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

[droo]

9 hours ago, MORNE said:

Related to this….using a torque wrench religiously for a few years builds muscle memory. I’m pretty confident now with what 2Nm, 5Nm, 8Nm, 14Nm, 40Nm feels like by hand in the specific places on my bikes. 
 

the one i NEVER do to recommended settings is SRAM’s absolute horse crap crank extraction bolt. If you do those up to the recommended settings and leave it on there for long enough you basically need a leverarm long enough to lift the planet to undo it.
 

So i get mine tight…and then some…and leave it. Never had an issue before and never en up swearing, breaking knuckes etc when the time comes to loosen it. Shimano’s crank mounting method = superior.

Wheels off

Hex key in the bolt about 45 degrees clockwise from the crank

Crank on floor (rubber matting or similar between crank and concrete)

Stand on hex key

Remove crank

[MORNE]

2 hours ago, droo said:

Wheels off

Hex key in the bolt about 45 degrees clockwise from the crank

Crank on floor (rubber matting or similar between crank and concrete)

Stand on hex key

Remove crank

Orrrr….10 orangoutangs less than recommended…dont take wheels off, dont put crank on floor, dont buy rubber matt. Dont herniate your spleen. Wax on, wax off😅.

(ps, it is not lost on me that you guys have to get creative all day long taking off silly sram cranks, amongst other things, from ham fisted customers’ bikes😁)  

[michaelbiker]

Had a similar issue trying to get a SRAM eagle cassette off of a brand new wheelset. Ended up chipping a tooth - not mine but the cassette and a trip to the emergency bike shop. Mech had to build a long lever using a toe strap and a pipe to get it loose. Still riding the cassette (after filing down the tooth) and not had a single problem since. I now own three chain whips - best one is the industrial park tools jobbie with a long handle. 

[100Tours]

I have learnt that Magura makes the world's finest calipers, and pairs them with the world's most impossible 'carbotecture' levers.

After watching a lot of Youtube the only failsafe way to bleed Magura's is to remove the levers, throw them away, install shimano levers, and suddenly you have the worlds best brakes. 

[michaelbiker]

Just now, BaGearA said:

Unior make a tool that sits inbetween the last cogs with 3 prongs that has a gap the casette tool goes with. 

 

I've loved this thing for long now and it has seen copies being made that work just as well. 

 

Have not used a chain whip since. 

 

Pedro's also make a tool that looks like a vice grip but then grips the cog and locks down on it , I've used this tool two/three times and it works lekker but the short overall length of the tool makes leverage a issue on some cassette/wheel combos  

Yip. I have the PRO version of the Unior tool. Had to switch to the trusty Parktool the last time I removed a cassette - I just didn’t have the leverage. Maybe it’s my skinny arms…
 

I also have the Parktool cassette pliers. They are useless. If anyone wants to give them a try they are for sale on the classifieds.

[Jewbacca]

16 minutes ago, 100Tours said:

I have learnt that Magura makes the world's finest calipers, and pairs them with the world's most impossible 'carbotecture' levers.

After watching a lot of Youtube the only failsafe way to bleed Magura's is to remove the levers, throw them away, install shimano levers, and suddenly you have the worlds best brakes. 

This!

I have done the same and concur 100%

[TyronLab]

15 minutes ago, michaelbiker said:

Yip. I have the PRO version of the Unior tool. Had to switch to the trusty Parktool the last time I removed a cassette - I just didn’t have the leverage. Maybe it’s my skinny arms…
 

I also have the Parktool cassette pliers. They are useless. If anyone wants to give them a try they are for sale on the classifieds.

I've had a lot of luck using an old worn chain, wrapped around the cassette, clamped in my bench vice as a chain whip. One of the best get-out-of-buying-a-special-tool hacks I've attempted.

[michaelbiker]

6 minutes ago, TyronLab said:

I've had a lot of luck using an old worn chain, wrapped around the cassette, clamped in my bench vice as a chain whip. One of the best get-out-of-buying-a-special-tool hacks I've attempted.

Chipping a tooth was as a result of using a friends terrible tools and a pipe. Sometimes it is better to just get the right tool. Particularly one you plan to use often. But a hack in a pinch that works is better than the walk of shame into a bike shop with broken bits. Also, super satisfying when it works!

[MORNE]

29 minutes ago, 100Tours said:

I have learnt that Magura makes the world's finest calipers, and pairs them with the world's most impossible 'carbotecture' levers.

After watching a lot of Youtube the only failsafe way to bleed Magura's is to remove the levers, throw them away, install shimano levers, and suddenly you have the worlds best brakes. 

 

11 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

This!

I have done the same and concur 100%

Colloquially referred to by internet forums as Shigura’s. Yes it’s a thing and those who know, know apparently. 

[MORNE]

3 minutes ago, michaelbiker said:

Chipping a tooth was as a result of using a friends terrible tools and a pipe. Sometimes it is better to just get the right tool. Particularly one you plan to use often. But a hack in a pinch that works is better than the walk of shame into a bike shop with broken bits. Also, super satisfying when it works!

