Maintenace poll - DIY vs. LBS

I spent a fair amount of time wrenching in a bike shop while in college. Maybe things have changed in the intervening years, but back then, most anyone who owned a top of the line bike knew how to maintain it. For the most part, we got the neglected Huffys to work on.

My college roommate was a serious racer. Had this cool-as-he** flat black Colnago.

Our university was 140 miles from our hometown. Dan used to ride home on Saturday, stay with mom and dad, then ride back on Sunday -- virtually every week.

He'd get back around dinner time, knock back some chow, then take the whole bike apart piece by piece on our dorm room floor, cleaning, adjusting, and lubing. It was really inspirational to watch.

I feel like I would do everything if I had the tools, but the only out of the ordinary tool I have is a pedal wrench (I do swap my pedals out frequently since I use the same pair on both bikes). But I rated myself in the "basic maintenance" section because even if I had the tools today, I would not know what I was doing.

How easy is it to get, say, a part time job as a bike mechanic being inexperienced as I am? That would be cool, to learn on the job. And how good are the maintenance books? Can they teach a beginner how to do a thing correctly? It seems like there are a lot of nuances that can't be taught in a book. Maybe this should be in another thread...

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by brightgarden


How easy is it to get, say, a part time job as a bike mechanic being inexperienced as I am? That would be cool, to learn on the job. And how good are the maintenance books?

If you know nothing and pick your nose alot,you'd fit right in. Zinn writes a good maintenance book. www.parktool.com repair section is full of good stuff.

I know very little about bike maintenance exept what I've gleaned over the last few years by adjusting things I know nothing about. Most every major thing I do is through my LBS.

I would really like to get into it. I love to spend hours taking parts off my bike and cleaning/polishing them. I think I'll look into the Zinn book y'all mentioned.

I've been using a few different sources for info, including the Barnett's manual (online), then practicing on my MTB first.

These are all elegant, yet wonderfully simple machines. With the right tools, a bit of patience, and a reasoned, methodical approach, nothing seems to be too difficult so far.

I'm taking things apart to see what makes them tick. Doing it at home preventively ensures that I'll be better prepared if something breaks on a ride.

I've found a couple of phenomenal LBS's here in San Diego, but for most stuff, a) I'm likely to care at least as much, and probably a little more, about my bike than somebody else would, and b) I'm not in a hurry. As business people, LBS owners and wrenches have to pay a bit more attention to the clock than I do.

That said, I've also decided that, for now, things like tensioning and dishing my wheels aren't worth my doing myself, nor is any real frame work.

Back in the days before everything was sealed and integrated I could do most every maintenance item you could think of. But now my headset wrench is useless, my cone wrenches only work on my oldest set of wheels, my crank extractor has no function, and I've got a half dozen freewheel tools that I keep around just for conversation pieces.

I do wheel truing, derailleur adjusting, I can swap any parts, but it just doesn't seem as necessary as it used to be... even though the newer stuff is less user-serviceable it holds up much better to lack of maintenance.

I do all of my own maintence through the summer riding season, and during the winter months, I will do the overhauls such as repacking hubs/bottom brackets on those bike I own that require it.

I've just been giving my bike a fairly major service - stripped it right down to the bare frame, dismantled hubs, headset, shifters, brake calipers, cleaned and greased everything and put it all back together.

The only part I haven't serviced is the bottom bracket because I don't have a crank extractor - unfortunately, that's one part that really needs servicing so I'm going to have to take it into the LBS.

I'd happily undertake most maintenance jobs. I've got the Haynes Bike Book to guide me. It assumes a fairly basic level of knowledge and competence - tasks are rated for difficulty and most seem to be over-rated to me - but the book does cover almost everything, including replacing bottom brackets, and gives you the confidence to have a go at most jobs.

Ive had bad expieriences with the two bike shops with in 50 mi of me. My wheels come back more out of true than when I sent them in for example. So I do everything my self, And I enjoy it. It doesn't bother me to spend three hours trueing a wheelset just right or tearing the drive train apart to clean it up.

The last straw with LBS mechanics was when I took my road bike with DA parts in for a "major overhaul" ($150) during a time I would be out of town, I paid full price, and later found out that he never replaced the headset bearings ... because the mechanic couldn't get the upper housing nut off. I later replaced the forks, and had to use Vise Grips to get the nut off .. steerer threads rusted enough to jam the aluminum housing nut. That nut had not been off since the forks went on the bike ... and the previous owner forgot to put the O-ring between the housing nut and the lock nut.

My LBSs rarely, if ever, see Campy parts. Now, there's no way I would let an LBS mechanic touch my bikes. They stay plenty busy with BMX and DH stuff. I know there are some great LBS mechanics out there ... I wish there were some in Hawaii.

I have a few good LBS, and if I ever need an expert opinion I go right in, but as a rule I do everything myself. Whatever tools I need I buy, I mean its cheaper than the hourly rate at the shop, and when I work on my own bike, the owner isnt just a ticket number. Occasionally I used to find something I wasnt sure of, etc, and I would go in, though now I cant imagine anything that would take me to the LBS outside of convenience. I have one guy who knows Campy very well, but otherwise, I second the statement about most of them not knowing Campy.

Dave

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by angrydave
I have one guy who knows Campy very well, but otherwise, I second the statement about most of them not knowing Campy.

