and also how much of your own maintenance do you do? are there certain tasks you won’t do that you’d rather have the lbs work on?
the longer I’ve been in triathlon and riding I’ve tried more and more to at least do the basics of bike maintenance. just stuff like changing my tires, changing bar tape, putting on a new chain, minor brake adjustments, minor derailleur adjustments (can’t say I’m great at that yet). I think my next step is replacing my shifter cables. So far I just watch youtube videos for guidance. I did have to take my bike in to have bottom bracket replaced recently (bb bright on a cervelo p2). I didn’t want to figure that one out on my own as I’ve read posts about issue with bb bright. mine only lasted 3 years on my bike which seems short.
any other suggestions on learning to maintain my own bike?
Youtube is your friend, go to LBS and just ask in case you do not know. Search the internet / forum. This is how I learned it. Good luck and do not be afraid to mess things up, everybody has made mistakes. Good luck.
I do it all myself. I started doing my own work when I was a poor grad student and couldn’t justify paying someone else. It took a while to become competent, but there not much I can’t do (wheel building is about the only thing I don’t have much experience doing).
Re-doing shifting cables is one of the more frustrating jobs, especially when it is an internal routing job (…they all are these days). Just go slow and expect it to take more time than you thought. The toughest part is getting the cable to exit the BB hole.
The two best tools for internal routing are
A flashlight to see the cable in the frame
A strong paperclip fashioned like a hook to fish out the cable from the BB hole.
Of course, you have to work on your derailleur adjustments. Do yourself a favour and read the Shimano installation instructions. Before you start the adjustments, you need to make sure your cable housing is well ‘seated’. To seat the housing, you’ve got to add put a lot of tension on the cable (use the shifters to tension the cables).
Replacing a BBright bottom bracket does take some tools / knowhow, so don’t worry about sending that to the shop.
Just did this with a full groupset (including crank/BB) upgrade on my entry level road bike.
Tools for everything cost about $300
Youtube has all the instructions for everything, and you can ask forums for others
You will still make tons of rookie errors of course - stuff you’d never dream about (I ran my RD cable THROUGH my the inside loop of the chain doh)
You’ll probably buy some not-needed tools and parts
Try to do everything yourself until you’re convinced you can’t do it even with the best tools (within reason pricingwise). My LBS had to remove a fused headset for me - no way I could get that out on my own (took their expert guy nearly an hour)
Then lastly, be careful when you start riding your self-tuned biked again. Unlike the LBS pros, YOU will make rookie mistakes which can be dangerous if you don’t take it easy until you’re sure it works. I had not left enough of a curve in my rear brake cable housing when it enters the brake, and turns out the sharper angle was cutting the power dramatically to my rear brake. I didn’t notice until I was descending a 10% grade, and realizing that my front brake was barely able to stop me on its own and my rear brake was near-useless. Yikes!
It took me nearly 16 hours to do my first CORRECT build with my bike because I kept messing stuff up. I could do a full group reinstall on my bike now in <1hr if all the parts are readily at hand, but when you’re a newbie, everything screws you up.
Last tip - HIGHLY recommend spending the $75 for a derailleur hangar adjustment tool. Without this tool, even if your RD hangar is slightly off, you will waste hours trying to index the RD but it will be annoyingly ‘slightly off’. Once you fix the hangar alignment, the RD needs almost no tuning of cable tension for perfect shifting.
Re-doing shifting cables is one of the more frustrating jobs, especially when it is an internal routing job (…they all are these days). Just go slow and expect it to take more time than you thought. The toughest part is getting the cable to exit the BB hole.
.
actually very simple… get a plastic sleeve, thin tubing… and pass it over the end of your cable, say the front mech and pass it over the cable until it comes near the top tube… and then pull the gear cable with this sleeve… and boom, easy… then pass the new cable back through… sometimes its the tubing that comes with a new frame…
Started with simple things like adjusting my bars and seat. Started buying tools and progressed from changing my own chain to everything else. Also took a class my tri shop was offering. That was key for me. I’d ask your LBS about a class or search the internet. I also bought the Zinn book, but to be honest-- youtube is a great resource. This is a great skill to have in your back pocket and is (IMHO) a right of passage for cyclist. GOOD LUCK!
Should also add a few things. When you have work done at your LBS, ask if you can watch. Also, tools make a difference. Just buy a piece at a time and before you know you will have everything you need.
Do all of your maintenance. It is amazingly easy. The only real barrier is tool ownership. For example, I had my local shop do my BB30 bottom bracket, because I did not have a BB press. But I will get one before my next replacement.
