-holiday76

I did a search, and I found a lot of threads/posts with results on this subject but I'm not sure all the posters knew it at the time.

Anyway, what's the dumbest thing you've ever done either with or on a vintage bicycle?

I'll start with a few scenarios as primer for this discussion:

- the time I used a pipe/monkey wrench to turn a freewheel remover to get more leverage and exploded the freewheel remover
- the time I was trying to remove a fixed BB cut with a park tool, it slipped and i punched myself in the face.
- the time I thought it'd be a good idea to take my Raleigh off of a jump and crashed into a bush (not the fun kind).

What have you got?

sloar

JaccoW

Snapping the head off a rack bolt resulting in a useless rack when my final resort was to cut and drill the bolt out.

Taking a C&V bike on a loaded bike tour without checking the wheels first, leading to a broken spoke head once I hit a pothole at speed.

Spending too much money on restoring a bike that wasn't even my size to the point that it became unsellable.

bnewberry

-holiday76

I just remembered that I rode the Sea Otter Gran Fondo on a bike i'd built up the day before. I neglected to realize before the ride there were no bearings in the bottom head set cup until after that ride. I did think that steering felt kinda weird...

Ex Pres 

I'll start with a common one, that yes, I've done too. Failing to put the chain on the big chainring before removing the DS pedal. When it cracks loose, you get tooth marks.

And speaking of freewheels, I've tried to remove a cog from one that I didn't know had reverse threading and blew apart a chain-whip.

And since I seem to be on chains, I forget exactly what I was doing, but it involved a fixed gear drivetrain, and resulted with a finger jammed between the chain and the chainring. No derailleur give. Ouch.

rocks in head 

Mine all revolve around vintage bike purchases. or parts purchases for those bikes that then never manifest as "complete" builds. It's as if I had a hole in the garage that I throw money into, but instead I'm turning cold hard cash into rusty junk that clogs up the storage space. It never stops, either, my eye's on a baloon bike and a Flamingo pink Team Fuji to add to the long list of projects with a great starting cost, but ultimately losers in the balance of time and additional parts required. About the only things I have that DON'T match my user-name are the recently departed Peugeot PGN-10 and my Alpine.

Bikerider007

Built up a bike and did not set rear derailleur before rushing out to test. Put the chain right off the top and into the spokes and broke a couple. Painful lesson.

Was riding alone, ran into an older friend and joined the Slow Spoke group he rides with. Figured it would let me catch up and be a change of pace. Guys up to 80 with some that swerved and struggled. Well, I was the one that was not paying attention and toppled at the light, they felt bad for me .

davester

Went on a fully loaded camping tour of England, France and Switzerland using my sewup racing wheels. I did improve my on-the-side-of-the-road sewup patching skills though.

USAZorro

I almost died anticipating a bus was going to be stopping, and attempting to pass it on the right side... as it approached a bridge. I was 20.

Wildwood

I never, ever do dumb things.

Chombi1 

Doing my first ever component polishing job some years ago, with too much pressure from a Dremel, I sanded the Shimano logo right off one of the levers of a first gen DA brakeset......
Every time I encounter those once nice old levers in my stash, with a polishing job half done on it, it breaks my heart.......
I would have just tried to find a buy another set of levers to replace them, but I can't seem to find any out there.....

seedsbelize 

When I first started using aero levers, I invariably connected them backward.

ryansu

I am just going to comment on bike related stuff, when angry with a stubborn cotter I went over the line with the hammer and punch deciding I was going to get it out even if I destroyed the crank...it didn't end well. That's the day I learned that when angry and reaching for a hammer just walk away

markk900

dedhed

Spending a good 2 hours trying to removal a pedal, then realizing I was turning the wrong way.

Popping a wheelie on my Gran Prix (wasn't yet vintage at the time) to impress someone on a camping trip and finding out the front QR came undone in transit. Face plant, concussion, broken glasses. Bike was fine

satbuilder 

I can't tell you how relieved I am you limited it to, with or on a vintage bike.

rustystrings61 

Riding my Puch Royal X, equipped with Lyotard Marcel Berthet 23 platform pedals and toeclips on a hot summer day outside Macon, Georgia, while wearing Adidas sneakers I had temporarily taped together with white cotton surgical tape. Connect the dots - hot, hot, HOT day, unnoticed adhesive ooze bonding shoes to pedals, rolling up to the intersection of Forsyth Road and discovering I couldn't free my foot. I felt just like Artie Johnson on Laugh In.

squirtdad

Removing a pedal, really stuck on a ofmega crank, off of the bike, added cheater bar, and then I notice the metal shavings I was creating.......got confused with crank of the bike and was turning the wrong way.......

Andy_K 

Are you saying that doesn't happen every time you try to remove a fixed cup? I thought it was a sign that I was doing it right. Fixed cup -- punch myself in the face (sometimes just the shoulder). Drive side pedal -- maim my hand on the big chainring when the pedal finally comes loose. Both seem pretty standard.

The dumbest thing I've done...this year at Eroica, the day before the ride I noticed that the tip of the valve stem on my rear tubular was bent over at a 90 degree angle. It was holding air and I was certain that the valve core wasn't replaceable so I wouldn't let anyone touch it, or even look at it closely. On the day of the ride, I was starting off with around 30 psi. By the last climb I was bottoming out on every bump and pebble on the road. At the top of the hill I was finally desperate enough to try to straighten the valve tip. Naturally it broke off and I had to take the SAG wagon back to the finish. About a month later I was messing around in the garage and discovered that the valve core was, in fact, replaceable.

abshipp 

I got a small stick caught between my front wheel and fender, down just below the fender stay attachment point. The stick was too small to pose any danger of locking up my front wheel, but it was making an awfully loud racket.

I tried to dislodge it with my foot and ended up dislodging myself from the bike, up and over the handlebars.

Slightspeed

Not vintage, but on my '07 Roubaix, when replacing the chain, I mis-routed it outside the little tab on the front of the cage. It only made noises in certain gears, depending on how far the cage rotated. After I did a 50 mile Solvang ride in the rain, later checking the bike over, I found out what the "intermittent" noise was. Blamed the "intermittent" mechanic, me. Second time I've done this, also on my old Allez. I guess I'm an "intermittant" learner too.

Giacomo 1 

I forgot to tighten the handlebar clamp bolt all the way on my Basso.

So I go out for a ride and all is well, until I'm going down the block and see the the traffic light is green for me, but I will have to sprint to make it. So I stand up on the pedals, lean forward and put a lot of down pressure on the hoods. Well, the bars roll down under the weight and I immediately fall forward with my chest laying on the bars with my head way out over the bars and I have no control and can't get to the brakes.

Luckily, thankfully, I rolled into the curb and rolled off the bike onto a patch of grass on the sidewalk, a rare find in NYC! Could have been ugly had the bike rolled into traffic or I miss that beautiful lonely patch of grass!

gomango

Heh, I've done that.

Luckily I can't wrench anymore. The RA stopped that in its tracks.

gomango

Biggest dumbo for me was selling a 1993 Bridgestone XO-1. Yep, pumpkin orange.