I have never done my own work on my bike, but am wanting to learn. For one thing I’m tired of overpaying the LBS for bike service and I am also interested in learning how to do it myself. What is the best way to learn? What are the tools that are necessary to get? Any other advice? thanks!
Get a book and a basic bicycle tool set off of ebay. I do all my own wrenching, unless Im lazy then take it in. Once you have the basics its all pretty easy. Check out park tools website for help.
just start tinkering on your own. The park tools website is the best guide I’ve found but most comes from just getting your hands dirty!
Lennard Zinn’s The Art of Road Bike Maintenance.
and just start tinkering.
You dont need that many tools- almost anything can be done w a set of allen keys (metric), a set of screwdrivers.
My favorite book is the blue park tools book
you may also want to buy a bottom backet wrench, a chain whip, and a cassette lockring adjuster. And a pair of vicegrips, but thats about it. Oh yeah some 3-1 lube (for chain), some grease, and soem degreaser
the best is when you start wrenching yourself and ruin parts and pay even more!
some day I’ll get less retarded at it though
some day
I have never done my own work on my bike, but am wanting to learn. For one thing I’m tired of overpaying the LBS for bike service and I am also interested in learning how to do it myself. What is the best way to learn? What are the tools that are necessary to get? Any other advice? thanks!
the best is when you start wrenching yourself and ruin parts and pay even more!
My personal favorite was my first carbon steertube fork… that was an expensive lesson on following torque specifications.
+1 for the Park Tools site. It’s excellent.
You can buy “complete” bike tool sets, and ultimately those may be a good deal. But if you’re not sure how far you’ll go with this, or you don’t want to start right in with a major expense, just buy the tools you need as you go along.
The best advice I ever got about wrenching: always look for the simplest, cheapest solution first, it’ll save you lots of time and money. (For example, before replacing your bottom bracket see if a little grease won’t make that noise go away.)
By the way, doing it myself has also made me better appreciate why the lbs charges what it does.
You cracked a steerer tube???!!!
Holy shit snacks did you use an allen wrench with a 4 ft. long handle?
OUCH.
I must just have good touch…23 years on the road and I have never broken a bolt or part from working on it. Hell I was going w/o a torque wrench most of that time! I still only use a TW for 2 things: bb cups and cranks.
Yeah… apparently carbon steer tubes don’t like for the stems to be cranked down on when said stem sits below the compression plug. I was playing with bar height on my new S-works some years ago and had about 40mm of spacers on top of the stem. As soon as it cracked… i realized that the compression plug serves as more than just an anchor for the top cap and that I should never be too lazy to pull the fork out and cut it to the correct height.
Growing up working in a shop for about 10 years… I have plenty of ‘lessons learned’ like that. But most of them involve other peoples bikes. You should hear the one about the first tubular i glued for a customer…
If you do any group riding at all, chances are you know a guy like me with a garage full of the proper tools and spare (i.e., “practice-grade”) parts who is more than happy to take a 6-pack off your hands to help you work on your bike a few times yourself until you get the hang of it. For what you’d pay a shop for just a few simple tasks, we could drink a LOT of beer…
Is this a decent tool kit to start out with or is it too cheap?
Is this a decent tool kit to start out with or is it too cheap?
http://cgi.ebay.com/…?hash=item35a820eaf8
Garbage - buy good tools.
Oh, and if you ever find yourself looking for a hammer, vice grips, or a cheater bar, STOP what you’re doing, go have a beer, and come back later!
Is this a decent tool kit to start out with or is it too cheap?
http://cgi.ebay.com/…?hash=item35a820eaf8
Garbage - buy good tools.
Oh, and if you ever find yourself looking for a hammer, vice grips, or a cheater bar, STOP what you’re doing, go have a beer, and come back later!
ditto what khai said, splurge and get park tools, they cost a bit extra for a reason
which kit is necessary?
I’d recommend the Spin Doctor team tool kit at Performance (usually about $100 on sale). Good quality to start with and a tool for just about anything the average home mechanic “should” try. You can add Park Tools over time as you see the need. They are generally nicer than the Lifu (the company that makes many of the rebranded tools) tools, but more expensive.
As far as learning to wrench…
If you are mechanically inclined, pick up Zinn’s book, watch some Youtube videos, and practice on cheap stuff first. If you are the type who can use a tool after watching someone else and practicing yourself, find someone in your riding group who might do a lot of wrenching and see if they’d be willing to show you stuff (usually in exchange for some beer). Many of the better LBS shops also have maintenance classes. Most of these are very basic (changing a flat tire, adjusting a derailleur, etc.), but I don’t know where you are starting
Just be careful when you start buying bottom bracket tools and spoke tension meters. It’s a slippery slope and everyone will want you to work on their bikes (unless you charge same rates as the LBS). Then again, it helps justify why you bought the tools…
I started with a set of allen wrenches and the blue park tool book (basically a print version of their website). Picked up new tools as I needed them. Depending how fast/far you go with this you’ll populate the toolbox fairly well.
I would say you’d be fine with the smaller rollup kit. For the most part, they have the same tools. The ones in the pro kit are just more ‘shop quality’. Just like any toolset, there is no need for a huge initial investment. Buy them as you learn more and as you need them. I bet at least 50% of bike repairs can be done with a 3 way allen wrench. For me, that is the one must have tool.
Ok, so I got the tools, now I am looking for a work stand. I want to get something that is decent, but not too expensive. What do you recommend?