Bike Fettling - from moron level to building your own

letap73

I have had a road bike for a number of years and have been happy just to go out and ride on it. However, I have noticed a number of you have considerable bike fettling/mechanics skills and build some absolutely beautiful bikes. This has really got into my head, as DIY skills are not my strong point and it is a aspiration of mine to be a little more handy. I would ultimately love to build my own bike but do not have the confidence to go about it, nor do I have the first idea as to the skills/tools/parts required to undertake such a task. So the question is - How do you go from a very low level understanding of bike mechanics to someone who can dismantle/reconstuct their bike with confidence?

MattC59

Get yourself the basic tools, ie a decent set of Allen keys, pliers and a set of spanners. Don't worry about things like bottom bracket tooks for the time being.

Then it's easy. Take things apart note the order that they came appart in and put them back together in the reverse order. For instance, change the brake cables on your bike. You'll learn where they feed into the levers, and how to adjust them, it's an easy job, and you can't go far wrong.

There are certain things that aren't worth taking appart, and will just cause you heartache if you do, like shifters, but you don't need to go to that detail to build a bike.

Have a look at the Park Tools website : http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help there's instruction for most things on there.
You can also have a look at the Shimano Tech docs website (assuming that you use Shimano) for maintenance / installation info on all of their products : http://techdocs.shimano.com/techdocs/index.jsp

jameses

+1 for the park tools site - I've replaced everything on my bike apart from headset and bottom bracket/chainset with no real problems using their guides, with no previous experience besides the usual puncture repair and gear fettling. It's all pretty straightforward and surprisingly satisfying!

53twelve

There are quite a few bike mechanic courses available too - might be worth investigating, although I'm not sure of costs...

Most of it is confidence really - the first couple of things can be fiddly, but it gets better and easier! The only thing I haven't attempted yet is wheel buidling - headsets, BBs, mechs etc all ok after some practise.

rolf_f

Find a 1980s bike on Ebay that hasn't been used in years but is otherwise straight and tidy. Strip it, clean it, polish it, grease it, reassemble it, ride it.

Old bikes are little bit less intimidating than modern ones (though the stuff you need to do is almost the same) and you can do virtually everything with a Lidl £25 tool kit. The investment is minimal, the risk of causing expensive damage is minimal but the confidence it brings is massive.

p9uma

Rolf F wrote:

Find a 1980s bike on Ebay that hasn't been used in years but is otherwise straight and tidy. Strip it, clean it, polish it, grease it, reassemble it, ride it.

Old bikes are little bit less intimidating than modern ones (though the stuff you need to do is almost the same) and you can do virtually everything with a Lidl £25 tool kit. The investment is minimal, the risk of causing expensive damage is minimal but the confidence it brings is massive.

If there was a like button on here I would " like" this,' tis a damn fine idea. See you later I'm oft to Lidl, then to eBay.

centimani

Rolf F wrote:

Find a 1980s bike on Ebay that hasn't been used in years but is otherwise straight and tidy. Strip it, clean it, polish it, grease it, reassemble it, ride it.

Old bikes are little bit less intimidating than modern ones (though the stuff you need to do is almost the same) and you can do virtually everything with a Lidl £25 tool kit. The investment is minimal, the risk of causing expensive damage is minimal but the confidence it brings is massive.

Very good way of getting some basic skills.

Fettling / DIY is a funny thing. I could strip freewheels and overhaul them at 13, hubs, adjust cup n cone BBs from the earliest age. Its always come easy to me...half of successful mechanics is done in your head, not just with your hands. Think, use your head, work it out. Ive seen so many people blunder in without thought, then get stuck because they didnt look and remember the order things came apart, or even know what they were trying to achieve.

An old cheap bike is a perfect way of learning without too much danger.

ianbar

i was the same it got into my head, so thought about building a winter/commute bike.pretty much the next day saw a frame on ebay for £50 that was perfect so it started! i have pretty much no knowledge myself so watch videos on youtube and bought the park tools book. i still struggle and the bike is not completed but should in a week.its certainly not the best bike in the world but i am attached to it already since i have built it. my end aim was to in the future build a really nice main bike but obviously need to practice first.

CiB

I reckon a lot comes from your background. Growing up on a farm I got used to seeing my old boy with a tractor in bits, or the baler stripped down etc so fettling has never been a mystery, then later as a youth getting involved with building engines & rally cars (twin cams, BDAs, pushers for those who know) meant that fettling was just a means of getting to whatever was needed. First bike I built was as described above, an old frame with a collection of new & not so new bits, but that was on the back of having to fix my own bikes since I was about 8 or 9.

