The "oh what a Wally I am" thread.

[Kins]

So, post the stupid things you've done as a beginner new to cycling and cycling maintenance. Best go first then!

So today, I was getting my new bike ready for a ride, I filled my 2 bottles and stuck them in the bottle cages. The one on the sloping down tube was far to small at the base to stay in. Tried swapping over the bottles but same problem.

Decided the bottle cage must be for the shorter fat bottles, so took it off, took the spare one off my mountain bike and fitted it to my road bike. Jobs a gooden eh?

Eeer well no. When I went to pick up the old cage I picked it up from the bottom, and it gave way a little. I thought it must be broken at first, but no, it has a friggin slidding cage to adjust the bloody size!!!

It was just a bit stiff.

Oh what a fool I felt as I redid the work and put it back on the original one!

 

[themosquitoking]

I usually forget to do up my brakes after taking a wheel off for any reason, thankfully it's not very often i take both off at the same time.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I usually forget to do up my brakes after taking a wheel off for any reason, thankfully it's not very often i take both off at the same time.

Yes, there's been a few times I've got to the major road at the end of my street before I've realised I haven't reset them! I'm glad I don't live at the top of a hill....

 

[ColinJ]

I looked at the big chain ring and thought how sharp the teeth were. I looked at my hand and thought how much it would hurt if I caught my hand on that chain ring. I looked at my pedal spanner and thought that I'd use it to take the right side pedal off. I thought that the pedal spanner might slip ...

So I picked up the pedal spanner to remove my right side pedal, slipped, and gashed the back of my hand on the big ring!

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

Bout 6- mths ago I rebuilt my bike up upgrading the groupset etc and stripped/cleaned/lubed just about everything.
Having never ever lubed a seat stem in my life I took someone's advice and lubed it.
I still periodically ave to adjust it up even though I have cleaned it so many times!

So, stick with my gut instinct

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

When removing a crank using a crank puller which can do square taper or octalink, make sure you use the right adaptor.

"Damn this is tight! Oh, the thread is all coming out in a little coil."

 

[ianrauk]

Of course I have never fitted a chain without going through the chainstay first.
And have definitely never spent an age unsuccessfully trying to screw in a bottom bracket not realising it's a reverse thread.
And who would ever think of forgetting to tighten the handlebar stem after fettling and only finding out when embarking on a ride.

 

[Mo1959]

Fitting mudguards and cut too much off one of the sets of stays so ended up too short. Had to borrow the stays from another set waiting to be fitted to other bike. Spares are nearly as dear as the whole mudguards so the set I borrowed from are still sitting there.Think SJS do spares so I will get them at some point.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Worst I've done is decide to take the ice tyres off and put the normal tyres back on. I did this okay, but then decided to adjust the brakes, screwed that up, so decided lbs could do it, jumped on the bike, round second corner I realised I should have left the ice tyres alone as I slid, went over and bent the forks that had been on the bike less than a week.

Adjusted the seat before and not tightened it back up properly, riding home from work, going up hill the seat decides it wants to position itself for a launch into space, never been so uncomfortable in my life.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I haven't done this since I was in my teens (I used to do a lot of work on Landrovers) cross threaded one of the bolts for the water bottle.
Yea the brakes done that, though I do remember these days, (usually) not tightening the cassette properly only to find it lose a mile down the road.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Fitting new wheels on an old faithful: why is the back wheel not spinning freely?
Because I skewered the wingnuts grip end out! Doh!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Just thought of another one: When you have made a real muck up of a job on the bike, giving it a good kick in anger will not help, especially if your kick is aimed wrong and takes the tyre valve off.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Just thought of another one: When you have made a real muck up of a job on the bike, giving it a good kick in anger will not help, especially if your kick is aimed wrong and takes the tyre valve off.

Were you in the wrong thread there just now or have I got deja vu?

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Spent far too long trying to fit some pedals before realising I had them back to front.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Were you in the wrong thread there just now or have I got deja vu?

I deny everything. And the three pints of beer I enjoyed earlier have nothing to do with it.

Can I add that to the list of mistakes?