Nail clippers make a real neat job of clipping cable ties as they don’t leave a sharp point on which you will invariably cut your leg next time you come off like snips or pliers do.

NEXT

Put the ties in the right way so the ends point in.
Never build a bike when the shops are closed

despite knowing you have ALL the bits needed, don’t plan a ride for the next day… the fact is, 1 part will be wrong despite you thinking it would be right 🙂

Take your time building, rushing the job to get out on the trail will inevitably lead to broken/badly set up parts and more time off the bike whist waiting for replacements to arrive. …

Don’t cut fork steerers while drunk

under-tighten everything first, your bound to have to untighten something at one point – when happy then tighten all

With bottom brackets, the right-hand-side has a left-hand thread. First bike I built, I got that wrong – it was a bit stiff, so I got a longer lever on the spanner. It went in eventually, and that bike was fine for over a decade.

I was 14, I’ve learned a bit since then 😉

Keep knuckles well clear of chainrings. They do not mix well. Keep telling myself this (along with putting the chain on the outer ring when installing pedals to reduce gouge depth) yet still end up finding out how thin the skin is on my knuckles. Muppet.

Gonetothehills

I worked in a shop once where not shifting the chain to the big ring before removing crank bolts , pedals or chainring bolts was a disiplinery offence if caught.

Top tip from me

Make sure your using the correct lubricant for the job . Any old iron doesnt cut it

Never stroke another mans rhubarb!

Make sure you have twice as much outer cable/hose than you think you need. This its the first time I have fallen fowl to this and its because I didn’t take the dropper post or the much longer top tube into consideration. 😳

Always have a mug of tea / coffee / cider ready for that step back and wonder how something so simple went so very wrong moment.

(realising last night that the secondhand brake I bought was cheap because the muppet previous owner mullered the reservoir screws)

Always cut the cable outers before you put the inners through. 😉

I know a lot of people tish and pish and say that you ought to be able to tell by instinct but I am finding a torque wrench to be a re-assuring thing to have when building a bike. Still hasn’t made me any better at setting up these &*#’ing BB7 brakes though 😥

Instruction manuals? You mean manufacturers opinion.

Use copper slip grease on all the non moving parts you may wish to remove one day and use more than you think you need

Measure once, cut twice.
Make sure your steerer can be replaced.

No build is complete without a cold one.

Only bodge the easily replaceable part, not the frame…. 🙂

Keep knuckles well clear of chainrings. They do not mix well. Keep telling myself this (along with putting the chain on the outer ring when installing pedals to reduce gouge depth) yet still end up finding out how thin the skin is on my knuckles. Muppet.

Where an old pair of riding gloves when installed peddles. Between those and the chain you keep all your skin.

It’s worth going to your LBS to have the headset cups put in properly. Take some biscuits as you’re bound to want to go in minutes before they close that day when you forgot something important for the build (shifter cable etc)

Instruction manuals? You mean manufacturers opinion.

Win!

Don’t put the tip of your finger between the rotor and calipers
It hurts
Edit, whilst the rotor is spinning 😥

Get EVERYTHING before you start.

Tidy up before you start, and have plenty of space to put things down.

Helitape the frame before building.

Run the fork steerer longer than you want for a few weeks with spacers on top, just to make sure.

Don’t bother locking your grips on until its all finished.

Find a way of routing full outers for your rear mech.

If you get stuck, phone a friend, or google is your best mate!

Finally – DO IT!! It’s a great way to know your bike.

Don’t get caught scrubbing your cranks in the kitchen sink by your girlfriend… 😀

YouTube and Google are your friends.

after your 1st ride check all fixings. re-tighten if needed then again after another few rides.

when doing things up to a set torque value, on the 1st time tighten to the value then loosen off then again to the set torque value!

dont put alot of locktight on ANYTHING that may or will require to be un-done at some point! as your more than likely to strip something or shear something!

dont use imperial tools for metric sizes and vice verca! use the correct tool and only the correct tool for each job

I second the part about bottom brackets and long spanners, you look a right bellend walking into the bike shop with a brand new frame with no threads in the BB shell 😳 Also try not to buy cheap bits off eBay because the one you need most will have a huge crack in it!

Tight enough is tight enough.

trail_rat – Member
I worked in a shop once where not shifting the chain to the big ring before removing crank bolts , pedals or chainring bolts was a disiplinery offence if caught.

I can believe it!

danielgroves – Member
Where an old pair of riding gloves when installed peddles. Between those and the chain you keep all your skin.

I’ll give that a try next time too.

And another tip – get a magnetic tool bar from Aldi. Trying to find the 4mm Allen key or screwdriver or whatever that you put in your pocket, on a shelf, the workstand, the floor, balanced in the bottle cage, on top of the fridge from when you went for a(nother) beer etc gets pretty tedious. Slapping them onto the magnet is easy and you always know where they are.

dont put alot of locktight on ANYTHING that may or will require to be un-done at some point! as your more than likely to strip something or shear something!

Only if you use the wrong grade.

No audience (unless we’re talking about a bunch of others also fixing bikes with brews in a large shed at 2am before a major ride), because if something’s going to go wrong it’ll go wrong when there’s a witness.

Don’t fix bikes in the garden. It’s a bugger to find washers, nuts and bolts in the grass without a magnet

Tom KP

Tiredness (and it’s associated stupidity) is (are) your enemy.

If something isn’t fitting / working / installing the way it should, STOP. Just leave it where it is, and go and have a cup of tea and a bit of cake (et cetera).

If there’s time, drift back to it, but if it’s late in the day, leave it until the morning. I’ve spent (which is to say wasted 🙄 ) hours on stuff late at night struggling away on some seemingly impossible task … which of course, only took minutes, and came together perfectly well the next morning.

Hmm, actually … this is universally true.

Find a way of routing full outers for your rear mech

really don’t get the whole full outers gig.

keep an old BB kicking around so you can always check what direction the thread is

a big hammer is not a bad thing

leffe boy its printed on the cups!!

a big hammer is not a bad thing

…unless you are using to install that BB (superstar excluded, where it should be substituted for a rock)

leffe boy its printed on the cups!!

You’ll be using one of those new fangled external BBs then. On my good old square taper ones you still have to remember and I don’t like mixing my dodgy memory and big hammers

Do people really mash their knuckles on chainrings removing pedals? Can’t recall doing that in 25 years of bike fettling. Maybe I am luckier than i thought!

Top tip… If you dont have the tools be wary of bodging them.

Although i used to have a headset press built of 10mm threaded rod, 4*2 and some big old repair washers that worked ok or at least better than the previous installation kit of 4*2 and large hammer.