Okay, so after a 4 plus year hiatus, I'm back to cycling and am really enjoying the crap out of it. I've been upgrading a few things and last week made the big leap. I'm upgrading my groupset to '09 SRAM Rival. When I ordered everything, it was my intention to do all the labor myself. Part of the logic being that long term, I'd rather be able to service the wife's and my bikes annually. As the anticipated arrival date of the new components draws nearer, I'm having second thoughts on doing my own wrenching.

I have good mechanical apptitude and think that I'm capable of doing the work but my concern is that it is more complicated than I'm anticipating and I inadvertently cause the ruin of the nice new parts. I realize to learn, everyone has to take a first step, but am I leading myself down a path to ultimate disappointment? I realize that there is a sizable upfront expense in getting the necessary tools, but if I can do most of the annual maintenace on the three bikes in the house, I figure I'm better off in the long term.

Are there any special considerations or tips anyone can offer to make the experience go smoother?

Your helpful input is greatly appreciated.

The only thing you might not have is the BB tool. Everything else can be installed with a few allen wrenches

I've been trying to think of parts that can be ruined by rank amateurs. I guess there's a few, but so long as you use the correct tools and follow instructions, you'll be okay. If there are disappointments, it is likely to be a frustration with getting the adjustments right on. So do like I did my first couple of builds - do your best and then tote the bike to your friendly neighborhood SpiderMechanic for a checkout. Chances are he'll do some minor tweaking then say you did okay. After which you'll ride a LOT easier knowing that a pro screwed up too. [Err.. maybe I should re-state that.]

OTOH, I hope you are aware that "upgrading" is a money-losing proposition regardless of the required investment in DIY. You'd be better off buying a whole bike for the cost of the "upgrade". Then you can do your wrenching without having to worry about getting your ride back on the road so you can .. uh.. ride.

Don't buy upgrades; ride up grades. - Eddy Merckx

buying gears so you can actually get up that grade is exempt

Go to the park Tool website for help. There instruction are easy to follow. Good luck.

If you are concerned, pick up a cheap thrift store/garage sale bike, tear it down and rebuild (then donate it back if you want). I doubt someone mechanically inclined could do much damage, unless you attempt to disassemble parts such as the derailleur itself, or some more complicated shifters. The park tool site is great by the way.


Enjoy!!

Youtube has a ton of bike maintenance videos too.

I just upgraded my Trek 1200 from tiagra/105/bontrager select components to nearly all ultegra 6600 pieces. Only needed to buy the Octalink 2 BB wrench and a crank remover. To get the old ISIS BB out I just paid a shop $5 for the 5 minutes it took them to remove it. Couldn't see the point in buying the ISIS tool when I only needed it once. I also paid another $5 to have the shop torque a few of the bolts and the BB for me.

I only have 1 bike so the BB swaps should be few and far between.