..turned into a right mess.

Background: Bent rear mech. Mechanic advised beyond repair, so I thought I’d replace it myself – how hard can it be?!

4 days later the new rear mech arrived and I successfully took the old one off and put the new one on in only about 15min.

But then I managed to slightly unwind the old cable and it fouled, so had to buy a new cable.. and some new end caps and some cable cutters. Waited another 4 days.

Fitting the new cable into the shifter pod the insides all came apart. Then I lost one bit (in the grass), but after an hour of frustration decided that some of the internals weren’t really necessary as they were just “gear indication”. Put it all back together after about another hour of experimentation only to discover that it now doesn’t “click” down properly.

Next step: New shifter.

In summary: Initially required one rear mech and 5min installation time.
By the time I’d had a go the shopping list was: Rear mech, cables, caps and cutters, a new shifter and 3.5 hours of wasted effort.

It would have been a lot quicker and cheaper to just take it to a shop!

Only now you have gained some experience, some tools, and hopefully some understanding of why people who can do things charge people who can’t do things to do it for them!

And that’s why you don’t attempt such jobs outside. Commandeer the kitchen from the Oh and a voilà your temp bike workshop is born! Drop anything then and you know it hasn’t gone far. 🙂

Edit: you’re in arms reach of a endless supply of spoons tyre levers and the beer fridge is close by too!

It would have been a lot quicker and cheaper to just take it to a shop!

In the short term, yes. But now you know loads more about how your bike works and how to fix it, the importance of a clean workshop space and you possess some cable cutters.
By the way this is a good guide to rebuilding an SRAM shifter, read the comments as well, though and leave the sound on.

What shifter was it did u not use the little screw hole to fit cable

Absolutely. Several positives really, including partially learning how to index gears which has been on my to-do list for some time.

SRAM X4 – uhh, you mean there was a simpler way?!

Never tried a x4 but most have a little plastic screw on side which allows u to remove cable and re fit without the need to open up

I’m amazed that folk actually seem reluctant to take stuff apart these days, just to see how things work.
Everything I’ve learnt has been from just tinkererering.

dibboid – Member

And that’s why you don’t attempt such jobs outside. Commandeer the kitchen from the Oh and a voilà your temp bike workshop is born! Drop anything then and you know it hasn’t gone far.

Whatever you drop will roll under the fridge.
It’s a tradition, or an old charter, or something.

This evening, I went out to sort the brakes on the 224, before a trip to fort william on saturday. Decided to do a quick lowers service on the forks- they’ve been feeling pretty sticky and choked so had a poke around while I was at it. Damper felt a bit wrong. Checked oil. Oil horrible. Removed dampers, cleaned, refitted… Low speed adjuster doesn’t move. Haven’t really touched it. Hmm. Inspect damper, figure out what does what. Remove piston/shim stack, have a look. Needle is stuck. Release it, Discover that the adjuster rod is a bit stripped, which is probably why it got stuck. Also realise that it possibly hasn’t worked at all for a while. Rebuild.

Oil everywhere, knowledge of forks increased, forks actually working very nicely but now I know they could probably do with a new compression damper, which is £180 🙁 Might have to revert to internal-only adjusting, at that price!

Might sort the brakes tomorrow 😳

Yesterday, after weeks of procrastination, I finally got round to fitting the new BB to my Boardman Mtb. I had the tools but was trepidacious – I’d only ever replaced bearings in older tapered BBs before. This one was external and scary.

Took me ten minutes! Needed a hammer though, to loosen the bolt on the non-drive side and had to Google to make sure I wasn’t trying to turn it the wrong way.

Literally decades ago, I fixed my mates’ bikes for free. Mostly because I wanted to learn how to fix my own bike. Better to practice on their bikes than mine…

On the whole though, I feel your pain, OP. Years of watching ball bearings rolling all over the floor and trying to understand gripshift cable routing.

Whatever you drop will roll under the fridge. It’s a tradition, or an old charter, or something.

*lightening reactions installed* 🙂

It’s a tradition, or an old charter, or something.

Jim Pooley is wise.

Buoyed by the positive comments in this thread, I went back to the workshop (now the kitchen, as helpfully suggested) and re-fitted the shifter this time with all the parts in it that I had taken out. However, it still doesn’t “click” down with the precise nature it used to, so I think I’ll source a new one anyway.

This time though, i’ll try not to let the whole thing fall apart in my hands!

It would have been a lot quicker and cheaper to just take it to a shop!

And you would have gained zero knowledge in doing so. Where’s the LBS when you’re 20 miles from home, and have a mechanical failure?

Rear shock servicing is the only thing I don’t do on the bikes…