I have always done my own bicycle work, including wheel builds and bearing overhauls. I visit a local bike shop only for parts or when I lack an expensive specialty tool, such as a bottom bracket thread chaser or a super-heavy-duty fixed cup remover. I also do my own home repair/improvement work, short of re-roofing, pouring a concrete slab, or framing a room addition, all of which I did contract out. I do my own maintenance and light repair work on the cars, deferring to the pros for operations which require a lift and/or specialty tools -- unfortunately, that now includes automatic transmission fluild changes because some genius at ZF decided to do away with dipsticks, while claiming that the fluid was "lifetime." (Whose lifetime?)
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069