c/bicycle-mechanics

Pro tip: Check your chain wear more often than you think

I had a customer come in last week with a skipping cassette on a 2 year old bike. Thought it was just a dirty drivetrain but turns out the chain was stretched to 1.0 on my park tool checker. The guy said he only rides about 50 miles a week but never checked his chain. I told him to replace it every 2000 miles and he looked at me like I was crazy. Learned my lesson the hard way when my own chain ate a $120 XT cassette last year. Anyone else find people ignore chain wear way too long?

Pro tip: Not every frame needs a torque wrench for carbon parts

I see guys in the shop treating every carbon fiber bolt like it's a NASA rocket part. I mean, yeah, you don't want to crush a fork or stem. But I've been building up aluminum frames with carbon posts and bars for about 4 years now, and half the time I just use a basic hex key and feel. Had a customer last month bring in a bike where his seatpost clamp was at 4 Nm from a torque wrench and it still slipped on a bumpy descent. I snugged it by hand to maybe 5.5 Nm and it's been fine for 50 miles. I'm not saying ditch the torque wrench on expensive stuff, but maybe it's not the magic fix everyone acts like. Anyone else just go by feel on certain parts?

Veteran mechanic told me to ditch Park Tool grease for marine grease

He said it holds up way better in wet conditions and he's been using it for 15 years. Tried it on a hub rebuild last month after a rainy century - any of you guys use boat grease on bearings?

Finally learned why my derailleur hangers kept bending

I spent about 6 months breaking hangers on my gravel bike every few weeks. Turns out I was overtightening the rear axle just slightly every time after a flat fix. A buddy at the shop in Boulder showed me the torque spec is 10-12 Nm max for most thru-axles, not cranking them down until they stop. Anybody else find out they were crushing their own hanger alignment?

Pro tip: Is it worth rebuilding a hub or just buying a new wheel? I'm torn.

I was talking to an old timer at my local shop in Denver last Tuesday, and he swore rebuilding a Shimano hub with fresh bearings and cones is better than any cheap prebuilt wheel these days. But then my buddy who runs a moving crew with me says the labor cost and time ain't worth it when you can grab a solid wheelset for $150. For you guys who do this every day, what's the tipping point for you on rebuilds versus replacements?

I used to just wing it on spoke tension until a shop vet in Denver showed me a tension meter

For years I'd just go by feel and hope it evened out, but after I bought a $60 Park Tool TM-1 and checked my last wheel build, three spokes were way off. Has anyone else had a similar wake-up call with a specific tool?

Debate: Should we use disc brake cleaner or just isopropyl alcohol?

I've been turning wrenches for 20 years and I'm still split on this. Over at the shop I worked at in Denver, the old timers swore by specific disc brake cleaner sprays. But last week I saw a mechanic at a race use plain 91% isopropyl on some carbon rims and it worked fine with no noise afterward. Do you guys think the branded stuff is worth the extra cost, or are we all just buying expensive alcohol?

Vent: Talked with a framebuilder at a swap meet and now I'm questioning all my repairs

Got completely humbled by a rusty chainring in a Philly park

I was doing a quick bike repair pop-up at Clark Park last Saturday for a local group ride. Some guy rides up on this old Schwinn that looked like it had been sitting in a creek for a decade. I grabbed my Park Tool chain whip and tried to break loose the rusty chainring bolts. The whole tool just slipped off and I went flying backward into a trash can full of empty water bottles. Everyone on the sidewalk heard the racket and turned to stare. Turns out the bolts were seized so bad I needed a breaker bar and a ton of PB Blaster. After 20 minutes of soaking and swearing I got it free, but my pride was still dented. Has anyone else had a tool fail on them in a super public embarrassing way?

Had the worst brake bleed session of my life last Wednesday

I was trying to bleed some old Shimano XT brakes on a customer's bike and couldn't get any air out of the system no matter what I did. After like 45 minutes of frustration, I realized the bleed block was the wrong size and was just letting fluid bypass everything. Has anyone else wasted a ton of time on a simple mistake like that?

Rant: Was convinced grease was grease until a seized bearing proved me wrong

I used to think any old lithium grease from the auto parts store was fine for bottom brackets. Last month I rebuilt a customer's old 90s mountain bike and packed the bearings with that stuff. Three rides later the hub started grinding and when I pulled it apart the grease had basically turned to crust. Had to spend $35 on a tub of marine grade stuff from a boat shop and it's been smooth for 200 miles now. Anyone else run into a situation where the cheap lube just didn't hold up?

PSA: Stop lubing chains with the bike on the stand

I did it in my garage last Tuesday. Oil dripped straight onto my disc rotor. Had to sand the pads for 20 minutes to get the squeal out. Anyone else burn a set of pads this way?

The day I figured out I'd been installing bottom brackets backwards for 2 years

I was at a co-op in Richmond last Saturday helping a kid rebuild his old Schwinn when the shop manager walked over and said "you know the cup goes the other way, right?" I had been threading the non-drive side cup into the drive side all along because I thought the arrow was just decorative. Has anyone else had that moment where a simple arrow or marking threw you off for way too long?

