Do you really enjoy working on your bike?

Jamey

i was going to wait until Xmas but all this faff with my cranks this week (or whatever it turns out to be) made me justify treating myself

Underscore

biondino wrote:

A good workstand is something I might ask for for Xmas - Anything by Park is good, right, or is there a particular model I should go for?

I just got the X-Tools one from ChainReaction:


For £30 delivered, it was great for fettling my front mech after I fitted my new crankset. I'm sure that the more expensive ones are better, but this one does the job for me!

_

biondino

How come the bike doesn't make it topple towards you?

OldSkoolKona

Hmm, bike fettling......

I have to admit I enjoy working on bikes and easily spend hours going over my bikes in the garage. In fact, it was that, many years ago, that sent me off in the direction of me ending up as an engineer. I can understand though how it can be daunting, and fiddly brakes can really put you off. However, its worth having a go and building your confidence up with more and more complex tasks.

Just splashed out on a PCS10 stand from my LBS - actually was cheaper from them than mail order, plus without the delivery hassle when you're not in.

Agree with Lit though, wish though I had a back garden/shed to do the work in :roll:

always_tyred

lost_in_thought wrote:

I really enjoy fixing things on my bike, changing the chain, replacing brake pads, pedals, that type of thing, and am considering starting to dip my toes into deeper water and look at changing the gearing on my cr@ppy road bike.

I am very lucky in that both my residences (rah rah rah) have realtively large gardens and tolerant occupants who don't mind the bits of bike, although they do think I'm odd!

I also have people to ask if I duck it all up. You guys are included in that.

(a) why not simply change the crappy road bike on that gearing?

(b) you have TWO homes? Are you an MP?

lost_in_thought

Always Tyred wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

I really enjoy fixing things on my bike, changing the chain, replacing brake pads, pedals, that type of thing, and am considering starting to dip my toes into deeper water and look at changing the gearing on my cr@ppy road bike.

I am very lucky in that both my residences (rah rah rah) have realtively large gardens and tolerant occupants who don't mind the bits of bike, although they do think I'm odd!

I also have people to ask if I duck it all up. You guys are included in that.

(a) why not simply change the crappy road bike on that gearing?

(b) you have TWO homes? Are you an MP?

a) Because I think that it will be cheaper to do it this way....

b) No, I have owned a cottage on my mum's land since I was 18, but recently took a room in a house-share in west London.

Underscore

biondino wrote:

How come the bike doesn't make it topple towards you?

Coz the bike is fixed centrally on it. the bottom bracket sits on the plastic bit part way down and the hooky bit goes round the down tube. It's surprisingly solid and it didn't feel like the bike was going to fall off...

_

Gussio

I love working on my bikes, much to the missus' ire. A good, adjustable workstand makes almost all jobs easier. I got one of these and have been very happy with it...

always_tyred

lost_in_thought wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

I really enjoy fixing things on my bike, changing the chain, replacing brake pads, pedals, that type of thing, and am considering starting to dip my toes into deeper water and look at changing the gearing on my cr@ppy road bike.

I am very lucky in that both my residences (rah rah rah) have realtively large gardens and tolerant occupants who don't mind the bits of bike, although they do think I'm odd!

I also have people to ask if I duck it all up. You guys are included in that.

(a) why not simply change the crappy road bike on that gearing?

(b) you have TWO homes? Are you an MP?

a) Because I think that it will be cheaper to do it this way....

b) No, I have owned a cottage on my mum's land since I was 18, but recently took a room in a house-share in west London.

So you are, in fact, a yokel after all.

RayW

Jamey wrote:

The quick-release on the brakes is impossible to undo with correctly-set brakes as well. Apparently it's because you're not meant to have V-brakes with drop-bar brake levers but the reason they replaced the original cantis with Vs is because the cantis didn't have enough power.

If you mean the quick release on cantilever. Then, you first have to push the cable release button on the brake lever which will give you enough movement to release the noodle.

daniel_b

My gf bought me this for my anniversary present


Great value from Ribble, and steady as a rock, and makes maintenance on everything so much easier.

It truly is an item that you can't appreciate spending money on, until you have done so.

I do enjoy maintenance, but prefer doing the bigger jobs (freehub replacement, cassette replacement) with my gf, as it usually helps to have 2 pairs of eyes and 2 angles of attack for some of the trickier problems.

Dan

itboffin

Littigator wrote:

I love fiddling and fettling with my bike and giving it a bl**dy good buff (oo err), but as I live in a third floor flat the only place to do so is the narrow external balcony outside my front door.

Oh how I long for a garden with a nice comfy shed (sigh)

Or a garage

robbarker

I got one of these on Ebay:

http://www.parktool.com/products/detail ... %2D3+OSLB#

It's very solid but at about 100 Lbs all in is too heavy to carry outside to wash the bike in!

rubbercolin

if you happen to have a weights bench in your living room........... :oops:



for a quick tweak...

redvee

Had an 8'x12' shed when I lived at home to work on my bike(s) in complete with mains electricity for light and radio. Now in a rented place got a little space behind the sofa/in front of the cooker but now I've got a beer fridge, setee, PC and TV in the workshop

ictech

i love working on my bike, ive got a 6X4 shed for my tools and for one of my bikes. spend most weekends out there just fettling away on one of my bikes. i do have the advantage of working in a bike shop for a year so most jobs are undertaken, in fact i dont even know where my lbs is. if your looking for a workstand, decathalotn do a cracking one got myself one a little while back. adjustable but not easily stored. fits in the shed quite nicely though

Ian

unclemalc

robbarker wrote:

I enjoy maintaining bikes almost as much as I do riding them. In fact, on a rainy day I prefer maintaining them!

Check! If its that bad an I can't get out, I HAVE to do something to a bike, if its only clean the cassette or something...

vorsprung

I loathe all forms of bike repair and maintenance

Last night I had to fix the jammed pawls in my single speeds freehub. This took two hours. I'd rather have spent two hours riding in the cold, dark, windy night

Last month I had 3 spokes break on 2 different bikes that had to be fixed

Before that I disassembled the bottom bracket and various other bits on the good bike to try and make the squeaking go away (it did, mostly)

Oh yeah and the good bike currently has a tight link in the chain. I'll have to fix that at the weekend

Bikes seem to require a lot of maintenance.

dodgy

robbarker wrote:

I enjoy maintaining bikes almost as much as I do riding them. In fact, on a rainy day I prefer maintaining them!

Wow, you've just described me. I love bike fettling

Dave.

gtvlusso

I built all of my bikes (Well, the Boardman came in a box and I was buggered if I was gonna let Halfords screw it up - so I spannered it together). I have also re-welded my frames and installed a new bb shell. I highly recommend building your own bike and doing it yourself - takes no time to learn, just be confident and get some good tools - If you live in Brizzle, then I am happy to even let you come over and sort the problem for you!!!!

9 x 9 shed with hooks from the ceiling to hang bikes from and work on, I have power, lights and a radio. I have an awful lot of tools, but will have a go at fixing anything - I am pretty mechanically minded and don't mind screwing up occasionally. Just remember to coppaslip (copper grease - stops corrosion) everything when you put it back together! Everything can be solved with an angle grinder too....

An hours maint a month saves me any roadside fixes

See below links....

don_don

We moved recently to a bigger house with a garage, no, I mean a bike workshop

Bliss! Just need to get the spare sofa and a beer fridge in there and we're sorted 8)

2tired2ride

I work part time at a bike shop so when I've been fixing and building bikes all day I can't be bothered to fix my own, it took over two months for me to bother to put a new BB in one of my bikes!