Jump to content
IGNORED

Learn to repair or pay to repair


Recommended Posts

I'm new to bike repairs/tuning and just learned my first lesson. Never take a pair of pillars to your barrel adjuster. I know, I know, I'm an idiot. lesson learned.

So, now I have a broken barrel adjuster on my shifter and my cable tension is stuck in a spot that basically makes my bike un-ridable.

I'd like to learn bike repairs, but I'm wondering If replacing the shifter is too 'advanced' for me considering I couldn't even tune the thing... lol

Questions..

- should I take on the repair myself and keep learning by making mistakes? (but, I really want to get back to riding asap)

- should I accept that this might be beyond my skills and take it into a shop? (I'm curious if most of you guys do your own maintenance/repairs or not)

- I hate to impose, but might as well ask.... Is anyone in N Austin avail to help me with this repair?

 

Also, this is a super low end bike (Talon 2), so I'll probably just replace the shifter with the same model. (Advent - microshift Trail)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

learning bicycle maintenance on your bike is not hard. learning to work on everyone else's bike (as in, working in a bike shop) takes years and years to master.

I have most of the tools needed to do basic stuff, so if you ever want someone to walk you through it, consider this an open invitation to visit my garage. (southwest Austin)

Edited by mack_turtle
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Learning to fix your own bike is one of the best investments that you can make in the sport.

Sure, you save a lot of money, but most importantly you save a lot of time. You can ride more when your bike is not sitting in a shop waiting for it to be fixed.

If you like to ride, learn to wrench.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, AustinBike said:

Learning to fix your own bike is one of the best investments that you can make in the sport.

Sure, you save a lot of money, but most importantly you save a lot of time. You can ride more when your bike is not sitting in a shop waiting for it to be fixed.

If you like to ride, learn to wrench.

especially lately. it seems there's a shortage of bike mechanics and a massive surplus in demand for their services. it's better now, but a year ago when all bike shops were backed up over a month for service, there might never be a better time to DIY. the only thing I might be willing to wait for a is a suspension fork rebuild, as in damper and everything. otherwise, DIY or die!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was made worse by the fact that the explosion in bike sales was primarily to first time buyers who are not capable of some of the most basic repairs/adjustments. On FB I see people saying they got a flat or need a derailleur adjustment and now their bike is in the shop for 2 weeks waiting for someone to get to it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Park Tool, the best known home and professional bicycle tool company, has a great set of YouTube videos on many of the things a newbie up to weekend warrior can fix. Their website used to have them organized by what area of the bike you’re working on. Not sure if that’s changed.

If you like printed info, Amazon should have Zinn and the art of mountain bike maintenance. Great how-to book from a journalist that’s had a maintenance column for 30+ years.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Chongo Loco said:

Park Tool, the best known home and professional bicycle tool company, has a great set of YouTube videos on many of the things a newbie up to weekend warrior can fix. Their website used to have them organized by what area of the bike you’re working on. Not sure if that’s changed.
 

They still have the videos and they add new ones.  They have a YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/parktoolcompany

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not clear to me whether the barrel adjuster you broke is on a front or rear shifter. If it's on the front, take it off, remove the front derailleur, and replace your drivetrain with a 1X setup. I'm kidding, but in all seriousness, for shifting the front chainrings, the barrel adjuster on the shifter is really the only way to make subtle adjustments to cable tension. If you are dealing with a rear shifter, you may also be able to adjust the cable tension with the barrel adjuster on the rear derailleur. Not every rear der. will have them, but many do. So, if you want to get back on the trail as quickly as possible and your rear der. has a barrel adjuster, you may be able to make the necessary adjustments there.

To your original question, I'll echo what everyone has already said. Basic tuning and maintenance on a bike is not all that difficult. There are plenty of resources if you want to learn the basics and YouTube is a great place to start. Not only will it likely save you time and money, it'll make it possible for you to address many issues that come up during a ride (flat tire, broken chain, poor shifting, etc). That means rather than having to cut a ride short, you can fix it on the trail and continue your ride.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@olddbrider I'm already running a 1x with this Talon2, so I'm good there 😉

After chatting with mack_turtleit turns out I didn't actually break the thing, I just didn't have a good grasp of how it should work. 

