[Closed] Who services your bikes?

I can probably do about half my bike, When i had a 5 spot i just bought the rear bushing kit, watched as many videos and read as much as i could before taking the step of actually stripping it down. It was a very nerve wracking experience. But it worked and i learned a lot. I have a banshee now which has bearings so that will be a new learning process. But i do feel better for knowing how to do some things myself.

Same with my forks. They are pikes so very simple but i made sure i had everything i needed and had a bash. Again it worked fine but thats not the full service just the seal clean and relube. Shocks and wheels i wouldn't touch and don't intend to. For now 🙂

Yeah Mac. Mostly a bike is just a collection of bits bolted, screwed or pressed together.

mattjg, very true although i am the first to admit i am not the most mechanically minded but new bikes are very simple bits of kit generally. But my problem is when you have you uber expensive pride and joy sitting in front of you it can be a bit daunting taking the mallet and spanner off the shelf and going to work on it when the only knowledge you have is off youtube and some online articles.

In this day and age we are blessed with the resources on the net. If i cant figure something out then a couple of minutes on the phone gets the answer generally 🙂

For sure I understand that reluctance to take the initial plunge. I had it too, but am so glad I did (or more accurately, was forced to).

Have a go folks, it'll be fine.

We have a lot come in for regular maintenance from people who will no doubt have the ability to do most things, but just don't want to or have the time.

Exactly. I run a small factory, manufacturing high end audio products - for which we did the R&D and design and then created the production processes. I can do anything that my bike needs given enough time and the right tools. But I don't own all the tools and I'm very short of time.

I look after the bits on my bike that I can be bothered with but as I don't have many bikes and have done my damnedest to make sure my bikes are reliable and require minimal maintenance a lot of the jobs don't need doing often enough for me to be quick and efficient at them, so I get my LBS, Freedom Bikes, to do them. If you're in the Brighton vicinity I recommend them - fair prices and they know what they're doing!

Yeah, I think it does come down to time and/or money and the desire to fiddle with your parts.

I enjoy and actually look forward to a complete strip and re-build once a year (if they've had the use). It puts my somewhat OCD mind at rest when riding. If I leave it too long or neglect to keep up preventive maintenance then there is more than likely going to be that nagging voice letting me know it might all go a little pear-shaped any second now. Probably bollocks, I know (after years of therapy) but still...

Don't is different from can't.
I'm lucky to have lbs 5 minutes walk away, I can drop my bike in after work and collect the next day - even get a lift home if it's raining 🙂
Because I don't give them a bike covered in grot to work on and nothing is seized or mangled I get an excellent service and no nasty surprises.
It's good to get a second opinion on things in my view, and typically get told, yep - all ok, just tweaked the gears and tightened a few spokes, oh and your going to need new xxxxxxx shortly.
I see it as paying as much for experience than spannering skills and my way of supporting a decent local shop who are happy to give me the odd bit of outer casing, cable crimp or that washer that mysteriously dissapapeared when I did some bike diy.

I do what I can, gears, brakes, got some newer shimano one's which are a doddle to bleed and set up. I need the tools for when my BB30 goes but until then im good for most things. I really need a shed or garage to tinker in, the spare bedroom isn't big enough in a flat for bike tinkering.

Got burnt from an LBS which is highly rated and was very disappointed, took my speshi in for the brakes to be bled as I knew there was a problem. 2 weeks later in Glentress the rear brake locked up completely went to the on site bike shop as I didn't take my tools with me for this job and its a bit of a trek back to Solihull, friendly place they offered to sort it there and then, asked when I had them bled last told them, they laughed and showed me the quality of the fluid against what should of been in there, obviously hadn't been bled.

I built my five a couple of years ago with no prior knowledge of the mechanics of a modern mtb.

But I am not thick and had google, more specifically parktools guide I found through google.
It's not rocket science, and the most important tool I bought or two,were a 2-10 nm torque driver and a 10-70nm I think torque ratchet as I am a ham fisted git.

