Last night I stripped a Ragley TD-1 and transplanted everything on another bike in 90 minutes. I thought that was pretty good going.

How long does it normally take you to strip and rebuild a complete bike?

I find it’s very cable/hose routing dependant, done an externally routed bike with 1×9 gears, canti brakes and rigid forks in about 50 minutes, but my full suss has internally routed hoses/ cables so required a brake bleed pushing the total time up to about 2 hours

Well it depends entirely on whether everything matches up. If you have to cut steerer tube, gear cables, brake hoses + bleed then 90 mins is pretty impossible in my book – or at least I wouldn’t ride it afterwards.

I like to take my time, degreasing and regreasing everything, cleaning everything. Usually take a whole evening so maybe 3 hours.

Since I rarely pin a number on my jersey and sign on before I start a rebuild, I find that I do it leisurely taking care over the whole thing, making sure every detail is right. Ensuring my components are in the best condition, cleaning them, checking them, luring them.

I drink tea, coffee and beer…

I sit and ponder lots.

I enjoy the experience.

But if it’s a race, well the gloves are off and 90 minutes leaves you well down the road in the back of the bunch.

The first time I did it quite a while. I’d never done any work on a bike before and there wasn’t the internet to ask. I actually went in the local bike shop to go and look at the same bike when it was all together to see how it should look.

I like to strip clean and rebuild every now and then, but like MisterT, I don’t do it fast and treat it as a leisurely affair, few bottles of beer, sat in the garden (weather dependant) and just clean, check, lube, re-build. But yeah, if I wanted to do it fast, sub 1 hour I’d say.

I tend to fluctuate between ‘I want it built now! *stamps foot*’ and ‘I really enjoy the experience of building a bike up so let’s take some time and really enjoy it’.

Experience has taught me that using the latter approach tends to result in a better build and bikes that I keep for longer (although the latter maybe because I spend longer on bikes I feel an emotional connection to, who knows).

From sometime after tea till bedtime. No rush.

It can run into weeks. Beer is usually involved. As are hammers and copious swearing. Last weekends involved 2 trips to the LBS (hi Damion!) for replacement parts (as I’d ordered the wrong ones), and bits I’d broken with over-enthusiastic hammer use 😳

<tannoy> Hora to the forum please. Repeat: Hora to the forum please <tannoy>

Ensuring my components are in the best condition, cleaning them, checking them, luring them

Do you need to entice them onto thebike?

I find it takes me about 8 hrs to do a strip down/fettle on my bike. Luckily I’m doing it while my machines are running so getting paid for it. My boss even brings his lads bike in now and then for me to tweak the gears etc…

Got my post-winter strip and deep clean scheduled, will probably spend an afternoon on it.

Do you need to entice them onto thebike?

Have you never seen a skilled chain tickler at work?

There’s not many LBS’s that still employ them but it’s worth seeking one out as it’s a dying art.

We’re talking weeks here

Cables and hoses are my biggest problem I like them to be just so. Interrupted outers = OCD

so long as both frames have headsets & BB’s in 30 mins? It does help if you don’t GAS about cable lengths and have fill length outers too.

Thinking it through it’s only 8 or 9 bolts to undo and redo.

It does help if you don’t GAS about cable lengths

What happens if your cable is suddenly too short on the new frame ?
Sod it who needs gears and brakes anyhow!

This is quickly turning into a race to the bottom in terms of time so lets speed things up…

I can do it in 30 seconds

beat that!

What happens if your cable is suddenly too short on the new frame ?

Honestly? you up shift on tight corners….

It’s only been too short once, normally too long.

As others have said, its the pleasure of stripping, degreasing, cleaning, inspecting, regreasing and assembling the bike so I don’t usually time it. Don’t care if its being done right.
The peoples bikes I service are always mega happy with what I do and I’m always mega happy to service peoples bikes.

I consider the above one of lifes simple pleasures.

if i’m transferring to a new frame then i usually stick new cable outers on at the same time so i’ll take my time measuring them up correctly especially on a f/s frame.
if its just a simple strip down and rebuild on the same frame then it depends on how stuck certain parts are and how much cleaning and re-greasing is needed i.e. headsets and bottom brackets.
lining up brake callipers can also be time consuming.
other than than everything else is pretty straightforward.
usually a rebuild takes me anything from 90 minutes to 3 hours depending on how much work is needed and how often i get pestered by the wife and kids.

get pestered by the wife and kids

that always happens when I’m stripping and re-greasing cup and cone bearings…..

one day i’ll get one of those gimmicky magnetic trays.

I can do a frame swap savagely quickly as I run full outer and nowadays don’t need a front mech. Even when I had to use a new inner/outer last weekend to install for a new rear mech- I didn’t need any adjustments as I know now how to sit the cable v where the chain should sit on the lowest cog against the shifter position 😀

Eee all those frames- gives you practice 8)

If theres ever a frame swap comp. I’m in.

I can do a frame swap savagely quickly….

Weren’t you complaining yesterday that you kept on snapping rear mechs cos your chain was too short….

Schoolboy 🙂

Weren’t you not complaining yestersay that you kept on snapping rear mechs cos your chain was too short….

Schoolboy

*likes*

Weren’t you complaining yesterday that you kept on snapping rear mechs cos your chain was too short….

Schoolboy

Everyone makes an error- I was experimenting with a shorter shock and offset bush at the sametime…..considering the only other mech I’ve owned lasted for 12yrs on every bike…..

😀

Disclaimer- don’t let me near forks as I might open them up, mod them and kill them..