What maintenance won’t you do?
December 21st, 2006 by Tim GrahlOne of the best money savers is wrenching on your bikes yourself. Several months ago we got a bunch of tools from Sette and I setup shop in my basement to do all my own maintenance. Now I’ll do pretty much everything myself, but there are a two things I’d rather spend the money to let a bike shop do…
- Cutting down forks
- Pressing headsets
Both of these I could do myself, however if I screw up I’ll be jacking up one of the most expensive parts of the bike. I’ll gladly spend $10 to $20 for the piece of mind of letting the LBS do it.
What repairs/maintenance do you let someone else handle?
What is RSS?
Get our articles in your inbox:
I hear ya!
I will bleed my Hayes hydros. Do most things except for install a star nut, cut the steer tube, press a headset, true/replace spokes on wheels.
That stuff is left for the pros.
Peace
I do all my own bike building and maintenance, but I worked as a bike mechanic for several years in the late 80s and early 90s. I am pretty comfortable cutting down my own fork steerer tubes, facing a bottom bracket, or pressing in headset cups now. 15 years ago, when I was making 7 bucks an hour and working on expensive bikes for customers, doing those things made me nervous.
I do the basic stuff: clean, lub, change chain, rings, cogs, pedals, saddle/seatpost, etc. Anything requiring special tools (e.g. for bottom bracket) is done rarely enough that I don’t own the tools so I just take it to the shop.
I find it depends on a) what tools I’ve available and b) how patient I’m feeling. I’ve cut a steerer tube with a hack-saw, installed a star nut with a saucepan, but gone to the shop to get my gears dialled in! I’ll be installing a new headset over the Christmas on the 4300, hopefully I can find appropriate tools.
I have to say that the best xmas present I could get would be a serious toolkit from Park Tools or the like, but I’ll probably build it up piece by piece slowly instead.
I’ve been building the tool kit slowly over the years as I get up the nerve to try a new bit of work. There were couple of years where I’d screw it up pretty badly and have to drag the bike with my head down into the shop. Pretty embarrassing, but the last few years I’ve gotten pretty good at most things. I won’t face tubes, don’t know how to press in headsets.
As soon as my new seals arrive in the mail, I’m going to do the yearly maintenance on my fork, which ought to be an adventure. You talk about money saved via DIY, well our local shop mails off forks for service instead of doing it in house. I figure I spent half of the price tag from Manitou on my materials, which I can use for subsequent jobs, and I’ll only be out a fork for as long as it takes me to finish the job, not weeks.
If I don’t botch it. Wish me luck.
Wheels. Very delicate and if you mess it up it is gonna cost you mucho denero.
I did invest in a ($30) headset press from nashbar about a year ago, and it has been very liberating!
I’ll do just about anything except wheels and chasing/facing the bottom bracket and head tube…
What’s so hard about installing a headset? I made a DIY tool out of a threaded rod with nuts and washers on both ends and its pretty much a breeze.
I do all the basic stuff including clean ups, brake pad changes, drivetrain adjustments, shock/fork maintenance, and whatnot. I have with the help of my more experienced pal pressed in headsets, cut forks, and dialed in new drivetrains as well as hydraulic brake bleeds. I stay away from wheel truing and major drivetrain nightmares.
I have no problem with pressing headset cups or cutting down forks. (I recommend a cheap pipe cutter from the hardware store for the latter job. It’s neater than a hack saw.)
It’s truing wheels that still makes me crazy. I run to the shop for that. And now that I have a high-zoot new full-suspension mountain bike, there’s all this shock maintenance I have to learn for the new models. I’m still testing the waters in that area.
I have done all my own maintenance as long as I can remember. 9 speed drivetrains are a dream to dial in compared to the old 7 and 8 speed ones, tight tolerances make it easier for me. Replacing a spoke is not really so bad in a well maintained wheel, just get the tension right and it’s a breeze. I installed 2 King headsets with 2×4s and a hammer, and cut down forks using a Dremel and an old stem. My first time dismantling and rebuilding the air fork was ultra nerve wracking but it works afterward, lol.
Speaking of forks, the cost enhances the importance of ‘measure twice, cut once.’
About the only thing left off my list at this point is frame work - facing the HT or BB shell. And that is because of not having the right tools. I find that with high quality products and the right tools most stuff is pretty simple. The first time I pressed in a HS with my Park professional press I was like “wow, that’s it?”.
I still don’t overhaul my own forks though (time constraints more than anything) and I have yet to do a complete brake bleed but I’ve only been on my Formula hydraulic brakes for a year.
I find building my own wheels to be extremely satisfying, but again, time constraints force me to buy off the shelf most times these days. Truing I do on my own though.
The one job I detest the most (but I still do it myself) - running cables.
I decided to build my own bike for kicks. I had not mechanical experience previously, so I knew this would be an adventure to say the least. In any case, when it came to the headset and fork, I left those to the bike shop. Same reasons as everyone else. If I messed it up, I couldn’t think of wasting $400. I also has them face/ream the frame so I didn’t have to buy the tools.
Other than that, I have installed the wheels, cranks, transmission, disc brakes, cables, etc. So far, it has been very rewarding. I can’t wait to finish it up.
For me, I see taking something to the LBS to work on is like buying insurance. I pay a monthly fee just in case I get jacked up in a wreck or get sick. Sure, I haven’t used it in years, but it’s still worth it.
I take stuff to the shop when the cost of the parts plus the odds of me messing up outweighs the price I’ll pay to a mechanic. Right now that includes the things I listed in the post along with a lot of the wheel stuff mentioned by other commenters.
Wheel building and truing are still black magic to me, all framework is left to the LBS, and I’ve never pressed a headset (don’t have the tool, yet).
For me, “DIY vs. LBS” really comes down to three things: whether I have the right tools for the job, whether I can find enough info to proceed with confidence, and time.
That said… has anyone else ever found that it’s sometimes impossible to “do it right” no matter how much experience/confidence/tool-ege you have? It drives me flat-out _bonkers_ when I can’t find the correct torque spec for a part… or I can find the torque spec, but can’t find a tool that works with a torque wrench (the Hollowtech BB tool comes to mind)??? Any solutions/tips for these situations?
The threaded rod headset press is a very serviceable tool. Refrigerate (as in the freezer) the baring races and cups, and have a warmed headtube. This tends to facillitate installation.
Truing wheels is an art form I leave to the professionals. I totally suck at it, and at the same time cannot stand the slightest out-of-true wheel.
Chasing/facing isn’t at all difficult with patience. Coming up with the right size tap for the threads can be fun.