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?

3 comments

3 Comments

smith.nancy1mo ago

Last season at Kingdom Trails I saw a guy try to fix a friend's hydraulic brake by squirting WD-40 on the caliper and pumping the lever. He was so confident about it too, kept saying he'd been working on bikes for years. That rusty channel lock story is exactly the kind of "help" that makes me want to carry a toolbox just to protect my bike from good samaritans.

rileygarcia1mo ago

Dude, that channel lock story gave me flashbacks to this guy at the parking lot of a trail in Sedona. I had just pulled a thorn out of my tubeless tire and was about to plug it when some dude walks over, swigs his energy drink, and says "just throw a tube in there, tires shot anyway." Like, my tire was fine, it just needed a plug. He actually grabbed my pump and started unscrewing my valve core before I could say no. I swear, some people see a bike and think they're a mechanic just because they own a set of wrenches.

alicecraig1mo ago

Haven't we all been that overconfident guy at some point though? I mean, yeah the dude was out of line grabbing your pump, but I've definitely been guilty of offering advice nobody asked for. I remember once at a trailhead I told this guy his chain was too loose and he just stared at me like I was insane. Turns out he had a clutch derailleur and I had no idea what I was talking about. Sometimes people just get excited and want to be helpful, they just go about it the wrong way.