[Closed] confident spannering and self builds

I'm getting better, it's a frustrating business if you don't have the correct tool or vague information.

I'm off to sort the bearings in my pedals out. Hopefully I won't sabotage them to get some Nukeproofs!

I love tinkering. Started out fixing a slow puncture, ended up fitting new hub bearings and lacing a new rim into it... I fix other people's bikes because I enjoy it.

i love building bikes, get great satisfaction from it, well done for having a go, always best to get someone experienced to check it though if you're not 100% confident (especially if it's for someone else to ride!)

I've built up a couple of bikes from components. Only things I've never got round to learning are fork stripdown and wheel building. I kind of enjoy it, but it makes time disappear in a way that I can't justify now with a family. but there the second advantage kicks in - its much cheaper to fix your own bike. also if you understand how it works, you know how long you can leave things for before fixing them!

Push bikes is easy Yunki. It's all quick release and clamps with only one bolt. Can't say I've ever laced a wheel but the rest is pretty straight forward....YouTube covers most things anyway.

we all started off where you are now Yunki ...one day you wont need that LBS

I started out the same, could fix very basic stuff. Then I gota copy Zinn and read it throug a couple of times. Once you have the basics down, the rest does sort of flow together. Then after your first couple of full builds you will wonder what all the fuss was about. I still cant do wheels tho! Plus it is also a good excuse for nice new tools in the workshop/shed.... 😀

I try. I really do. I have a fairly methodical and logical way of thinking. I have a work stand. I have bike specific tools. I have been around bikes for 20 years. Why am I incapable of anything more complex than bolting stuff on?? Seriously it's ridiculous, something always goes wrong!

I need help. Soon.

It's not all quick releases and single bolt pinches!

Pedals have unfortunately gone well, I shall have to wait for the Nukes. Each time there is something to fix I see it as a learning opportunity.

I've recently built 2 bikes from separate parts and have the itch to get a truing stand. Bleeding brakes has been interesting: Avid=frustrating, Shimano=calm and straightforward!

I'm at the fork service/wheel building junction now too. Ah, and hubs. Haven't needed to get inside one yet.

Everyone starts somewhere, good on you for getting to 95% 😀

I started by replacing the brake levers on my old BSO, and have now replaced everything except the wheel, seatpost and bars with second-hand/NOS off eBay. Its not really the same bike anymore...

My brother wanted his bike fixing up a bit after I got going. It seemed daft to me that I'd started learning all these skills and so on from scratch by just going for it, when he couldn't be bothered, but I'm not good at relating to people like that!

But now I've got my bike, it goes and stops, I'll take it for all day rides, take it to trail centres, race it, and I'm in no rush to do much more to it. It's become a real companion (wretch!). Building your own bike makes you're that little bit more self-sufficient. If it lets you down, you can only look to yourself, and I think its good to take responsibility.

i'm waiting to have a crash as a result of my own bad work (been putting mtbs together for 15 years)

seem to be getting sloppier though. recently had a bar rotate whilst manual-ling and a back wheel fall out when turning bike over. not good.

broke an avid washer at weekend forgetting which way to undo the caliper mount.

yes, servicing eats time. that's also why it's expensive, and an LBS is much more efficient with everything to hand.

the usual beginner mistakes are breaking parts during install. bike shops must get sick of this. broke a titanium bar 15 years ago (putting on bar ends.. must have been years ago) and that was painful financially at the time. don't trust torque wrenches either.

From that first bike bought off the shelf, and immediately having the countryside closed due to foot n mouth, having to buy a street frame and transfer the parts over, I learnt everything I needed to get by. None of the LBS's round here back then could build a hardcore wheel to take the abuse, and I remember getting the calipers out, hand cutting 26" spokes and rethreading them to make my first 24" wheel. When I progressed to a bighit frame I did admittedly buy a shock and let the supplier kindly shim it and change the oil weight. That's still beyond a fully equipped workshop. It still sits in my parts bin, fully functional, a Stratos TR1. When my s/h shiver dc's arrived I went straight at them without the manual, stripping, changing the o-rings and getting out there with a grin and body armour.