Dave

Very few shops in my area know much about or even stock Campy. The owners of the shop, I worked for recently, closed thier doors in pursuit of other adventures. I am now back to buying parts at another LBS (I'd rather support the LBS than support mail order). But they need to custom order minor Campy parts such as cables and brake pads. I was talking to the owner of this LBS, he was trying to stock more Campy, but it doesn't sell as good as the big S. I guess it comes down to the individuals knowledge and experience. I am glad I had the chance to work for and learn how to wrench on bikes, from a couple guys who had been in the business for 30 years.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by KGnagey
How many of you wrench on your own bike? Personally I do everything myself from airing up tires to building my own wheels. But I managed a Local Bike shop for a few years and having the right tools makes it easy. I know some people who just don't care how the bike works just as long as they can ride they are happy.
I just finished a ride and salt was covering my bike. I enjoy the time I spend cleaning my bike up after a ride, I find it relaxing. So just how many of you enjoy this time too? Take care of your bike and your bike will take care of you...

I don't give the bike schop knuckleheads a chance to drop a wrench on my top tube, or crimp a bottle boss, or install a headset too loosely, etc. etc.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Eidetic
The last straw with LBS mechanics was when I took my road bike with DA parts in for a "major overhaul" ($150) during a time I would be out of town, I paid full price, and later found out that he never replaced the headset bearings ... because the mechanic couldn't get the upper housing nut off. I later replaced the forks, and had to use Vise Grips to get the nut off .. steerer threads rusted enough to jam the aluminum housing nut. That nut had not been off since the forks went on the bike ... and the previous owner forgot to put the O-ring between the housing nut and the lock nut.

My LBSs rarely, if ever, see Campy parts. Now, there's no way I would let an LBS mechanic touch my bikes. They stay plenty busy with BMX and DH stuff. I know there are some great LBS mechanics out there ... I wish there were some in Hawaii.

I'm really confused. I carefully reread your post and I can't find where the LBS did anything wrong.

Apparently they told you they couldn't get the upper nut off or you would not have known they had not replaced the bearings. I'll bet that if they had used visegrips on your locknut you would have been angry about the damage.

From what you say this problem occurred because someone got water in the headset -- either you or previous owner. Also, the previous owner(?) forgot the O-ring.

Bottom line you bought a used bike with some problems due to poor maintenance/build. It's unfair to blame the bike shop. Yes, there ARE bad bike shops and bad mechanics AND unrealistic owners.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by cycleboy
I'm really confused. I carefully reread your post and I can't find where the LBS did anything wrong.

Apparently they told you they couldn't get the upper nut off or you would not have known they had not replaced the bearings. I'll bet that if they had used visegrips on your locknut you would have been angry about the damage.

From what you say this problem occurred because someone got water in the headset -- either you or previous owner. Also, the previous owner(?) forgot the O-ring.

Bottom line you bought a used bike with some problems due to poor maintenance/build. It's unfair to blame the bike shop. Yes, there ARE bad bike shops and bad mechanics AND unrealistic owners.

No. In that guy's case, it was obviously the bike shop that was at fault. He did say that he paid for a full overhaul, but didn't not get one. Only later, did he learn that they didn't service the headset adequately and I assume that since they still charged him full price, they didn't bother to tell him about it. Had they did what they were supposed to do, then maybe they (bike schop mechanics) would've seen what he learned later, which is an O-Ring that wasn't installed causing rust to seize the nut. Bad bike shop!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by BaCardi
No. In that guy's case, it was obviously the bike shop that was at fault. He did say that he paid for a full overhaul, but didn't not get one. Only later, did he learn that they didn't service the headset adequately and I assume that since they still charged him full price, they didn't bother to tell him about it. Had they did what they were supposed to do, then maybe they (bike schop mechanics) would've seen what he learned later, which is an O-Ring that wasn't installed causing rust to seize the nut. Bad bike shop!

I second your opinion BaCardi. The customer paid for a complete overhaul and should have received just that - no matter if the bike was bought used or new. Any respectfull shop would have notified the customer there was a problem with the headset. A GREAT shop would not have contacted the customer but fixed the problem, supplying minor parts as needed, and not have charged for them - especially when paying $150. This is just bad business, seek another shop.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by BaCardi
I don't give the bike schop knuckleheads a chance to drop a wrench on my top tube, or crimp a bottle boss, or install a headset too loosely, etc. etc.

I worked at a LBS for a year, and let me tell you if you knew what went on behind the wall that separates you from one of your most cherrished loves...YOUD NEVER GO BACK! At least not to the one I worked at. The guys I worked with were real jerks. A**holes extrodanaire. It used to literally make my stomach flip over when I would see one wrench (and I use the temr lightly) work on someones bike. I would just cringe. I tried to get most of the high dollar bikes that came in because I knew how their owners felt about them. The thing I hated the most was having to lie to the customer about why their bike was not right after they had just spent $150.00 on a complete tune up, and I hate having to redo someone elses work! I'm sure there are some good bike shops out there, but choose wisely my friends!

I really didn't want to start working on my own bike. As long as I could do the basic tune-up and fix flats I was satisfied. Unfortunately, I had bad experiences with a couple of LBS's. One store missed ruptured rim tape twice after I took a wheel in with a specific complaint about too many flats. Another shop treats me like a dumba** and always recommends an unnecessary upgrade to fix the problem.

Later, after I had taught myself to repack bearings, true wheels, replace cables, swap cassettes, etc., I found one bike shop in particular whose mechanic is superior. His shop was a little hole in the wall behind a bread shop. He had one employee and a workstand behind the counter in full view of all the customers. Both of the better mechanics in town have their workstand(s) sitting out where everyone can watch.

I still don't have a press for headset cups, anything to straighten derailleur hangers, or enough experience with disc brakes. I do almost everything else including a little wheelbuilding. It's a very therapeutic way to spend a Sunday afternoon on the porch. I've even been offered a couple of jobs as a bike mechanic, but engineering pays a lot better. 😉