[Closed] the worst bike maintenance jobs

Don't mind most jobs especially if bike is in a workstand, don't like scrabbling around on the floor trying to fix something, although it is amazing that if you drop a vital nut/bolt/bearing on the floor how far they will roll away to find some inaccessible hiding place. Worst jobs now are the quick fixes before a ride, always seem to end up with either a frayed cable, leaking break, binding brake, crap indexing, badly seated tyre or similar.

As a kid I used to hate replacing cotter pins, what a PITA.

wheel dishing and truing, its horrible

doing up the singlespeed nuts??? really??

pull it into rough tension with the wheel slightly off centre, do up one side then slacken the other - push the rim away from the chainstay so it's level, then do up the other side

Surely its the wasted time looking for the tool you just put down next to you somewhere which then vanishes

Shimano torx bolts are #1 PITA, how do they make them so soft!

#2 is cassette lockrings, it's so easy to cross thread those.

Lovetubs - can you expand on your Formula bleeding method? It's a potentially easy job but I always need several attempts to get it right.

I'm not a fan of servicing forks for the reason mentioned before - to many opportunities for damage.
Changing pivot bearings is a PITA too.

enfht - Member

Surely its the wasted time looking for the tool you just put down next to you somewhere which then vanishes

I don't understand why people find bleeding avid/formula brakes a PITA.

I guess the manuals are a bit complicated, but if you think about what you're trying to do, it's not hard. There's no need to completely remove the brakes from the bike either.

[list][*]Take the wheel off and the pads out, and stick something in the calliper to stop the pistons moving.[/*]

[*]Put 10ml of fluid in one syringe, and 5ml in the other. Clamp them closed then pull on the plunger to remove some air from the solution.[/*]

[*]Take the lever off the bars, and attach the 10ml syringe to this end and the 5ml one to the caliper end.[/*]

[*]Open the clamp on the 10ml syringe, and hold the lever up so the bleed port is vertical, and pull the lever a few times, whilst gently pulling on the syringe plunger.[/*]

[*]Keeping the 10ml syringe vertical, open the clamp on the 5ml syringe. Push 5ml of fluid from the 10ml syringe, into the 5ml syringe.[/*]

[*]Close the clamp on the syringe now holding 5ml (At the lever end) [/*]

[*]Holding the calliper syringe vertically upwards, pull on the plunger a couple of times (I normally give the calliper a hard flick at this point). Wait till any large air bubbles are now at the top of the syringe, then push the plunger down until you meet resistance. Close the clamp, and remove this syringe, and put the screw back in.[/*]

[*]Take the lever and syringe and hold them vertically. Remove the syringe, and look into the bleed port to look for fluid. It should be pretty much up to the rim. Top it up with a drop or two from the syringe, then screw the cap back on.[/*]
[/list]
Job done

It took me 15 minutes to bleed front and back K24s this morning.

I am clueless when it comes to any type of maintenance at all and living in a flat without a garden/shed/garage has done nothing to help.

Any type of maintenance at all other than fixing a puncture leaves me on the verge of crying or violently trying to smash things into pieces like a petulant child. I just want to ride the ****ing thing.

When the day comes when they finally invent a self-cleaning and fixing bike my life will finally be complete.

Take the lever off the bars, and attach the 10ml syringe to this end and the 5ml one to the caliper end.

I always just rotate the lever on the bars so the lever is perpendicular to the floor

It always takes me a few bleeds to get my Juicy 5s feeling adequate again. I wonder whether I pull the syringes too hard and pull air through the seals, I'm often quite heavy handed with bike maintenance..

I use the term '****ling' for the jobs i hate or make a mess of.

Fitting full, traditional wrap around mudguards is the most hateful job in the world. That and child seats.
Oh, and brake pads on grimy commuter bikes. You know that the wheels will be buckled; you'll find a broken spoke and the cones will be loose. All the time you spend looking at the bike as you're fitting the pads, you'll find all sorts of shit wrong with it that the tight fisted ****er that bought it in wouldn't want to pay for, even if they could be made to understand why it's wrong.
I've been working in a shop in London all summer, and I now hate all other peoples bikes.
Glad I got that off my chest. Thanks STW!

