Your least favorite bike chore.
 

I'm taking a break from wrapping my bars for the third time in 4 months, and this has to be it for me.

I'm pretty sure I'd rather fix a flat on a busy road than wrap bars.

Funny, I really like wrapping bars. I also taped ankles,wrists etc for 10 years so that might be part of it.

I don't like fixing flats on the road, especially if it's wet or cold.

I hate front derailler adjustments... i avoid it at all costs. once it is set i really really try not to mess it up

cleaning the cassette.

How many miles do you go between changing bar tape? My current tape has about 1300 miles on it and looks brand new still.

This

Third time in four months!? You got to relax and relieve that white knuckled death grip you must have on them.

Least favorite: Rebuilding shocks/forks, or bleeding/flushing disc brakes

Favorite: Wheel building

Tie between cassette cleaning and those dang nooks and crannies between the crankset and B.B.

Repacking loose-ball bottom brackets was never my favorite. Even when doing the best job I thought I could, repacking yearly or whenever I'd taken a long ride in the rain, I still got pitted spindles. So I gave up and installed cartridge-bearing bottom brackets on everything.

deciding when to replace a chain

The reason for three time in four months was...Old bars needed new tape, so I replaced it...Bought new bars a month later, needed tape...Wrapped new bars wrong on one side, and just wrapped new tape to fix that.

Everything is good now. This tape (Arundel Gecko) should last me around 3k miles, or at least until I don't remember how much I don't like wrapping bars.

Time to go ride in a bit.

Re-cabling & derailleur adjustments....

Fishing out broken/fraying RD shifter cable from my Ultegra 6700 rear shifter. Damn thing breaks roughly every 2500 miles. It's a royal pain.

Taking the bike to the LBS for service.

Anything other than riding it.

Repacking loose ball hubs.
I used to think I was ok with it, until I got some wheels with sealed bearings.

Maybe he crashes alot and scuffs them all up

In winter? Washing the bike. If the weather is decent I just want to ride. When the weather isn't good enough to ride, it's too cold and/or wet to wash the bike. So all my bikes are grungy right now.

I solve the freewheel/cassette cleanup chore by switching to waxing the chains. A dry brush cleans up any minor gunk. But I don't ride enough in wet conditions to worry about rust. The wax seems to handle the minor wet stuff.

Lots of unpleasant chores with the bikes, but the one that I dread most is cleaning and and relubing the chain only because during the winter months I have to do it so often.

What's the best chain lube to use?

I do it so often I don't think it matters. You could even use transmission oil, but mine is Finish Line Wet.

Cleaning anything.

But especially cassettes.




And the bottom bracket area behind the chainrings.

And rims/brake pads after they've started getting noisy.

And jockey wheels, especially the upper one.

And the teeth of the small chainring.

And...





Did I mention cleaning the bike is my least favorite chore?

Cabling many internally cabled frames. Some are rather effortless. However, the really tricky ones lead to the invention of new forms of profanity while I mimic a sideshow contortionist, peering into tiny frame openings, headlamp glaring as I desperately fish about inside the frame with every homemade wire-hook I can devise.

Colavita extra virgin chain lube. You can find it on your grocer's shelves and at high-end specialty shops.

Can I get it at DiBruno's??