+ a million. I used to change my own oil, but I can go to the Penzoil place and get it done in 10 minutes for 17 bucks. Hell, it costs me 11 bucks to do it myself.

As far as fixing bike flats, yeah, my old man taught me how to do it when I was 6 or 7, my son (14) has been doing his own for years now.

"17 bucks" ???

How do you get that deal?

I don't understand all of the fuss over what other people do. Paying somebody to fix a flat tire is neither illegal nor immoral. While it's not something that I would ever do personally, it's a long way from kiddie porn.

Ahem...save your used plastic milk gallon containers, buy a $0.39 funnel at X-mart, use old newspaper and put it underneath the jug while transferring the old oil in, cap tightly and strap it to the rack on your bike and ride it to the nearest Jiffy Lube etc. Jiffy Lube or the equivalent will dispose of old oil for free.

We have 4 or 5 quickie oil change places within about 10 miles. They all charge about 17 bucks.

By law, any place that changes oil has to take your oil for free if you bring it in.

Rediculous Park Picture
 

I was skimming through the Park Tools "How to fix a flat" article linked above and found the following picture in the "how to inspect the tire" section:

http://www.parktool.com/images_inc/r.../tirenail1.jpg
"Inspect outside of tread for protruding nails, pieces of glass, thorns, or other objects. Squeeze any cut to look inside for objects such as slivers of glass."

:lol: :roflmao:

Those tiny slivers of metal - presumably radial car tire bits - are the ones that are actually hard to find. The six inch metal stakes are somewhat easier.

Why waste the time, just dump it into the storm drain. WTF.

Dump it? WHy? Use it for deep frying.

mmmmm...Taco Bell.......

Ahem.... Exactly my point. Sorry but this is far too much trouble not worth the $20 that I am going to save. Then to look like a cheap bastard at Jiffy Lube to boot.

Why would you be embarassed to say that? New people don't know how to fix flats, it's no big deal, it's not embarrasing at all...some bikers are snobs and they are the ones who should be embarrased.

In Mass, they only have to accept used oil if you have a receipt showing you bought it there.

For the people that do not know how to fix a flat. What did you do as a child? I had to learn to fix flats at a very early age. I could not afford to go running to an LBS (few if any existed anyway).

Maybe Jeeves, the butler, changed them?

Fixing a flat was one of the first things I learned how to do and IMO it is something all cyclists should learn how to do. The more self sufficient you are when it comes to repairs, the better. Sooner or later the cables need replacing, derailleurs and brakes need adjusting, etc. Over the long haul you'll save lots of money learning how to do things yourself. For example, I once had the shop replace a brake cable...it turned out to be $18 and they used a really crappy cable. I got myself a repair book, bought some quality cables and replaced all the cables myself. Since then I've overhauled the headset, learned how to take off/install a cassette and will be installing new brakes and a fork this week. I'm saving plenty of money doing all these things myself.

When I first switched from riding mountain bikes to riding a road bike, I couldn't seem to figure out how to mount a tire without pinching the tube. After 2 tubes and many patches, I took the wheel to the bike shop and paid them to mount the tire. I watched him do it, and now, its no problem.

p.s. i'm certainly not mechanically inept.

I agree. The place i take my car charges $15(i'm a former employee so i get $5 off). If i did it myself i'm looking at least $10 for the oil and another $5 or so for the filter. Then I have to get the car off the ground, get dirty lying under the car to scrape my knuckles and get oil in my eyes, then drive to the shop to dispose of the oil anyway. Why bother? I'll do my own brake jobs, but oil changes just aren't worth it.

You must have a raised truck. How else can you get under the car, give the oil time to drain, replace the filter, replace the plug, and refill the pan in 5 minutes. When I worked at a mechanic with a drive on ramp it took at least 7 minutes to do an oil change with the tools and filters hanging within arms reach and the oil in a hose that would pump out 4 quarts in just under a minute. I call B.S.

I've done my fair share of changing tires/tubes in the last 20 years or so....but I feel like I've just reached a completely new milestone:

I just got Continental GP4000's mounted on my Bontranger Race Lite wheels.

With the aid of my newly purchased $27 Park TL-10 monster tire lever, which I bought just for this, I managed to get the tires on. Now....granted....it was a "dry" run - no tube in the tire. My first goal was to stretch the bead out a bit, so in a few hours I'll go and attempt to take them off. I've never quite heard a tire "pop" onto the rim quite like I did once those Contis went fully on. I wonder how many of my plastic tire levers I'll break trying to get them off.

Ok....2 broken tire levers later, and the tire removal hasn't gone so well....

Some people lack mechanical aptitude, I suppose. My better half said today as I fixed a nastly flat (that involved booting the tire, no less) that I make it look so easy. It's like getting to Carnegie Hall... practice, practice, practice and some folks lack the time or inclination to get the practice!

It is not that difficult. You are using too much force.

For the bikes that didn't get stolen fast enough to get a flat, I just rode it home like that, wondering what the hell was wrong. I was the biggest failure at everything when I was a kid. I used to walk off of the outfield and to the car during teeball. I think cycling has changed my life. I've got bigger quads than my [perfect] firefighter brother who broke every state record in his firefighters tests.