inclined.” I am clumsy, inept, I drop parts and tools, i sometimes overlook steps .... but none of that has stopped me from learning to do almost every bike maintenance job (it just takes me longer.)

I still have a hard time setting up a triple front derailleur, but that is a lack of patience more than anything else. otherwise, there is nothing on a bike more difficult than tying shoes—if you can tie your shoes you can fix a bike.

Most of maintenance is fine adjustment done with ordinary tools. Some jobs require specialty tools (cone wrenches, bottom bracket or cassette tools) but these are cheap and rarely needed anyway. Most tools can be bought online for not a lot of money (sorry, bike shops) but if you have a decent relationship with an LBS you might be able to borrow a tool for a half-hour or something. (I recommend Nashbar and Performance Bike for good tools at a low price.)

As others have said both YouTube and the Park Tools site have a wealth of information and instructional videos covering absolutely every aspect of bike mechanics starting from a handful of tubes and making a frame, to painting and polishing. I usually watch a few on a given subject before I start a job, in case each one mentions something the other didn’t. The, I go at it ... and if I get stuck I go back and re-watch to see what I missed.

You can do it. This is not some positive mantra affirmation BS (though those actually can work) but it is a simple statement of fact. If you have the mental and physical acumen needed to work a computer, you have what you need to keep a bicycle working.

It’s kind of fun and satisfying, too.

For starters I recommend a crescent wrench (a big one, one that opens at least an inch) and a full range of Allen wrenches from about two through eight millimeters, a pedal wrench (or a 15-mm open-ended wrench,) a couple different screwdrivers in flat and Phillips (some will be too fat or too long for some jobs, other times you will want that.) A pair of needle-nose pliers, and a good wire-cutter (you can cut cable and cable housing with it, but if it is not good, you can fray and ruin cable and cable housing with it.)

I got a small set of Craftsman open- and box-ended wrenches at their automotive department a long time ago ... but a lot of bikes nowadays are metric so you might need both.

You will need something pointy to round out cable housings after you cut them---one end of the needle-nose pliers usually works.

I suggest a mini chain-tool .... this is good to have at home and better to have with you on the road. I also recommend getting a small multi-tool---you can get one for under $10 or splurge and get one with 600 functions for about $25. Keep it in your seat bag always. I also splurged on a quick-link opener and closer wrenches ... about $40 but it makes changing stuck chains so much easier. Not needed, but I was on a shopping spree.

Get a patch kit for the scraper, but you can buy patches (either individual patches in batches of 50, or sheets of rubber) and rubber cement online for Much cheaper.

Bottom bracket tools are problematical these days, with so many different standards. I cannot advise here. Find out what your bike needs. Samwe with cone wrenches (for adjusting/rebuilding wheel hubs.) Find out what size you need. Cassette tools ... I think are universal nowadays (well for Shimano and Sram ... some high-dollar Italian gear might not play well with others, but I don't know.) A good cassette locking/ unlocking tool might cost you $10 but there really is no substitute ... but then, and with bottom brackets, most people won't need to do anything with them for many years of riding.

12strings

Nashbar.com has a pretty good basic set of bike tools for under $50 I think, but for a lot of things all you need are Allen wrenches.

Jim from Boston

How easy is it to maintain/fix yourself?

On the other hand, I have my reasons to limit my mechanical activities to fixing flats on the road. I posted to this Road Cycling thread ”Do You Work / Maintain Your Own Bikes?”

I always fretted about that since the instructions were to completely fill in the ovals, and not go outside them. My entire future depended on following those directions.

Long after I finished my post-graduate education, I took a standardized board-certification exam on a computer in the 1990's, to click and automatically fill the ovals. The exam instructions tried to be very reassuring to computer neophytes about taking the exam, and I found it to be so much less stressful because I didn't have to hassle about filling in those ovals correctly.

rydabent

That is about the age I started working on my bikes as a farm boy. I admit when I took the coaster brake apart, it took three tries to get it back together right, but I finally did before dad got home.

Maelochs

Dude! We are members of the same fraternity ... or were in the same 41-lb chain gang, depending on your view. The only bike heavier than a Schwinn Varsity .... outstanding. Good to know I was not the only person to survive the experience.

Yes, there are valid reasons to let the LBS do it ... in my case, my time is worth enough that tasking five times as long to get things close to right doesn't make sense, compared to what it would cost to get it done right right away at the LBS. But i was always making marks outside the ovals, too ..... #doomedfromyouth .

Hoonigan

I had a very limited knowledge starting out. YouTube was great to learn how to do things. I feel like I've saved myself quite a bit of money by doing the simple maintenance and fixes myself.

Retro Grouch 

A bicycle is a simple machine but the devil is in the details.

The truth is that, if you can handle your own flat tires, you are about 90% of the way there.

Beyond that, you seldom have to do everything at once. Just tackle each job as it presents itself. If you get stuck, post a specific question here. There are some very good bike mechanics on this message board who are happy to assist you. In the absolute worst case you can always take your bike to a shop for them to fix your screw up.

Jim from Boston

Hey @Maelochs, thanks for your jovial reply. Not only did I ride a Schwinn Suburban, but I used wire rear baskets for touring.

I rode that Schwinn Suburban back in the 1970’s and ‘80’s. Fortunately I was able to fulfill the American Dream by filling in enough ovals properly so that on our cross-country bike tour we had nice lightweight nylon panniers on French road bikes, and now I ride a sweet, high end Specialized carbon fiber bike.

ltxi

Late to the party, but.....not mechanically inclined has multiple depths. Range from wouldn't trust to put air in a car tire to never done it but think I can and wanna learn. Get one of Zinn's maintenance manuals, look through it, and decide what you might want to tackle. And I'd do that before I bought any bike specific tools.

I agree none of this is al all hard...for me. But ymmv.

rekmeyata

I would NOT buy a starter tool kit because a lot of tools in those kits you may already have like bladed and Philips screw drivers, Allen wrenches, some open box wrenches, adjustable wrench, etc. Instead I would start with a really good multi tool like Park MTB 3.2 which comes with 27 tools in a small enough package that it easily fits in seat bag. This tool will give you most of the basics, in fact I use this more then my shop tools! Why? Because it's in my seat bag and I don't have to run to the garage and to my tool box. So I would start with that, then as you progress into more and more mechanical repairs simply buy the tool as you need it this way you don't have a bunch of redundant tools you don't need nor have tools you may never use. All my tools, whether it be for home, cars, or bikes I purchased as I needed them so that I have what I need without paying for stuff I never use, or have 2 or 3 or more of the same type of tool that I can only use just 1.

Obviously this is just my opinion.

JustAName

Great suggestions, thanks. I'll hold back a bit and let the guys at the LBS do it for now since the bike comes with free tuning for a couple of years.
I'll definitely delve into reading and watching videos online.

Thanks everyone.

Vegas, thanks a ton, I tried to reply but until I have a 50 post count, I can't.