Bikes are probably the best thing to learn on and to gain some mechanical knowledge, they're so simple as long as you avoid trying to strip down the shifters or build your own wheels as an introduction to bike maintanence. Everything else is either a spanner job or an Allen key, with added attention to detail thrown in. Nothing there to be scared of.

southdownswolf

I bought my road bike off ebay - £20 for an old Raleigh bike with Reynolds 531 frame. I stripped it down, had it painted, cleaned the parts and replaced other parts that were no good. Over the course of the last year I have replaced a few other bits and pieces, as I have come to realise what I want out of the bike. I would now feel confidant about doing most things on my bike and routine maintenance is a no brainer. Prior to buying this bike, I had no experiance of even adjusting gears!

As I type this, I can see my current project - my daughters bike. This was my sons Trek mountain bike that was painted black and red - not good for my daughter. So I stripped it, re-sprayed it and will be putting it back together this weekend. Relieves the boredom on these cold, dark, summer nights ;-)
Sheldon Brown and the Park Tools websites have been an essential referance tool whilst doing both bikes.

dav3e

If you have any of those 'budget' book shops near you, I picked up a copy of the Haynes Bike Maintenance Book (5th edition) for £5. It helps if you need a reference guide.

nathancom

like others have said it is not hard - rebuilding a bike is the perfect way to learn. My top tip is:
Use clear plastic sandwich bags (the type that seal at the top with a plastic interlocking strip) to store any parts and screws that you are not going to reassemble immediately. This makes it easy not to get things mixed up if you come back to them a couple of days later.

Also get some GT85 - its great for bringing old bits of bike back to life. Your derailleurs will thank you.

Everything else is about being methodical, nothing is that complicated though you made need to pick up a couple of bike specific tools (lockring removal tool, chainwhip, cable cutters) or go to you lbs if you don't want to get the tools.

I would advise getting decent tools rather than cheap ones. The Icetoolz price bracket are good enough for home use from my experience, but below level of quality you can start to break tools.

It is really good fun

jonomc4

I went from zero to building my own bike in 18 months - are per this post viewtopic.php?f=40020&t=12855165

Well I took it for its first service yesterday - when I explained to the mechanic he said apart from a bent rear mech hanger (apparently common in the way De Rosa frames are shipped) and a slight miss feed on the front derailleur it was all perfect

My advice - get tools 2nd hand on eBay (forget the BB tool too expensive - same for the rear mech hanger adjuster(I think) as they are very expensive). Then watch a you tube video - read the instruction manual - fit - take off and refit.

If you take it nice and slow and do it over a few nights week - you will find it a really enjoyable exerciser and very therapeutic.

P_Tucker

letap73 wrote:

I have had a road bike for a number of years and have been happy just to go out and ride on it. However, I have noticed a number of you have considerable bike fettling/mechanics skills and build some absolutely beautiful bikes. This has really got into my head, as DIY skills are not my strong point and it is a aspiration of mine to be a little more handy. I would ultimately love to build my own bike but do not have the confidence to go about it, nor do I have the first idea as to the skills/tools/parts required to undertake such a task. So the question is - How do you go from a very low level understanding of bike mechanics to someone who can dismantle/reconstuct their bike with confidence?

"building" a bike - which is in reality assembling a bike - is no more complicated than Lego.

mediamazter

Have a go.!..

I was the same.. Lack DIY/Mech skills.. But just did lots of reading online and on here and ended up with this..
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12833591

Just need a few tools and a bit of common sense... If you need to cut anything check twice before you make the cut etc... Any great satisfaction doing it..

B

rolf_f

nathancom wrote:

I would advise getting decent tools rather than cheap ones. The Icetoolz price bracket are good enough for home use from my experience, but below level of quality you can start to break tools.

There seem to be loads of brands of similar looking toolkits out there and I have no idea if there is any real difference in quality - this one can also be had with Draper branding. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/38-pc-cycle-t ... 43b09732bf

The Lidl ones I think aren't in stock at the moment but there are loads on Ebay around the £30 mark. My set is branded 'Lifu' and cost £45 at Woodrups in Leeds. Since I got it I broke a cassette tool (due to me overtightening a cassette in the first place) and the chain tool which was probably user incompetence as well. If you don't force things, they usually don't break.

