capnjonny 

I am constantly reading posts where the person wants to do something to his / her bike but is unwilling or feels unable to do it themselves.

A few years ago I was in somewhat the same position, having never done anything more than change a tire on my bike

( full disclosure here - I was a carpenter,cabinet maker for 40 years who restored cars and sailboats for a hobby so I have lots of mechanical experience.)

When I started volunteering at the Bike Exchange I quickly learned by doing and now 3 years later I can do most repairs.

One thing most neophytes don't realize is how easy it is to disassemble and re assemble a bike.

My point and advice is , if you don't get your hands dirty you will never really get to know your bike. If you have some $5000. piece of jewelry you should probably just have a display case made for it so you don't get it dirty and hang it in your living room. For the rest of you, take that sucker apart and put it back together a few times just for fun.

Alternatively go out and by a $50. Craigslist bike in decent condition and take it apart.
Buy a few tools, all of which you can by cheaply at Harbor Freight and Amazon.

At harbour freight
8" crescent wrench
Box end wrench set 7-16 mm
Metric Allan wrench set
4 in one screw driver
can of WD40
tube of lithium grease

At Amazon
set of cheap cone wrenches 13,14,15,16 mm park tool
cheap plastic tire levers

and just do it. If you have any questions look on you tube or ask here but JUST DO IT!!!

I can disassemble a bike in about 1/2 hour and clean and re assemble everything in about 4-8 hours and I am no pro.

You should be able to do the same. The first time will be slower as you find out which wrench fits what part and probably have difficulty with the seat post or the stem or the bottom bracket or some thing else but if it is a $50 craigslist bike so what. Just make sure to tag and bag everything as you go so you don't loose anything (taking pictures with your smart phone as you go is also a must. )

The second time you will do it in half the time and after the third time you will be a semi pro.

So, go ahead,

DO IT !

REDMASTA

Most jobs on a bike are fairly simple but they sometimes require purchasing specific tools which can be off putting. When I replaced my crank set and bottom bracket I had to purchase the Park CWP-7 crank puller and Park BBT-22 bottom bracket tool. Same for the simple job of changing the rear cog, had to purchase the Park chain whip and lock ring wrench. None of the tools I had from working on cars or motorcycles would properly do the job.

These tools weren't particularly expensive so it wasn't a big deal, but now I want to change my headset, which looks super simple but with all the tools required to pop out the old head set, remove and reinstall the crown race and press to push in the headset cups it gets quite pricey. I've seen people jerry-rig things to do the job but I hate not having the right tool.

I really prefer doing things myself as I know it will be done right but for the price of the tools for this job I may just let my LBS do it for $45.

johnnyace 

Hell yeah!

TimothyH

The problem is when people with little or no experience get in over their head.

It is one thing to follow a youtube video and another to realize when there is a larger problem which requires further work, like a crankset which won't go in because the bottom bracket shell needs to be faced.

There are video on youtube of guys hammering bearings and such things.


-Tim-

leob1

It's a bicycle, not rocket surgery.

BikeLite

The two hardest parts seem to be messing with bottom bracket and headset. And maybe building wheels.

Super_Sport

This is all great advice. Having recently started tinkering with bicycles, I've found the largest obstacle is the unknown. I did exactly as the OP suggested and bought a cheap bike, some proper tools and tore it all the way down and put it back together. Great way to get experience and get past the "daunting" bits. Mine was bottom brackets. For some reason they terrified me. Not anymore. I've since torn apart and rebuilt three bikes. Then again, I'm very mechanically inclined and tearing apart things and rebuilding them is something I've always done. Anyone with mechanical experience shouldn't be afraid to tear into a bike, just do some reading about torque specs and repair you're good. Anyone without mechanical experience/knowledge shouldn't be afraid either bikes are simple, wonderful creatures and with some reading, visits to co-ops and hands-on you'll gain the knowledge.

