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

[love2fly]

I'm particularly anal about bike noises (to my detriment), and chase any noise or creak till it's solved.

As an aside, my previous LBS once told me all MTB's make some creaks due to the suspension.....just cos he couldn't be bothered to do it right...

Ok, on my roadbike I chased endless crank creaks, usually just before pedal stroke ie around 1:00 o clock, especially worse when it's cold, up a steep climb early in the ride. The creak would annoyingly move from left to right at random.

I'd religiously do a crank lube service and for a ride or 2 it would appear better, but it always came back.

Anyway, my 10 year old Lake carbon shoes needed replacing after gluing the 3 soles back together for a 3rd time.....noise gone. It was my shoes.....🤭

[MORNE]

14 hours ago, love2fly said:

I'm particularly anal about bike noises (to my detriment), and chase any noise or creak till it's solved.

As an aside, my previous LBS once told me all MTB's make some creaks due to the suspension.....just cos he couldn't be bothered to do it right...

Somewhat related to this…

Owning all the tools to replace frame/pivot bearings and doing your own basic suspension services can be both a blessing and a curse.

There is no better feeling than freshly serviced suspension/ linkages/ bearings on a bike. Being able to do it yourself then means that blissful silence and slippery efficiency is only a few hours of wrenching away.

I sometimes miss the days of ignoring minor creeks because i now know exactly where to find and fix them…and i always feel the need to oblige. This is also imo why hardtails will keep you sane for longer😅 i ride mine in everything and put it away dirty.

Although i will say it’s rather therapeutic stripping a bike down to the bearings and putting it all back together. It’s the chase…

 

 

Edited June 9, 2025 by MORNE

[ChrisF]

On a lighter note ....

 

 

Training for Argus I got a "low battery" message on the Garmin.

 

NO ... not the ebike battery.  

 

Apparently the cadence sensor battery was on its way.

 

BUT .... this message pops up at the START of the ride.  Some 3 to 5 hours later when I got home this was a long distant past thought ....

 

And so it the one message after the other was "not attended" to ....

 

With two other bikes, with working cadence sensors, enough rides were done without the message .....

 

And so it came to pass.  Sunday I barely left home and the cadence sensor does not show any reading on the edge.  I even stop and restart the Edge .... 

 

Seems you can only ignore these messages for so long ......

 

Jip, ja, yes, it is working nicely with the new fresh battery.

 

Actually very strange to do Helshoogte without the cadence sensor .... I really use the cadence when doing these climbs.

[The Ouzo]

14 hours ago, ChrisF said:

On a lighter note ....

 

 

Training for Argus I got a "low battery" message on the Garmin.

 

NO ... not the ebike battery.  

 

Apparently the cadence sensor battery was on its way.

 

BUT .... this message pops up at the START of the ride.  Some 3 to 5 hours later when I got home this was a long distant past thought ....

 

And so it the one message after the other was "not attended" to ....

 

With two other bikes, with working cadence sensors, enough rides were done without the message .....

 

And so it came to pass.  Sunday I barely left home and the cadence sensor does not show any reading on the edge.  I even stop and restart the Edge .... 

 

Seems you can only ignore these messages for so long ......

 

Jip, ja, yes, it is working nicely with the new fresh battery.

 

Actually very strange to do Helshoogte without the cadence sensor .... I really use the cadence when doing these climbs.

I used to check my cadence often, but since my bike came back from CTCT the sensor has not been working, despite putting in new batteries (yes I tried multiple), doing the battery in upside down reset thing.

Then 1 day a few weeks back it started working again. But the readings are erratic so I can only assume the unit is faulty.

The result of all of the above is that I now ride on feel, it has not changed how I ride, but I no longer obsess with checking my cadence. 

[ChrisF]

56 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:

I used to check my cadence often, but since my bike came back from CTCT the sensor has not been working, despite putting in new batteries (yes I tried multiple), doing the battery in upside down reset thing.

Then 1 day a few weeks back it started working again. But the readings are erratic so I can only assume the unit is faulty.

The result of all of the above is that I now ride on feel, it has not changed how I ride, but I no longer obsess with checking my cadence. 

[i24]

1 hour ago, The Ouzo said:

Then 1 day a few weeks back it started working again. But the readings are erratic so I can only assume the unit is faulty.

I have an old school Giant brand cycle "speedometer" with a wireless pickup. It stopped working. I replaced the batteries in the pickup and the computer and tested successfully it on the bench. But back on the bike it was still erratic. Repeated the above, still worked on the bench but not on the bike.

Then a new Cateye arrived on my birthday. The old Giant speedometer got sidelined but I was curious what was wrong with it, as it still worked on the bench. Then I discovered the spoke mounted magnet had lost its field! I was testing it with another magnet. I replaced the spoke magnet with an old one out of the junk box and the Giant started working again!

I like the Giant because it also has a thermometer function which most bike computers do not have. So the Giant is back on my Giant MTB, and the smart new Cateye has replaced the no brand computer on my steel bike. But I still have a spare cycle computer, maybe the start of N+1....

[MrJacques]

Anything can turn into an adventure if you are your own mechanic. It can be time consuming but also satisfying when you get it right.

Youtube can be helpful, but also make it look easier than it might be for you to do. There are certain things I only service once a year and by the time the next service needs to be done, I need to relearn some of it.

Having the right tools definitely helps. Cable cutters are next on my list.

Take photos before disassembling, or make sure you have a diagram / video to refer to. A simple plastic shim can look like it could fit in either direction.

 

Edited December 27, 2025 by MrJacques