[Closed] Most frustrating mechanicing job? My vote is....

- Buy better toleranced headset/different frame

Yeah these days headsets are a doddle - unless the bearings are knackered.

Traditional headsets (and to a lesser degree cup and cone hubs) are annoying as the locknut affects the preload on the bearings, there's much more of a knack to it. And with the traditional ones the locknut NEVER stayed put on a mountain bike!

I was building a front wheel yesterday and dropped a nipple in the rim. Sometimes they shake straight out, sometimes they are a right pain and worst of all it was my own stupid fault for dropping it 🙁

Anything on a BSO.

get handlebars 100% straight!

Looks good - get on and ride - nope smidge out, get off adjust, looks good - a smidge out the other way.  drives me crackers

get handlebars 100% straight!

OK, this. Perhaps getting SPD cleats on right is harder, but even though you should be able to see what you're doing the bars ALWAYS need a quick tweak on the first ride.

Then after the first descent.

Then again when you get home.

Yeah, it's not the big jobs, it's the constant fiddling with contact points that annoys me. Bar straightness, bar angle, a couple of mm off on the saddle, a firmer saddle needing to be a bit lower, brake angle...... aarrrrgh!

Anything that "an engineer* has messed with prior to bringing it to you

*Best reply I heard to that one was oh yeah what software do you engineer ?;)

All of the above - totally wrong!  😉

Mine would be: -

- Toeing in canti brake blocks

- Fitting one of those replacement mech springs that made gripshift work more positively

- Adjusting Cannondale Force 40 break force multipliers

- Shimming the original fitting for Hope brakes to sort calliper alignment

Replacing overdue pivot bearings without a press/tool to remove the old ones.

Agreed - that’s a real trial!

Agree, anything that involves a press in bearing. pivot , wheel and the ultimate bb30

Programming Di2 using the app.

On my touring bike which I use everyday it has to be getting my canilever brakes just right for any length of time ,they will be the death of me,literally when I go too the Pyrenees in a month or so.

Post-mounted brake shoe adjustment on cantis - allen key in one hand, spanner in the other and a third hand to hold and align the brake pads! Most modern bike stuff is a piece of wee wee in comparison.

Do frame building jobs count? If so, mitring seatstays to fit the seat tube whilst also keeping symmetrical is by far my least favourite bit.

Mudguards, anything involving fitting or setting them up often involves me wanting to sling my bike across the garage.

Mine has become anything involving removing the saddle from a Reverb post. One of those curved nuts out of the sadlle clamp always ALWAYS!! gets dropped and runs and hides somewhere on the garage floor! The one thing you haven’t got anything else you can substitute, so you have to find it. I have practically been in tears trying to find one of those little bastards!

Bb30 is a doddle thats the advantage of that design.

I have just done an Octalink this morning, tool with an adaptor to remove the crank arms, threaded rod and washers to clamp the bb tool to bb, massive socket, bar, longer bar, bb breaks, repeat on other side.

Then you have to find the right new bid from a dozen sizes.

Its a good job they last a few years.

Or for those old enough, removing cotter pins from old cranks.

I used to love cottered cranks when I was a lad - there's nothing more fun than hammering one of those bastards out

Trying to replace a shimano brake lever. Getting the spring that makes the lever return to the right place is a real PITA.

Dual post

Shortening braided Hope hoses ...

And cotter pins ... they really were a PITA....

Cone type wheel bearings ....

Watching the new lad at work struggle with canti pads or adjustable bottom brackets is always fun.

For me tracking down di2 battery drain issues is my current hate job

For me tracking down di2 battery drain issues is my current hate job

Big time, there is basically no proper tech support eg voltage draw, resistance specs etc.

Internal cable routing....

Definitely mudguards ^^

Most time-consuming simple job ever, especially when clearances are tight

Finding a snapped spoke and then remembering your running tubeless

Remove cassette or disc

Remove tyre, get used sealant on you and everywhere else

Remove rim tape or cheat and puncture rim tape to fit new spoke

True wheel checking all other spokes are ok

Re tape rim or if you just punctured the tape to fit spoke then patch repair using new tape

Re fit tyre trying to save as much sealant left in it as possible

Top up sealant

Re inflate tyre and try and get it to seat on rim

Clean up rim and tyre of any leaked sealant

Spin wheel to get everything to seal up

Refit to bike

Clean up any sealant mess on floor

Forget about having tubeless until another spoke snaps (2nd one in 3 years)

Putting on foam grips.