Trying to get Juicy brakes to bleed properly and have both pistons work / retract....

Taking 9 year old pedals off my wife's bike. After much swearing and knuckle bashing I went to the LBS (Cooksons) armed with a packet of biscuits and the man with the big spanner had them off in seconds.

I love fixing my bike, there's nothing like disappearing into the garage, bit of music, cold beer or hot tea, and NO KIDS. Given these preconditions there's no such thing as a "worst bike maintenance job" 🙂

bleeding brakes.

Anything that just doesn't seem to progress.

(I've had a day taken up by the first two combined and given up)

anything cable related on the road bike that you don't anticipate will require bar tape removal, but that then does.

Or anything that requires more stripping down than originally thought.

Anything that involves an essential washer or other tiny part falling on the floor and thus lost, or an essential bolt's threads stripping, or an unreplaceable bolt rounding, that means the job then can't be completed.

Changing the chain. Only a two minute's job but always seems more fiddly than it should be.

That said as per the previous poster says disappearing into the garage with the radio and a drink to fettle is otherwise very enjoyable.

found the epitome today..Attaching SKG Chronoplastic mud guards to road bike... there is 5 dimensions to adjusting them..

+1 for removing old cleats

spent the whole of monday night doing it

it was our anniversary too!

Trying to get Juicy brakes to bleed properly and have both pistons work / retract.

Dog poo and front mechs, in that order.

I'm [i]terrible[/i] at front mechs. Not really anything else mechanical that I've ever come across that fazes me, but it just drives me up the wall.

I love working on my bike. Loads of night spent tinkering in the garage to make her perfect.

BUT...

Timing a Fox TALAS is a Major PITA.

Those of you that have tried will understand how intricate the process is.

Shimming hope brakes tis a real PITA

But the worst ever job has to be setting up the old pre aheadset headsets where you used 2 spanners to lock em together

people that complain of chain cleaning, the scottoiler is your friend.

wiping off dog poo is not maintenance in the absense of a hose are you not able to devise something that can spray water to remove the poo? c'mon.

cup and cone hub servicing is one of my favourite bike things to do, cheap as chips and as easy as tying shoelaces.

avid brakes are a needlessly over complicated pain in the hole to be honest though.

[i]Timing a Fox TALAS is a Major PITA.

Those of you that have tried will understand how intricate the process is. [/i]

if you follow the fox instruction it is, trial and error method is best. Put the talas rod in position (best guess) and rebuild the lever without the retaining ball bearing and test, adjust the rod until it works properly. Once it's working as designed re-install the lever with the retaining ball bearing.

Tip for cleats, just drill out the bolts and use the new plates that come with the cleats !!!

Fitting full, traditional wrap around mudguards is the most hateful job in the world.
Oh, and brake pads on grimy commuter bikes. You know that the wheels will be buckled; you'll find a broken spoke and the cones will be loose. All the time you spend looking at the bike as you're fitting the pads, you'll find all sorts of shit wrong with it that the tight fisted **** that bought it in wouldn't want to pay for, even if they could be made to understand why it's wrong.

+1 And setting up brakes with sticky pistons over half worn pads that the owner not going to spend money on for new calpier kit and new pads for.

Fitting proper mud guards.
Bleeding brakes is just a massive faff.
Wrapping bar tape.

1. Rebuilding forks.
2. Bleeding brakes
3. Adjusting said brakes not to rub on rotor.

1 and 2 are annoying because I have fat fingers and therefore tend to end up with everything covered in oil.

3 is annoying because you get it sorted, job done. Then next time you go out for a ride 'shing shing shing shing shing'

Adjusting cup and cone bearings used do my nut in,cleat bolts when rounded, don't know why they make em out of cheese!the first time i serviced my reba's i nearly took a sledge hammer to them to get the lowers off :evil:Hav'nt got to worry about that now though as some thieving **** as nicked the bike 🙄

[bitter experience] for any work around the crank (pedal removal, chain ring bolts) put the chain on the big ring, then when your tool slips and you punch the chain ring with all your force and body weight the teeth dont sink into your knuckles [/bitter experience].

