davidad

Using a torque wrench is always a good idea.

RubeRad

OK, I'll represent the low-rent side of the house. OP, if you want to spend money on quality bike-specific (i.e. Park or comparable), go for it; the fact that you want to spend money on tools says you will not regret the purchase. BUT, if you are leery of spending big $$ on bike-specific tools, there are some cases where you can do as well (or sometimes better?) with quality all-purpose tools, or even lower-cost bike tools. My personal recommendation is the Nashbar "Essential" toolkit. Watch for when it's on sale. There is an equivalent SpinDoctor kit you can buy at a Performance storefront. Some of the tools you might use a few times or never, they will be sufficient for you. Some of the tools you might use a lot, and they will perform well. A few of the tools you might use a lot and find they are too-low quality. Those few you replace on an as-needed basis. (My experience; get a better pedal wrench).

Overall, YES you can do it, and YES this forum will be glad to help you (especially if you make a good effort yourself). Spend a few hours and read through the tips&tricks sticky thread; lots of clever ideas in there, will help you think about what you're doing and maybe get it done quicker, the first time.

Someone above recommended first job of repacking hub bearings -- I disagree, I think your plan to adjust derailleurs is a great place to start. Brakes too. Just let the cables out of all four and set them up again. If you have a 4th hand, brakes will be a snap. Rear derailleur is quite easy, just limit screws and a barrel that tunes centering by adjusting tension. Front derailleur can get tricky if you need to move it around (rotate, raise/lower), otherwise it is also just limit screws and cable tension.

Dave Cutter

wrk101 has the right idea. I started with a winter project bike. Here in the Midwest... the weather can make cycling more difficult during the winter. Having a project bike to tear apart, clean-up, and put back together kept me off the couch and bicycle involved. I learned A LOT about wrenching.... without risking my primary road bike. Now even if I did feel I needed to take my bike into the shop.... I have my project bike as back-up.

corwin1968

I probably have less mechanical aptitude than you do but I found the BBB to be next to worthless for a beginner. Way too much text and not enough illustrations for a newbie. I also have the Bicycling repair book and it's much better. FWIW, I still can't even adjust a V-brake. Every freakin video or book has a slightly different method and none seem to work the way they are presented. Like I said, I probably rate a .007 on your 1-10 scale.

Duane Behrens

Yes. I found the quickest way to learn was to watch someone else do it first, and there seem to be multiple videos out there for almost every bicycle repair project, from re-taping handlebars to cold setting the rear dropouts. Watching a video - even a poorly done video - will at least give you information on what tool to use (or not to use), proper sequence of steps (particularly important for derailleur adjustment) and so on. Typically after watching a few videos (some are good, many aren't), I would go purchase the specific tool(s) I needed for the job. I'd watch the best, clearest video one more time . . . and then just jump in.

It's been a great way to gain experience and an efficient selection of tools. The photo below shows where I'm at, tool wise, after a couple of years. Good light, good tools, good work bench, good bike stand (a MUST), room to work; all are important. Good luck.

ka0use

super book! i have a much older edition i got last year just for older bikes (was new, never opened, ebay!).
got it to work on a friend's 4 mtb's.
also got the park book when it first came out and the info is more suited for my bike which i
bought new close to the same time it came out.

kinda wish i was starting out again, mistakes and all. created a tool-of-the-month club for myself, not
having enough disposable income to buy a bunch at once. got the last, biggest, most expensive, useful tool in september- a repair stand. i really, really, realllllllllllllly want an o-fficial truing stand, but the accessory gadget that attaches to the stand works great on my mechanical level. i don't need to be 100% precise w/dial gauges, etc.

ka0use

i took a cable class at bike depot- denver, a co-op. $20/2 hours very well spent. i learned derailer adjusting is more art than science, i.e there are no specifics like '1/4 turn', more like 'turn until you get the desired result'. but keep a dime in the toolbox as a gauge when adjusting limits. that way you don't have to shove a greasy hand in your clean dr'ers trying to find one (experience, snort).

