Diablito

I do my own repairs except straightening out wheels. Great to walk into your local shop and have them ask where did you get the work done, I did it.

Mike F

I do most of mine. Spokes and truing are - for the time being above my level. Front derailleurs piss me on occasion and I dread replacing my BB86 pressfit's when I upgrade.

wphamilton

My main bike has never seen the inside of a bike shop. My backup bike was in once - one of the better service shops in the area - and they were unable to deal with the issue which I resolved later. Honestly I don't believe that the local mechanics can do as good a job on my bikes as I will. Fortunately it's not rocket science.

kevmk81 

I do all of mine except truing wheels

BoomerSooner

I enjoy being able to do almost all of my own work. I've built several frames up and stripped them down. I only go to the bike shop for tasks that require a specialized(and usually expensive) tool that I would otherwise never use. Like a crank spider lockring removal tool that Cannondale charges a crazy amount for. With the help of youtube I was even able to fabricate a "tool" to remove the Hollowgram cranks without the other crazy expensive tool that Cannondale sells. I can't recommend Lennard Zinn's book "Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance" highly enough. For anyone looking for a basic manual that covers all the bases, look no further.

Wanderer

I do all my own work, with very few exceptions. However, I am blessed that we do have a local bike shop with excellent mechanics (family business)..... I'd trust them to do anything on my bike. I don't do wheels, and prefer to buy from their chief mechanic (the boss' son.)

Recently, I was unable to remove a pedal on a recently purchased bike. Mike (the boss) told me to bring it in.

45 minutes later, with three mechanics working on it - they finally got it off without damage.

The cost - he thanked me for doing business with him!

MagicHour

I do everything myself except in cases where the tools are cost prohibitive vs frequency of use or take up a lot of space in my apt: like pressing in bearings, crown races, derailleur hanger alignment, and wheel bldng.

melloveloyellow

+1
Since I learned to build wheels, I feel immortal!

Homebrew01

I do all my own work. But not because I don't trust a shop. I save time & money doing it myself, and am mechanically inclined, so no big deal. By the time I put my bike in the car & drove to a shop, I could already have done what ever needed doing.

BTW, I hear good things about the shop near me, so nothing against them.

PS. Truing wheels is one of the simplest, quickest tasks in many cases.

MikeyBoyAz

+n

Every once in a while I need a very strange tool. I ask my LBS if I can borrow it, I've not been told no yet. Considering I purchased the bike from him, I guess he can justify not having to spend the time doing the "Comes with purchasing the bike" adjustments and just lending out a random tool for about an hour... That and free pizza.

Machka 

Rowan does all the work on our fleet of bicycles, including building wheels. I can do a few things, like change tires and make some adjustments, if necessary.

We lived several years in a place where the nearest bicycle shop was about 100 km away. You wouldn't want to be running to the shop for every little thing if you've got to travel that distance.

Alias530

Why does everyone stress so much about how long chains last? Who gives a ****... Ultegra 11spd chains can be had for $20 online and lower end or 9 or 10spd ones are even less. You could replace your chain every damn month at that price and it wouldn't affect your finances at all.

kraftwerk 

Only time I go into a bike shop is if I need a brake cable or tube and occasionally if I come across a 'weird' Phil Wood or Shimano b.b. or free wheel where I don't have the removal tool. Campy only since the 1980's.. but that is getting difficult since they also change their spec's more now. Used to be my tools were good for 20 years!

Sullalto

I knew a materials science guy who was involved with space shuttle maintenance. I wouldn't let him touch my bike.


Now that my free year of maintenance is expired, I've started to do my own wrenching. Not a big deal.

StanSeven

The problem doing it yourself is there's no one to blame

Drew Eckhardt 

I wondered about the Campagnolo specification (132.6mm between the rollers of six outer links).

The only logic I can come up with is shifting performance degrading with the increased side clearance that goes with plate wear which would take feeler gauges to measure. With rollers wearing proportionally, measuring by proxy would make sense because calipers are more common than feeler gauge sets.

I got to the Campagnolo limit on my first two C10 chains in about half the time it took to get to 1/32" of stretch.

RoadTire 

I do mine because I like to work on bikes, and have been supported in that endeavour by the mechs at a couple bike shops, particularly when I buy the parts from them. *ahem.* Or while we are discussing a problem the LBS is going to fix, I get advice on something I am going to fix. I learn as much from doing it wrong as doing it right the first time.

Bunyanderman

It would suck to those who had $90 KMC chains.

la rosa 

Except wheel truing i do all maintenance on my own

Jiggle

I'm so lazy, I bought an extra chain to hang from the ceiling to compare the chains I use to it.

Two chains for every bike. Every 200 miles or so I take the old chain off and toss it in the solvent cleaner. Snap the new chain on. Then over the course of a day or two I'll blow off the solvent, re-lube, and put it in a baggie. At 1500 miles my road bike chain shows 10% wear.

In the past two weeks I've built a set of sweet wheels, re-built a front wheel that shouldn't have had aluminum nipples, changed my PF30 bearings, installed missing links on my new chains, converted two wheelsets to cx tubeless, cut my road bike steerer (Hackzall ftw), made a custom mirror that doesn't give a bouncy picture, and re-packed my xtr hubs. I was going to grease my Dura Ace freewheel bearing, but I'm waiting on the correct size hex key.

RoadTire 

Have you read this?
https://pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-004/000.html

Stucky

I'm torn between: "Holy cow, this guy's even cheaper than I!" and "Hmmm, I think I'll start doing that!"

roccobike

I've found through experience there are a couple of shops that have one or two mechanics that are better than I am, but many are not. On more than one occasion I had to correct the "repair" implemented by a mechanic. In one instance I had to explain what to do to the "mechanic". That was the last straw and I started doing the work myself. I have found three mechanics locally that are better than I am, the rest are no better than I am. I don't do three jobs, I don't bleed hydraulic brakes because I don't have the equipment, I don't rebuild shocks and, when I have a problem truing a wheel I'll take it to the shop. Otherwise I do all my own work.
The funny thing is, the better a mechanic you are, the easier it is to recognize those that are good mechanics and those that should change jobs and work for Wally World.

igosolo

Another in the group where I do all my own work except wheel truing. Most of the tools are not that expensive and pay for themselves quickly. Proper torque wrenches are essential though, and they can be pricey.

basqueonacaad

No shop will ever touch my bike. Ever.