SquidPuppet

Home made headset tools provide the exact same results with no increased risk of damage. Do thy look fancy? No. Does it take a minute or two longer? Yes. Do they do what they need to do? Perfectly. Just my two cents.

Also, IMO, $45.00 seems outrageous to install two cups and a race. Combined it's under five minutes, even with home made tools.

REDMASTA

I agree $45 is outrageous, wish bike shops would let you loan out specialty tools for free with a deposit like they do for cars...

Spaghetti Legs 

Many years ago I was much more adventurous with life in general, including wrenching. I bought a used BMW when I graduated college, subsequently found that maintenance on the thing was a little above my pay scale. I bought a Chiltons manual (pre interwebs days) and did all kinds of stuff on that car, replaced the slave cyclinder, brake pads, belts. All from the granny black and white pics in the manual. No way I would attempt that kind of stuff now but after that wrenching on a bike was a piece of cake.

There is quite a bit of fear mongering (maybe too strong a term) in bike mechanics, do something wrong and you ruin the bike, but it is harder to trash a frame than people think.

italktocats

i hear google has great mechanics

thumpism 

It's been a few decades since I worked in shops, but those places had a lot invested in tools. If you had come in to borrow some of those specialty tools (that you might not have known how to use) for free so that you could then install parts you'd bought elsewhere (Nashbar or Performance catalogs at the time, but from anywhere in the whole wide world today), you would deservedly have been laughed out of the place. Businesses are in business to make money, and for bike shops that means selling their products and their services. Sorry.

Even with the deposit you mentioned, it would have been more trouble for the shop than your patronage was worth.

That is what co-ops are for. You get the use of their tools and some coaching, but I suspect even they charge you for "real work."

REDMASTA

I guess the idea is to get you in the shop and buy stuff there. Advanced Auto for example offers this program, but then again they get lot more weekend mechanics coming in for parts and such than a bike shop will so probably isn't a profitable business model for them.

capnjonny 

The whole point of my post was to encourage people to learn about bicycles. I am not suggesting someone without any experience should start wrenching on a new $5000 carbon fiber bike. Finding an old Schwinn rigid frame mountain bike and taking it apart is not taking much of a risk. There is really not much in the way of special tools needed.

A crank puller, a freewheel tool, a spoke wrench and a chain breaker can be had from Amazon for about $20. Add these and a large set of vice grips to the tools I mentioned previously and you can do almost anything.

These days few kids get any hands on experience with tools in school. They are so addicted to their smart phones the are likely to fall in a hole just walking down the street. Cars are so complicated and expensive almost no one does more than change their oil any more( the other day while subing at the trade school I watched a student spend at least an hour under a Saab Aero trying to remove the spark plugs) I have owned over 20 cars in my life , and restored a few of them. When I bought my first new truck , a 1977 Datsun, and realized I would need a couple hundred dollars in special tools to do a tune up I decided to have a mechanic do all the work on it. Compared to new cars that one was simple. Now days when you open the hood you can't even see the engine.

Working on bicycles is something anybody can do. It gives a person great satisfaction and saves them money.

At the Bike Exchange we encourage people to bring their kids. Seeing the smile on a moms face when she and junior or princess change their first tire or adjust a wheel bearing is just great.

So, no excuses. Go out and get dirty.

athrowawaynic

Agree completely.

Particularly these days, resources are so easy to access (Park Tools, RJ the Bike Guy, Sheldon Brown, GCN--and even forums like this one).

Specialized tools can make it easier, but no reason that homemade jigs can't work as well.