But the park guide if you take a minute to read and understand what it is that you are doing and why you can't go wrong.

DIY apart from wheel building. I'll replace spokes and true wheels, but until now I've left the building to my LBS owner. He's pretty bloody good at wheels.

Brake bleeding is the next thing to learn properly, although I've never had to do it, Hope's seem to be that good for me.

I understand there are people who don't want to do servicing and are willing to pay for someone else to do it. But my worry would be what happens when you have a mechanical too far to walk home. Do you just rely on your mates?

Replacing cables and indexing gears, fitting a new chain, or repairing a chain with a split link are very basic tasks that everyone should be able to do. Just for the getting out of a bit of pickle when you're in the woods with no LBS or mechanic around.

Don't get me started on the amount of puncture repairs my LBS does on a daily basis. Still, it keeps them in business is suppose.

I'll do everything I have the tools for, and some stuff I don't 🙂

I'll do forks - except for bushings, because I can't justify the cost of the tools. Likewise headsets - I fit so few it's not worth £80 or whatever. I took the frame and the cups to the lbs and had them do it whilst I waited (I called first obv).

Shocks - never done one, there are often specific tools involved I think...

your mum services my bikes

understand there are people who don't want to do servicing and are willing to pay for someone else to do it. But my worry would be what happens when you have a mechanical too far to walk home. Do you just rely on your mates?

I've been stuck with a broken bike in rain, in Winter and on Combe Gibbet which is around 950 metres high. Only one thing to do - phone the lbs for advice but it was beyond a bodge (broken freehub).

Had to walk the bike back to the car, thank goodness I always put an extra layer of clothing in my backpack. No biggie.

Broke my collar bone when out riding on my own, checked the bike over and got back on. You just have to deal with things.

[quote="cinnamon_girl"]
One thing I'd like to pick up on ... how many of you folk come from families where there was someone with practical skills that you were able to learn from?

My dad left when me and my sister were little so it was always my mam who fixed things if she could. I've always liked taking stuff apart and putting it back together and my sister's in the same boat my mam was so she fixes things if she can for her kids and if she can't I get a phone call!

Ultimately, it's just mechanical stuff and if you take the time to see how it works, maybe take it apart to clean it, you soon learn that it's not difficult. Dirty sometimes, but not difficult 😀

No space to work? No problem, just put an old duvet cover down in the living room/lounge/servants' quarters and work on that!

I do all my own stuff, occasionally I've let a bike shop do a head set or something but after repeatedly being disappointed in their work I don't bother with them anymore.

Bikes often require minor fettling rather than "service" and are very simple mechanically so most infrequent jobs can be done with makeshift tools if needed.

S'pose it's down to the individual, some like farting around with bits of bikes some don't.

[i]I'm amazed how many people don't do their own maintenance. It's a push bike. It's really easy and quite cathartic too [/i]

The simple answer is time. My days are planned to the minute to get family, work and riding all done in a day. At the end of the day I would much rather be out riding than fettling on my bikes with the free time I have. As I said earlier, for me the spannering is practically free for me anyway at the LBS. I can and have in the past worked on my bikes (in fact many moons ago, when I had no family, I built up my own bikes from scratch) and can fix most things out in the field when I have a mechanical but the whole process gives me no great pleasure and so why should I do it?

Love playing with bikes. Until recent!y I was playing silly buggers building, crashing and fixing hitech toy gliders. This as much fun but with more lube.
I'd love to try a fork rebuild but the Lefty seems to need some trick tools. And the Fox Dyad at the back looks well complex.

Shocks - never done one, there are often specific tools involved I think...

Err no. None. They generally come apart by hand. A toothpick can be handy to get the seals out but apart from a clean rag that's about all you need.
Bushing tools are cheap, but you don't need one to service a shock.
For an aircan service anyway, which is all the home mechanic or most LBSs can do anyway.

One thing I'd like to pick up on ... how many of you folk come from families where there was someone with practical skills that you were able to learn from?

