further reason to be able to fix sh*t yrself:
had to have dixon's [in bklyn] file down one of my dropouts b/c on the bike i had converted, there was an extra little 'lip' on the right side and we couldnt get the chain length right - it was either just short or a bit too long to get the right tension.
anyhow, it gets done, i get the bike last night, hop on the subway [way too much sh*t from work to carry with me], get home, put everything down: it's finally time to try the new gearing. it feels weird, but i'm thinking since ive just dropped from a 52x15 to a 40x15, it's going to take a bit of adjustment to get reacquainted.
wrong. very, very wrong.
not only is there now a significant amount of play in the crank, but i checked my rear wheel and one of my spokes is gone. not broken, gone!
very frustrating.
it's odd b/c ive never had problems with dixon's; in fact i like them b/c theyre always willing to help you out if you need a 2 minute adjustment or a bit of advice.
and right before a 4 day weekend.
had to drag it to work today to try and get this straightened out...
LAME.
last nail in the 'not doing it myself' coffin.

Wow, that is effed up. Does your bike have vertical dropouts, or just really short horizontal ones?

re: the dropouts. did you try a half link?

the dropouts arent shorter than average, just the frame construction had this weird extra bit of metal in one of the dropouts [but not the other] so the filing eventually did work out just fine. they are horizontal dropouts - it's an old nishiki 10 speed i had converted.
my big problem is now there's a lot of 'play' in the pedals - i cant exactly explain it, but it's like i can rock back & forth before the chain is engaged, and also when i got up to a higher rpm, there was a kind of forward 'slip' and then the pedal would re-engage with the chain, for lack of a better phrase. i'm thinking maybe the crank was somehow loosened? there was always a slight knocking at the higher gear, but now that ive gone lower there are a lot of problems. i think maybe it's a combination of that and the bearings needing an overhaul.
additionally, the fact that i dropped the bike off intact and got it back with a spoke missing is really not cool.
i really wish i had the tools and space to work on this myself. i know there's going to be a learning curve, but i hate having to drop my bike off, especially on the eve of a really nice long weekend...

Sounds like a loose chain, to me.

sounds like a loose lockring to me.

that's very strange about the spoke, i can't think of any reason, good or otherwise, that a mechanic would remove a spoke from a wheel, especially when they weren't even doing any work on the wheelset. i hate to be that guy, but are you sure it was there when you dropped it off?

you need to learn how to properly tension your chain first. From there you can tackle harder subjects.

edit: also, the missing spoke was most likely something that had been missing for some time and was overlooked by the mechanic. Is the wheel still true?

+1 on spoke not being there when you dropped it off.

believe me, i would much rather think the spoke wasnt there when i dropped it off. and of course i wont say 100% that it was there, b/c i have a very hard time believing the alternative, especially about that shop, which i happen to really like.
i guess i just have to chalk it up to experience and be more vigilant about giving things the once over both before and after. that's my fault, nobody else's.

either way, it sucks. sorry to hear it dude.

play in cranks is from loose tension.

replace the spoke.

end.