Anyway, that aside, I've restored 3 bikes (all self taught - advice from here and youtube vids) with my kit (below) and done several rebuilds and basically, maintained about 25000 miles of cycle riding with it. I've used every single tool in the kit and am now at the point where I would do almost much anything I haven't yet done rather than take a bike of mine to a shop! Note - the current kits are now dispensing with the headset spanners and replacing them with Shimano external BB tools.

letap73

Thanks folks,

Lots of excellent advice.

After posting - I got my old mountain bike and decided to start simple and detach the cables to the gears and brakes and then re-attach - 10 minute job. Sadly it took longer :oops: But then I learn't the function of the h and l screws at the back of the rear derraillier as well how to adjust for cable tension - re-attaching the cable back to the derraillier and re-tensioning and went to bed at 2.00 oclock. I don't think I am quite ready to build up that Cervelo R5 yet..............

smidsy

L73 - You do know I could help you with this don't you?

jordan_217

I bought myself a Zinn book to get me started:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1934 ... NH6QCND1MB

It's simple to follow, has some useful hints and tips and covers everything I've needed to know thus far. I bought this when I stripped and reassembled/overhauled my bike last year and it was a big help.

+1 the toolkit posted by Rolf F above. I got mine from Merlin Cycles in a toolkit and work stand bundle. Would also be worth getting some cable cutters too, £20 should get something good enough for occasional use. Check Merlin Cycles, I got all my stuff from there for less than £100.

mattshrops

Its very easy stuff if you're of a practical nature. If you cant put up a shelf may i suggest to walk away. We all have different things we're good at. Knowing your limitations is a skill worth having

TommyB61

If you fancy a trip to the lovely city of Canterbury I can recommend these courses:

http://www.downlandcycles.co.uk/2day.htm

Nice folks, & an excellent way to build your confidence in fettling. I did my course a couple of years ago, & haven't looked back since. As other have said, the Park Tools website & the Zinn book are your friends as well

godders1

Having maintained several bikes over the past few years and having built my own recently (agree that "assembled" is probably more accurate) I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would pay for a course.

Bikes are not complex machines (in fact I'd say their simplicity is part of what makes them so brilliant). Just do a bit of googling, make sure you're using compatible components etc. and get on with it!

TommyB61

I get that, Godders, but for the less technically minded (like me) a good course is all about developing confidence.

jameses

Another +1 for the toolkit mentioned earlier. It is worth spending a bit more on some items (decent cable cutters spring to mind), but the tools in that kit are good enough to get you going without too much expense.

Hoopdriver

Godders1 wrote:

Having maintained several bikes over the past few years and having built my own recently (agree that "assembled" is probably more accurate) I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would pay for a course.

Bikes are not complex machines (in fact I'd say their simplicity is part of what makes them so brilliant). Just do a bit of googling, make sure you're using compatible components etc. and get on with it!

If you want to start up your own bike repair business it is very useful for insurance and legal purposes to have some sort of recognized qualification - such as Cytech or City & Guilds etc.

rolf_f

TommyB61 wrote:

I get that, Godders, but for the less technically minded (like me) a good course is all about developing confidence.

Fair enough but it's an expensive way of crossing what ought to be a very small hurdle. Unlike car maintenance, bike maintenance can be done inside, with central heating (assuming you don't have white carpets!) and, if you do try it on an old bike, you don't need to be in a hurry to get it done.

For ages, the one thing I hadn't touched were bottom brackets. So I was slightly nervous about that task when I tried it. Then I discovered it really was just a case of unscrewing it - easier than changing a cassette.... Now it sounds silly to me to think there was anything difficult about the task but really, the only issue could have been if it was siezed on. I just can't see that the courses will tell you much that you can't learn online.

Incidentally, a previous poster mentioned Zinn which gets good reviews. When I got my MTB, I got a bike repair book - not Zinn but still decent; plenty of clear photos etc. No matter how well written it is, it is nowhere near as useful as the Youtube videos. I just don't use the book anymore.

godders1

TommyB61 wrote:

I get that, Godders, but for the less technically minded (like me) a good course is all about developing confidence.

Fair enough, it really isn't difficult though and I don't consider myself to be technically minded (I push bits of paper around a desk for a living!). Always worth pointing out things that might save people money!

Rolf F wrote:

I just don't use the book anymore.

Ditto. I own the Zinn road bike book and it is good but I find the Park website and youtube has covered every fettling eventuality.