[Closed] There is no worse bike maintenance job than.....

And to the people who say cleaning a bike isn’t a hassle, I bet they’re the type who also say washing the dishes isn’t a pain in the backside but actually only briefly dunk them in lukewarm mildly soapy water.

Add in not getting home from Tweed valley til nigh on 6pm on sunday, so if I don't wash the bike in the dark, it'll be saturday before I can do it in daylight!.

Hot hose down, lube chain just had to do.

You can’t spin the cranks backwards on an ebike?

You can, but it’s disengaged from the chainring.

Turn the rear wheel backwards then? Or just turn the cassette backwards?

Turn the rear wheel backwards then? Or just turn the cassette backwards?

While hold bike, and scooting lube on, no great. Easier to fire in workstand/some kind of saddle hook.

@ads678 ball joint splitter. Tool of last resort if a crank doesn’t come off the axle

At the moment it's trying to remove a retaining ring from an orbea Occam swingarm. It doesn't have holes for special pliers and I can't get it to budge using a pick or anything else. Also, I can't get the linkage arms off the splines as the loctite is doing its job well and I'm not hulk.

Replacing the bearings on my crank brothers pedals was the last nightmare job I did. The plastic friction bearings were so incredibly tight going in that one deformed/crimped. Consequently, I expect it to fail relatively soon.

@davros at the risk of stating the obvious, punches and hammers, plus improvised slide hammers made of nuts and bolts has always helped me in the past.

being volunteered to fix someone elses kids bso.

I do have a slide hammer, punches and threaded bars which will probably do the job on the linkage arms. Last time I attempted it I ran out of time so decided not to go any further.

Still totally stuck on the circlip thing... Might have to spend some money on special retaining ring pliers in the hope they will do the job.

There is no worse bike maintenance job than…..

Tubeless when the tyre won't seat. It combines non-exact science with physical exertion and if unsuccessful it is 100% unsuccessful.

Mind you, I was doing it with just a shock pump. I've got an airshot now and it is much better.

^^ so you either have a presta shock pump or a schrader tubeless valve? How odd! 😛

Definitely cup and cone bearings. Such an unnecessary job.

There was also the incident with the blue Orange that she suddenly realised was now an orange,

Ha. All my FS bikes are black for this reason!

Dropper post cables are a fiddle, but my least favourite job is replacing broken spokes on a tubeless wheel.

A tyre and insert to deal with, all covered in tubeless spooge. Then having to clean the rim and remove perfectly good tubeless tape to chase a nipple around the rim. Even after the spoke is back in and the wheel is trued, new tape has to be put back in, the tyre and insert mounted, reinflated and re-spooged.

What a faff for a broken bit of wire!

Honing bearing seats is tiresome too because it should have been done properly in the factory first time round.

@nobeerinthefridge if you wedge the front wheel in something (I've two bits of 2x2 screwed to a fence) you can lift the bike so the bottom bracket rests on a car axle stand. Lubing is then easy - with using walk mode or hand cranking it.

Getting Hope cranks off a fatbike. Even with the proper tool, there's no BB behind to press against due to 10mm axle spacers either side. So wedging all sorts of odd implements in and adjusting as the gap widens. Doing this without scraping the lovely hope anodising for extra points.

Cleaning fatbike wheels (well ok you're funky rimtape visible through the cutouts) - time consuming faff. And they do collect a lot of muck.

Saddles is easy - place bottom stirrup on, place saddle on top, carefully slide top stirrup in from the rear, place index finger on top and hold down. Now your other hand is free to discover the bolt and allen key is just out of reach...

I will go with fitting a dropper post to a recent (pre 2022) Trek Top Fuel. It hits the trifecta of:

* Internal routing

* Dub Cranks to remove

* Press fit bottom bracket to remove trying not to wreck it (then sourcing a replacement when you inevitably do).

Plus you've then got the wretched ziptie through the bottom of the down tube to loop round the cable bundle and fish out again...

being volunteered to fix someone elses kids bso.

This x a million.

I was persuaded into running a bike fix stall at a school Christmas fair once. I think it was £5 a bike service + consumables. The lbs kindly gave us a big stack of consumables on sale or return.

What a mug. Never again.

I have just seen this thread and scanned through and i may have missed it but; the worse bike maintenance job is buying the correct replacement / upgrade parts!

I HATE IT, SO MUCH SO I WOULD MUCH RATHER RIDE WITH KNACKERED HEADSET OR BOTTOM BRACKET BEARINGS.

I have asked on here before for help and have had some useful comments along with reference to some old blokes very informative website which I really struggle with. I am an incompetent mechanic but would like to have a go if i did end up buying a load of wrong stuff (many times over!!). After which it always works out cheaper to visit the LBC.

I have had some money set aside for the the last year to buy some new wheels for my Vagabond - have I got any idea what i need, have i duck.

Lubing is then easy – with using walk mode or hand cranking it.

Just asking for a case of Stoner’s finger 😬

1. Removing a crown race, without scratching the steerer.
2. Internal cables are OK if you're replacing them. Fitting the outer for the first time, not so much.
3. New shimano front dérailleurs. I had to read the manual and still relied on trial and error to get the indexing right.
4. The bearings on my Hope rear hub. First, the cassette was stuck on the freehub. Then the freehub inner sleeve wouldn't budge. Then the old bearing disintegrated when trying to remove it. Ffs.

