Stuff you learn(t) the hard way by being your own mechanic

[MORNE]

any tips for the stem alignment.......

unfortunately eyeballing, going on a 50km ride and realising 10 km in your bars are like 1* out is still my go to method for this ...

[RocknRolla]

Don't do maintenance when you are hungry or frustrated, or even worse, both.

 

Don't change chainrings and chain after friday beers early on a saturday morning, before going to bed for saturday group ride.

[RocknRolla]

I have heard that Spray ‘n Cook also does a superb job

 

Have a compressor that I use currently. 

[Flatdog7]

1-10: stop over tightening ****....

 

 

I have a torque wrench now.

 

EDIT: this goes in conjunction with the above:

 

- stop using old tools. You'll hate yourself in roughly 2 seconds after you put that rounded tip in that socket head

^^This, this is true, also have the torque thingy now. Sage Advice.

[Ferro]

I have fitted my last 2 pairs of grips easily by using the cable tie method. Worked perfectly. No spray or compressor required. Just make sure that the rough side of the tie faces towards the bar and pull the tie out slowly.

 

[Gandalf]

Removed the jockey wheels to clean the gunk out before race day, stripped the thread when putting it together, ended up with a small bolt throught the cage to get race done.

 

A side note: never do maintenance on your bike the day before a big ride or race.

 

Putting engine oil on a chain. - Not a good idea, did this as a kid though

Edited August 15, 2019 by Gandalf

[MORNE]

^best way i've found for grips that are open ended is to put 3 cable ties (long thin variety) through them get them roughly at 12/8/4 pm, and slide over the bars....once in place...pull cable ties out.

 

EDIT: posted after I saw the video upstairs^

Edited August 15, 2019 by morneS555

[MORNE]

if you've ever owned a Lefty....forgetting to take the front brake callipers off before loosening the the hub to take the wheel off - resulting in stripping out the helicoil thread in your fork....which is a proprietary size of course.....

[The Ouzo]

regarding putting grips on. hair spray sprayed into the grip works really well

[MTBeer]

All mechanical work should be accompanied by the consumption of beer

[Butterbean]

yea thanks,

 

1. I have a proper stem

2. eyeballing doesn't work with said proper stem

I eyeball using tile grout.

 

Line your wheel up dead centre on longitudinal grout. And then align your bars using a horizontal line of grout. It's the closest eyeballing I can find...

[Spinnekop]

you can get your saddle perfectly straight by marking the middle at the rear part, then extending a piece of string over the nose to the topcap nut...

 

no more eyeballing that crap ever again

You get nice lazers these days in the building industry.  Cheap cheap at the China shop.

Hang from above.  Shine little line and line everything up.

[J Wakefield]

The hard thing I learnt being my own mechanic is that bike shops workmanship attention to detail and listening to a customers bike problems are none existent and that I don't have to keep driving back to shop for them to fix what I asked the 1st time.

[Schnavel]

Pressfit BB's can be a nightmare...

 

A trick I learnt from my father in-law is to first apply a thin layer of tubby glue to the BB shell and allow to dry for 24 hours.

 

Once dry, press in the new BB. This takes up any play in the tolerances, either due to manufacture or wear from prior BB removal and installations. 

[duanelr]

my blonde moment: making a DIY tubeless tire sealant injector - you know the one that injects through the valve with valve core removed - Good Idea. Bad Idea however: forgetting to deflate tire first before connecting (now full) injector.... yeah, 1 bar homemade sealant sprayer anyone.    

[MORNE]

Pressfit BB's can be a nightmare...

 

A trick I learnt from my father in-law is to first apply a thin layer of tubby glue to the BB shell and allow to dry for 24 hours.

 

Once dry, press in the new BB. This takes up any play in the tolerances, either due to manufacture or wear from prior BB removal and installations. 

or fit one of these and never worry about stupid PF bb's again lol

 

https://praxiscycles.com/bottom-brackets-old/conversion-bb/

 

love mine