Mine was a few years back when I had just finished building a Nicolai up. First ride went to my local spot drove into the car park went for the ride. Smiles all around, put the bike back onto the bike rack on the roof went to drive out of the car park and the council had decided to close the bar to stop trucks getting into the car park... Bike managed to stay on the rack but the bar dented the steerer and top tube where the bar came to rest.... it also damaged the stanchions of the forks.
Journey home was full of mutterings of "****ing idiot.
This is one of the reasons I will never have a rooftop bike rack.
I had a few week old Specialized Supercross a few years back (the white one, before the Enduros came out). Laid it flat in the back of the car, with another bike on top. Had sheets/towels etc in between to protect the frames. Or so I thought.
The other bike had a rather natty set of DMR V12s on it, which proceed to eat their way through the layers of towels and sheets, and into my downtube. To make matters worse, we had to drive over a couple of cattlegrids on the way to the trails - as the car bounced over them, the cranks moved, causing the pedals to eat various parts of my shiny SX frame!
Words could not express how annoyed I was, but I had nobody to blame but myself for being too damn lazy to take the pedals off and pack the bikes better! D'oh!
Threaded the crank a bit on my GF's bike but got the pedal on OK with some care, or so I thought. Half way around our next ride, the pedal fell off - tantrum ensued.
Damaged my reputation far worse than the damage to her bike.
Back in the late 90s I fitted a pair of Bullet Brothers ZZYZX downhill forks (huge burly 6" travel things) to an original Mount Vision frame (skinny 4" XC thing) and raced it downhill. The head tube didn't stay attached for long.
Rounding my talas axle with the wheel still in it.
Sounds like it wouldn't be a major problem, however it was the day before we had to return from morzine and no way would the bike would fit into the bike bag for the flight home.
A fraught half a day wandering round bike shops trying to find someone who could understand me (can't speak french other than to order food) and actually was able to drill it out.
I nearly put white bars on a bike once 😳
managed to cut an 1" steerer too short on a pair of white bros forks in a shop i used to work in. was chatting, marked the steerer but didnt put the stem on when i marked it. oooops 😯
Got angry with my sticking Juicy pistons so walloped them with a screwdriver and hammer - piston crumbled, DOT 5.1 sprayed out. Not ideal.
Slipped taking off a pedal - hand + crank + high speed impact = much blood and messy cuts
Attempted to clean out a hub for the first time - I think the bearings covered most of Bristol after flying all over the place.
I also have a habit of fitting tyres the wrong way round but not realising until they are fitted and inflated...
managed to get a bearing wedged in my pro2 freehub body and proper ****ed the body getting the bearing out. nightmare.....
I believed an online tip on a bike maintainance website that muc-off was just watered down white spirit (I think they missunderstood the concept of de-greaser). So I made one parts white spirit to twenty parts water and sprayed it all over my muddy bike.
Three years on I am still paying the price slowly replacing the parts, bearings, stickers....sob
😳
I bought a Cannondale.
I also have a habit of fitting tyres the wrong way round but not realising until they are fitted and inflated...
Surely one of THE most infuriating things that could ever happen! Especially when you're in a bit of a rush (and let's face it, if you don't check that they're on the right way before fitting/inflating them, then you usually are!)...
I bought a Cannondale.
I almost did... Until I took one for a test ride at Mountain Mayhem and busted the rear seatstay. So I guess that's the biggest **** up I've done to [i]someone else's[/i] bike..!
Not done anything too bad. Worst thing was replacing the outer on my old FSR & cutting the bit between the front & rear a bit too long.
It moved and was rubbing against the linkage for a while and gouged a slot in the side of it. Not affected performance, but annoying. It also moved further inboard & rubbed some of the can of the shock, right near the piston. Again no damage, but looks a mess.
Oh and I dropped my saddle right down at Chicksands and failed to take into account the fact that the shock was in the way. By the time I realised, I'd put a nice groove into the air can.....
I don't mind my bikes getting scratched/dinted from riding, but it's the stupid things like things rubbing while in the car/cable rub/dropping the bike in a car park & scratching it that wind me up.
ZaskarCarbon - Member
I also have a habit of fitting tyres the wrong way round but not realising until they are fitted and inflated...
Surely one of THE most infuriating things that could ever happen! Especially when you're in a bit of a rush (and let's face it, if you don't check that they're on the right way before fitting/inflating them, then you usually are!)...
