Chone

And I'm going to adjust and service my bike completely myself, my bike is asking me to wait a week to get my bike back, no fair, so I'm going to parktool's website and doing the adjustments myself.

First up, the derailleur! I'll let you know how that little feat goes...

Flak

Wait, they are asking you to wait a week for them to adjust what is essentially regular cable stretch stuff you get with new bikes?

Find a new shop.

Chone

Yeah, this shop isn't the best but it was the only one that carries Specialized (and I really wanted a Rockhopper) and they gave me one year free of service and whatnot.

The adjustment (my adjustment) went fine but there are still somethings to be done, I think I'm just gonna take my bike to another shop, yeah I have to pay for the service but the mechanic there is pretty darn competent and really pays attention to detail, for 20-30$ or so (maybe be a lil more) I can get a full service of my bike, including all neccesary adjustments, cleaning and lubrication but the best part of it all, is the guy will have your bike ready in a few hours.

Flak

I think a full service on a new bike is pretty redundant. Nothing will need lubing yet i wouldnt think (bar chain and basic stuff you do after a wet ride). At most, brakes and gears will need some minor adjustment, and maybe a spoken tension.

But if you want a full service, i guess it wont do any harm.

leadbutt

It won't hurt to learn how to do basic maintenance. I just bought a new Stumpjumper. The LBS offered the first tune-up for free, but honestly I won't be going back for it. I've done everything myself so far.

I bought my first bike from these guys and it was after the first tune-up on it, that I decided to learn how to do it myself. After the tune-up, I went for a ride and found my front wheel was loose and my shifting wasn't great. I started tweaking the cable here and there and tightened the front wheel and I was off.

After a lot of studying on the Park Tool website, Sheldon Browns, here, etc., I've been able to rebuild that first bike twice, rebuild my first road bike three times, build two spare hardtails, purchase my second mtn bike off ebay and build it, and do maintenance on both the new Stumpjumper and the Trek 1000 roadie I got last year. I still have glitches here and there : a derailleur that's not quite right, brakes could be better...but when I see or feel these little things, I can fix them. I don't have to take time to load up my bikes and haul them across town.

noriel

Teach a man to fish....

You should learn to do all this stuff, because self-reliance is everything out on the trail. What if you have a cable snap out there and need to replace it? Or your shop is closed, but you really need to get riding? I just hope that you're at least slightly mechanically inclined. I've got a couple of buddies who's reason for working on bikes is to drink beers. They've manages to screw things up pretty nicely. They just always need to tinker...

willtsmith_nwi

If you can afford it, the best shop in any area is your garage. By affording it ... I mean do you have the time to read the books, learn the tools and fiddle with your equipment.

I too became impatient with my shop. Generally they did things well. Occasionally they would really screw things up.

Bike maintenance is not brain science. It takes a little attention and effort and patience. It also takes the tools. I suggest these cheapos ... https://www.pricepoint.com/detail/145...--21-Tools.htm



There are a few stinkers in there, but some of the tools are better than Park or Pedros. They are also nice because they are often socket bits and will interoperate with any wrenches you might already have. You can buy "fill-in" tools for the junkie bits in there (cone wrenches, spoke wrench).

Go to the bookstore and buy a couple of books:
a) A picture laden step by step book that will show you the basics.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076...Fencoding=UTF8
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/075...Fencoding=UTF8

b) A comprehensive written maintenance guide with nitty gritty details
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/188...Fencoding=UTF8

blue_neon

Honestly, getting your bike serviced by a bike shop is a joke. I am a part time mechanic every saturdays and i do the whole $60AUD General Service crap and it is making sure everythign is tight, everything is working, doing any adjustments, pumping up the tyres. Maybe putting some grease on / lubing sections but besides that its easy money for us.

Please, learn to do it yourself. That toolkit above looks amazing, thats something you will need. You will find if you have an Allen Key set, a screw driver set, lube and cable cutter/caps you can do a lot just with them that you probalby already own.

That said, i learn't off the Park Tool website how do to my cable brakes and gears. These are the most important things to know. Then in my own time i just experimented around with other parts and adjustments of the bike, used this forum as a knowlege base and i am able to do lots more stuff on my bike now. Its great to learn aswell, to understand how everything works. It will save you money and you will be a lot more experienced in the long run.

I stronly recommend you buy a kit like the one posted above, and the internet is your free source of information...use it . However, if you do feel uncertain about doing something, OR you dont have the right tools to do it (crank extracting tool for example), (truing your wheel for example) and your not confident, take it into a bike shop and get them to do it.

vw addict

Don't call the shop "lazy" because they have a full repair schedule. It way be "just an easy adjustment", but I've had easy adjustments take a hour or my time when you see something else wrong or the reason something isn't working correctly is because it's broken rather than out of adjustment. Do you think those mechanics have nothing better to do than work on your bike.

mcoine

Or they may just be incompetent, and can't get things done in a timely matter. Learning how to adjust your brakes or shifters is easy, but being able to diagnose and repair every bike that comes in the door takes years of practice. I've noticed in shops lately a lot of "kids" working in the shop, that probably know how to adjust a derailleur, but not much else.
When I worked in a student run, on-campus shop in college, all of the employees other than myself were exclusively mountain bikers. One day an early '80's Colnago road bike arrived, completely apart because it had been shipped to campus for the owner. That bike sat there for 3 days until I came back because no one would touch it. Fortunately for the owner (a spoiled freshman girl with no interest in bikes) I lovingly restored it.

Flak

Question -

Are parts from cheap x-mart bikes the same, or very similar to something you'd find on a good bike or do things work completely differently? Im seriously considering picking up a cheap $20 bike from craigslist, or maybe a huffy or something just to pull it apart and see if i can put it back together.

leonardotmnt

Other than the cone wrenches and spoke wrench are there any other tools that should be replaced in the kit? I was just curious because I was thinking about getting a pedal wrench but don't feel like paying 25 bucks for one and if that and most of the tools are worth having in that set it'd be hard to pass up.

fixie_rider_99

wow i know this one shop that carries specialized that gives 5 years free tune-ups and what not and it doesnt matter what bike you buy or price of bike.

Help Im A Noob

in the pic, whats that torx wrench thingy with the chain on it used for!?

fixie_rider_99

its a chian whip. You use it in conjunction with a freewheel or casette tool to remove casettes or freewheels