RubeRad

Check out sixty fiver's DIY stand. If that's good enough for him, I'm sure it would be good enough for me. Somewhere in the hints&tricks thread there's a discussion of how cheap dial gauges from harbor freight with magnetic flexi-arms are plenty accurate enough for wheelbuilding.

zvez

fyi I just got this torque wrench I mentioned in an earlier post today.

Looks very well made and I'm impressed by the quality for the price:

https://www.amazon.com/VENZO-Bicycle-...-2147483553-20

Bakerb24

Thanks RubeRad - I'm not necessarily scared to spend the $$ on good tools as I have been gathering Park Stuff for the better part of 3 months or so. My real concern is whether or not I can figure out how the heck to use them. I am going to check out the sticky thread as soon as I get done here. Repacking hub bearings? I'm not sure that I even know where those would be located. However I did manage to adjust my cables and make my shifting work much better and I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night. I'm on a roll.

Bakerb24

This is a great idea Dave and wrk. I may do that as soon as I get my work stand this week. Here's my question though, how old of a bike could I buy and legitimately work on and actually have the knowledge be relevant? I'm not planning on spending $100 or more for something to tear down. Could I get something for $20-$30 that I could actually work on?

20_700c

One thing at a time. Some repair skills build on others. Other repair skills are "stand alones". Repeatability and consistency are good things to shoot for.

Bakerb24

Thanks Duane- Your workspace looks a lot like my Grandfathers. He is a measure 4 times, cut once kind of guy. Once our house is finished being built I hope to have something just like what you have there.

GuNoKo

The Blue Book is great and is how I started out. I would also suggest checking out other manuals from your local library and looking in used book stores. Oftentimes it's helpful to look at the same task described by various sources . YouTube and online guides will add to your knowledge base. It's all about patience and diligence. Good luck!

RubeRad

Hub bearings would be in the hubs . For this actually you do want to spend for good tools, assuming you have the most common cup/cone bearings in your axles, you want high quality cone wrenches. Cone wrenches are thin, and low quality ones don't last very long at all.

Good job on the brakes and shifters though! That's a sign you have the general mechanical aptitude to handle probably anything a bike can throw at you. You're on the right track!

Niloc

+10 on the Leonard Zinn book. I have a copy of his road bike repair book and it's collecting grease stains from all the times I've used it! I think it's just the right amount of info, well written for the non-expert, and decent illustrations. He categorizes all repair tasks by difficultly level 1 to 3 so you can decide if it's something you want to get into or not. At the beginning he makes some tool kit suggestions from basic to pro level. He even injects a little humor into the proceedings.

He doesn't get too deep in the weeds; if I need more detail or information about the particular component I happen to have, I augment his book with info I can find on the interwebs. Park tool has some nice videos. Sheldon Brown is a god in heaven and his site in invaluable.

Get some help and friendly advice. If you're joining a bike collective that's a great move. I'm not in one, but I have a buddy who's a bike nerd and I bring him some beers now and then for a man-date and make use of his truing stand and other specialized tools I don't own. I've made friends at the LBS which happens to be a non-profit and for a few bucks they can say install a fork crown race or something I'm not equipped for and will only do very infrequently so worth me gearing up for.

Good luck and have fun! Everybody has to decide for themselves how much time / money they want to invest in learning and doing bike repair themselves vs going to the shop which after all is there for a reason. For sure here are some basic things you'll want to learn how to do yourself and will make your cycling more enjoyable because you'll know how things work and you'll be able to make adjustments yourself without having to find the time to take it to the shop and not have a ride while they're working on it as you said:

- changing a tube - duh.
- adjusting your derailleurs. Every semi-serious cyclist should know how to do this. Derailleurs do go out of adjustment as cables stretch etc.
- adjusting your brakes. Same reasons as above. This includes changing the pads.
- adjusting your saddle and handlebar height and position. You only need an allen wrench or two to do this.
- wrapping your handlebars. Not a complex task but it takes some practice. A basic maintenance task.
- cleaning and lubing your chain. A basic task that will prolong the life of your drivetrain.

You might include replacing cables and housing in the above list. You'll only need a quality cutter to do this.

rekmeyata

Buying a pos bike is the best way to learn, then if you screw up and damage something it wasn't done on your good bike. Once you get the hang it you'll be good to go. Co-op's are great IF there's one in your town.