Peeked inside a shop in Portland that only uses Campagnolo

I was walking through Portland last weekend and passed this tiny bike shop called Velo Cult. I noticed every bike in the window had Campagnolo parts, so I went in. The owner said he only works with Campagnolo because he likes the feel of the shifters better than Shimano. He was adjusting a 2008 Record group on a vintage frame and showed me how the cable routing is different from modern stuff. Has anyone else run into a shop that sticks to one brand like that?

Found a bodge fix for stubborn pedal threads that actually works

Had an old crank arm that was cross-threaded from the factory, and even after chasing it with a tap I couldn't get a pedal to go in smooth. Tried grease, tried heat, tried a different pedal, nothing worked for like an hour. Then I took a rat-tail file and just gave the first few threads on the spindle a little cleanup, barely a 1/8 turn of material off. Screwed right in by hand after that. It's hacky but on a beater bike it saved me from buying a new crank. Anyone else ever file a spindle thread as a last resort?

Tried swapping bottom bracket cups with a cheap press tool and it went sideways fast

I picked up a $30 bottom bracket press off Amazon to swap out an old Shimano BB on my commuter bike. First cup went in fine, but the second one started binding halfway and now it's slightly crooked. Pulled it back out and found the tool's alignment sleeve was off by maybe 2mm. Lesson learned - I should've just borrowed the shop's Park Tool press for the $15 deposit. Any tips for getting a slightly crooked cup out without damaging the threads?

Hot take: I thought frame alignment tools were a gimmick until I checked my "new" frame

I picked up a used frameset off Craigslist in Portland for $200 and my shifting was always garbage no matter what I did. Finally borrowed a Park FAG-2 from a buddy and found the dropout was bent 3mm. Fixed it with the tool and now it shifts perfect. Anyone else had a cheap frame ruin your tune-up work?

Stop torquing your brake caliper bolts to spec - finger-tight plus a quarter turn is all you need

I spent 45 minutes fighting a wobbly rear caliper on a customer's Trek last week before I ditched the torque wrench and just snugged it by feel, and the rotor rub disappeared completely - has anyone else found that spec is just too tight for caliper alignment?

Overheard a mechanic say he skips re-greasing headsets on new builds

Was grabbing parts at my local shop in Portland and heard one of their guys telling a customer he never bothers greasing cartridge bearings because they're sealed anyway. Has anyone else run into that mindset or am I right to keep doing it the old way?

Heads up about the bike co-op on Elm Street - saw something sketchy with their bottom bracket press

I stopped by the community bike co-op on Elm Street last weekend to drop off some old parts, and I noticed they're using a cheap threaded press on carbon frames. A guy there told me he's already seen two frames crack from the uneven pressure. They're doing good work but that tool is gonna cost someone a frame swap soon. Has anyone else seen this at other co-ops or shops?

Bought a cheap spoke tension meter off Amazon for $25 and it messed up my wheel build

I figured I'd save some cash on a spoke tension meter so I grabbed one for $25 on Amazon. Used it to true up a rear wheel for my commuter bike. After a week of riding, three spokes snapped on me because the meter was way off. Spent another $50 on new spokes and had to take it to a shop to get redone. Has anyone else had luck with the cheaper tension meters or should I just bite the bullet on a Park Tool one?

I finally snapped a chain on a group ride last Sunday

Was out with 12 riders on the usual 40 mile loop through the hills. Everything felt fine until that one hard shift going up a steep pitch. Chain snapped right at the quick link. Took out my rear derailleur too. Had to call my wife to come pick me up in her SUV. Felt like an idiot standing there with a twisted mess of metal. Got home and realized my quick link had 3,000 miles on it. Should have replaced it way sooner. Anyone else forget to swap those out until it's too late?

Switched from cable housing cutters to a dremel for fork installs and it changed everything

Back around 2010 I was still using my old Park Tool cable cutters for trimming carbon steerer tubes on fork installs. One day I nicked a brand new ENVE fork and the customer was standing right there watching. I felt like an idiot. So I bought a cheap dremel from Harbor Freight for like 30 bucks and a pack of cutoff wheels. That first time I used it on a Ritchey WCS carbon fork, the cut was so clean I didn't even need to sand the edge. Took me maybe 3 minutes instead of 15 with the hack saw and file. The dremel does kick up a ton of carbon dust though, so now I always wear a mask and wet the area first. Has anyone else switched away from traditional bike tools for stuff like this and found it works better?

Stupidly wasted $80 on a chain checker that didn't work right

I picked up one of those cheap magnetic chain checkers off Amazon a few months ago... looked fine in the package but the magnet was way too strong and it kept sticking to the cassette. I figured it was fine until I checked a chain I knew was worn with my old Park Tool CC-2 and got totally different readings. Turned out the cheap one was off by like 0.5 percent which is a lot when you're trying to decide if a chain is done for. I threw it in the trash and went back to using my Park Tool one like I should have from the start. Has anyone else had bad luck with those magnetic wear indicators?

Shoutout to the Park Tool FR-5G for saving my bacon on a seized cassette

I was swapping out a worn 11-speed cassette on a customer's bike last Tuesday and that lockring would not budge. For 20 minutes I fought it with a chain whip and a regular wrench, almost stripped the teeth. I finally grabbed my FR-5G which I never use because it looks gimmicky with the hex slot. That thing bit right into the lockring and the 8mm hex gave me way more leverage than any regular tool. Has anyone else had a cassette that seemed welded on but a specific tool got it off?