Ai_1 wrote:
MrTri123 wrote:
lightheir wrote:
One slightly out of town HIM blows the budget.
And even if you put off bike maintenance for like 3-4 years like I did, it'll bite you on the backside when you have to replace a bunch of stuff, possibly even big stuff like rusting components and cockpit. Easily several hundred dollars for bike maintenance alone, and if you do it yourself and have to buy the tools to even do the maintenace, you're looking at $500+ right off the bat.
Serious question
What bike maintenance?
I have approx 24,000 miles (many on the trainer) on a 2011 Cervelo. I oil the chain have changed the rear cassette and chain once and a few new tires and inner tubes
What am I missing? Cables - but that doesn't require much in the way of tools - a cable cutter ($5-$15?) maybe if you don't already have something suitable.
Brake pads - again doesn't require much in the way of tools, just an allen key that you will surely already have, if only on a multi-tool in your repair kit.
Bar tape - you might need a knife or scissors
In terms of specialised tools, really you just need a chain whip and lockring tool for changing cassettes and everything else short of bearing changes is just simple hand tools you probably have anyway (scissors, allen keys, cable cutter, screwdriver). I struggle to see how he's arriving at anywhere near $500. I'd guess $25-$40 for the tools to change a cassette and $30-$40 for the other non bike-specific items you probably already have. So maybe $80 at a very tenuous stretch. Self maintenance costs time and effort but it's fairly inexpensive in terms of money.
Hah you gotta be KIDDING me. Seriously reality check needed there!
I thought EXACTLY as you did when I first attempted my very own bike maintenace, thinking it the parts tools and everything would come in well under $200. I even had your exact tool estimate, of about $80, given that allen keys, cable cutter, chain tool, don't cost much.
I then first attempted my first must-do repair. Replace rusted front brake. Easy, right? Well aside from the cost of the brake, you need brake cables, brake housing, bar tape to redo the tape after you cable it, grease, allen keys. Then I found I needed a longer front screw for the frame to fit the newer ultegra brake. Not even counting the brake itself, the cost of all that was nearly $80 on Amazon.
That led to what i was alluding to earlier about delayed cost repairs. Turns out my cockpit was rusted and the screws rusted so badly I couldn't even remove them - had to do that before replacing the brake since the cabling goes along the cockpit, which needed angle adjusting. Numerous tries, including electric drill with screw drill-out set didn't work to remove the screws, so new cockpit needed. That costs a lot, but I went budget got a aerobars + base for <$150. Then i needed tweezers to run the internal cabling, and a neodymium magnet to help the internal cable routing (helps a lot on those older bikes.)
Then you find out your stem is totally rusted out as well. Hopefull you've been covering your bike on the trainer, because that happens. New stem and faceplate needed. And then you find you require a torque wrench for the carbon stem+faceplate, it's not optional - it's absolutely required despite what so crazy poster on this forum says - you will definitely break the stem/faceplate without it (I was horrified with how overtorqued my road bike face metal stem faceplate was once I got the torque wrench!).
And while you're redoing your Cervelo cabling, you find on older models (mine is 2008) it's a royal pain to run the internal cabling. So you get the Park Tool Internal Cable routing kit, which turns out doesn't help AT ALL.
And if you're a noob - don't even think you're going to get the cabling and housing all perfect on your first try. You'll probably realistically go through 3 sets before it's actually correct (although you can live with slightly incorrect if you're lazy.) Then you find you have to get extra endpieces for the cut cable ends. And then you find you need extra or different housing caps for your frame contact points
Oh - and that annoying mild shifting problem you've just ignored for years? Turns out the only way to fix it is with the deraileur hanger alignment tool. There is no substitute. It's a great tool, and odds you WILL need if if your bike has been ridden plenty and moved around a lot in 5+ yrs. Goes for $80, I think.
The biggest thing I haven't mentioned though, that dwarfs all the tool and parts bills I accrued - TIME. I had no idea of how many stupid mistakes one can make with doing this stuff. They're not hard to recognize and fix, but man as a noob you will make TONS of them, which costs you tons of time. I'd estimate at my work dollar equivalent, I spent a least $5k in work-hour time learning to do all this stuff on my bike - and far from a stellar job.
It all looks cheap and easy on youtube - until you try it. One stupid thing goes wrong, then the next, and all of a sudden, you're in a money and time pit. Oh, and even after all that hard work and money I poured in to that bike, I STILL had to take it to the LBS because the rusted stem was so stuck it had to be specially removed (LBS even b*ched about how hard it was for them to do it) - $100 for that to be replaced.
I'm glad I learned all that stuff and got enough tools to do it again in the future, but for sure, I felt seriously misled by posters here and on road bike forums who always crow about how much money they've saved by DIYing their own bike. Especially with regards to how low-ball their initial tool and parts estimates always are. And remember - I did it on the CHEAP - no name-brand stuff, all efficiently priced tools and parts (no high-end or cutting edge stuff - I even run 10 speed partly because of being cheap.) Also, there is a cost of delayed maintenance. You might get lucky and get more years, but wear and tear and sweat corrosion (esp on the trainer) will get you at some point.