Although I’ve been educated to a new process which I’ll use at the weekend, so that may change...

Setting a hub cone 'just right' so that it's rolls smoothly without being loose or overtight...

Internal cabling +1

Removing and then reinstalling a Cannondale Lefty fork.

Internal cabling +1

This is right at the top of my list... in fact I had to do it last night as I'd been putting it off.

On my Whyte the stupid rubber grommets always stick in or won't go back easily... the chain stay routing for the inner is pants ... even after sticking a internal cable through the routing I couldn't get the outer through and when I did it kinked the outer and scratched the outside up.  (And this was after flushing with Teflon spray)

In the end I pulled it bad out, chucked the outer (which luckily was part of 10m bulk) and externally routed the chain stay part.  Result: shifting was back to reliable.

Any bearing job when the outer race doesn't come out with the rest of the bearing.

(For example, this happened to me last week on the inside bearing on a freehub body and it was an absolute pain. In the end, it had to be carefully dremelled away and took about 30 minutes of very carefully grinding to get the thing out)

Otherwise, bearing replacement difficulties are normally inversely proportional to the kit you have in the garage and having a bit of experience. E.g. I have a proper BB30 removal and press kit and this makes them a (quite literally) 10 minute job to do. Once you start raiding the socket set, you know you're going to be in for a bad time...

Headsets are not much faff I find. Yeah there's a bit of adjust, check, adjust, check, but doesn't take long. Removing headsets is more annoying. Whacking a mallet on the removal tool like crazy for half an hour with no result, and then eventually it shoots off and sticks a hole in the wall 😀 . I try to leave headset cups alone though and only replace bearings.

Though will see how much faff it is when I try fitting an angleset to my old Nomad as aligning the cups perfectly becomes important I understand.

Frustration for me is wheel truing.

That and sticky brake callipers and lever servicing. Similarly anything to do with Reverbs.

and fitting and removing tyres on wide carbon rims without snapping tyre levers or breaking the rim with hard levers or resorting to using a metal knife etc.

Changing the pads on Avid Juicy's.

looks a doddle.

isn't.

Anything to do with rim brakes which are still present on my kid's bikes.

Mudguard fitting, though its satisfying when they're done.

Anything where there is a mystery creak.

Anything to do with rim brakes which are still present on my kid’s bikes.

Mudguard fitting, though its satisfying when they’re done.

Anything where there is a mystery creak.

Rim brakes on kids bikes used on single track are just horrible and non-satisfying ....

In order to get the reach you end up taking them in .. then you can't get the wheel out without deflating or loosening.... and any small out of true becomes a non-mystery squeak!!!

Then you do all that and you still have rubbish brakes!

Discs were one of the main must-have's when we went to 24".... at the time not so much due to stopping power (though that's required now) but I just hated dealing with them weekly...

Mystery squeeks and creaks are just PITA... similar to the kids brakes except at least when you do find it and fix it.

I vote for changing frame bearings or servicing forks. Just because of how long it takes (usually because I refuse to buy the expensive proper tools and spend a lot of time thinking of workarounds).

But none of these are as painful as setting up those Magura Hydraulic rim brakes from way back when. Still have nightmares.

Anything involving your partner's bike, which will inevitably go wrong and turn out to be a complete ball-ache. So adjusting indexing will always means a new cable is needed / the jockey wheels are totally shagged / the shifter has broken internally. Headset 'adjustment' will always mean a new headset. And it will never be possible to align brakes without an annoying intermittent rub. If you manage to fix this, it'll return five minutes later.

On my own bike the sort of intermittent creaks that can come from anywhere between the stem/bar interface right back to the rear quick release skewer, but always sound like they originate from the bottom bracket... everything else is just strightforward logic, but creaks are motivated by low, evil cunning and have a mind entirely of their own.

Loose bearing cup and cone hubs.

You need the touch of a safe-cracker to get the tension just overtight enough so you can back the cones off against the locknut and then have whole thing potentially ruined by doing up the QR. Trial and error was the only way - until they worked loose on a wet and gritty Dark Peak day and I never had to worry about them again......

I vote for changing frame bearings or servicing forks. Just because of how long it takes (usually because I refuse to buy the expensive proper tools and spend a lot of time thinking of workarounds).