Today though, my mind wasn't on building a rear wheel and I messed the lacing up no fewer than 5 times. Shouldn't have been watching that old scifi schlock film at the same time! Least I didn't break more than one spoke in frustration.

My only cack handed part is indexing. I get it right about 50% of the time, the rest of the time the LBS sorts my miserable work out for me.

Spannering bikes is half the fun! It would be very dull if bikes became too complicated for DIY mechanics. Having a Chris King headset fitted to a Ti frame (to protect the warranty) is the only work I've had a LBS do for me in 20 Years. Youtube is your friend. Especially SRAM Tech and Pinkbike Tech Tuesday videos. I've recently started servicing my own Rockshox forks - adds up to a lot of savings as I have three bikes with Reba/SID forks.

I would really like is to be able to hire expensive bike specific tools e.g. DT Swiss Tensio Digital Tensiometer £675.00, Park Tool Bottom Bracket Tapping & Facing Set £500.00, Park Tool Universal Crown Race Puller £130.00 etc. Could be a business opportunity for someone.

Having sad that...figuring out how to do without the above tools can be fun too!

there always seems to be just a couple of things that I'm not willing to have a go at..

with this one it was shortening hoses.. and I've also asked them to index the gears to save a summer of notchy unpredictable shifting inevitably ending with a trip to the LBS in the long run..

Mrdestructo i saw that 6 months ago you had a stratos TR1 in your parts bin. Do you still have it. I'm looking for one to customise a kids scott spark into a DH version

tomhoward - Member

Why am I incapable of anything more complex than bolting stuff on??

Luckily, it's almost all bolting stuff on!

I love it. I've built three bikes from scratch now, a Ragley mmmbop for my son, a 140mm travel trail bike around a Canyon Nerve frame, and a Cotic Soul.
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I was a bit wary of forks but have now stripped, resealed and re-oiled two Reba Dual Airs, and they no longer hold any mystery.

I need to learn how to build wheels now. I'm confident enough to have a go, but need a stand etc......

I need to learn how to build wheels now. I'm confident enough to have a go, but need a stand etc......

I'm really lucky in that i've got a mate thats really handy with a spanner, but not only that but he's more than happy to spend an afternoon taking his time showing me how to do it.

Alas i'm not as methodical as him and most jobs take 50% longer than they should as I cant find the bits and bobs that i've put down 'somewhere safe'

nicko74 - Member

Actually not as tricky as you'd think; the stand isn't absolutely necessary either, as you can do it in the dropouts and build a simple truing-ma-jig using a cardboard box. The Wheelpro book is a great investment, and if you start by rebuilding wheels that are already built (say with a new rim or new hub), it's a good stepping stone.

I learned the hard way, it became ruinously expensive t hand over a wedge of cash at my LBS for a service, so I had to take on stuff myself.

I have been out of my depth in the past, but I've taken the time to do the research into how to fix the issue and have invested in the right tools so nothing has been insurmountable.

I just don't trust bike shops and my bikes spend more time in bits than together......I also fix and repair all my mates bikes.....I even bought a Vespa last year that run fine, took it to bits, rebuilt it, rode it 3-4 times and then sold it.

I stripped my old 456 and built up this cheeky little so and so since I started this thread.. (I don't think I've posted a pic before have I..? 😉 )

I'm pretty confident with the build too.. gears are smooth as butter and I even took the plunge with torque settings on the carbon bars.. After some initial problems aligning the calipers for zero squeal, I'm happy.. I do have to check however, with OCD-like anxiety, that the headset is still set correctly following every time I hammer it too fast through a prolonged rough section..

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In fact reading back through I realise that I put this one together between the one in the OP and the Soul too.. This was with the help of my little bro who is a bit of an engineering prodigy.. It was a bike for him with parts chosen and sourced by me from the classifieds here..

