Working on your own bike

[derrick]

I know a guy who can't change a light bulb,

 

[Drago]

I know a guy who can't change a light bulb,

Sounds well qualified to be in politics.

 

[ColinJ]

I know a guy who can't change a light bulb,

Is he very short?

 

[T4tomo]

Is he very short?

he has no hands

 

[T4tomo]

The trouble with YouTube videos is that some show you the correct technique to complete a job and some show you a bad technique. As a novice how do you know which is which?

watch Park Tools video's - that dude (is it Calvin?) is great. he's so good I'm convinced hes not actually a Yank, he's just pretending to be one.

 

[presta]

The trouble with YouTube videos is that some show you the correct technique to complete a job and some show you a bad technique. As a novice how do you know which is which?

That applies to any information. It's known as the Wittgenstein's Ruler Problem: if you use a ruler to measure the height of a table but don't know if the ruler is accurate, you haven't actually learnt anything about the table. Post any question on an internet forum, and within an hour or two you'll have half a dozen contradictory answers.

breaking something on a modern ebike can be serious!!

even the local Raleigh dealer sometimes has to have 2 or 3 goes
there was a horrible creaking under high pedal power for ages
he tried alls sorts but couldn;t find the problem - it was difficult to diagnose as you had to be on a steep hill to make it creak

Running something loose can cause damage too. I recall my mother's partner giving me his bike to mend a puncture, and I found that one of the cranks was so loose it had about 30 degrees of backlash on it. It had evidently been ridden loose until there was a huge gouge mashed out of the cotter pin, after which someone when someone attempted to tighten it they had just run the nut up against the shoulder on the pin instead of drawing it up tight.

especially with no proper maintenance stand

I use my home-made parking stand perched on an old kitchen table in the garage.

In my opinion some bikes have just got too complicated

The problem is that unnecessary complication makes a good marketing tool when all the necessary complications have already been implemented for half a century or more.

It can work the other way too - If a speaker... talks... as... if... VERY... stoned... you can speed them up to a more bearable pace!

My old Panasonic PVR would do that. It was really handy at times, you could pause whilst you go for a pee, then speed up the playback so that the program would still finish in time to watch the news or whatever.

 

[DogmaStu]

People whinge about modern tech being too complicated but have never really taken the time to experience and understand it - they just assume it is and come up with utter garbage muttering "marketing" etc. But it isn't any more complicated at all and often actually easier to maintain.

For example: Di2 and eTap are easier to adjust than mechanical because they allow for electronic micro-adjusting. I can simply hold a button on my eTap brake levers and micro-adjust if necessary whilst riding.

Changing brake pads for a disc braked bike is no more difficult than for a rim braked bike.

Swopping cassettes, chains etc are easy too. Chains now have 'powerlinks' etc which make installation even easier than before.

Tubeless? Easy. Trick? After installing the rim tape properly, not allowing any gaps, put the tyre on the rim and run a tyre lever halfway on one side to partially seat it onto the edge of the rim. Repeat on the opposite side. Do this and you can inflate the tyre without the need of a compressor./ Airsoft etc and leaks from not putting in sufficient air to seat the tyre properly is avoided. I've got 5 pairs of tubeless wheels, all done myself, all no hassle at all.

I use Park Tools including their repair stand and can highly recommend them (plus their videos as mentioned by another Poster above if you need help) but there are many alternatives. With the correct tools, all bicycle-related work is not difficult at all. Keep a bike in good order and none of the problems an incorrectly maintained bike will throw up such as seized components etc will be an issue.

 

[Drago]

I don't find adjusting mechanical gears difficult in the slightest. How can something be easier than already easy?

It might be quicker, it might take less effort, but I'd question it being easier.

 

[T4tomo]

I don't find adjusting mechanical gears difficult in the slightest. How can something be easier than already easy?

It might be quicker, it might take less effort, but I'd question it being easier.

because "easier" is a relative term....