No, parents got divorced when I was young, no Dad about so was forced to learn how to do stuff myself, can remember servicing cup and cone bearings on my Raleigh Chipper, I must have been no older than 10.

cinnamon_girl - Member

One thing I'd like to pick up on ... how many of you folk come from families where there was someone with practical skills that you were able to learn from?

None here. It's in the blood but it skipped a generation for my dad, he used to take our bikes to the shop to get punctures fixed. I learned to spanner on motorbikes, for no reason that I can actually recall now. I'd have said because I couldn't afford to take it to the shop, but actually I kept breaking things 😆

I do everything on my bikes, including fork servicing and wheel building. Like singlespeedstu said, it's a lot easier than maintaining a trials or enduro motorcycle, but then I used to do all my own maintenance/repairs on those too. Trials bikes in particular I used to love working on and mountain bikes are just sort of an extension of that plus, from as young as I can remember, my dad was always showing me how to do stuff, including wheel building.

cinnamon_girl - Member
One thing I'd like to pick up on ... how many of you folk come from families where there was someone with practical skills that you were able to learn from?

To answer your question CG, yes, both grandads were engineers, two uncles are car mechanics, and my dad was an electrical engineer. He's also a very good cabinet maker.

Everything was fixed if possible, lots of things were built from scratch. Both of my boys expect things fixed and struggle with the concept if I can't manage it. But they both follow their mum, arty and musical. No fix it genes at all.

TBH, I prefer fixing bikes to riding them. 😯

I do...
Although everyone I ride with gets there LBS to do it for them.

As a time served motor mech it would be sacrilege to let anyone else do mine & It's so easy unless your totally unmechanically minded.
However, the folk that have said 'I only trust me' make me smile.

However, the folk that have said 'I only trust me' make me smile.

*puts up hand*

I think I might have been one of those. My reasoning isn't so much a lack of trust, it's more a case of an OCD type knowing every nut and bolt are 'just so'. So it's kind of a case of I trust but prefer to know.

I have also had a so-called trained mechanic take a chunk of stanchion when he "missed the bottom of the fork with a mallet". The same mechanic on the same job also managed to knacker some 2001 Psylo's because he failed to identify that the shaft nut was still attached. He whacked it so hard he broke the air cartridge which became apparent when inflating by blowing out the top seal. He attempted to claim that under warranty stating a defect in design. Luckily he was spotted doing all of this.

Once bitten and all that, though I've tinkered with bicycles as far back as I can remember. Anything mechanical if all be told; I love taking things apart just to see how it works.

And I don't trust anyone enough to touch my bike, okay!

However, the folk that have said 'I only trust me' make me smile.

Mate bought an expensive build from LBS. One hour into the ride, just about to ride a drop, the bars span as the shop hadn't tightened the stem's bar clamp bolts.

the only thing i can't justify is a nitrogen needle for the rear shock, everything else is childs play, even servicing forks is straight forward.

i am surprised how much people spend on what i consider to be really basic stuff - save the money on the servicing and spend it on bling or trips away.

i admit i get my mate to do all the wheel building and truing because he likes doing it and has a truing stand. he gets plenty of machine shop favours in return.

i do all the spannering on my van but i am lucky enough to have a mate next door with a car ramp, and i get help with the tricker stuff - getting the rear wheel bearings out was a complete bugger, as was the front ball joints. again he gets lots of machine shop favours.

if you are not confident with the spanners, find someone who likes doing it and get them to help, and return the favour with something else, like fixing his computer or whatever

Mate bought an expensive build from LBS. One hour into the ride, just about to ride a drop, the bars span as the shop hadn't tightened the stem's bar clamp bolts.

Not good! (bad actually) but what I mean is that it sounds a bit condescending (?) Does everyone who maintains/services their bikes & only trusts themselves, also do the same with their cars, motorbikes, speedboats etc?
I don't even trust myself sometimes, but I suppose if I screw up then I've only myself to blame. (no compo then!)

but I suppose if I screw up then I've only myself to blame.