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Fixed bikes since a nipper 🙂
Old 3 speeds, then choppers and Grifters etc, BMX and to my own bikes i ride today...

Buy the Park Tools book and use "how to" films on Youtube if your stuck.

I wouldnt use many bike shops where i stay (Edinburgh/Lothians) except for a couple of good road based shops with experianced mechanics who are also excellent wheel builders.
Have seen shocking work done by supposedly "qualified" (On paper) bike mechanics - a friend had a fork steerer cut squint with a hack saw, the idiot never even used a cutting tool or jig.
Brand new bikes dry built with no prep what so ever, signed off as PDI`d

These included my nephews bikes which were basicly dangerous and life threatening (loose bars FFS!)... these were bikes that children were going to cycle, how many others are built up like that?...

One day some mates and i walked into an Innerliethen shop a few years back to see a kid hitting a headset cup into a £2000 DH frame with a hammer - yes an engineers hammer! 😯

Best learn to fix and build em yourself, find a buddy who builds bikes who can help you out. Also people on here who will help,just ask 🙂
There is a lot of satisfaction in riding a bike you built and also maintain yourself 🙂

LBSeses gets no workshop business from me, maybe its because of my Dad's influence as a child or something, but I'd feel a bit too much like a failure if I couldn't fix/assemble a bike, I think the shame could actually kill me... 😯

But then we're not all the same, maybe just accept you have sausage fingers and a Woman's brain and thats OK; the service industry exists for you - Better to be out riding than trapped in a shed cursing your own folly for thinking some slightly dextrous tasks and lateral thought wasn't beyond you...

Been bolting bikes together for years so no worries there, bleeding and shortening brakes is time consuming and messy but ok, bashing in headsets can be a bit nervy, SFNs are easy now with a threaded bar, still having trouble drifting in bearings without occasionally wrecking them but getting better, forks are a hassle and my main worry just cause of the possible cost implications. Even built a few wheels have my doubts about the strength but if they do fail it doesn't cost owt to heal my body and I wasn't that attractive in the first place!

Getting the right tools or if ur cheap the right bodges makes it all a lot easier

9 frame builds and 2 rebuilds now including kids bikes and a couple for friends. Started servicing my first mid life crisis bike and then built the replacement. Accumulated the tools over time mostly from ebay. Used Zinn's book. Don't save much money but can break even and get enjoyment plus something a bit different whilst I do it.

I need to learn how to build wheels now. I'm confident enough to have a go, but need a stand etc......

Decided this was cheaper than complete bikes. The Wheelpro book is excellent and gives all the instructions you need to build all the tools, the stand etc. Winter mud means that sooner or later I need to rebuild and that keeps me going.

I do most myself, and have a good mate who is a very accomplished all found mechanic, who helps with / teaches me the rest. Zero to hero in less than 2 years.

Have a go on an old bike - strip it and reassemble. Google is your friend. Pinkbike and park tools have great instructional vids.

The trouble is that if you have a mechanical when out/about, and you don't understand your bike, you could have a long push...

I hate it when manufacturers won't sell you parts - eg fork internals - because you're not a shop. Or you can only buy a whole unit rather than just the screw/washer/seal you need, turning a cheap job into one that's not worth doing. It. Makes. Me. So. Angry!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgh!!!!!

I don't touch brakes, suspension, or press-fit parts - the LBS does these. Fitting or removing everything else is fine if you have right tool for the connector.

When I was a kid we used to bodge together bits off different bikes to get one working (or looking cool - I was a fat front pioneer, with a big white tyre in about 1972 8) )
my dad bought me Richard's Bicycle Book when I was about 10 and sent me off into the garage to sort out my bike from then on
As cheez says, it's always worth knowing how to put it back together or bodge a fix

Totally love it. All my bikes are custom builds, mainly due to the lovliness on classifieds.
I have to say there isn't anything that concerns me working on bike. Mates often ask for assistance and am happy to oblige.
I've even got the knack of setting up front mechs in about 5-10 mins now.
Saves money and is massively confidence inspiring.