The bearings on my Hope rear hub. First, the cassette was stuck on the freehub. Then the freehub inner sleeve wouldn’t budge. Then the old bearing disintegrated when trying to remove it. Ffs.

I can do those in a few minutes, i've done dozens and got it down to a fine art and even made a few support and drift tools specifically for dismantling. Seized, bent axle rusted on no probs.

The thing i struggle with now is getting up off my lazy ass to do anything 😆 I've had an ebike for a few hundred miles now and I havent even washed it 😳

It's always going to be internal routing for me.

If I'd only just started riding/working on bikes and never encountered the simplicity of changing externally routed gear cables/brakes then I'm sure it wouldn't bother me, but knowing there's a better, faster way just makes it a massive frustration, even if it all goes perfectly it takes longer and requires more effort.

But then "clean lines" and "Teh Aeros" matter it seems...

Its the job you do the evening before an event you have planned that should be simple and you didn't even really need to do but instead goes catastrophically wrong and jeapordises the whole event with 20 hours to go

Spray with mucoff (other rip-off sprays are available)
Spray with pressure washer

job jobbed
Bike fked after a not very long period.

: )

Mudguard fitting is something I've got fairly good at and find good alignment a very satisfying result. Need to set aside an hour minimum and test fit, measure and mark, re-fit to check, cut, final fit. Faffy but not an unpleasant job. Fitted some VO aluminium guards last year with custom drilled stay fittings instead of the supplied option, got the dremel out to get the position right. End result is so good.

Whereas I would never own a bike with internal cable routing beyond a basic down tube with open BB end. It's gone too far, taken to the extremes we see on road bikes now it's a stupid idea with no practical benefits, only some subjective aesthetic appeal. Aero? FFS : ) Just the idea of owning a road bike with hidden internal cables and all integrated bar/stem/steerer area and hydro brakes... They look great. That's all. They look great as long as it's not my bike.

1. Removing a crown race, without scratching the steerer.

Even with a crown steerer removal tool ?

3. New shimano front dérailleurs. I had to read the manual and still relied on trial and error to get the indexing right.

Yeah. Those things may be the worst thing Shimano ever made and I haven't forgotten about Dual Control. I like FDs but I hate fitting the new 11s design. Massive faff gain for what seems like no perceptible difference in use? I just don't need my gears to be THAT smooth, it was all fine in the 9 speed era.

Massive faff gain for what seems like no perceptible difference in use?

Yeah, I have an old 5800 and a new R7000 on my two road bikes. Can't tell the difference in use. The older design does have a large arm which I guess could foul on wider tyres/ guards.

Its the job you do the evening before an event you have planned that should be simple and you didn’t even really need to do but instead goes catastrophically wrong and jeapordises the whole event with 20 hours to go

Yup. The converse is difficult jobs go well if there's no time pressure. I fitted a new tubeless tyre last week and it went up first time with a track pump. That never happens if you have a big ride the next day and don't have another bike.

I'll go with fixing someone elses bike. Fixed a mates rather nice, but old GT full suspension with XTR. Heyes brakes were shot - i.e. dead beyond repair. Told him £80-£100 for new brakes. He said 'oh I'll leave it'.

A mate does mobile repairs to bikes, and most folk give him a 'filthy' bike to work on..

Haha, vindicated! I'm not the only one who doesn't get on with those new FDs. I think they are extremely susceptible to cable run or getting dirty (not ideal for a component directly in the firing line of the back wheel). The new style FDs on my gravel bike (GRX) and winter bike (R7000) are fussy as hell, but the one on my summer bike, which spends most of its time indoors, still shifts nice and snappy and more importantly still trims on the big ring.

Yeah, I have an old 5800 and a new R7000 on my two road bikes. Can’t tell the difference in use. The older design does have a large arm which I guess could foul on wider tyres/ guards.

This is exactly the reason they changed, more people running bigger tyres on their road bikes, less space for FD.

I think mudguards is the right shout. Maybe cleaning...
Everything else is fine.
My new clandestine.cc combe should make bearing changes a doddle!

Replacing brake pads on a well used roadie. At least one of those little screws will round out every time. Miserable.

Don't know if its been said above but if you put a 5mm hex key in the chain ring bolt on an ebike you can turn the chain backwards once the crank reaches the hex key. Been doing that for the last 4 years on the Turbo Levo to clean or lube the chain. Don't know if it will work on other types of motor

Spot on @Tracey

Thanks, I've posted it before a few weeks ago but don't think it was picked up on

Obviously preaching to the choir here, but why-oh-why have so many current road bikes gone nuts for maximum cable internalisation?

The bulky stems (to hide the cables) look grotesque and I'd actively avoid them - total deal-breaker for me.

I'm sure I heard on a bike podcast that it would only likely save one or two watts.

Obviously preaching to the choir here, but why-oh-why have so many current road bikes gone nuts for maximum cable internalisation?

The bulky stems (to hide the cables) look grotesque and I’d actively avoid them – total deal-breaker for me.

I’m sure I heard on a bike podcast that it would only likely save one or two watts.

Is it an attempt to lock people in to certain stems/bars/headsets etc? More money for the manufacturer as they have a captive market? Is a deal breaker for me also, proprietary parts can get in the sea! (as I sit staring at a stripped seatclamp that the manufacturer can't replace 😭)

@desperatebicycle - might take you up on your generous offer, will PM about that front mech. Thanks

Setting road bike shifters pefectly in all planes/heights. Of course my arms may be lop sided.