I was trying to get a stuck lockring off a fixed gear hub (a Phil Wood, if you're curious) and I got impatient. Instead of grabbing a breaker bar like a sane person, I just kept leaning harder on the chain whip until the handle snapped right off at the weld. I know everyone says to use the proper tool for the job, but I figured with 15 years of experience I could muscle it. Turns out I was wrong (obviously). I ended up having to drill the lockring out, which took like 2 hours and ruined a perfectly good hub shell. Has anyone else ever had a tool fail in a dumb way like that?
I wasted 3 hours last weekend trying to true a wheel by feel on a guy's touring bike. Used my Park Tool cone wrench to pluck spokes and guess tension like I always did. Got it 'close' but the wheel kept going out of round after 20 miles. Finally broke down and bought a DT Swiss tension meter for $65. First wheel I did with it came out perfect. The difference was night and day. Why do so many of us still rely on the 'pluck and hope' method when a basic tension meter is cheaper than replacing a rim? Has anyone else had a wheel fail because they were just guessing?
Back in 2019 everyone just told customers to "bed them in" but now I see three different bleed kits and a torque wrench come out before anyone even spins the wheel.
I was cleaning out my garage last weekend and found my old cassette removal tool from the early 90s. It was just a simple pin spanner with two prongs that fit into those little holes on the lockring. I got to thinking how back then, you'd sometimes strip those holes if you weren't careful, and now we all just use these big socket-style tools that slide right on. I looked up the model I used to own and saw that Park Tool still makes a similar design for some vintage hubs, but it's almost a niche item now. Has anyone else here had trouble fitting newer tools on older cassettes?
I ran into a Shimano BB-UN55 that just would not come out of an old Schwinn frame last Tuesday. After stripping the splines on two different tools, I finally had to drill and use a punch to get it free. Has anyone else dealt with a bottom bracket that felt like it was welded in?
Last Tuesday I pulled in a Trek hybrid where the seatpost was so stuck I had to use a pipe wrench and a torch, then Wednesday a carbon frame rolled in with the same problem but I was too scared to heat it. Thursday I had three seatposts in a row all frozen solid, and by Friday I was dreaming about penetrating oil. Has anyone else gone through a weird stretch like that where one problem just kept showing up over and over?
I was half way through a tune up on a late 90s Trek mountain bike when I found the crank was wobbling. Pulled it off and the spindle had a groove worn into it from years of riding without grease. The bottom bracket bearings were shot too, but the cups were still good. I had to decide between a whole new square taper crank or just replacing the bottom bracket and hoping the old crank held up. I went with a new Shimano BB for $18 and kept the original crank. It tightened up fine and the wobble is gone, but I know the spindle is still wearing down in there. Has anyone else run a grooved spindle for a while or am I just kicking the can down the road?
I picked up a beat up Trek 820 from a garage sale for $15 last month. Got the BB out after soaking it in PB Blaster for 3 days and using a breaker bar. Anyone else keep a project bike around for the satisfaction of bringing it back to life?
I kept getting frayed ends when cutting shift cables with my cheap wire cutters. Today I finally grabbed a decent pair of Park cable cutters from the shop for like $30. First cut was clean and no fraying at all. I spent way too long messing with sloppy cuts before this. Does anyone use a different trick like soldering the tips first or just upgrade the tool?
I was just counting up my repair logs for the year and realized I passed 500 spoke replacements since I started keeping track back in 2021. That number surprised me because I mostly work on commuter bikes at my shop in Portland, not fancy race wheels or anything. The milestone hit me when I remembered my first few tries were so bad the customer brought the wheel back the next day (learned to stress-relieve spokes the hard way). Anyone else have a build count that snuck up on them, or do you keep a rough tally of your jobs?
Figured it couldn't hurt after 45 minutes with a torch and a punch did nothing on this old Schwinn, and the heat from the water actually loosened the frame enough to let it drop right out, anyone else tried weird heat tricks on seized parts?
I was at the Cherry Blossom ride last spring and watched three people struggle with front-end wobble. One guy spent $200 on a new fork before I noticed his headset was barely finger-tight. Now I always check bearings before I touch anything else with steering issues. Anyone else run into customers throwing money at the wrong parts?
Had my Park Tool TS-2 truing stand from like 2008 finally give up. The little plastic centering cone just cracked clean through last Wednesday while I was truing a customer's carbon wheel. Had to finish the job using my old tire lever trick to center the wheel, but it made me realize how much I missed the old all-metal parts they used to make. Anyone else running into plastic bits failing on older shop tools?