Grew up riding bikes. Carried patches, glue, and a multitool, and did all the repairs in the field. As did other boys I grew up with. If we didn’t know how we would have been stranded far from home and walking back.
As to how I learned to maintain fancy race bikes with their multitude of different standards? Yep youtube. And building on past experience. Got a repair stand and a nice set of tools in the garage.
I’ve done all my own maintenance for the last 6.5 years with three exceptions:
Replacement of a worn out bottom bracket and chainrings (I’d have done the chainrings myself but wasn’t 100% about the BB so let the LBS do the lot as the cost was very reasonable).Rebuilding an STI shifter when I cracked the chassis in a crash a few months ago. I tried getting spare parts to do it myself but couldn’t find them and a full assembly replacement was pricey. It only cost €60 for a local bike mechanic who had spares to provide the part, do the work and throw an expert eye over the frame to ensure there was no unnoticed damage from the crash. Well worth it in this case!Replacing broken spokes/truing wheels - I don’t have a jig for truing or a way to measure spoke tension. Might give it a go at some point but probably not as it’s very rarely needed.
I do all my own routine maintenance which I would regard as:
brake and gear adjustmentsbrake and gear cable replacementsbrake pad replacementscassette swaps/replacementschain replacementsbar tape replacementtyre/tube replacementfitting/removing mudguards before and after winter
All of these are fairly simple and require very little in the way of tools.
You do need a chain whip and lockring tool for cassette changes and a decent cable cutter and/or crimping tool/pliers to do a tidy job on cables. The rest is just what you’d have on a repair kit multi-tool anyway. i.e. allen keys, philips and flat screwdrivers and a chain splitter (if you don’t use a “quick-link”).
Adjusting/indexing gears is easy once you know how it’s done (look up GCN videos on Youtube for this and lots of other maintenance tips if unsure).
Over the past few years I’ve also done all of the following without ever damaging anything or having anything fail that I can remember: I’ve replaced or fitted handlebars, seatposts, brake calipers, wheels, saddles, bottle cages, speed/cadence sensors, pedals, secondary brake levers, lights, computers, and probably a few other things. All of these are items are pretty simple. It’s typically just a case of clamping them in place with a couple of bolts. Don’t forget to pre-tension the bearings with the top cap when you adjust a stem and don’t use excessive force and strip threads or crush tubes, that’s about it.
I still find it absolutely amazing that anyone goes to the LBS simply to get new tubes/tyres fitted or to repair a puncture!
It’s quicker to do it yourself than get in the car and drop it to the LBS. If they were right next door and did it for €5 I MIGHT consider it just out of laziness…but then how would I know it was done to my exacting standards
Seriously though, most bike maintenance is pretty easy, doesn’t require much in the way of tools and doesn’t take too long. You might get a little dirt on your hands but that washes off easy enough! There are some exceptions, but not too many.
Every time something is wrong with my bike, or I need to do something with my bike then I search youtube and get to work. I’ve mostly bought tools as one-offs as i needed them with the exception of my parktool hex set. If I ever have something wrong with my bike that I can’t figure out what it is then I usually try search online, ask online, or go into my LBS and ask. As long as I’m buying the tools and parts from my LBS they are really friendly about helping me get on two wheels again.
It has taken several years but I’ve learned a lot about fixing and maintaining my bike. There are a few things I haven’t had a chance to do yet since it hasn’t come up (such as wheel truing) but for the most part I have the tools and knowledge to tinker with my bikes.
The tools put a high upfront cost but it definitely ends up being a huge cost saving in the end. Also, I personally find it much more convenient to spend 10-30-60 minutes working on my bike than having to drive my bike to the shop, drop it off, and come back later in the day or a few days later to get my bike. Lastly, is is a ton more rewarding for me to ride my bike knowing I did the work on it. Yeah, it’s usually something simple like changing the chain and doing a routine maintenance check but there’s still a bit of pride in knowing that I did that myself. I say that as someone who was once stranded a few miles from home with a flat and I had NO idea how to fix it— I walked to a bike shop (Taylor’s Bicycles, Provo UT) and they were super friendly in showing me how to fix a flat and getting me back on my two wheels. That was kind of the turning point for me to say “Okay, I gotta learn how to do these things myself”
Ok, I’m going to save you some time when you decide to redo your cables…go to your LBS ask if you can buy a set of the tubes that come w/ framesets to run the cables…they will probably give them to you for free because they will usually throw them out because they are drowning in them. These are just long plastic flexible tubes…BEFORE you remove the old cables slide the plastic tubes over the cable and through the frame until it pokes out the other side. Now pull the cable out. When you are ready to put the new cable in just stick it in the plastic tube and it will route exactly where you want it. Once the cable is in place remove the tube and finish the job up and have a beer. No swearing, paper clips, vacuums necessary. Just a little fore thought before removing the cables in the first place.
