I agree that you should give up. I don't think bikes are your thing. Maybe something less complicated.

"my bike is broken I can't get out of the big ring" is a kind of like a weird flex and a power play TBH, not a call to give up biking.

You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind.A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop...

anywhere but a bike mechanic.

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that kicking a bike and/or riding it around crass-chained will not do anything good to the drive train. That was the burning question, right?

The Park Tool DKB 1.1

If your shifter or derailleur does not work, you need the new Park Tools Derailleur Kicking Boot.

Torque calibrated.

You're the one who suggested you give up. I was just agreeing with you.

Here, in Vermont, my derailleurs, and everything else on the bikes, go into hibernation for several months every year.
They work fine when they wake up in the spring.

Is there a difference between a "science and engineering technician" and a science and engineering technician?

There is no present physics theory that includes parallel universes where kicking a front derailleur is normal.

I think putting it in quotes is like a "domestic engineer."

No its my real job title.. it was in quotes because I think it oversells my mechanical abilities. Then again the lab is in silicon valley and nobody who goes to trade school can afford to live by it anymore so there is a lack of young talent, but thats the story across America.

ya think ......

Yeah, if you cannot manage basic bike maintenance ......

Here is where I am with this "LarrySellerz" phenomenon: He is a really creative comic troll, playing a part for amusement and attention. I am not sure about my memory, but isn't he the shirtless single-speed rider with a broken neck who keeps up with fast pelotons and who dumpster-dives? He apparently lives with his dad and gets good deals at the bike shop because his dad buys big bikes there .... but he also cannot go to the bike shop? he is a mechanical engineer who designs and builds machinery who cannot repair or even maintain the simplest machinery?

Am I getting all this right? I am too lazy to go through all his posts to write his resume for him.

It just seems that al this is too good to be true .... so he must be having a bit of fun with us.

If so ... well played sir. Quite well played.

Otherwise ..... Everything you want to know is on the internet. Everything about cross-chaining, about bike maintenance, about troubleshooting specific systems. If you are really a scientist or an engineer, or even a high-school graduate, you know how to do basic research. You know how to watch YouTube videos, and if you watch enough and practice enough, you will know how to do bike maintenance and repair----it is only slightly more complex than closing velcro sneakers and less complicated than actually tying your shoes.

I have faith in you, Mr. LarrySellerz .....

Say ... why don't you do a couple more dumpster-dives and get a couple more beat bikes and swap a working derailleur from one of them.

I spent a couple years riding dumpster bikes before moving up to yard-sale bikes maintained with dumpster parts before being able to afford to buy new bikes. I know what I am talking about here. Grab up three or four trash bikes and you are certain to get at least one with a working front derailleur. You might need to do some fudging with the mounting clamp .... but you are an engineering technician. You can do it. I am just an idiot, and I have modified dozens of parts with hand tools and ingenuity (and luck and persistence.)

You Can Do It.

Ah, Mr. LarrySellerz .... you are an enigma. I am glad you post here.

I find Larry's posts quite entertaining. We have all done things on, and with bikes, that others do not understand, and quite likely, neither do the individuals doing it. I make so many mistakes, especially with mechanics, that I know better than to criticize others, but that does not always stop me from doing just that. It is kind of human nature to forget, or ignore, one's past errors, then ego build by knocking another person with the same type of struggles. I, often, need reminders of this.

I believe it was Beng1 who did the dumpster diving for vodka. And while Larry allegedly works in a lab, he is neither a scientist nor an engineer.

Thanks for this.

Yes, Mr. LarrySellerz, I do sometimes poke fun at you because sometimes you come in loudly and sometimes seem sort of lost ....

Even though I do use a semi-mocking tone, I am serious about this: You Can learn to do basic bike mechanics.

I am more thumb-fingered than anyone else I have ever met ... but I did what I recommend you do: I learned (by books, there were no videos back then) and Constant failure and reputations, I learned to be able to do almost every part of bike building and maintenance. You can do the same ... or as much as you want to.

And thanks to you, Maelochs. Your comment regarding mechanics are spot on for me. In 2017, I decided I needed to challenge myself, doing it with bicycles just made a whole lot of sense. I have, and still do, struggle with a good bit in that department. There is so much knowledge and help that is easily available, at little or no cost. Park Tool videos, youtube, the members of this forum, and The Paceline forum, my LBS, have all been a huge help in the process. Of course, not all videos are created equal. Six years after committing to learn this stuff, and acquiring the needed tools, I have totally stripped a few bikes down to bare metal, then totally rebuilt them. I still make a lot of mistakes, but I can now troubleshoot and correct those errors.

Keep plugging along Larry.

This is all just a joke, right? I mean, seriously ....
I do really like the boot idea though but the color is a bit off.

Yea I did not bring in the official Park Tool blue into my pallet when filling in, -1 for lack of effort, but I have a boot to pick my colors, it missed slightly.

I decided the cross chained bike is too broken for general use, will be retired. Maybe if I get fit it can be a climbing bike. This is my new set of wheels, just refurbished. Was gonna hold off until the spring to bring it out but hopefully the rain is over. Pretty stoked, gonna debut it on the 6:25 am group ride tomorrow

It could work for Unior maybe?

I prefer more precision tools when kicking my derailleurs so I go for the Abbey DAB (Derailleur Alignment Boot)
Though I was a bit too cheap to spring for the Team Issue titanium version.