c/bicycle-mechanics

29

the_drew•1d ago

Just found a way to bleed brakes without a special kit

I was stuck at home last weekend with a spongy brake lever on my mountain bike and no bleed kit in sight. Used a big syringe from the pharmacy, some tubing from an old aquarium, and a bottle of mineral oil. Hooked it up to the caliper bleed port and pushed the fluid up from the bottom. It took three passes to get all the air out but the lever feels solid now. Has anyone else rigged up a budget bleed setup with random stuff?

19

drew_hart4•1d ago

Left a headset race in a freezer for 2 hours, still wouldn't fit

Last Saturday I was installing a Cane Creek 40 headset on a 90s steel frame. The lower race just would not seat, no matter how much I tapped it. So I put the race in my home freezer for 2 hours to shrink it down a bit. Pulled it out, it went on maybe a quarter inch further before getting stuck again. Ended up having to file the crown race seat down by about 0.2mm with some sandpaper. Has anyone tried dry ice for this or is filing just the standard move?

13

brianreed•2d ago

Debate: Should we reuse press fit bearings or always replace them?

Had a chat with an old school mechanic at the co-op last Thursday. He said he's been cleaning and repacking press fit bearings for years with no issues, saving customers $20-30 each time. I always thought once they're out, you trash them, especially on carbon frames. But he showed me a set he pulled from a 2017 Specialized that ran smooth after a good clean and fresh grease. Got me wondering, am I being wasteful or is he just lucky? Has anyone else tried this long term?

1

logan_mitchell•3d ago

Finally tried that Park Tool truing stand I was skeptical about

Been using zip ties on the frame for years. Picked up a used TS-2 for $60 last month. First wheel I trued on it cut my time by half compared to the zip tie method. Anyone else put off buying proper tools for way too long?

18

hannah320•4d ago

Old timer at the co-op told me to stop using Park Tool grease on everything

Back when I started wrenching at a community bike co-op in Portland, this guy named Jerry who had been fixing bikes since the 70s kept telling me I was wasting money on that blue Park Tool grease for bottom brackets. He said just grab whatever marine grease from the auto parts store for half the price and it'll outlast the frame. I thought he was crazy because everyone online swore by the name brand stuff for anything bearing related. After 2 years of using his trick on my personal bike and dozens of customer bikes, I finally had to open up a BB that had been sitting in rain for 18 months. That marine grease was still perfect, no water got in and the bearings were smooth. Now I only use the fancy stuff for headset installation where I want that precise feel. Anyone else have an old school mechanic give you advice that ended up saving you cash?

15

phoenix_bailey•4d ago

Found out that bike chains from the 1970s lasted half as long as modern ones

I was reading through an old Sheldon Brown article last night, and he mentioned that chains from the 70s used to wear out around 1,500 miles. I was surprised because these days I get closer to 3,000 miles out of a decent chain on my commuter. The steel back then was just softer, I guess. Made me appreciate how much better the metallurgy is now, even on cheap chains. Has anyone else run into old parts that wore out way faster than you expected?

4

sage_moore37•5d ago

Found an old Schwinn in a barn near Topeka that had me scratching my head

I was out on a service call last month for a seized boiler in an old farmhouse near Topeka. While I was waiting for the pipes to drain, the owner asked if I wanted to see his dad's old bike collection in the barn. There was a late 60s Schwinn Continental that had been hanging from the rafters for maybe 40 years, but someone had swapped the original steel rims for these cheap aluminum replacements. The tires were dry rotted and flat, but the rims still had the old sales tag showing $12.99 from a hardware store that closed in 1982. Has anyone else run into a bike where the previous owner made a weird upgrade that just doesn't make sense?

13

drewr15•6d ago

Spent a full afternoon chasing a ghost creak on a customer's bike that was just a loose spoke nipple

I had this guy bring in his road bike last Tuesday complaining about a creak that only happened when he was out of the saddle climbing. I checked the bottom bracket, headset, pedals, even swapped out his seatpost collar. Three hours gone and I was about to lose it. Finally I just started squeezing spokes and one of them had a nipple that was barely finger tight. A half turn with a spoke wrench and the noise was gone. The guy had been dealing with it for two weeks and it was something so simple that I overlooked because I was looking for a bigger problem. Has anyone else spent way too long on a noise that turned out to be something stupid like this?

28

rowanhernandez•7d ago

Had a talk with an old roadie about chain cleaning that changed my whole routine

Was working on a customer's bike last Thursday when this guy in his 60s comes in and sees me scrubbing a chain with degreaser. He just goes "you're stripping all the factory lube out of the pins, kid." I thought he was full of it at first but he showed me how he just wipes the chain down with a rag and re-oils without soaking it. Tried it on my own bike this weekend and the shifting feels way smoother. Anyone else get told something simple like this that made you rethink how you do basic maintenance?

1

the_wendy•7d ago

Heard a guy at the shop say disc brakes are always better than rim brakes - I had to bite my tongue

I was swapping tubes for a customer when some know-it-all told his friend that rim brakes are "obsolete" and disc is the only way to go, but I've seen plenty of high-end road bikes with rim brakes stop just fine in dry conditions and they're way simpler to maintain. Has anyone else dealt with customers buying into the hype and ignoring what actually fits their riding?

5

max_brown•10d ago

Just had a chat with a framebuilder who changed my mind about chasing weight

Ran into an old guy at the co-op who said he's been building bikes for 40 years and never once weighed a frame. He told me 'ride feel matters more than a half pound off the scale' and honestly that hit me because I've been obsessing over grams on customer builds for no reason. Has anyone else backed off the weight weenie stuff after hearing someone out?