When you are done take the plastic tubes and save them for the next time you need them.
Ok, I’m going to save you some time when you decide to redo your cables…go to your LBS ask if you can buy a set of the tubes that come w/ framesets to run the cables…they will probably give them to you for free because they will usually throw them out because they are drowning in them. These are just long plastic flexible tubes…BEFORE you remove the old cables slide the plastic tubes over the cable and through the frame until it pokes out the other side. Now pull the cable out. When you are ready to put the new cable in just stick it in the plastic tube and it will route exactly where you want it. Once the cable is in place remove the tube and finish the job up and have a beer. No swearing, paper clips, vacuums necessary. Just a little fore thought before removing the cables in the first place.
When you are done take the plastic tubes and save them for the next time you need them.
I actually designed my frame with the intent of those plastic liners staying in place. At the point of cable entry into the frame (where the cable housing stop is located), merely “flare” the end of the tube so that it stays in place and doesn’t drop through the hole when everything is installed. In my case, there were also brass tube cable guides brazed onto the bottom bracket just past where the cable exit was located. I fed the tubes through those guides and cut the ends just past the guides.
Cables just fish in and out of my internally routed frame…no muss, no fuss. Put the cable in one end and it comes out the other right where it’s needed.
BTW, you can get teflon-based versions of these liners from Jagwire. They even come pre-flared on the ends. They’re intended to be used with their solid aluminum Link outer housings.
and also how much of your own maintenance do you do? are there certain tasks you won’t do that you’d rather have the lbs work on?
the longer I’ve been in triathlon and riding I’ve tried more and more to at least do the basics of bike maintenance. just stuff like changing my tires, changing bar tape, putting on a new chain, minor brake adjustments, minor derailleur adjustments (can’t say I’m great at that yet). I think my next step is replacing my shifter cables. So far I just watch youtube videos for guidance. I did have to take my bike in to have bottom bracket replaced recently (bb bright on a cervelo p2). I didn’t want to figure that one out on my own as I’ve read posts about issue with bb bright. mine only lasted 3 years on my bike which seems short.
any other suggestions on learning to maintain my own bike?
Many times a local resource will have bike maintenance courses you can attend. That can give you a more “hands on” taste before jumping in. I originally did so at the local university campus bike shop (run by the student government)…that was a LONG time ago. I recall the instructor showing us how to flush and re-lube a thread on freewheel =8-0
None of what you need to do is “rocket surgery”. Youtube vids are a great resource. It’s usually about having the correct tools and knowing the proper sequence of operations.
I do all of my bike wrenching, from initial builds to maintenance, to even wheelbuilding. Then again, with a graduate degree in mechanical engineering, I’d be somewhat embarrassed if I couldn’t build/mainain a bicycle Besides, I actually enjoy it!
one bike shop has a monthly maintenance session but so far it’s been basic stuff like changing your tire, changing bar tape, and not much beyond that. unfortunately the local bike co-op no longer exists either. but youtube vids have been helpful. the GCN ones are pretty good. I’m just waiting until after triathlon season to really spend some time fiddling around with one of my bikes.
Long before Triathlon and Road Cycling, I was a mountain biker. A friend lied to me and told me that the beauty of mountain biking was once I owned the bike, the sport was free. Then I started breaking stuff and realized it was far from free. My wife was THRILLED.
Doing my own wrenching started as a way to stay on the trails while keeping costs low. I learned pretty quickly that it was also therapeutic to get my hands greasy and ride something that I had put together. That mountain bike is heavily modified now…mostly because I liked doing the upgrade and maintenance work.
I only pay a shop to do the things where the cost to own the tool vs. the times that tool will be used ratio doesn’t line up. A good bottom bracket bearing press is $$$ (unless you do the diy washer and threaded rod version). A headset tool is similar. I don’t do those jobs often enough to need to buy the tool, so I have the LBS take care of those parts when needed.
one bike shop has a monthly maintenance session but so far it’s been basic stuff like changing your tire, changing bar tape, and not much beyond that. unfortunately the local bike co-op no longer exists either. but youtube vids have been helpful. the GCN ones are pretty good. I’m just waiting until after triathlon season to really spend some time fiddling around with one of my bikes.