Main advice for first-timers is just to take it slow and don't force anything. Most stuff that's properly cleaned and lubed will fit right in until the last bit of tightening.

xiaoman1 

+1 on learning how to service your bike...it is not rocket science as stated above and easier than many imagine, I have the sense that a lot of people "over" think too many things. What did we do before we had torque wrenches and dial gauges? I am not arguing against the use of these tools but am saying sometimes developing a "feel" for what is correct is equally important. There is nothing wrong with homemade tools or improvising.
I throw my bike in the back of my car and go to the LBS and do the work in the parking lot....no big deal and if I need something else, I am there.
I also have made an effort to get to know the folks there and they know that I know my way around bikes etc.
Best, Ben

jorglueke

This is all great advice and a wonderful way to learn about basic mechanics until one day you come face to face with a 50 year old Raleigh cottered crank where the pin has melded into the crank

Like REDMASTA I am rapidly acquiring more tools, although this last go around I've had everything I needed on hand. On to the headset.

For whatever reason I still have more trouble with derailers than most anything else.

Abe_Froman

Agree with the OP.

It really isn't that hard...I have zero mechanical experience, and frankly not a whole lot of aptitude. But the internet is a wonderful thing. I bought some old tools my LBS had no use for when they consolidated from 2 stores to 1. I built a small workshop in my garage..now I've taken apart and put back together a handful of bikes I bought off craigslist as guinea pigs, rebuilt wheels, and can do any repair that I might have to do on my bikes.

xiaoman1 

We all started as neophytes and worked our way to "experts"....I am still on that journey and have made my share of mistakes (not just on bikes!), how else can we learn anything new if we do not make an effort.
I want to try and understand how some things work....and don't always like having someone else do it for me especially if I can do it myself, even if it takes more effort.
JM2C's, Ben

CliffordK

Aww, heck, I started working on my bike somewhere around age 10, or probably earlier.

I can't completely remember my first wheel build, but I think it must have been done somewhere between ages 12 and 16. I know one wheel died as a Freshman in college, followed by another wheel build, but I'm sure it wasn't the first.

So... yes... Just Do It. And there are very few things that can't be fixed if they go horribly wrong.

Kapusta

I'd add a few more neccesities to that list:

-cassette lock ring tool
-chain whip
-chain ring bolt tool
-cable/housing cutter
-Bottom bracket tool (for each kind of bb you need to work on)

And also budget for a work stand. Makes every task 10 times easier.

I went the DIY route with a headset press and cup remover.

Bike Gremlin

It depends on the person - situation, priorities, talent.

Some people are bad at mechanics. Clueless. For them, it is probably cheaper to pay a good mechanic. Knowing how to patch a tyre is as far as it's neccessary, some people ride for years even without that skill. The rest is more-less optional.

Having said that, those inclined towards DIY - by all means - do it. One can only get better and more confident with each task completed. But it's not for everyone IMO.

Same goes for cooking, programming etc - there's always a situation when it is best left to proffessionals, or more skillful friends. Especially for tasks that need investment in tools/equipment and are not needed often.

TimothyH

I like this attitude and was very lucky as a child to have a great mentor, my friend's older brother.

My friends would be upstairs playing some game while I hung out with the teenagers and older guys in the garage, cleaning spark plugs, asking questions, watching them do burnouts on their motorcycles, sliding under cars on the creeper to watch them set pinion depth, etc.

Spent endless hours rebuilding stuff with my friend's older brother. It helps to have a mentor.


-Tim-

wphamilton

That brings back memories - I was 6, my first 3-speed, and I remember my Dad saying kind of off-hand, "A guy who rides bikes should learn how to fix them, and keep them running." I didn't realize until years later that he didn't have much mechanical aptitude, but I took it as a green light to mess with it and my motto was "just do it." Pliers, crescent wrench and screwdrivers, and I taught myself vulcanized patches ... of course I didn't care about shifting back then and not a whole lot about the brakes

But even though no mechanic, he was right. At least take a shot at it, and even if you fail you've learned something and the next time, you can probably do it right.

Kapusta

I agree. Heck, I'd even just start on whatever bike you have.

In my experience, newer and/or nicer bikes are generally easier to work on than old really cheap ones (as in department store cheap).