32

aaron_mitchell•14d ago

Finally got that old Campagnolo hub right after 4 tries

I picked up a vintage bike from a flea market in Portland about 3 years back. The rear hub was a Campagnolo Record from the 80s and it had this weird drag no matter what I did. Last week I tore it down again and found a tiny burr on the axle shoulder that was messing with the bearing preload... took a fine file and some patience to smooth it out. Runs like new now and I can't believe I missed such a small thing for that long. Anyone else ever chase a hub issue for years only to find something that simple?

5

jamieb80•16d ago

Overheard a guy at the co-op say he bleeds his disc brakes with a turkey baster

Is that actually a thing or was he just messing with me because I asked about his weird hose setup?

20

charles640•1mo ago

Why does nobody talk about how bad chain lube gets in desert dust

I was working on bikes in Moab last week and my usual wet lube turned into a sandpaper paste after 10 miles. Anyone else running dry lube in sandy conditions and actually happy with it?

5

gray875•1mo ago

Still don't get why people pay for Park Tool cable cutters when a basic pair of hardware store dykes does the same job...

Been working on bikes for about 12 years now, mostly old road bikes and beaters for friends. I keep seeing guys in shops pulling out those $40 Park Tool CN-10 cutters and I just don't get it. Picked up a $7 pair of Klein diagonal cutters from Ace Hardware back in 2015 and they still slice through housing like butter. Never had a frayed cable end or crushed housing. What am I missing?

14

drew_hart4•1mo ago

Ngl I used to re-grease hubs every 6 weeks like clockwork

Took a class with a Philly framebuilder last year who runs them dry with a light oil and my hub bearings now last twice as long. Anyone else switch away from standard grease and see big changes?

8

mark_ward•1mo ago

Took me 10 years to finally listen to my first shop manager about grease

Back in 2003 I worked at a shop in Portland. The old manager, Dave, kept telling me to use less grease on pedal threads. Said too much grease would make them back out over time. I thought he was just being cheap with supplies. Well, after having to retighten my own pedals every few months for a decade, I finally tried his way. Used just a tiny smear on each pedal and they've stayed tight for two years now. Anyone else have a piece of advice they ignored for way too long?

8

logan561•1mo ago

Debate: wet vs dry torquing bottom brackets

I got told by an old shop guy that I should always grease the threads on a square taper BB before torquing, but then a Park Tool video said to keep everything bone dry for accurate readings. It made me wonder if that extra 5 Nm I was adding was actually over-tightening all along. Do you guys stick with grease or go dry on BB installs?

2

baker.holly•1mo ago

That guy who tried to adjust my derailleur with a pair of pliers at a trailhead near Moab

I was fixing a bent hanger on my bike after a rocky descent last spring when this random dude walked up and said, "You're overcomplicating it, just bend it back with these." He pulled out rusty channel locks from his backpack and tried to grab my derailleur cage before I could stop him. Has anyone else had a well-meaning stranger suggest a fix that would have totally trashed your setup?

22

ben_lewis•1mo ago

Swore by wax chains for years... just switched to a dry lube and I'm shocked

I always thought wax was the only way to keep my drivetrain quiet, but a buddy in Denver talked me into trying a Squirt lube after 3 muddy rides wrecked my chain. How do you guys deal with wet conditions without going back to grease?

18

jessica707•1mo ago

Changed my whole brake bleed process after a shop race in Portland last spring

So I was at this little shop get-together in Portland like 6 months ago and a guy there was servicing his brakes on a table next to me. He pulled his bleed block out and it was this custom 3d printed thing with little slots for the mineral oil to run through - not the standard solid block. He said he got tired of air pockets getting trapped behind the block. I laughed it off but then my buddy's bike had the same issue the next week. Spongy lever even after 3 bleeds. Switched to a slotted block design and it fixed it first try. Has anyone else run into this where the block itself causes the problem? Or am I just dumb for not thinking of it sooner?

23

river952•1mo ago

Noticed a huge difference in how smooth my shifts got after I swapped out a frayed cable housing on a customer's bike last month

That old housing had rust inside it from just 6 months of salty winter riding and it was causing so much friction I couldn't believe the before-and-after, has anyone else seen that much change from just a simple cable swap?

7

emmam89•1mo ago

Finally fixed a stubborn pedal wobble after 2 weekends of tinkering

Been chasing a wobble on my left pedal for almost a month, swapped bearings and even tried a different crank arm. Then last Friday I noticed the pedal threads were slightly cross-threaded from the factory, recut them with a tap and it's smooth now. Anyone else run into pedal threads being off from new?

35

shane_park92•1mo ago

Spent 4 hours trying to chase a creak on a customer's bike last week

Tightened everything, regreased the seatpost, swapped pedals, and it was the friggin derailleur hanger bolt loose. Anyone else have a simple fix that took way too long to find?

15

charles_young92•1mo ago

Showerthought: Most shop lubes are just repackaged mineral oil with a premium price

I was looking at the MSDS sheets for a few popular chain lubes last week and it hit me. Like half of them are basically just mineral oil with a few additives, but they charge $15 for a tiny bottle. I found this out by cross-referencing the chemical names on a forum post from a guy who worked at a blending plant. Kinda makes me want to just grab some food-grade mineral oil from the pharmacy for $3 and test it out on my own bike. Has anyone else tried this or am I overthinking it?