c/bicycle-mechanics

7

aaron880•2d ago

Tried Park Tool's chain checker against my cheap caliper method

After 3 chains that skipped like crazy, I finally bought the CC-3.2 and found out my homemade gauge was telling me chains were fine when they were stretched past 0.75. Has anyone else had a cheap method let them down?

0

julia_carter61•3d ago

Unpopular opinion: Stop putting new cables on bikes with rusty housing

I see it all the time at the shop, people swap out frayed shift cables but leave the old housing on. Did a tune up on a Trek hybrid last Tuesday and the owner said he just had new cables put on last month. I pulled the housing off and it was rusted inside, making the shifting feel gritty and slow. You're basically wasting your money if you don't replace both, right? Has anyone else had customers argue about this after you show them the rust?

23

pat_murray53•3d ago

The day I figured out I was overtightening derailleur bolts for years

I was swapping out a rear derailleur on a customer's bike last Tuesday, the same job I've done a hundred times. After I got it all set, the shifts were rough and the hanger looked tweaked. The guy I work with, Mike, came over and just tapped the bolts with his pinky and said 'you're cranking these down like lug nuts.' I always thought tight was good, but now I realize I was probably warping the mounting plate on every install. Has anyone else had a moment where you found out you were using way too much torque on something simple?

9

alice928•4d ago

Switched to tubeless tires after a nasty flat on my commute last Tuesday

I was riding home in Seattle when my rear tube blew out at the worst spot on the Burke Gilman trail. After spending 20 minutes fixing it in the rain, I finally gave tubeless a shot and the sealant handled a small puncture on day two. Has anyone else found that tubeless is worth the mess or do you stick with tubes for reliability?

4

patricia32•5d ago

Had a crank arm snap clean off on a test ride yesterday

I was test riding a customer's old Schwinn after a bottom bracket overhaul and the right crank arm snapped right at the square taper about two blocks from the shop. Luckily I was going slow and didn't eat pavement, but I had to walk the bike back carrying the pedal in my hand. Anyone else run into random crank failures on older bikes, or was this just a fluke from metal fatigue?

15

flores.emma•5d ago

Had a regular tell me my bottom bracket was too tight last week

This older guy named Roy came in with his old touring bike and after I did a quick check he said my preload felt off. He showed me how he sets his by feel with a little back and forth before tightening, and sure enough I was overdoing it. Has anyone else gotten good tips from customers who know their stuff better than you?

25

iris_schmidt•6d ago

Talked to an old school mechanic about disc brakes and it changed my mind

I was at a shop in Portland last week and this guy who's been fixing bikes since the 80s told me he still prefers rim brakes over discs for road bikes. He said discs are just more stuff to break and harder to fix on the side of the road. I always figured discs were just better period, but he had a point about keeping it simple. Has anyone else had a mechanic change your view on something you thought was obvious?

1

brooket43•9d ago

That time a customer's squeaky chain taught me how to spot fake ceramic bearings

I was working on a guy's road bike at the shop in Portland last month, and his drivetrain sounded like a haunted house. I kept checking the chain and cassette, but the noise was coming from the hub. Turns out he'd bought some cheap "ceramic" bearings off Amazon, and they were basically plastic with glitter. Now I always ask folks where they got their bearings before diving into a full tune-up. Has anyone else run into these fake ceramic bearings causing weird issues?

17

pat_roberts55•9d ago

Just spent 3 hours hunting a phantom creak in my bottom bracket

I was rebuilding a 2018 Trek Domane and heard this awful creak every time I stood up to climb. Took me forever to realize it wasn't the bottom bracket at all, but a loose derailleur hanger bolt that I'd overtightened and stripped a bit. Has anyone else wasted an afternoon on a noise that turned out to be something totally dumb and simple?

2

murray.robert•10d ago

Pro tip: forget cable ties, try this for internal routing

I spent two hours fighting with a shift cable inside a carbon frame last week, using magnets and zip ties like everyone says. Finally grabbed a old spoke, bent a tiny hook on the end, and pulled the cable through in under ten minutes. Anyone else find that the common advice here just doesn't work for certain frame shapes?

22

anthonynelson•11d ago

The day a guy at the local co-op showed me why my chain was skipping every time I climbed

I was at the Bike Kitchen in Portland last Tuesday and this older volunteer named Dave watched me struggle through a shift on the stand. He grabbed a Park chain checker and ran it over my drivetrain and just laughed. Turns out I had been riding on a chain that was stretched way past .75 for like 2 months, which explained the skipping under load. He swapped it in 5 minutes with a new SRAM one and now I check every chain I see before I even touch anything else. Has anyone else had a simple tool fix a problem you were chasing for weeks?

0

nancy_king29•11d ago

Learned about wheel true from a grumpy old mechanic back in 2015

A guy at the shop in Portland told me I was using too much tension on the spokes, said I was making the rim as stiff as a steel girder. He showed me how to let some tension off and let the wheel flex a bit, which actually made it stronger in the long run. Anybody here ever gotten advice that completely changed how they build wheels?

3

abbyp61•11d ago

Had a pedal seize on a group ride near Denver last Sunday

Stopped to help a guy with a crank issue and realized his pedal threads were totally dry, took us 20 minutes to work it loose with a wrench and some chain lube. Anyone else carry a small tube of anti-seize in their kit now?

