Little jobs that blow up
#1
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Little jobs that blow up
Over the weekend, I noticed my shifting was imprecise and thought, "Maybe the derailer cable is fraying." That thought was reinforced when I grabbed the shifter during a climb and got poked in the finger.
So after supper, I headed out to the garage for a half hour to replace the cable. However, unlike the one or two broken strands I've fixed in the past, this cable was 4-5 strands left (out of 15 or so). Not only were 2/3 of the strands broken, they were frayed and bent out all over the place: there was no way to push what was left of the cable through the fix point on the brifter. So 30 minutes, maybe 45 minutes with new bar tape, rapidly expanded to a two hour plus job. And I just wrapped the old tape back up.
Such a small thing -- 3/8" wires thwarted the process for so long. A similar time warp effect is a little bit of rust that takes weeks to break a bottom bracket out of the frame for replacement.
Are there other bike maintenance jobs that should be easy, but something small and common makes them take a very long time?
So after supper, I headed out to the garage for a half hour to replace the cable. However, unlike the one or two broken strands I've fixed in the past, this cable was 4-5 strands left (out of 15 or so). Not only were 2/3 of the strands broken, they were frayed and bent out all over the place: there was no way to push what was left of the cable through the fix point on the brifter. So 30 minutes, maybe 45 minutes with new bar tape, rapidly expanded to a two hour plus job. And I just wrapped the old tape back up.
Such a small thing -- 3/8" wires thwarted the process for so long. A similar time warp effect is a little bit of rust that takes weeks to break a bottom bracket out of the frame for replacement.
Are there other bike maintenance jobs that should be easy, but something small and common makes them take a very long time?
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#2
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Over the weekend, I noticed my shifting was imprecise and thought, "Maybe the derailer cable is fraying." That thought was reinforced when I grabbed the shifter during a climb and got poked in the finger.
So after supper, I headed out to the garage for a half hour to replace the cable. However, unlike the one or two broken strands I've fixed in the past, this cable was 4-5 strands left (out of 15 or so). Not only were 2/3 of the strands broken, they were frayed and bent out all over the place: there was no way to push what was left of the cable through the fix point on the brifter.
So after supper, I headed out to the garage for a half hour to replace the cable. However, unlike the one or two broken strands I've fixed in the past, this cable was 4-5 strands left (out of 15 or so). Not only were 2/3 of the strands broken, they were frayed and bent out all over the place: there was no way to push what was left of the cable through the fix point on the brifter.
For me, it's overhauling old-fashioned hubs with cup and cone bearings. The adjustment either goes very quickly and easily, or it takes me umpteen tries to get it right.
#3
Senior Member
If the shifters are Shimano 11 it should be easy to get the end of the cable out. There is a 2 piece cover on the bottom of the shifter that can be easily removed w/ 1 screw and allows access to the entire mechanism. This cover is Shimano's way of admitting there is a problem with cables fraying/breaking in their shifters.
#4
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This forum is full of posters that screw up most anything.
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#5
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could be worse, it could require a 10mm in the process.
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#7
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If the shifters are Shimano 11 it should be easy to get the end of the cable out. There is a 2 piece cover on the bottom of the shifter that can be easily removed w/ 1 screw and allows access to the entire mechanism. This cover is Shimano's way of admitting there is a problem with cables fraying/breaking in their shifters.
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#8
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Once I learned you could tighten the hub locknuts an extra quarter turn if needed (after tightening the locknut down on the cone), cup and cone adjustment has gone a lot quicker.
#9
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Opening a hub for a clean & lube, only to discover badly pitted cups.
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I managed to strip out the T25 handlebar clamp bolt on one of my Campy Record levers. An hour of various attempts with different tools were unsuccessful. I was finally able remove it by using a Dremel tool to cut a slot in the bolt head that I could turn with a big screwdriver. 3 days later, I got a replacement clamp - a pair of them, actually, so now I have a spare, just in case this thing that never happens happens again. This all started by wanting to move the lever up the bar about 2mm.
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#11
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Let's not get into the aluminum seat post stuck in the steel frame. It's hard to remember to check that before you overhaul a 1980s or 90s bike.
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#12
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So I bought a Trek T50 tandem. The thought was to get it running and get my wife on it to see if tandem-ing would be something we'd like to pursue further. That said, I didnt spend much on the T50, in fact I only gave $100 for it. I took it down to the frame from cleaning and rebuilding, and when I was doing that, I noticed a sever wobble coming from the rear wheel. Okay, no problem, just a little more work is all. I can do this, I says to meself!