Just out of interest. For the non-mechanical types - what did you play with as a kid? Did you not have meccano or lego? Or ever help your dad or grandad do diy/service the car? That's where I picked up all my mechanical competence from.

One of the best presents my grandpa got me (I guess I must have been 7 or 8 ) was an old Morris Minor engine for me to take to pieces and (fail to) put back together again. By then I had a pretty decent tool kit of my own.

95% of bike jobs (and car and house) stuff is really simple - just needs care and forethought. Even rear shocks aren't rocket science to service (tuning is a different kettle of fish), but you do need some hard to get info and a big vat of oil and in some cases a nitrogen supply, which all conspires to make it cheaper to get it done professionally.

broke an avid washer at weekend forgetting which way to undo the caliper mount.

Lefty loosey, righty tighty. 😉

Zinn +1

I don't think any of my bikes hasn't been stripped to the frame and had a fairly healthy parts transplant at some point. 9 times out of ten it's disappointingly straightforward, lots of the little jobs aren't even worth brewing a coffee or warming up the garage for.

just needs care and forethought.

This ^ It often takes me a lot longer to consider, purchase and receive parts/consumables/materials than it does to use them.

Anyone having an LBS index their gears? - poor show. They're designed to be user friendly.

Not mechanically minded and a real bodger. A few years ago i'd take my bike to the LBS to change brake pads or, get this, alter the angle of my brake leavers 😳

Many many hours of toil, swearing and research, and i can now just about do anything including rebuilding avid brakes, fork and shox servicing. Bikes must be quite simple things if i can cope, and there is a real satisfaction in building my own bikes and i think understanding how your bike works makes you a better rider.

my dad used to bring bikes home from "the skip" that me and my mate would strip (with basic tools + lots of hammers) to build up functioning bikes.

got some nicer bikes/ tools but not much s changed really

I'm not very mechanically minded but managed to put my Soul together myself. I was rather nervous on the first ride but it went fine fortunately, apart from a pad axel screw falling out on the final climb.

My forks need a service in the near future, not sure if I fancy doing them or not. Headsets are another thing I'm not keen on without buying a tool.

Just out of interest. For the non-mechanical types - what did you play with as a kid? Did you not have meccano or lego? Or ever help your dad or grandad do diy/service the car?

I loved meccano and lego, and spent half my life in giant graveyards for commercial and military vehicles.. the other half I spent drawing, fishing, climbing trees, exploring rivers and streams, riding my bike and finding ingenious new ways to make my brother's life a misery..

The fact is that my stepdad was a very angry workaholic spanner monkey.. usually stripped to the waist and streaked with a thick layer of blood and oil..
His workshop was a treasure trove, but if we were ever caught trying to sneak in there we were likely to get a heavy object launched at us with a volley of swear words.. and much, much worse if he caught hold of us..
He never really seemed to fix anything either.. he just uncovered more problems..

He'd head out there at 7pm when he got home.. you'd hear him spannering and polishing and machining, but by 2am all you'd hear is swearing and the clang of a lump hammer.. it all made it seem a very difficult skill to master..

It put me right off the whole thing really, and gave me a rather dim stereotypical view of mechanics in general for years and years

oliverd1981 - Member
I don't think any of my bikes hasn't been stripped to the frame and had a fairly healthy parts transplant at some point. 9 times out of ten it's disappointingly straightforward, lots of the little jobs aren't even worth brewing a coffee or warming up the garage for.

just needs care and forethought.
This ^ It often takes me a lot longer to consider, purchase and receive parts/consumables/materials than it does to use them.

This. It took a long time to order all the bits to go on the Canyon, especially as I wanted to run it XT 2x10 (bargain chainset) but it needed a dedicated direct mount front mech, which no one was selling at the time. I finally managed to find one, but it delayed the build by several weeks. Once I had all the bits I built it in about five hours, until I cut the wrong length of brake hose. 🙁

The Cotic was more straightforward, as I only needed a couple of upgrades, and stripped the donor bike in about an hour. The complete build took less than four hours, but has since been re-fettled with a 2x9 conversion and SLX brakes.

