Doing your own maintenance

[tbm]

I want to start doing some of my own bke maintenance.
Can any offer a suggestion on a good "Do It Yourself" guide book? Something w/ good diagrams and other visuals.

B

[Big Game]

"Zinn and the Art of Mountainbike Maintenance" is the only one I can think of. It seems to be ok. But if you're anything like me, you'll screw things up royally anyway and have to go down to the shop with your bike in pieces (oh, they love that). Experience (especially the real pricey kind) seems to be the most memorable instruction.

[AA]

Best book I've ever seen is "Zinn and the art of mountain bike maintenance"

http://www.velopress.com/zinartofmoun.html

[AA]

Looks like I'm a little slow hitting the post button.

I have worked in several shops over the years and do all my own maintenance however I did buy my brother-in-law that book and he was able to figure a lot of stuff out on his own. Give it a shot.

AA

[knucklebuste]

You don't need a book man. All you need is some basic tools and some special tools. I bought a bike tool kit for 50 bucks. It has most tools youll need. I also have a park tool crank remover. You also want a work stand for your bike. I also make tools. I made my own head cup press. You can do the **** yourself. Have some confidence and whatever you do, don't walk out of the bike shop with your pants down around your ankles. Also do not under any circumstances give the bike shops any business. If you need a tube in a pinch, fine, but don't do what I did. I went to a bike shop and because they were the only ones who could get the 03 boxxer race for me at the time charged me almost 900 bucks for the fork. They could only get me a red top crown as well. Now if I had a little patience, I could have waited till Jensonusa.com got the forks and paid around 650.00. Bike shops are criminals. They wanted to charge me 150 bucks for a set of race face riser bars. I got the same bars on the net for 40 bucks. DO THE STUFF YOURSELF. It's not complicated. Righty tighty, lefty loosy. Thats all you need to remember. Also you got this wonderful happy forum to answer any questions you may have. I will also go as far as giving you my email address, kfarrelldba@charter.net and my phone number if you email me and I will help you out; all in order for you not to get a massive case of burning red-eye because you got raped at the bike shop. DO NOT GET RAPED

[AA]

Bryan,

Buy the book, it's worth the $20.

AA

[gungywump]

Knuckles,

First, I am appalled by your lack of respect for the local bike shop(LBS)!
Do you have any facing tools? What did you make your headset press out of? Please, don't say a 2x4 and a sledge hammer.
Your LBS may support NEMBA so, if you're in NEMBA you should support your LBS!
There are a lot of things you can fix yourself but, there are also a lot of things you can't. There is no substitute for the decades of experience and specialized tools an LBS can provide.
Most any shop will take care of their regular customers. If you constanly show up at the LBS with mail-order parts then yes they are going to charge you for the installation and won't give you a break. If you buy parts from the shop(most will be flexible on price) they will hook you up on labor.
If you find a good car mechanic do you bring him mail order parts? Once you find a good car mechanic do you keep looking for another one? No! Find a good shop and give them business. They do alot more to help your local trails and economy than a place in Cali! If you are unhappy with your LBS look into other ones, find one and develop a relationship them.
I'm Rambling.

Buy the book and support your LBS!!

[Tim]

Uh oh. I do all my own work, never get anything at my LBS, install headsets with a block of wood and a hammer (did a King last night -- takes about 2 minutes), and I've been known to go to my local car mechanic with mail order parts. Guess I'll have to work on a homemade facing tool, though -- haven't figured that one out!

More seriously, there's nothing really tough about bike maintenance, but like anything mechanical, it's easy to screw up if you don't know what you're doing. You need to be prepared to destroy a few things as part of the learning process. The Zinn book is a great place to start; make sure you get the latest edition, though -- I think they're up to the 3rd.

Tim

[knucklebuste]

I had a friend at a machine shop make me a 1.5 and an 1 1/8 press, it's interchangeable. I have all the dies and taps you could ask for. I have reamers, facing tools. Everything but a welder. F the LBS

[gungywump]

I had a friend at a machine shop make me a 1.5 and an 1 1/8 press, it's interchangeable. I have all the dies and taps you could ask for. I have reamers, facing tools. Everything but a welder. F the LBS


So when the Gemini breaks who are . . . Oh, that's right you won't need to worry about a warranty. You don't ride. ;D

[AA]

There is nothing wrong with being able to fix your own bike however there are some things that may be best left to the professionals. There are some people out there that have mechanical aptitude and generally don’t need a lot of assistance from the LBS. Probably the worst thing you could attempt at home with make shift tools is facing your frame. If you have a real facing tool go for it, if you don’t and you mess it up adios warranty. As for the cup press it is pretty easy to make one of your own, attached is a photo of one I made. It's simply a chunk of heavy threaded rod with some beefy spacers, washers and nuts. I’ve seen some other homemade tools that work well, wheel dishing tools and derailer hanger alignment tools are a few that come to mind. The best thing about building a relationship with some local shop folks is you can learn some tricks of the trade from them.

