Things You've Learnt From Fettling

[Tin Pot]

Needed to fit a new lower headset bearing, so decided to finally cut down the steerer after riding with the stem a lot lower than when I first got the bike. The obvious thing was that the compression bung was in the way. After a short while scratching my head, it became clear how it all worked. I had put this job off for ages as though there would be a lot more to it.

What have you learnt from a spot of DIY fettling, the easy way or the hard way?

I've learnt that it's better and cheaper to pay someone else to do it.

But putting what I've learned into practice is tricky.

 

[the snail]

When you're taking a pedal off, make sure you're turning it the right way. Don't just stand on the spanner until it breaks.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Don't fettle within earshot of others, in case things don't go as planned.

 

[alicat]

Never let a Staffie with a rubber fetish be in the same room when swopping tyres over.

 

[biggs682]

How to almost build a complete bike from , not taught myself the art of wheel building yet

 

[bpsmith]

I've learnt that it's better and cheaper to pay someone else to do it.

But putting what I've learned into practice is tricky.

Whilst I agree that we need to pay for some jobs, the vast majority are perfectly doable at home.

It cost me nothing to do it at home and helped me enjoy a Sunday afternoon with weather too atrocious for riding. Got the bearing cheaper from a well known online bike shop, than my local well known bike shop (that also has a big online presence) was able to do.

Pleasure from DIY and cost saving. This time at least.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

When releasing bearings always put a bucket underneath. The last one I lost turned up in plain sight 6 months later

 

[Vantage]

I built my first wheel when I was about 18. It was more a rim swap than a build from scratch but up until I did it, I thought that spokes pushed outwards on a rim. The way I figured it, if spokes pulled in, then the wheel would implode.
That was a revelation.

 

[Gary E]

Having learned the hard way when it comes to bearings/quick links/nuts and bolts etc. - get yourself one of those little magnetic trays and place it underneath whatever you're working on. They're cheap and I honestly think it's one of the best things I've bought for my bike

 

[Tin Pot]

Whilst I agree that we need to pay for some jobs, the vast majority are perfectly doable at home.

It cost me nothing to do it at home and helped me enjoy a Sunday afternoon with weather too atrocious for riding. Got the bearing cheaper from a well known online bike shop, than my local well known bike shop (that also has a big online presence) was able to do.

Pleasure from DIY and cost saving. This time at least.

Perfectly doable, yes - that's why I do it.

But it's neither better nor cheaper than getting someone else to do it.

Maybe in five more years my expertise will be such that I always thread casings and cables first time and never chew the ends up. No bracket ever misinstalled, no headset ever creaking, no chain ever stuck or farked up in some new and imaginative way.

Until then, it will be worse and more expensive, in money and time.

 

[Levo-Lon]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

 

[Milkfloat]

Be careful of where you put your fingers when fettling fixed wheel transmissions.

You will ignore this advice, but probably only once.

 

[bpsmith]

Perfectly doable, yes - that's why I do it.

But it's neither better nor cheaper than getting someone else to do it.

Maybe in five more years my expertise will be such that I always thread casings and cables first time and never chew the ends up. No bracket ever misinstalled, no headset ever creaking, no chain ever stuck or farked up in some new and imaginative way.

Until then, it will be worse and more expensive, in money and time.

Taking my time and buying the right tools has so far meant the second time doing a job has always been straightforward.

Not done a bottom bracket yet, so that’s about the only road bike learning curve to come, aside from building wheels.

 

[wheeliebin]

When planning to do some fettling, buy the parts you need well in advance. Leave them in the kitchen for a few weeks, at some point they will then inexplicably become migrated to some random location in the shed, never to be seen again.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

You will ignore this advice, but probably only once.

I've managed it twice but have no desire to repeat it.