I've watched a handful of maintenance videos over the last few days, but I'm at the point where I just need more hands on. I'll re-watch the ParkTool tuning video with my bike next to me and take another pass a tuning it this evening.

Thanks again for the help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They still have the videos and they add new ones.  They have a YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/parktoolcompany

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

Here’s what I was looking for. Their website has it organized by what you need to work on. You don’t have to sift thru all the YouTube channel to get to just derailleur videos, etc.

Calvin…the ultimate bike nerd!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

for some context....

I thought the plastic barrel adjuster screwed in/out of the shifter.. when I "screwed" it all the way out and didn't see threads, I figured I snapped the threads off when I took plyers to it...  I kept doing small motions with the barrel and didn't see the derailleur moving so I was convinced I broke it.

Now I realize that the plastic adjuster simply turns the metal adjuster below it and can be turned WAY more then I was giving it credit for.

and the learning continues...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, a step beyond learning to fix your bike is learning to maintain your bike.

This just rolled into the shop today:

IMG_0297.thumb.jpeg.58874ddc08e9b5726c7a7c0930ec2d65.jpeg

Yeah, if someone had learned how to take care of their headsets and bearings they would not be having an issue today.

Oh, minor detail: the shop is mine. In my garage. I only work on my bikes.

Yeah, this is the headset on an urban bike that gets ridden in the rain, goes on road trips in desert conditions and has been ridden 4K+ miles per year for the last 3 years.

Normally I take care of my headsets but I had been neglecting this one. 

Don't let this happen to your bikes, learn to maintain your bikes. This will prevent last minute runs to the shop for parts before another vacation.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’ve been wrenching on my bikes since I was in high school, learning as I went along like you. I’ve been a wrench at Cycle Progression now and currently wrench on other people’s bikes out of my garage. As long as I have the right tools, I can tackle it. The internet (and Park Tool) made it way easier to learn, but there is a certain mechanical aptitude that helps when you can’t just google your way out of a problem.

Working on bikes is kind of like meditation for me, so I enjoy the tinkering and taking the time to do it. I’m also happy to take a look at any issues if you come across them.

Just did a spoke replacement and wheel tru, tubeless tire install, brake install with bleed, and headset overhaul in the past couple of days with another brake install waiting in the garage. There’s definitely a demand out there. The hard part these days is sourcing replacements! Take of your gear people! You might not be able to replace it for months!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Lacch said:

 

- should I take on the repair myself and keep learning by making mistakes? (but, I really want to get back to riding asap)

 

 

Back up bike! 

I know that doesn't work for everyone, but it sure takes a lot of the "I want to ride" pressure off, about working on your own bike.

I've tried stuff sometimes and just couldn't do it. So I take the bike to the shop but still am able to ride the back up.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Learning to fix your own bike is one of the best investments that you can make in the sport.

Sure, you save a lot of money, but most importantly you save a lot of time. You can ride more when your bike is not sitting in a shop waiting for it to be fixed.

If you like to ride, learn to wrench.

Also, a fix in the field can allow you to ride out instead of taking the walk of shame.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Also, a step beyond learning to fix your bike is learning to maintain your bike.

This just rolled into the shop today:

IMG_0297.thumb.jpeg.58874ddc08e9b5726c7a7c0930ec2d65.jpeg

Yeah, if someone had learned how to take care of their headsets and bearings they would not be having an issue today.

Oh, minor detail: the shop is mine. In my garage. I only work on my bikes.

Yeah, this is the headset on an urban bike that gets ridden in the rain, goes on road trips in desert conditions and has been ridden 4K+ miles per year for the last 3 years.

Normally I take care of my headsets but I had been neglecting this one. 

Don't let this happen to your bikes, learn to maintain your bikes. This will prevent last minute runs to the shop for parts before another vacation.

 

AHHH.... the technology never stops progressing. I love indexed steering!🤣

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...