I tend towards the same except this is mitigated by a feeling of reward after.

I can forgive the hassle for a feeling after of job well done in adverse conditions and feeling inventive on the improvised bearing press etc.

Sometimes however the simplest thing can be the pain... I cheaped out on circlip pliers... and I must have taken an hour to remove the airshaft...(without scratching it)... and for reasons best known to myself I'd elected to do this in the bike stand outside and it started raining after 30 minutes ...

Bb30 is a doddle

Hmmm, it's not, but it's not as bad as many make out and I certainly have had bigger problems with removing threaded BBs.

dannyh

Loose bearing cup and cone hubs.

Oh, I agree... my *spit* Shimano hubs need regreasing.. but I'm tempted to just buy new hubs/wheels rather than get the spanners out 😀

> Bb30 is a doddle

Hmmm, it’s not, but it’s not as bad as many make out and I certainly have had bigger problems with removing threaded BBs.

Maybe I've had good luck, but I've never had an issue with BB30 swaps. I'm always pretty fastidious about greasing bearings when they go in (helps to keep the BB30 signature creaking down too) and this means that they rarely need more than a couple of modest taps with the plastic hammer to get them out. Whip out the circlips, clean the whole lot up nicely, regrease, circlips back in, press in the bearings and seals and cranks back on. Can't be more than a 15 minute job, I reckon. In fact, it probably takes me longer to service the bearings (i.e. strip, degrease, regrease etc. instead of a new set) than to get the things in and out.

Am I missing something?

I've had a few stubborn threaded BBs though, mostly when they've been assembled without grease and then ignored for five years. I've got a big-assed brace that I use for those jobs... 🙂

Straight stem can be tricky

Internal cables probably my worst, except on a recent Focus build they went straight through and out!

Not tried some of the harder things mentioned here (I pay someone to save me from going postal)

But I pose the simple task of moving a shimano front brake from one bike to another.

This somehow requires every single size of allen key except the 8mm

Of all the more complex jobs out there, the one job i despise the most is changing saddles, always seem to have to loosen both bottles to get saddle rails into top of seatpost clamps enough that i always undo one the whole way and loose it on floor, one of those "i need a third hand" jobs!

Shimano cup and cone hubs...getting them just so...

complete pain in the arse.

Am I missing something?

Removal for me was bash the plastic sleeve to destruction before it moves more than a couple of mm, bash the bearing out of the plastic sleeve, remove plastic sleeve easily. Repeat for other side.

Fitting was fine with a couple of adaptations to a headset press to fit the bearings.

Anything that “an engineer* has messed with prior to bringing it to you

*Best reply I heard to that one was oh yeah what software do you engineer ?;)

Speaking as an engineer, anything that's been through any of the LBS workshops within 100km is usually a good indicator that it'll be a frustrating job......

Internal di2 wires, cables or (the worst) hydraulic hoses. Arrrrggggghhhhhhhhh!

@Orangeboy on the slim chance you read this ref Di2 draining issues... Have you tried replacing the internal 4 port junction box? That fixed my draining problem (after trying new battery, replacing internal wires (see above), buying diagnostic tool and generally messing about for a fortnight)

Mudguards of the generic variety. Matching the curve to the tyre can take hours of trial and error.

OTOH fitting Giant mudguards to a Giant designed for them is a breeze.

Fitting tubes. It's not at all difficult, it's just irritating.

Also, reluctant tubeless. Again it's not difficult but it just has that thing where it waits til just before you give up and throw it in the sea before it works.

I adjusted my sister's Magura HS11 hydraulic rim brakes at the weekend. Jesus...all the disadvantages of both rim brakes and hydros, with none of the benefits - why would a manufacturer spec these instruments of torture?

Chainring bolts? I'm sure there's a 'technique' but I hate fitting the bastard things.

Indexing gears on a bike with a bent hanger.

But none of these are as painful as setting up those Magura Hydraulic rim brakes from way back when. Still have nightmares.

I adjusted my sister’s Magura HS11 hydraulic rim brakes at the weekend. Jesus…all the disadvantages of both rim brakes and hydros, with none of the benefits – why would a manufacturer spec these instruments of torture?

This! The amount of hours I have spent getting my HS33's adjusted when they were either on my bike or Mrs Mugsys.....