I enjoy tinkering and fettling, but I'd vote for Cup and cone hubs. Always seem to need 3 hands, and re-fiddling as perfect becomes too tight once the wheels been clamped up.

There are some people on here that should just take their bike to the LBS. Half of the jobs on here should be straight forward and not a chore at all! 🙄

Cutting out seized in alu seatposts.

All that effort making the first cut with millimetre accuracy so you don't slice through your wafer-thin steel frame, all the time knowing that one cut won't do it and you'll be stabbing away for nights with your broken hacksaw blade.

Also removing rounded off HT2 chainset pinch bolts without causing damage to your chainset with a big FO drill every time you apply some pressure in *just* the srong direction and the cranks spin round.

Preventative maintenance is something I have never got the hang of.

Anything to do with chains on a commuter bike. Nasty black gunk that soaks into your skin and takes days to wear out, even with loads of scrubbing. I wear latex gloves for dealing with chains; costs a little bit now and then, but saves on having to scrub yer hands until they are raw.

Replacing the bearings on a bloody Titus Motolite!!!! 😈

Oh, and bleeding brakes. Brake fluid is nasty stuff, and it's a tricky operation for which more than two hands is almost essential. Right faff. And brake pads and brake fluid are the two least compatible compounds for efficiency...

Servicing forks. Oil everywhere, no matter how careful you are.

Adjusting cup and cone hubs. For this reason:

Always seem to need 3 hands, and re-fiddling as perfect becomes too tight once the wheels been clamped up.

PITA. Sealed Cartridge FTW.

Front mechs can be a right bugger, as can getting a stem absolutely straight.

Oh and trying to get a freewheel off an old wheel. Specially if it's bin on there for years, and out in all weathers...

Undoing pedals that some gorilla has overtightened. Overtightened bolts in general. And sorting out some other idiot's mistakes.

Anything that requires a one-off very expensive extremely difficult to actually get hold of tool you'll never use for anything else (Cannondale Forks come to mind...).

Actually, in general, bikes are ****s really.

Really, Bike companies really need to subscribe to this thread and engineer out the shite.

I've been working in a shop in London all summer, and I now hate all other peoples bikes.

If you work in a bike shop, you will [i]by definition[/i] hate the bikes that get brought in there - because the people who take pride in their bikes don't take it to the shop to get serviced. The people that take their bike to the shop to get serviced are the ones that want it to "just work".

I don't get how front mechs are that hard. There are two golden rules, (a) do it in order - 1st position, 2nd limit, 3rd tension - and (b) always use the orange spacer you get with it to put some quiescent tension in it, in order to avoid having to have about 10 turns on the head tube barrel adjuster to start off with.
If you follow those golden rules it's piss easy and it cannot fail to work perfectly.

Spent 3 evenings trying to get my fron mech fettled.
Stops set,cable reset,tension adjusted and still the bugger rubs when on the big ring.
More tension then its reluctant to drop down on to the middle ring.Grr!
Then there`s the annnoying ting,ting soundof a very slightly bent disc.
Tried gently truing it but,resigned myself to buying a new rotor.
And wheel truing,can get it laterally true then I get wheel hop......
But perversely rebuilding forks and servicing cup and cone hubs is strangely therapeutic!

Bonj,what is this *magic* orange spacer to which you refer?
Is it the answer to all my front mech fettling ills?

Bonj,what is this *magic* orange spacer to which you refer?
Is it the answer to all my front mech fettling ills?

+1, I've never had an orange spacer on mine and always have problems with shifting. Perhaps finally I have an excuse for my mechanical incompetence 🙂

On the contrary, I don't hate other people's bikes. They pay my wages. And it beats the hell out of working for a living. Been there, done that, 70 hour weeks managing bars and putting up with drunken assholes used to piss me off far more than playing around with bikes all day.
The only thing that does frustrate me a bit is when there are compatability issues with older bikes the customer would like to keep as true to original as possible. Ringing a customer to tell them they need to "upgrade" to a new version because the old one is discontinued, and then they need a whole load of new bits to make it work, kinda feels like killing off a classic bike.