...and youve just spent an hour trying to seat them to run tubeless... 👿
Bike just came back from a fresh respray, first ride out put it on my roof rack and forgot to put a bit of rubber round the downtube before clamping, big area of fresh paint ruined.
Biggest f*ck up is usually when I get on it.
You actually ride yours coogan?
Re-attached brake hose to MC, filled and bled system, then realised it was an old-style Inbred with the closed hose guides. D'Oh!
Cut gear cable to length with the inner running through it!
De-greased my rotors, with Fork Juice!!
APF
forgot to properly tighten up the axle nuts on my alfine'd up singular swift. Heading up a steep back and pop, out comes the back wheel, gouging plenty of metal from the drop outs, tearing the cable out of the shifer unit and putting a nice ding into the rear disc rotor. 😳
the other was trashing my commuter bike on the first ride after I'd shelled out some good money on getting it sorted out. Was pinging along through the woods, looking at the trees and what have you and managed to ride slap bang into a wooden bollard at about 20 mph. Brand new bars bent to bollocks, new crank arm bent to bollocks, new rear mech in spokes etc etc. How I laughed!
Cut brake cables too short quite regulalry, especialy the outer on road bike with full length cables.
Pulled a cheep seatclamp bolt appart whilst doing it up on a cheep saracen
Had bike on towbar mounted rack and reversed into van on the way to Mountain Mayhem - bent rear wheel about 2 inches out of line - cue a lot of swearing.
Told by all the shops at MM that "100% need new rim" and "no way is that fixable" - then someone suggested i have a chat with one of the onza trials demo team as "those guys are always knackering wheels" - sure enough one of them took on the challenge and managed to straighten it out - not perfect but it's still running fine 2 years later and just completed 500km offroad trip round Scotland... i owe that man a beer!
Tried taking off an XTR pedal the wrong way.
Got it really wedged on. LBS tried and failed to remove it so new chainset (£90 for SLX) and replacement axel (£35).
Not going to make that mistake again.
PS - That excludes all the other amatuerish workshop mishaps - misaligned headsets, stuck bearing races, leaking brakes etc - why does it always happen just before a riding weekend or race??? Luckily i have a good mate who's a bike mechanic - i'm pretty sure he dreads picking up the phone to me these days...
I'm fettling a bike for a mate. He dismantled it to save me a job.
Unfortunately, he removed every clamp bolt from everything on the bike, and chucked them all in a carrier bag...
Not so much bike but accesories, I left my Oakley radars on the roof of my car leaving swinley, got out on the road and someone coming the opposite way pointed them out, the glasses then fell off so I swung the car round to retrieve them and ended up running over my own glasses!!
Prize prick!
i wanted an old ss hub built on a new rim. So to save time i cut all the spokes. I forgot to remove the bmx freewheel tho 🙁 couldnt thread the spokes in or remove the cog . Doh. Sorted in the end with the help of a vice but caused plenty of damage. Bugger
As well as tyre errors, I seem to forget which way to undo pedals EVERY time and end up hurting myself.
Bikes are too damn spikey!
Also taken a rather embarrassingly long time to change tyres/tubes too many times - sometimes simply cannot get the bu66ers off the rim! I blame the harder beads of new tyres... used to be able to "thumb" them off - recently I've needed three tyre levers - doh!
could hear a noise coming from the front wheel so decided to whip the bike upside down to take closer look. Spun the wheel round and listened... heard the noise was comming from the brake and for some reason decided to point at it... sticking my finger straight through the disc rotor. Looked like something from the Kenny Everet DIY sketch.
Kev
cynic-al - Member
You actually ride yours coogan?
I could ask you the same question 😡
Surf-Mat pedals tighten the way you pedal - remember by thinking if they didnt they could fall off 🙂
Diane - thanks but even though I know (when I think about it) I still get it wrong - doh!
I rode my bike with slightly (I emphasise slightly) bent forks thinking I would get away with it if I wasn't too heavy handed as it had survived a beating the day before.
They snapped whilst landing a very small stair jump and I ended up plastered all over the university of Leicester library pavement!!!
I was young (and stupid)
Serviced a very new pair of Reba forks in my garage, and managed to scratch the stanchions when re assembling.
Fishers were very good about it , they replaced at cost - 'cos I'm a numpty.
