I'm a champion bike mechanic...

[Xplora]

I adjusted my shimano cable disc brakes (so miserably easy it is embarrassing, check Youtube )
I put a new bolt into my Topeak rack (I have GOT to tighten those more regularly)
I moved my seat post and tightened it (ped tried hard to get mowed down, I missed them but shanked the post )
I put some oil on the chain with my toddler's help

All in one night!

What are your lameduck mechanic moments?

[HappyHumber]

I put a new bolt into my Topeak rack (I have GOT to tighten those more regularly)

Discovering loctite

[PawPaw]

release the tension from my torque wrench springs when not using.
store bikes with the derailleur springs unloaded.
replace cables and housings at the same time, no matter how pretty housings look on the outside.
use sram aluminium cable housing caps, rather than plastic which the cable bites into.
apply electrical tape to the rim valve holes to protect the valve from shear stress.
coat my tubes and tire inner surface with johnsons baby powder to reduce friction
give my sti mechs a monthly shot of wd-40
re-seat my head set bearings every 5000k to prevent divots developing in one spot.
occasionally swap front and rear brake pads, and left and right cleats to share the wear.
use loctite on bidon cage bolts - never had one shake loose since doing it

[rkelsen]

I put a new bolt into my Topeak rack (I have GOT to tighten those more regularly)

Discovering loctite

Or Nyloc nuts.

[munga]

divots = brinelling.

[simonn]

I put a new bolt into my Topeak rack (I have GOT to tighten those more regularly)

Discovering loctite

Or Nyloc nuts.

Or grease.

[drubie]

My "I'm a champion bike mechanic" moment: discovering cable cutters. Only now I've worn mine out and have no idea how to sharpen them

[trailgumby]

Finally buying a torque wrench... after nearly stripping the thread on the axle retaining bolt on my original 2004 vintage Lefty

"I will not tighten past 15Nm"
"I will not tighten past 15Nm"
"I will not tighten past 15Nm"
"I will not tighten past 15Nm"
"I will not tighten past 15Nm"
...

[HappyHumber]

Mount your tyres with the most obvious branding centered above the valve hole. It helps you visually locate the valve a smidgeenth quicker (depending on what visual noise is behind the wheel) and also when you're changing a flat it also gives you a loose guide where in relation to the branding the cause of the puncture is in the tyre - eg. assuming you've pulled the tube and it's quite obviously got a hole at 4 o'clock (the valve at midnight) you know to look there first for anything obvious in the tyre.

If not at 4 o'lock try 8 in case you've unwittingly flipped the tube over in pulling it out. If it's not obvious by this method - then back to a more closer & all round inspection.


Whilst this idea it won't feed the starving; it makes things a tad easier and a habit I got into.

[silentbutdeadly]

My lameduck mechanic moments typically happen every Friday after lunch when I finally get the chance to fix something on one or more bikes from the previous week...not sure what's on this weeks list but there's still a day to go...although there's some spoke tensions to check and a thorn resistant tube to get rid of.....but a tip? Yes a tip....

Before installation fill a new MTB tube with 50mL of Stans Sealant and 20mL of Slime Tyre (not Tube) Sealant. The Stan's goes off fast and the rubber particles in the Slime Tyre sealant helps clog up the hole. Tiny weight penalty for a big win. Cheaper and more effective than a Slime tube - even seems to work on high pressure roadie tubes (just use half the amount suggested above).

[Xplora]

Another brilliant moment last night! Woot!

I've bought a bracket from Bunnings to mount my magicshine front light, and got my SKS P35 all sorted out on the front. Looks the business!

[notwal]

Check that your new shifter cable is actually shifting gears before you cut it.

For those stubborn hard to fit tyres try a bit of soapy water on the rim.

[notwal]

My "I'm a champion bike mechanic" moment: discovering cable cutters. Only now I've worn mine out and have no idea how to sharpen them

Time you got a Dremel drubie.

[gururug]

Converted multispeed to singlespeed ( shortened chain ) to get me home when i mangled a rear derailer riding over a plastic bag. Thank god I had a quicklink.

[moreegolfer]

Another brilliant moment last night! Woot!

I've bought a bracket from Bunnings to mount my magicshine front light, and got my SKS P35 all sorted out on the front. Looks the business!

Have you got a pic Xplora?

[nayfen]

the most useful tool in my champion workshop is;
www.youtube.com

[philip]

Got an extremely stuck carbon seat post out of an aluminium frame. LBS wasn't able to get it out (I'm not sure they tried all that hard though). Seat post was already busted so I ended up drilling a hole through it, sticking a rod through to use as leverage to twist. Got it to twist a tiny bit then putting WD40 in and twisting got it out without too much trouble.

[WyvernRH]

[quote="HappyHumber" Discovering loctite [/quote]

Finding out there are lots of different grades/types of Loctite...

Cheers
Richard

[toolonglegs]

Yeah use stud lock instead of blue .
Philip... get a spoke....tape a long strip of wet and dry to the spoke and wrap it around the spoke a few times. Put it in a drill and run it up and down the seat tube and it will remove any corrosion but won't take any metal off. Steel wool is better on a long shaft with a slot in it...but it can be a bit hard to get out if it falls off.

[Big_Red]

My "I'm a champion bike mechanic moment" was replacing the brake & rear derailleur cables last night as i'd noticed them starting to fray/rust. Brakes were still hopeless & noisy, just as they were before i changed the cable. So i whipped out the front & rear disc pads and rubbed them across a light file to remove the glazing. Popped them back in the brake assembly, giving myself a nice blood blister when the pliers slipped while resetting the split pin retainer and reset the pads to just off the disc. Tested the bike out and promply endo'd the bike in testing the front brakes. At least now they lock up each wheel very easily and are nearly silent. Quite chuffed!

[teak81]

That made me laugh mate. "promptly endod the bike" good job on the brakes.

[find_bruce]

Quite chuffed with myself yesterday, managed to repair my brother's brake lever that I stuffed when I borrowed it.

The olive nut had seized & the hex broke off while trying to undo it, but I was able to drill the end of the hose out & remove the nut with an ezy out. Installed new olive & nut.

The tricky part was installing the circlip- I have circlip pliers but the points were too big. Fortunately I am am experienced bodger & used a pair of fine screwdrivers.

edit: should have added that the only thing that needed doing originally was replacing the circlip

[jaseyjase]

Use pliers to pull gear cables before you pinch bolt them, the extra few mm you get instead of using your fingers helps with cable tension.

Now i can shift into my big rings properly

[bigfriendlyvegan]

Use pliers to pull gear cables before you pinch bolt them, the extra few mm you get instead of using your fingers helps with cable tension.

Now i can shift into my big rings properly

Use a third hand tool. Much better than pliers for this sort of job - in fact, it's the right tool for this sort of job, pliers aren't.

[jaseyjase]

yep, in my next order basket.

**edit**

i should add though, while i was you tubing installation, i came across what looked like a promo vid from SRAM about installing FORCE and they just used pliers to pull the cable, no third hand tool.