Yeah that's a better description of how I look at it, but not the whole reason I DIM.

I'm also an inveterate fettler, swapping frames, forks, tyres, wheels etc etc, in different combos. It just wouldn't work if I was using the LBS, so I find not being dependent in them quite liberating.

Whilst a headset press is not worth it for me, I must admit I am rather tempted by a truing stand. Or I might just make one.

Mike for your info TF TUNED is the service center of DT SWISS in the UK.
What do you want/ need to know about this shock ?

Nothing Juan, I'm in Oz, it was an example of something that would confuse even the most dedicated home mechanic.

It seems there are a lot of one or other views on this, as I said there is not much I can't wont do but sometimes letting somebody else is much easier/better/quicker.

Of course a competent home mechanic will do a better job than a shop... doing a task without time/money/"line of bikes to service" pressure, plus working on a machine that you genuinely have a 100% interest in can only mean a better job. I can only speak for myself for sure though.

Of course a competent home mechanic will do a better job than a shop... doing a task without time/money/"line of bikes to service" pressure, plus working on a machine that you genuinely have a 100% interest in can only mean a better job. I can only speak for myself for sure though.

I don't think amateurs (in any field) realise how much better you become at something from doing it professionally, simply thanks to the sheer amount of time you spend on it. Obviously if a professional doesn't care or isn't interested or is simply in the wrong career then that outweighs the experience benefit.

Have always done my own and have never understood why some people pay silly rates for shops to do it ? And now I have my missus bike to work on too, I have just serviced her RS Sid forks today .

have never understood why some people pay silly rates for shops to do it ?

Me.
Can you magine the cost of servicing 6x regularity riddent mtbs, 1x bmx and 1x paper round / pub bike?
Costs enough in parts already....

Not true. An amateur can do things the slow careful way but a pro usually has to do a quick efficient job. I am a pro tradesperson and do a great job but there are times that I know the client could take 3x longer but do a more thorough job of it. Pro work also often means an employee who doesn't know or care about the "business" end and corners are often cut, but everyone knows that anyway.

No specialist tools were needed to service my missus fork and the kitchen table provided my work space, between me the missus & little'un there's 9 to look after but I can always find a bit of none riding time to look after them and personally I wouldn't class bike maintenance as mechanics but that's just my opinion !

you have got be an extremely busy person if you can't find some time to look after your bike

Everything myself apart from forks/shocks.

In the past I've used LBS's for headsets too, but once I have a new place to work i'll be getting the tools for that myself.

So most of my SPDs are in a state, SS is hard on pedals I think, and need an overhaul.

This seems like a pretty good example of a home mechanic job, especially for a newbie to take the plunge. The labour cost of paying a pro would be the same as buying again, but it's daft to throw away good kit for the sake of a little time.

If it goes wrong so what? I throw them away and buy new, like I was going to anyway.

The vid:

Of course a competent home mechanic will do a better job than a shop... doing a task without time/money/"line of bikes to service" pressure, plus working on a machine that you genuinely have a 100% interest in can only mean a better job. I can only speak for myself for sure though.

I was chatting to a mate who runs a bike shop and is a decent wheel builder yesterday and asked him how long it took him to build a wheel: his answer was around half an hour if the wheel was for himself, but as much as twice that if it was for a customer when he felt it should be absolutely perfect.

I don't think you can really generalise.

If it goes wrong so what? I throw them away and buy new, like I was going to anyway.

It's quite straightforward, mostly you just need to be aware that one of pedals has a lefthand thread and one has a righthand one and not try to undo them the wrong way round.

Bikes are really easy to service yourself.

The biggest advantage of being your own mechanic, is you'll know your bike inside out. If something starts acting up, you'll probably know exactly what is wrong, and exactly how to fix it.

If you need help, check out shimano's tech site. You can download instructions for every bit of kit they've ever made. Most of it will transfer to other makes of pedals/gears/chainsets etc... as they are all very similar in operation (the differences should be fairly obvious).