I don't count it as a major balls-up, but back in the early days of threadless headsets I got countless star nuts wedged in various fork steerer tubes as a result of my trying to "fit" them with a spare bolt threaded into it, my fingers to hold it "straight", and a hammer...
Bought lovely new Vitus carbon frame and forks. Took it home and measured up steerer length and fitted stem. Marked with pen. Then cut the wrong side of the line! Ended up with a 1 inch stub instead of a steerer! Had to go back to the LBS for new carbon forks and explain I'd been a chump! 😳
Quite a few in one rushed build, missed a spacer on the HT11 BB and couldnt work out why I could'nt set the front mech up right, the axle was floating sideways as I tried to go up a ring.
Bought the cheapest shimano granny ring trying to save a pound only to find it didnt clear the HT11 cups, nothing 15 mins with the dremel didnt sort out though.. And as if that wasnt enough I then only did the middle/big ring bolts up finger tight, luckily i only did the short race the next day and it held together if a bit wobbly.
Hundreds of others, including the tyre direction thing.. Fortunately all minor issues.
As a yoof I took my dads old Carlton bike and decided to repaint it. When I got older and realised that Reynolds 531 was pretty good, and Carlton was a decent make of bike, I kind of regretted it.
Surf-Mat pedals tighten the way you pedal - remember by thinking if they didnt they could fall off
common misconception. but they don't.
my Cotic Soul has a BB in with crossed threads
I'm dreading the day I have to take it out!
knocked the centre of a bearing out of a ck hub once. utter disbelief at my stupidity.
Missed to locktite one rotor bolt out of the six on a fresh build. Second ride out riding down descent in Black Mtns bike starts to make an odd 'chug chug chug' noise, as I hit brakes to stop and take a look noise rapidly increases in volume and noticable knocking sensation through bars becomes very pronounced 'CHUG CHUG CHUG'.
Release front brake and come to a stop just on the back brake, awful burning smell now pervades the locailty. Royor bolt had unscrewed and neatly milled the inside of the brand new fork leg. Oops.
Luckily it hadn't taken that much material off and the forks were fine for years afterwards.
didnt pay attention riding down the road, looked over my shoulder to check traffic behind me, rode straight into the back of an mx5 and snapped the headtube off my spooky metalhead
I didn't align my valves and tyre logos once
See the "knocked off bike" thread for what happened.
Dale frame is bent on the downtube where the car hit it. But not broken!
Pace repaired the forks
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Changing the shifters and mech on my brothers bike. Thought it would be faster to just cut the outers at various points so I could just pull it all apart. Got to the head tube and the first gear outer I chopped pi**es out fluid strange I thought then realised I has just cut the hose for his HS11s!
Just built my Santa Cruz Bullit after it came back with fresh paint and decals.
About to take it out for a test ride to check me gears.
Jumped down the steps at the side of my house and that horrible (exspensive) sound came from the back of the bike.
During my rebuild I had forgot to install the two pinch bolts that clamp the bearings and rear triangles axle.
Thus snapping the rear end off.
I couldn't sleep right for days, what a nob!
(Anyone got a Bullit rear triangle for sale as I still have a front end in me shed?)
OMGG this has me cracked up, in a kinda 'shouldn't laugh, but can't help it' way. Thankfully with my serious bikes (ie everything after my first GT hardtail at uni) I've taken things fairly slow and steady and not ****ed up TOO badly.
Not so much bike but accesories, I left my Oakley radars on the roof of my car leaving swinley, got out on the road and someone coming the opposite way pointed them out, the glasses then fell off so I swung the car round to retrieve them and ended up running over my own glasses!!
At least you caught your glasses, even if you drove over them. I lost 2 pairs of Oakleys within about 2 months in the States a few years back. The first pair I lost rafting, when I got dunked. The second pair was bought a couple of days letter for muchos dinero; lost driving out of a campsite with them on the roof of the van.
Needless to say, I managed without buying any more for a little while.
Not been that stupid with the bike. Biggest forehead slap was driving to ride and leaving the maxle skewer at home. PLENTY of non bike stupidity. fell asleep on the train last night. £30 taxi. arse.