Well the read wheel had a quality hub and rim, but the spokes were crap. Every single one was corroded, with nipples seized. I have a needlepoint oiler that I keep filled with Kroil, and his is my go-to method of un-sticking seized parts. So I filled every nipple, top and bottom, with Kroil and let it do its work. I waited a day, and did it again. I had other stuff to do anyway. After two days of fretting about whether or not I could save that wheel, I started tweeking each nipple to get them loose. There were only two nipples that needed to be replaced because I beat them up so badly getting them off, but a DT spoke wrench broke the torque on each nipple like it was butter. I got all the spokes lubed up and the nipples turning and began to bring it all back into true and run the spokes up to an acceptable tension. Before I did the final tensioning and truing, I took a maroon scotchbright pad and resurfaced the rim braking surfaces, and scrubbed up the entire wheel assembly with windex, a toothbrush, and some alcohol. After the final session in the truing stand, I beheld a wheel that I was dead certain would have to be tossed, but it came out real nice. Feeling satisfaction, I went to grab a coffee and a snack.
Later, when I tried to fit the rear wheel back into the dropouts, I noticed something wasnt right. There was too much space between the locknuts and the rear dropouts. Then it dawned on me. By Golly, that wheel was a 126 O.L.D. road wheel, that someone had put on the back of that trek tandem, that really needed a 135 OLD mtb spacing. No wonder it had a broken spoke! It came off weird, now that I come to think of it. I must have been preoccupied, or I'd have seen it right off. So basically, I spent about 3 hours on a wheel that didnt even belong on my bike.
Last edited by J.Higgins; 06-01-21 at 12:36 PM.
#13
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#15
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Imagine if you're the person at the LBS who estimated the cable replacement will take 30 minutes only to find the job took 1.5 hours.
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#16
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Take any bicycle job gone south and apply a 10-20x factor for how bad a job on a car can go. After years of working on cars, bicycles are SO easy.
That said, my cousin brought his Specailized Transition tri bike to me because it wouldn’t shift up to the big ring. 5 minute adjustment I thought. Well, it turned out the reason it wouldn’t shift is the braze-on mount was loose. Again, no big deal, right? Well, it was loose because the riv nuts in the carbon frame had come loose. And to make matters worse, one of the screws holding the mount to the frame was seized in its riv nut.
After many failed attempted to drill the freely-spinning screw out, I finally decided to Dremel the head off carefully enough not to damage the braze-on mount. Next up was creating a small plate with two tapped holes which I fished down the seat tube and used for attaching the braze-on mount where the riv nuts had once been.
With the front derailleur securely mounted, and probably 3-4 hours invested, I spent a few minutes getting it shifting cleanly.
That said, my cousin brought his Specailized Transition tri bike to me because it wouldn’t shift up to the big ring. 5 minute adjustment I thought. Well, it turned out the reason it wouldn’t shift is the braze-on mount was loose. Again, no big deal, right? Well, it was loose because the riv nuts in the carbon frame had come loose. And to make matters worse, one of the screws holding the mount to the frame was seized in its riv nut.
After many failed attempted to drill the freely-spinning screw out, I finally decided to Dremel the head off carefully enough not to damage the braze-on mount. Next up was creating a small plate with two tapped holes which I fished down the seat tube and used for attaching the braze-on mount where the riv nuts had once been.
With the front derailleur securely mounted, and probably 3-4 hours invested, I spent a few minutes getting it shifting cleanly.
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That's the ticket!
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#19
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#20
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I work with a guy that has been around a little longer than I have...he's a huge 'Let's fix it, right now' guy. The other old guy in the shop (3 of us are all late 50's, combined experience is close to 100 years) and I are big 'Let's take a good look at it and see what we can do, and when we can do it. 'Fix it now guy' is finally starting to come around and realize that not everything can be fixed right now. Most of the problem jobs are SRAM brakes, Rockshox Reverbs, and anything brought in by someone that 'hasn't ridden in years and just needs a quick adjustment'. Also truing tubeless wheels w/ alloy nipples. And replacing bar tape on badly neglected bikes. And...and...and...
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Well, that’s always the way it seems to go, isn’t it? And not necessarily due to mechanic error
Often there’s the “overhauling a bike for a friend’s kid and assuming it’ll need clean, lube, adjust, air up only to find it has... [bent hanger, wobbling riveted chainrings, four corroded cables, banjaxed bb] etc “
and so we beat on...
Often there’s the “overhauling a bike for a friend’s kid and assuming it’ll need clean, lube, adjust, air up only to find it has... [bent hanger, wobbling riveted chainrings, four corroded cables, banjaxed bb] etc “
and so we beat on...
#22
Junior Member
I started biking again this year and couple of days ago I had a flat on my front tire, I was so exited to finally be able to use the knowledge I learned 10 years ago on a bike Basic Mainteinance course.