30

wader71•13d ago

That Tuesday where nothing went right on a 2018 Trek Emonda

Had a day last week where I snapped 3 spokes truing a wheel, then stripped a bleed port on a set of Ultegra shifters. The kicker was when a customer came in and said his brake cable snapped while he was going down a hill near Lake Ontario. Spent 4 hours fixing that mess alone. Anyone else have a shift where every single repair fights back?

14

abbyp61•14d ago

The difference 6 months and a torque wrench made on my builds

I used to just tighten bolts by feel, thought I had it down pretty good. Then I started using a torque wrench on every single bolt about half a year ago. The difference in how quiet my bikes are now is massive, no more creaks or weird noises after a few rides. Even the shifting stays dialed in way longer, like weeks instead of days. Has anyone else noticed a big change after they finally started torquing everything to spec?

25

wood.uma•17d ago

Had a customer in Tucson convince me grease is overrated for bottom brackets

This guy rolls in with a 20 year old mountain bike, never once greased the bottom bracket, and it spins smooth as butter. I've been slathering that stuff on every install for years because that's what the old shop lead taught me. He said I was just making a mess that attracts dirt and grit, and honestly after cleaning his setup I see his point. Has anyone else found less prep actually works better on certain builds?

20

the_nancy•17d ago

Shoutout to the guy who warned me about old cable housing

I was rebuilding a 1990s Trek 520 in my garage last Tuesday and decided to reuse the brake housing since it looked fine. Halfway down a test hill near my house the rear brake stuck open from rust inside the housing and I almost went through a chain link fence. Had to walk the bike back and cut all the housing off with a pair of side cutters. Anyone else ever had old housing fail on them at the worst time?

6

baker.christopher•19d ago

Comparison between KMC and SRAM chains on 11-speed setups

I ran SRAM chains for about two years on my gravel bike and kept getting stiff links after every big ride, no matter how much I cleaned them. Swapped to a KMC X11 last spring and the shifting feels smoother and I haven't had a single stiff link in 400+ miles. Anyone else have better luck with one brand over the other?

17

charlies37•19d ago

Finally tried waxing my chain instead of wet lube. Never going back.

I spent like 3 years using fancy wet lube on my commuter bike and dealing with that nasty black gunk buildup on my drivetrain. Finally broke down and bought a crock pot for like 12 bucks at a thrift store, some paraffin wax, and PTFE powder from Amazon. Took me about 45 minutes to do the first batch of 3 chains, rotating them every week. After 2 months, I can actually touch my chain without needing a hazmat suit and my cassette looks almost new still. Has anyone else tried waxing and noticed their shifting stayed crisp way longer than with regular lube?

22

amy_martin•20d ago

That Tuesday when every single bike came in with stripped pedals

I swear it was like a curse. I work at a shop in Portland and last spring I had 7 bikes come in on the same day, all with pedal threads messed up. One was a kid's bike where the dad used a wrench on the wrong side, two were from people who swapped pedals without grease, and the rest were just old and corroded. I spent hours with taps and helicoils. Worst part was one customer argued with me saying 'I just tightened it normal'. Has anyone else had a day where the same problem keeps showing up one after another?

7

wright.leo•21d ago

Been fighting with sticky brake cables for months, finally tried something different

I used to just lube my housing ends and call it good, but after 4 months of gritty Shimano cable feel I finally pulled the housing off a customer's Trek mountain bike and saw the liner was all chewed up inside. Swapped to Jagwire compressionless housing last week and the lever feel went from muddy to crisp in about 20 minutes of work. Has anyone else had that big a difference just from changing the housing type?

18

ruby659•22d ago

Finally figured out my chainline was off after a customer's comment

A guy brought in his fixed gear with a clicking noise I could not find for the life of me. I checked the bottom bracket, the chainring bolts, everything. He casually mentioned it only happened under heavy load, like climbing the hill on 5th Street. That made me put it on the stand and really crank the pedals hard, and sure enough, the chain was jumping a tiny bit on the cog. My chainline was off by maybe 3mm because I was just eyeballing it for years. Anyone have a favorite tool or trick for getting chainline perfect on track bikes?

24

the_viola•24d ago

Pro tip: I was wrong about using a chain whip for cassette swaps

For years, I swore by my trusty chain whip to hold the cassette while I cranked on the lockring. It felt solid, like I was in control. Then a guy at the shop in Austin, who's been wrenching since the 80s, showed me his Park Tool FR-5.2 lockring tool with the built-in handle. He said, 'Just hold the wheel between your feet, use the tool, and let the wheel's own weight do the work.' I tried it on a stubborn 11-speed Ultegra cassette last week, and it came off in like two seconds with zero fuss. No more wrestling with two tools and scratched knuckles. It's a total game changer for a simple job. Anyone else have a 'basic' tool they switched away from that made things way easier?

20

stella_scott96•24d ago

The shop I work at insists on using degreaser for every chain clean, and it's wrong

We had a customer bring in a high end waxed chain last week, and the new guy soaked it in our standard citrus degreaser. It took me three hours to strip that mess and re wax it properly. Degreaser ruins the wax coating and forces a full redo, while a simple hot water and brush clean preserves it. How do other shops handle waxed chains without wrecking them?

23

ruby_wright•25d ago

Heard a customer say 'I'll just watch a video' when I quoted a headset overhaul

Made me remember when you needed the Park Tool HS-1 and a lot of feel. Has anyone else noticed service calls shifting from repairs to just confirming DIY guesses?