Should I service myself?

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CentralCommuter

Well-Known Member
If you clicked in here for the wrong reasons, leave now!

I’ve contacted several places now and a service on my road bike is at least late August but possibly September. I’ve emailed Edinburgh Bike Coop and Hooked On Cycling tonight so will see when they can do it.

Which got me thinking, do I actually need one of these full services? I’ve got a 2016 Cube GTC Disc with Shimano 105. I got a full service two years ago and have probably done no more than 2000 miles since. I’d say the brakes are fine, and the gears jump occasionally. Is it overkill to get another full service at this point? ShouldI just learn to adjust the gears or something?

Is there a handy CCer in Central Scotland who would give it a once over for some beer or pies?

(Although I do get excited about getting a full shop service and thinking my bike is back to full fighting fitness!!)
 
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Why not learn how to do it yourself? Then you can keep on top of problems as soon as you notice them.
Plus you'll save a lot of money, even allowing for purchase of a few tools.
Plus you will have the satisfaction of knowing that what you want done has been done.
There are very few jobs that you can't do yourself.

Next service slot in September? Do me a favour.
 
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CentralCommuter

Well-Known Member
How hard is that though? On a scale of 1 to 10? I’m not very practical when it comes to fine mechanics. I can build a fence or clear a garden, but technical stuff is more challenging. How steep a learning curve are we talking?
 

Adam4868

Guru
If you clicked in here for the wrong reasons, leave now!

I’ve contacted several places now and a service on my road bike is at least late August but possibly September. I’ve emailed Edinburgh Bike Coop and Hooked On Cycling tonight so will see when they can do it.

Which got me thinking, do I actually need one of these full services? I’ve got a 2016 Cube GTC Disc with Shimano 105. I got a full service two years ago and have probably done no more than 2000 miles since. I’d say the brakes are fine, and the gears jump occasionally. Is it overkill to get another full service at this point? ShouldI just learn to adjust the gears or something?

Is there a handy CCer in Central Scotland who would give it a once over for some beer or pies?

(Although I do get excited about getting a full shop service and thinking my bike is back to full fighting fitness!!)
If you really don't want to do it yourself don't...although you might surprise yourself.Watch a few videos on YouTube etc.I can service my bikes myself....but sometimes I don't !
Same as my car l,sometimes I just want to pay someone to do it.No shame in it.Good luck
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
How hard is that though? On a scale of 1 to 10? I’m not very practical when it comes to fine mechanics. I can build a fence or clear a garden, but technical stuff is more challenging. How steep a learning curve are we talking?
Indexing gears, adjusting brakes and changing a cassette and chain are simple tasks once you understand what needs to be done. I'm certainly not a mechanical genius. I just watched a lot of clips on YouTube, again and again until the pennies finally dropped. My top tip would be to set up your laptop next to the bike so you can watch the instructions endlessly as you have a go.
 

C R

Guru
Location
Worcester
I do all our bikes servicing. Basic stuff like gear set up is fairly straightforward. Give it a go.
 
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CentralCommuter

Well-Known Member
Just having a look on Wiggle there. Tool kit at £119 has everything one needs apparently. How often does a chain and cassette get changed? As far as I can see a cassette is £50! Dear game this servicing!
 

raggydoll

Über Member
Just having a look on Wiggle there. Tool kit at £119 has everything one needs apparently. How often does a chain and cassette get changed? As far as I can see a cassette is £50! Dear game this servicing!

£50 is just the price of a 105 cassette though. If you change your own cassette it will only cost you £50 (once you buy the tools to do it of course (cassette tool and chain whip).
If you take it to a shop you will be charged at least £50 (probably more as they can charge what they want) for the cassette and charge labour on top.

Doing it yourself you can shop around and find the best deal too.

There's loads of videos on youtube.
Park tool make good ones that explain things well.
...Calvin Jones here...

My personal opinion regarding tools would be to buy them individually as and when you need them.
A lot of bike maintenance is done using standard tools that you probably already have (allen/hex keys, screwdrivers, spanners etc).

I use mainly park tool.

Once you know more about things you will also know exactly what specific tools you need for your specific bike.

Some tools you should think about:
Chain measure tool
Easy and quick way to let you know when to change your chain. Some measure at 0.75% and 1%. The park tool one I use measure at 0.5% and 0.75% (so lets you know earlier).
Chain breaker tool.
New chains are always longer than needed. The chain tool lets you shorten the chain to suit.
Cassette tool
Use it to take off your cassette (make sure you get right size). Some come with handles. Some don't and are designed to be used with a spanner for leverage.
Chain whip
Use in conjunction with the cassette tool to remove the cassette.

If you are going to be changing cables at any point you only really need a cable cutter. Pliers will just crush the cable so use proper cable cutters.

If you ever need to change your bottom bracket then you'll need.....you guessed it....a bottom bracket tool!
Again, read into them as they come in different sizes depending on your bike.

Read into things and watch videos and you'll see that bikes are pretty easy to maintain.
 
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