DezB you should get that on bustedcarbon.com
Had finsihed servicing my old Z1 freerides but forgot to do the bolts up on the bottom that hold the internal gubbins in. As i pushed the lowers over the stantions the bolts shot off and i sprayed fork oil all over myself, the ceiling and most of the kitchen 🙂
Also had a beauty when shortening the hoses on my juicies, replaced the olives but not the barbs. Pulled the brakes on and both hoses shot off covering me in brake fluid!!
many years ago after bleeding the wifes xt brakes i then did my hopes but put mineral oil in by mistake, lets just say i never did that agin, doh!!
I got fed of with regreasing loose-bearing bottom brackets 'back in the day'. I fitted a grease nipple instead of the cable guide fixing screw and as it was a nice new Cannondale, I looked and discovered there were no vent holes in the bb shell so after fitting the axle and cups I proceeded to pump the finest boat trailer quality axle grease into the shell. Several minutes and a large quanity of grease later I got worried. I kept pumping the greasegun. I then noticed a 'worm' of grease coming out of the vent hole near the rear dropout. I had filled the chainstays with grease! There were 2 vents in the BB shell about 1mm in diameter through to the chainstays! Aaaargh!
Deveron53-made me chuckle 🙂
I've had plenty of little things like over tightening an ISIS BB, having the tool slip from XTR crankset left cranks bolt causing it to go round, scratching fairly new forks stanchions while checking it had the right amount of oil etc.
Looking at how much bike shops are charging for maintenance I think I'll still end up on the plus (unless I over do myself next time)...
I managed to 'undo' a pedal against the thread of a pair of Y2K XT cranks once. I was a noob and I thought it was stuck. Much swearing, puffing and sweating, plus application of bodyweight was involved over about 45 minutes before I thought [i]'there, thats got it'[/i]. No pal, you really haven't got it. At all.
I couldn't do it now, I'm simply not strong enough anymore.
Whilst photographing some virtually brand new forks to sell i was propping them up to take some photos when they slipped out my my hand . They hit my bench vice on the way down, badly scratching the stanchions and lowers and for some reason i paniced and tried to 'catch' them with my foot.
One pair of forks ruined and a toe nail down, needless to say it wasn't my most successful evening
Not the worst but the most recent.
I've just snapped an Allen bit in a grub screw in my new rear mech, the tension adjusting screw, cant move it in or out now, looks like i have to drill the ****er out!!!
**** it, and i thought i was being clever by replacing all the shitty philips head bolts with black allen one's on my XT stuff
As for the worst
1 new frame + cross-threading 1 new hope ceramic BB into said new frame to the point of no return (thought it was a little tight) = 1 angry (to say the least) and out of pocket MTB'er
Glad to say after some machining the frame was useable and is still around today.
trying to bend out a ding in my rear rim with a adjustable the other day. i now have a rear rim with a crack in it 😳
rounded off plenty of bolts, including the ones that are currently holding the suspension pivots together...still need to sus out how i'm gonna get them out without wrecking the frame...
Cut a steerer too short by sticking the fork into the frame, measuring, marking & cutting along the dotted line...
Note to self - ALWAYS remember to include the bloody stem in your calculations!
Measure twice, cut once. 😳
Overtightened and snapped the nut on the bottom of my Tala's!!! New Talas unit!
Like the OP I drove into a carpark forgetting all about my bike on the roof & barrier and killed my Heckler, also dented my car roof 👿 Annoying thing is the opposite end to the carpark does not have a barrier WHY???.
Anyway contacted my insurance who put me onto Wheelies Direct after sending pics then the bike, I have come out of it rather well with my dream bike a Turner DW 5 Spot! 😀
Tried to adjust the pressure in my forks whilst the bike was vertical in the shed ensuring that I lost all of the fork fluid sprayed over myself and the shed. Topped the fluid back up afterward but have been unable to get the amount right as now the travel adjust doesn't work properly.
Brand new (and rather expensive) frame, still in bubble wrap protection, upside down and back to front confusion ensued with the BB-clearing taps. Three or four turns before I realised they were in the wrong way, very surprised how little resistance there is when cutting into a steel frame.
Also bled a mate's Pace fork cartridge in a rush, and finished off fully extended rather than compressed. In front of about fifteen other riders, he took air off a speed bump and blew the top clean off, covering everything in the vicinity with fork oil.Seeing him stood there with a look of dismay on his oil soaked face, drips running off his trendy new helmet peak still has me grinning now.