Im really bad with this, because i see it as a challenge to figure it out haha. That being said, if it’s an expensive part or the consequences are high….i do the walk of shame or buy the right tool. But it’s hard to wait…especially 9pm at night in a badly lit garage 😂

[TyronLab]

4 minutes ago, MORNE said:

Im really bad with this, because i see it as a challenge to figure it out haha. That being said, if it’s an expensive part or the consequences are high….i do the walk of shame or buy the right tool. But it’s hard to wait…especially 9pm at night in a badly lit garage 😂

This resonated with me, so very very much. Suddenly deciding to do some "quick" job at 2130, only going to bed at midnight having jaaged more *** aan than doing something productive is something of a hobby of mine.

My wife opening the garage entrance door, middle of the night, dik geslaap still, going "what the **** are you still doing?" and me, still in work clothes, stumbling over my words trying to explain how a tyre pressure check became a headset service and a sealant top-up, up to my elbows in grease and sealant, must be a sight to behold.

[phillip_2016]

On 8/15/2019 at 9:01 AM, fanievb said:

 

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

You’re always going to be eyeballing to some extent. But the problem is eyeballing your horizontal bars with a narrow fork or perpendicular wheel. 
 

I take the wheel out, put the fork flush up against an edge of some sort (coffee table in my case) and then you’ve got a nice long horizontal edge to line your bars up with. 

[The Ouzo]

45 minutes ago, TyronLab said:

This resonated with me, so very very much. Suddenly deciding to do some "quick" job at 2130, only going to bed at midnight having jaaged more *** aan than doing something productive is something of a hobby of mine.

My wife opening the garage entrance door, middle of the night, dik geslaap still, going "what the **** are you still doing?" and me, still in work clothes, stumbling over my words trying to explain how a tyre pressure check became a headset service and a sealant top-up, up to my elbows in grease and sealant, must be a sight to behold.

I can relate

[dave303e]

On 8/14/2023 at 6:58 AM, MORNE said:

Related to this….using a torque wrench religiously for a few years builds muscle memory. I’m pretty confident now with what 2Nm, 5Nm, 8Nm, 14Nm, 40Nm feels like by hand in the specific places on my bikes. 
 

the one i NEVER do to recommended settings is SRAM’s absolute horse crap crank extraction bolt. If you do those up to the recommended settings and leave it on there for long enough you basically need a leverarm long enough to lift the planet to undo it.
 

So i get mine tight…and then some…and leave it. Never had an issue before and never en up swearing, breaking knuckes etc when the time comes to loosen it. Shimano’s crank mounting method = superior.

Battery powered impact wrench is a great way to remove them, it is a big enough bolt to have at it a bit. Same with the cassette as well, much easier to just loosen it with the impact driver.

On 8/14/2023 at 7:09 AM, mazambaan said:

Aye, some bike (motorbike) builders talk in orangutangs. What you are talking is 10 orangutangs tight. While on the subject I have learnt the hard way never to tighten KTM dirt bikes rear axle to the specified torque as it will break the spacer / adjustment plate. "Tight" is fine and I have not had one come loose.

I used to only use T-bar sockets on my bikes and torque wrench a lot of the time.

I did have a laugh at talking orangutans, when working on the tractor, the smallest socket is a 13, so I do literally everything with an impact wrench, and then it is how many uggadugga's tight...

 

[splat]

On 8/15/2019 at 9:01 AM, fanievb said:

 

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

Step 1; loosen stem bolts
Step 2; loosen bolts more because they are not loose enough
Step 3; realize bolts are too loose so tighten them up
Step 4; straddle bike with one eye closed and twist bars, bar don't move easily because bolts are too tight now
Step 5; twist bars only to over-compensate cause bolts are too tight
Step 6; twist bars back the other way only to over-compensate
Step 7; get off bike and go around to front and straddle front wheel
Step 8; bars look square WTF
Step 9; re-straddle bike, nope bars are not square
Step 10; go back to straddle front wheel and over compensate twisting another 3-4 times
Step 11; get back on bike in your 'attack' position to make sure it feels good while wiggling your bars back and forth a bit to make sure they are square
Step 12; bars slip and get mis-aligned whilst doing this
Step 13; &$(# it, get it close and tighten up your stem bolts
Step 14; realize you are hyper aware of bars being .0001 degree off and it's screwing with your head for the first 1/2 mile
Step 15; ride it like this for 6 months and never think about it again

(Copied from Pinkbike)

[Meezo]

20 minutes ago, splat said:

Step 1; loosen stem bolts
Step 2; loosen bolts more because they are not loose enough
Step 3; realize bolts are too loose so tighten them up
Step 4; straddle bike with one eye closed and twist bars, bar don't move easily because bolts are too tight now
Step 5; twist bars only to over-compensate cause bolts are too tight
Step 6; twist bars back the other way only to over-compensate
Step 7; get off bike and go around to front and straddle front wheel
Step 8; bars look square WTF
Step 9; re-straddle bike, nope bars are not square
Step 10; go back to straddle front wheel and over compensate twisting another 3-4 times
Step 11; get back on bike in your 'attack' position to make sure it feels good while wiggling your bars back and forth a bit to make sure they are square
Step 12; bars slip and get mis-aligned whilst doing this
Step 13; &$(# it, get it close and tighten up your stem bolts
Step 14; realize you are hyper aware of bars being .0001 degree off and it's screwing with your head for the first 1/2 mile
Step 15; ride it like this for 6 months and never think about it again

(Copied from Pinkbike)

phuck!!! this is me every time... my 6 months its nearing its end