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I'd rather mow the lawn

Some people make a hobby out of that 😉

 

[Alex321]

I don't find adjusting mechanical gears difficult in the slightest. How can something be easier than already easy?

It might be quicker, it might take less effort, but I'd question it being easier.

If it is quicker and takes less effort, then it is, pretty well by definition, easier.

 

[Drago]

If it is quicker and takes less effort, then it is, pretty well by definition, easier.

Nope.

Easy: achieved without great effort; presenting few difficulties.

"Quicker" and "effort" have their own separate, somewhat incompatible meanings.

 

[presta]

For example: Di2 and eTap are easier to adjust than mechanical because they allow for electronic micro-adjusting. I can simply hold a button on my eTap brake levers and micro-adjust if necessary whilst riding.

If I want to adjust my gears on the move (not that I ever do once they're set) I can twiddle the cable adjusters on the down tube. I wouldn't even consider electric gears because of the prospect of being stranded in the middle of nowhere if a battery goes flat or a push button stops working, and because they're completely unnecessary. Not to mention mollycoddling the batteries whilst the bike's not in use. A big problem with batteries is that you can never be quite sure what the capacity is unless you allow them to run flat occasionally, and if you do that it rather defeats the point.

 

[Ajax Bay]

People whinge about modern tech being too complicated but have never really taken the time to experience and understand it - they just assume it is and come up with utter garbage muttering "marketing" etc. But it isn't any more complicated at all and often actually easier to maintain.

For example: Di2 and eTap are easier to adjust than mechanical because they allow for electronic micro-adjusting. I can simply hold a button on my eTap brake levers and micro-adjust if necessary whilst riding.

Changing brake pads for a disc braked bike is no more difficult than for a rim braked bike.

Swopping cassettes, chains etc are easy too. Chains now have 'powerlinks' etc which make installation even easier than before.

Tubeless? Easy. Trick? After installing the rim tape properly, not allowing any gaps, put the tyre on the rim and run a tyre lever halfway on one side to partially seat it onto the edge of the rim. Repeat on the opposite side. Do this and you can inflate the tyre without the need of a compressor./ Airsoft etc and leaks from not putting in sufficient air to seat the tyre properly is avoided. I've got 5 pairs of tubeless wheels, all done myself, all no hassle at all.

I use Park Tools including their repair stand and can highly recommend them (plus their videos as mentioned by another Poster above if you need help) but there are many alternatives. With the correct tools, all bicycle-related work is not difficult at all. Keep a bike in good order and none of the problems an incorrectly maintained bike will throw up such as seized components etc will be an issue.

Well the OP posit is/was that "[Despite some . . believing that a bicycle is a hugely complicated machine . . . I assure you that it is . . . quite simple."
"modern tech . . . isn't any more complicated" Is this your rational belief?
You are introducing the "TOO" complicated assertion.
Is electronic shifting "complicated"? Well it's certainly more complicated than mechanical.
A hydraulic braking system is prima facie more complicated, compared to one operated by cables (either disc or rim) (TRP Spyres ftw)
Noone has suggested that "Swopping (sic) cassettes, chains" is complicated or difficult: strawman
Is installing a tubeless tyre complicated? Well, if installing one with a tube is easy then tubeless is harder and takes longer(investment of time). Does allow a tyre insert though, which I can't use with a tube.
Since the OP didn't want to play/chat, do you think internal cabling and pressfit bottom brackets are more or less complicated than the technology they replaced? Have you replaced 'cartridge' bearings in your hubs? Did you find that easier or more complicated than cup and cone? Bonus question: did you enjoy maintaining cottered cranks?

 

[Alex321]

Nope.

Easy: achieved without great effort; presenting few difficulties.

"Quicker" and "effort" have their own separate, somewhat incompatible meanings.

Why "nope", when your own quote says "achieved without great effort". Therefore less effort = easier.

Quicker, I'll accept doesn't necessarily mean easier, but less effort certainly does.