So I got the tools ready and refreshed my memory with couple of videos from youtube then slowly started changing the tube. 1 hour after I was so happy I made it with out any issues and everything was looking so smooth and good, this is when I noticed that one of the brake pads was touching the side of the wheel wall. I tried everything from youtube videos to reading old threads here and nothing, two hours later I end damaging the brake cables aggh so frustrared! I went to bed defeated.
Next morning I wake up early and went to my amazing LBS and pay $25 for a new brake cables installation and tune up. Guess what? The problem was I installed the tire backwards when I changed the tube. Sigh* Lesson learned.
So I got the tools ready and refreshed my memory with couple of videos from youtube then slowly started changing the tube. 1 hour after I was so happy I made it with out any issues and everything was looking so smooth and good, this is when I noticed that one of the brake pads was touching the side of the wheel wall. I tried everything from youtube videos to reading old threads here and nothing, two hours later I end damaging the brake cables aggh so frustrared! I went to bed defeated.
Next morning I wake up early and went to my amazing LBS and pay $25 for a new brake cables installation and tune up. Guess what? The problem was I installed the tire backwards when I changed the tube. Sigh* Lesson learned.
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#23
Senior Member
I started biking again this year and couple of days ago I had a flat on my front tire, I was so exited to finally be able to use the knowledge I learned 10 years ago on a bike Basic Mainteinance course.
So I got the tools ready and refreshed my memory with couple of videos from youtube then slowly started changing the tube. 1 hour after I was so happy I made it with out any issues and everything was looking so smooth and good, this is when I noticed that one of the brake pads was touching the side of the wheel wall. I tried everything from youtube videos to reading old threads here and nothing, two hours later I end damaging the brake cables aggh so frustrared! I went to bed defeated.
Next morning I wake up early and went to my amazing LBS and pay $25 for a new brake cables installation and tune up. Guess what? The problem was I installed the tire backwards when I changed the tube. Sigh* Lesson learned.
So I got the tools ready and refreshed my memory with couple of videos from youtube then slowly started changing the tube. 1 hour after I was so happy I made it with out any issues and everything was looking so smooth and good, this is when I noticed that one of the brake pads was touching the side of the wheel wall. I tried everything from youtube videos to reading old threads here and nothing, two hours later I end damaging the brake cables aggh so frustrared! I went to bed defeated.
Next morning I wake up early and went to my amazing LBS and pay $25 for a new brake cables installation and tune up. Guess what? The problem was I installed the tire backwards when I changed the tube. Sigh* Lesson learned.
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Adding to houses and cars, old industrial machine tools, particularly those with any electronics in them are worse. Even more fun is that the simple act of moving them from one place to another often breaks the electronics.
On bicycles:
A quick derailer adjustment, but the cable is too short and someone cut it off right after it attaches. Undoubtedly the chain is also severely worn and the derailer hanger is bent.
Aluminum seatpost stuck in a steel frame. Even better if it was all the way down when it got stuck.
Going in for “the cones are just a bit loose” on an old freewheel rear. It feels like the half the time the axle isn’t bent is because it is broken and the QR was holding it together.
Anything involving wheels that have been commuted on through a winter.
Quick tube change for a friend, and once the tire is off there is no rim strip and the spokes are long enough to be poking up into the tube.
”I need my brakes adjusted” is code for “My rim
is so bent you won’t be able to true it out.” This when the wheel doesn’t have broken spokes and is improperly dished.
Any thing involving the phrase “it feels a bit funny” and an old Vitus bonded frame.
Need to adjust a bottom bracket and finding out the extractor threads are stripped on both sides.
The first time you need to replace a BB cup on a 70’s French bike.
On bicycles:
A quick derailer adjustment, but the cable is too short and someone cut it off right after it attaches. Undoubtedly the chain is also severely worn and the derailer hanger is bent.
Aluminum seatpost stuck in a steel frame. Even better if it was all the way down when it got stuck.
Going in for “the cones are just a bit loose” on an old freewheel rear. It feels like the half the time the axle isn’t bent is because it is broken and the QR was holding it together.
Anything involving wheels that have been commuted on through a winter.
Quick tube change for a friend, and once the tire is off there is no rim strip and the spokes are long enough to be poking up into the tube.
”I need my brakes adjusted” is code for “My rim
is so bent you won’t be able to true it out.” This when the wheel doesn’t have broken spokes and is improperly dished.
Any thing involving the phrase “it feels a bit funny” and an old Vitus bonded frame.
Need to adjust a bottom bracket and finding out the extractor threads are stripped on both sides.
The first time you need to replace a BB cup on a 70’s French bike.
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