AA

[knucklebuste]

I had a friend at a machine shop make me a 1.5 and an 1 1/8 press, it's interchangeable. I have all the dies and taps you could ask for. I have reamers, facing tools. Everything but a welder. F the LBS

When the bike breaks I'm going to go to another LBS, not the one that raped me on the forks. Any I do ride, I've just been waiting for my rig to be the way I want it first. I've been riding my old 1999 FSR/XC. Peace out man. Krackle

So when the Gemini breaks who are . . . Oh, that's right you won't need to worry about a warranty. You don't ride. ;D

[johnnyt]

The worst part about most shops is that the folks running them seem to forget that the customer is giving them money for not only products but a service. I frequent a couple of lbs and have the utmost respect for the mechanics. Before buying anything, or letting a shop rat get his paws on my ride I do a little "interviewing" first. Since an lbs only does the very difficult work on my bike like, hmmm, actually I have not had a bike shop work on any of my bikes in about 10 years...Ok, so on to the buying from an lbs...First off, it is a good thing to support local businesses in general, and lbs should not be precluded. However, that said, there are three lbs within 10 miles of my house and I would NEVER buy even a patch kit from 2 of them. So lbs to me means not from mail order. When I talk to the shop rat I determine if
1. I know more then them (which happens alot)
2. They are willing to haggle cause they know you can get things much cheaper online
3. If what I need is in stock
Then I make my decision to buy and install myself. They aren't all bad, but like anything, there are some that are really bad. For those ones, I just keep walking...

[MtnBikerChk]

I've heard a lot of good things about the Break it, Fix it, Ride it cdrom (it's on my hannukah list) - they have it at performance and also good - but expensive is the Barnett manual (it's like $100 at bn.com and amazon) but it's got lots of examples - it's really good for road bikes.

zinn also makes a road bike book.

[steve_b]

Finding a good LBS is a trial and error process. If you have a bad experience with one keep trying others. The 2 closest to me I wouldn't go to if they offered FREE service. The one I use now for things that I don't do myself or don't want to do myself is a little more expensive, but they have the best knowledge and the best mechanics.

That being said, if you own a new or almost new bike, you can prevent repairs by using lube, keeping bolts tight, brakes adjusted, bike washed, etc. ;D

[sizlinseagulsoup]

Thought I have never looked at the Zinn book, I have noticed that other book series go out of date much too quickly. Personally I would think the best way to learn about mechanics would to "borrow" some neighbors Huffy and attempt to make it functional. Granted all of the parts are not the same as what we all ride, it should still give you a basic understanding. At least that is how I learned, then a little trial and error on my quality bike.

[AA]

I think the Zinn book will be a little more curent than your neighbors Huffy. Anyway if you are looking for a web site with lots of tools and books check out

http://www.biketoolsetc.com/

[fatire]

i think there is a balance you have to try find between doing it yourself with e-tail parts while still supporting your LBS.
i just can't pay $100 to my LBS for a rear derailleur I can buy on-line for $40 less.
on the other hand I will gladly pay a reasonable premium to my LBS who has what I need off-the shelf.
after all it cost's another $7-10 to get anything shipped and paying another 10-20% on top of that is reasonable.

FYY, two other sources for bike repair info:
http://www.bfr-it.com/demoin.html
I just received the demo CD in a Jenson box and at first blush it looks very good with super clear (and up to date) pictures.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/ is also an excellent site with manyvery informative and free technical articles.

happy wrench twisting
fatire

[tbm]

Finding a good LBS is a trial and error process. If you have a bad experience with one keep trying others. ....





I always thought Belmont WW was a good bike shop. I bought my Gary Fischer there about three years ago and the sales guy was very knowledgable and provided me with more than enough to make an informed decision. The bike has been a perfect fit!
Anyway, when I bought it I had them upgrade a couple components and when I got it home I discovered that they installed clipless pedals. I did not ask for the clipless, and after looking over my receipt I had not paid for them either.
Then last weeks I had it in for a tune up. I also had them upgrade my brakes and give my derailleurs some extra attention because the had been acting a bit screwy. When I got it home I found that not only did I have upgraded brakes but I also had an upgraded rear derailleur as well, which was not covered on the receipt.

But they also effed up my computer. Totally disconnected at the wheel and the sensor attached to the spoke was gone. What goes around comes around I guess.

I guess I’ll be going back to Frank’s. Unless I want upgrades. ;) ;D

b