[Closed] So which bike fettling jobs do you not do?

Building wheels is the only essential thing i need to learn how to do, dont count facing as i dont think its really needed.

wheelpro pdf book and you could tick one of those of.

I do everything except the specialist suspension jobs - gas canisters etc.

same here. Never fitted a head set either.

cleaning.

fitting headsets, wheel building (although I've been trying to learn) and anything bottom bracket unless its an EBB. Just never had the chance to learn BBs, cant wait until mine needs replacing and I can get to learn how to do it at last. Problem is, I use Shimano HTII , and they seem to last forever.

wheels - let James do them!

Headsets, wheelbuilding, forks / rear suspension units. Cannot for the life of me work out Pro II hubs - I know it's me though. Always end up at the shop with a bag load of bits! Determined to crack them one day, though.

Never got round to sorting the nitrogen charge in my float shock and wheel building.
Everything else, easy!

Anything that require a very expensive tool - one off use - everything else I'll attempt!

wheel building and facing.. same as above see no need for facing. Everything else I am happy to say I now do, but I do really want to learn to build wheels!!

Building wheels is hardly "fettling".

Not that I true mine up either. Or install headsets. Or bleed brakes.

That list was a lot longer a year ago though, am slowly picking up more mechanical skillz.

Erm, anything to do with Air canisters like on shocks and wheel building as I CBA.

Everything else is simples

Not built wheels.Everything else I have had a go at,including servicing forks,fittng bb,servicing hubs,etc.
A lot of it is down to having the confidence to try,and being able to follow instructions.

Re-indexing gears, just can't get my head around it.

Wheel building as well but that is a bit more than fettling.

By building wheels i mean trueing also, think they kind of go hand in hand with each other, and when i do eventually learn one, ill learn the other.

The only thing I haven't done is fork servicing but as my Revs need some love I reckon that might change very soon.

Most jobs on a bike are simple if you take your time and work methodically.

Headset fitting (I would only attempt if I had a press)
Brake hydraulics (nasty liquids and fiddly too)
Suspension sevicing (components too expensive to risk screwing up)

I've done 2 rear wheel builds with just a screwdriver and a spoke key: the first was just a playing with old components to learn the art; The second resurrected an old rim with a new hub and spokes and turned out quite decent, better than the cheap, shop-bought wheels I normally use.

If you cant work out hope hubs, i reccomend you dont ever touch anything on your bikes...

Depends what you mean by fettling, but I do basically everything* except fit headsets, service forks, and true wheels.

*Unless circumstances/lack of facilities are going to make it an annoying bodge or harder than it needs to be and a mistake could be expensive. For instance both times my Pro IIs have needed new bearings I've had it done in a shop 'cos I couldn't physically get the bits apart without a vice, not because I don't have the ability to do it.

Nothing

Those who don't see a need for facing I guess have never faced anything. If you saw the amount of material removed you might change your mind.

So which bike fettling jobs do you not do?

If you saw the amount of material removed you might change your mind.

Facing mounts and fitting headset cups because I don't have the tools, hydro brake bleeding 'cause I could do it but hate it, fixing/building wheels 'cause I wouldn't know where to start.

Facing no tools, wheel building, and susspension I do fit headsets though with a hammer and a block of wood!

Building wheels. I have built(bodged) wheels before and they were true and relatively round but for rubbish bikes so wasn't too bothered about how good they were but now I want some decent wheels I am going to make a jig to build them.

Doing a full shock service. I can strip and rebuild changing seals but I couldn't go the nitrogen charge thing for pretty obvious reasons.

I have done everything else and have mostly the correct tools for the jobs.

Nitrogen charging, brazing and welding (did several courses years ago but can only just mig nowadays)

Nothing, do it all myself.

anything to do with DOT fluid

Hubs, truing and shocks.

facing due to the tool.
ill have a bash at anything else.
the nice thing about having more than one bike is that if you cant get it back together again during a service, "the other one" can be canaballised for parts, or just ridden instead...

Servicing my XTR pedals.

For the life of me I cannet get inside grrrr.

Anyone know how?

would you consider using a bike tool co-op for those low use high cost tools?

XTR pedals are not too difficult to get into. You need to hold the axle then turn the plastic bolt (part number 2 on the [url= http://cycle.shimano-eu.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/EV/actionsports/PD/EV-PD-M970-2620_v1_m56577569830608620.pdf ]DIAGRAM[/url]

welding, or repairs to carbon frames

Everything. I have an aerospace tecnician to do it for me... 😉

No really. I'm not joking. [precious]I don't get my hands dirty unless I'm riding.[/precious]

Proper suspension servicing, BB facing and wheel building here.

What is the point in facing brake mounts when using post mount calipers? Surely it doesnt matter if the mount is slightly out as the caliper can be easily adjusted to suit?

Built my first wheel a couple of months ago using the sheldon brown website and it was perfect and dead easy. Although I have been truing for about 20 years.

Truing skills are dieing out as disc brakes come in though. I used to have to true my wheels every 5 rides or so to keep the braking surfaces millimetre perfect for finely adjusted cantilevers/V-brakes. Now I don't really give a toss about a couple of mm wobble here or there so it's very rare that the spoke key comes out.

I don't have the tools for fitting a new fork (unless I use a hope head doc).

But setting the crown race, star fangled nut is something I have done every 2 yrs so it's cheaper for me to have it done for a tenner at my LBS than paying for the proper tools.

Yeah you could make your own tools to do it.

I do everything else and but hate washing muddy bikes in winter or rainy days.

Something relaxing about hub servicing... 8)

Comes a time when you can't be bothered anymore like on cars-I've done big jobs but rather let someone else do it now.

would you consider using a bike tool co-op for those low use high cost tools?

In theory yes, but in practice probably not.

Everything apart from:

- Wheel building
- Headset fitting (though I might just buy a press and do these myself)
- Facing

I'm trying to learn how to service forks and shocks so that I can score that job off the list - first faltering steps seemed straightforward.

It's immensely satisfying to build up a repertoire of skills over the years which can be combined with some basic tools to save a lot of money.

(BTW - brake building/bleeding is very easy, despite being messy as ****)

Nothing and never bought a frame that needed facing.
Most stuff on bikes is easy as it is generally just a matter of bolting it on and aligning it correctly.

would you consider using a bike tool co-op for those low use high cost tools?

In theory yes, but in practice probably not.

Same here. It's a nice idea but these things need doing so rarely it'd probably be more convenient to just take it to a shop.

rear shocks
building wheels - although I have replaced some rims
full fork service (bushes etc)

MisterP Re. XTR pedals, you need to hold the pedal body still (not the axle as all that will happen is it will all just spin on the bearings!) and turn the part mentioned, which is ally not plastic and has an arrow on it to show thread direction.

Facing post-mounts helps to ensure the caliper and pads are true in all directions, the mounting slots will only allow adjustments in one plane to centralise it on the disc.