Home bike repairs done badly
Some home mechanics are equipped to the hilt and know exactly what they`re doing. Some don`t have a clue. I really want to encourage anyone who wants to do their own work and has limited experience to buy a repair manual. Working in a few different shops, I consistantly trip accross some home repairs that produced less than ideal results. Ocassionally the results brought the bike in for recovery treatment. Here are a few examples of simple tasks that lack of experience can make complicated:
Changing brake pads. Should be straightforward but the most common error I see is brake pads installed backwards. Or with the cupped washers installed in the wrong order or direction.
Changing cables. Straightforward again right? But now the ferrules for brake housing are different from the ferrules for compressionless shifter housing and NO - you can`t use brake cable ferrules on compressionless cable. But apparently some people do anyway.
Keep that chain lubed! A great idea but when grease and oil and dirt and hair and grass start to block the jockey pullys and fill the gear cluster don`t you think it might be time to clean something?
Tire direction. I`ve seen some discussions that indicate its irrelivent regardless of that directional arrow on some tires. So how come if a bike shop put it on backwards it would be unprofessional but if you did it its irrelivent?
Look! The wheels come off so I can put it in the car! Of course you should reinstall those wheels properly afterwards. Installing a wheel crooked afects braking. So does hooking up the brake incorrectly. And pads can fall out of disk brakes. Braking directly on the piston because of a missing pad will guarantee a need for new pistons.
Yeah - I`m really trying to promote sales of Park Tool`s Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repairs - but only because I think a lot of bicycles would be a lot happier afterwards.