Maintenance

marchant

Just a quick question about maintenance; what does everyone think about the whole do-it-yourself versus bike shop debate for having work done on the bike? My attitude has always been "if it needs specialist tools I'll only need once (ie headset press), get the shop to do it", but was thinking about buyng the tools and components myself and getting my hands dirty. I've got an average level of skill, but my drivetrain needs replacing and the only option for having the work done is my local Halfords, which I was less than impressed with.

nicklouse

i am a doit myself person, and for others.

for an idea of what needs doing etc check out the parktools repair pages.

linky below. click on the part of the bike you want to find out about. shows how and what tools ...

Wynne G Oldman

I think you need to weigh the cost of having it done at a bike shop against the cost of the tools, and how often you are going to use them. I prefer to do things myself, as I'm mechanically minded, but some people just aren't. Though sometimes, for a few pounds more, it's just a lot less hassle to let the bike shop do it, if you don't have the time, inclination or skill to do the job yourself.

MarvintheAndroid

Agree. I also think it's worth having a sound working knowledge of your mechanicals for when things go wrong on the trail / roadside, and because you are more likely to spot faults as soon as they occur.

Marv

baudman

I do as much as I can myself, but leave the big things for the LBS.

I recently bought a (cheap) bike toolkit, so will be doing more myself.

marchant

Thanks for the response, the replies are mainly as I suspected they would be, with DIY recommended as the way to go. One of my big worries is buying the right tools for the job; there seems to be as many bottom bracket tools as there are bottom brackets. I reckon I'll be buying one to get the old BB out and another to install the new one, not to mention crank extractors and cassette tools.