When they were good they were good though...(I'm talking back in 2004 ish)

Chainring bolts? I’m sure there’s a ‘technique’ but I hate fitting the bastard things.

There's a tool.......

The one I've never seemed to have figured out is indexing gears *after* they've been used for a while. Doing it from new, i.e. with new cable, etc., is fine but subsequent adjustments have it all over the place until I get it worked out then six months down the line I've forgotten it all again!

Forget everything I've said: as of today, the most frustrating job is trying to fit the new style Fox wiper seals without the proper wiper seal tool. What an absolutely evil job. I've now resorted to printing one of these to get the job done this week:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2671245

Awful. Absolutely awful.

I bought myself a cheap Inspired Fourplay trials bike with, yep, HS33s on it. I have no idea what's going on with those. And apparently doing it with the booster fitted is even more of a pain in the arse. But so far it's not frustrating, more bewildering.

Also they are yellow so that balances it out a bit

Dealing with the self entitled w@#$%^&s that thing you owe them a favour because they walked theough the shop door.

Current road front mechs with no inline cable adjustment

Current road front mechs with no inline cable adjustment

I would argue that a modern road front mech without an inline barrel adjuster is probably installed incorrectly...

Forget everything I’ve said: as of today, the most frustrating job is trying to fit the new style Fox wiper seals without the proper wiper seal tool. What an absolutely evil job. I’ve now resorted to printing one of these to get the job done this week:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2671245
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Awful. Absolutely awful.

What it is to live in the future! 24 hours later, I had these in my hands:

...and 10 minutes after, I had my fork seals fitted with no problem at all. If the future of bike spannering is downloading tools from the internet, then I reckon that this type of frustrating job might just become a thing of the past 🙂

OTOH fitting Giant mudguards to a Giant designed for them is a breeze.

I had the same experience, then they sawed right through the seatstays!

Worst job I've done is rebuilding shifters when someone else has taken it apart. Customer comes in with a jar full of tiny springs and complains that they can't figure out how to put it back together. That'll be 3 hours labour fees please.

I actually don't mind cup and cone bearings, the trick is to have them a tiny bit loose and the QR pressure will then have them exactly right. SKS mudguards are a bit awkward unless you have tools for easily cutting the stays. Berthoud steel guards need a lot of care as you have to drill them.

As for internal cables, it all depends if there's already a cable there. Fitting them for the first time if there's not guide in the frame or an old cable to chase through is extremely frustrating. I had to resort to a strong magnet on my frame...

Trying to work on Cannondale EBBs that have been on a bike for a few years. They lock solid and Won't come apart without significant applied energy. Why so stupid a design? My BMC EBB is a delight to adjust.

Setting up just about anything with the Promax name on it (especially if you expect it to stay as you left it for more than 10 minutes), or my latest hate, cabling up any of the latest Trek aero or TT bikes, I wouldn't wish that job on anybody bar the ba****ds who designed them.

Internal cabling +1

was thinking of this thread as I did my speccy roubix rear shifter cable, not sure that the lark Of having no outer cable in the frame is that great for servicing.

I’ve got the cable pull park tool for this thou and although the price is expensive it does make it pretty easy.

Otherwise it would be digging out old gear cable and a lot of pushing an poking an swearing.

Anything involving your partner’s bike

This. And out on a ride goes like....

"I cant shift the gears* "
Ok, let's stop and I'll sort it....
"No, its OK, I'll just keep walking "
it will only take a minute...
"No, come on, keep going...."

Then its forgotten and the bike put away with the issue ready to bit yer arse again on the next ride, or....

"You didn't fix that from the last time out"....

* insert any other random problem here.....

Most of the things on this topic, I've no problem with. Actually quite fond of smacking out push fit BBs and pressing new ones with a homemade headset press.

However...

Bloody Bar Tape! I'm sure it's fine if you do it regularly, but I don't.

Generally I have a quick YouTube as a reminder which direction to wrap and how to get around the hoods. Then it'll tangle up, it'll be uneven, I'll bugger about getting round the hoods, then the top sections will be short or uneven, I might cut the angle the wrong way when doing the last wrap. Once its even and nice, the bungs will put up a fight, or the crap tape will unstick after 24 hours, or two weeks later you'll notice the short sections under the hoods are showing a gap.  And god forbid you want to rotate the bars a tad and then move the hoods down!