After years of fighting with cable actuated disc brakes on my commuter bike I finally swapped to a set of Shimano MT200 hydraulics last month. Cost me about $90 for the whole setup and honestly I should have done this back in 2021. The stopping power is night and day especially in wet Portland weather. Any other mechanics out there still running cables or am I late to the party?
Was digging through some old boxes and found a receipt from 1998 at a shop near me that closed down 10 years ago. $12 for a cable and housing install. Now it's what, $35-$40? Labor rates went from $35 an hour to $85 around here. Wild. Saw a guy on another forum complaining about shop prices and it got me thinking. We used to do everything by feel and now it's all torque wrenches and digital calipers. Not complaining, just miss when a bike was simpler. Anyone else notice how much the tools changed too?
Had a customer come in last week with a stripped crank arm from a pedal that seized up with threadlocker, but two days before that another guy swore his pedals kept backing out without it. Which camp are you in and what's your reasoning?
At the co-op on Burnside last Saturday, I had this old Schwinn where the seatpost was seized solid. Figured I'd try the PB Blaster and torch trick but after an hour of wrestling it just wouldn't budge. Ended up cutting the post out with a hacksaw and then realized I'd nicked the frame tube so bad it cracked as soon as I sat on it. Anyone else ever turn a simple fix into a total write-off?
I was rebuilding an old single speed cruiser last weekend and decided to finally buy a chain wear indicator instead of just eyeballing it. Turns out the chain had stretched way past the 0.75 mark, like 1.0 on the tool. I always thought single speed chains lasted basically forever since there's no shifting. Found a Park Tool video that explained how a worn chain can chew up your cog and chainring faster than you think. Has anyone else skipped checking on their single speed setup and paid for it later?
I was walking through Amsterdam last month and saw this beat up cargo bike locked to a railing. The chain had snapped and someone had fixed it with a twisted up shoestring and a zip tie. It held together for like 15 miles easy from what the owner told me. Made me wonder how many bikes out there are rolling on hack jobs like that. Has anyone else seen a repair that was sketchy but somehow worked?
I was using the old pluck-and-guess method for years on wheel builds, but after number 100 I splurged on a Park Tool TM-1 and realized my first 25 builds were probably all over the place, anyone else take way too long to get the right tool?
I was working on a customer's mountain bike at a shop in Portland last March. I had their SRAM brake bleed kit all set up, and when I pulled the syringe off, the fitting snapped and sprayed DOT fluid all over a $3,000 frame. The owner told me I should try the gravity bleed method instead, and I thought he was crazy at first. Now I only gravity bleed every bike that comes through and I haven't had a single mess since. Am I the only one who switched off the kits after a bad experience?
Guy came in last Tuesday with a sticky SRAM lever, said he watched me do the bleed and asked why I wasn't pulling any vacuum before opening the bleed port. I just laughed it off at first but then he showed me a video of his own bleed at home with a cheap syringe kit. I've been doing bleeds the same way for 4 years, just pushing fluid through from the bottom. Tried his method on the next bike and got way more bubbles out, lever felt way firmer. Has anyone else had a customer teach them something that actually worked better?
Honestly, I thought I was being smart buying one of those ultrasonic cleaners for my bike chains at the start of summer. Dropped $150 on it after watching a bunch of videos showing how clean chains get. First few tries were fine, but after maybe 10 uses the thing started leaking fluid everywhere. I had this puddle of dirty solvent on my garage floor and it ate through the concrete sealer. Called the company and they said the seal was busted and warranty only covers 90 days. I was out the cash and back to using a simple Park Tool chain cleaner with some Simple Green. That $20 setup does the same job without the headache. Has anyone else had bad luck with those desktop ultrasonic units or was it just me?
I used to spray WD-40 on every chain that came through my garage in Denver. Thought it was cleaning and lubing at the same time. Then a regular customer showed me his chain was stretched past 0.75 after only 800 miles because the WD-40 was actually breaking down the grease inside the rollers. Switched to a dedicated dry lube for summer riding and now I check chains at 500 mile intervals. Has anyone else noticed faster chain wear from using the wrong lubricant?
I was working on a customer's bike last Tuesday at the shop in Knoxville. They kept saying there was this clicking noise that only showed up when they pedaled hard out of the saddle. I checked the bottom bracket, the pedals, the chainring bolts, even the rear derailleur pulley. After trying everything, I finally sat on the bike myself and put some weight on the saddle. That's when I heard it. The saddle rails were slightly loose where they connect to the saddle clamp. A little grease and snugging it up fixed it in 30 seconds. Has anyone else had a creak that turned out to be something that simple?