I wouldn't be happy riding a bike I didn't put together myself.

It took 5 weeks to get all the bits together for NrSchmancy and took 1 day to fit all together. The only thing that took the time was retuning the tv in the bike room.
That's from a frame only build, building wheels (took one night) and assembly on one very wet Sunday.
It is a 29erSS though, so no suspension woes or gear'idge to worry about.
I know every part of it, it's how I like me bikes.
Built my roadie too.

It ain't that hard folks.

I love diy bike builds they are so satisfying to the point some times id rather go play in the gaurage than ride the things i build 😆

I do pretty much all of my own bike mechanicin' except for truing wheels. I also had the LBS press in my Works slack headset as it was a Ti frame, and also had them service my suspension once.

The main advantage is that you can usually do the fix or fit the part yourself without having to make 2 trips to the bike shop and be without the bike for a while.

The bike is always running perfect when the weather is crap or I don't have time to ride. But something always needs attention when the weather is nice, and leaving the bike in the shop for a few days = missed riding.

Started doing things on my car myself as I felt a few times I had taken it to a garage and they hadn't done what I had asked or solved the problems.

In future I spent the labour costs I would have given the garage on my own tools and taught myself with help from a few friends and the internet.

Teaching myself push bikes now, pretty simple compared to gearboxes and similar, but can be fiddly with all the small parts. Not done anything like wheel building, but fitting/bleeding brakes, fitting new drivetrain, pedals etc etc. Not tried indexing gears yet!

I spent the best part of my childhood tinkering with bikes, old frames, wheels found in skips, parts aquired from a friends dad who worked at Raleigh , our garage was always full of parts and part builds
Before that meccano , lego and Bayco fed my hunger for building things
All my school reports said I would become a mechanic or something as I excelled in Motor Vehicle engineering and Metalwork- so I became a supermarket manager!!
Anyhow I only got back into bikes about two years ago but that childhood of tinkering gave me a good grounding when I started spannering again, and thank god cotter pins are a thing of the past !! I used to kill them every ride once I did a few jumps and my cranks would end up at 5 to 6

I have to add one thing..

Tubeless..

I spent one very frustrating evening trying to seat beads on rims..

I've bailed and gone to tubes for the time being, MrSchmancy is off to my LBS for that most frustrating of "mechanical" of issues.

I so can't be bothered.

I'm doing a frame swap on my orange five which should be a good way to learn. Already done crank swaps etc but all off then all back on again should teach me quite a bit while also being relatively easy as I'll know where all the bits came from.

I have got to the point where my first part build will now move forward using the power of leg and pedal unfortunately I am completely screwed regarding the rear mech and possibly chain length. 1st I couldn't get t into the big ring at the back now I can't get it to move to any of the first 3 rings. Not sure if. Have made the chain t short now but a completely flummoxed and a little frustrated. So close but no cigar folks!

John you're getting into a tizzy. Step back, take a breath, chill out for a mo.

This is a doddle. Go back to first principles and start over.

Chain length is here: http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/chain-length-sizing

Splice some links back into your chain if you've made it too short.

Rear derailleur setup is here: http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/rear-derailler-adjustments-derailleur

Follow the instructions step by step. After the first couple of times it takes 5 minutes.

Basic bike assembly is very straightforwards. You don't see bike mechanics driving around in Ferraris do you?

ps I have three important words of advice for anyone starting out mechanicing. I will say this only once.

[b]Don't overtighten stuff.[/b]

[b]Don't overtighten stuff.[/b]

[b]Don't overtighten stuff.[/b]

(got that?)

So make sure things are really tight? Yes?

Thanks for the links, I have them saved for the weekend. As it happens I have managed to get on a basic maintenance course next week for a fiver as its subsidised by Sustrans. Am taking the offending article with me to make sure it's fit to ride.