Crisis in confidence in bike quality

[pwa]

The most useful advice i can give to the OP is to take a deep breath and invest some money in a set of tools and a bike maintenance book. Then get some practice in fixing things. Something like changing a cable can be done in a few minutes. Gear parts are mostly easily replaced. You are throwing money away by getting shops to do these easy things. And when you learn to fix things yourself you can gradually replace inferior parts with bits that are better. And you might even enjoy it.

[mjr]

Brucey - don't know what you think of the Haynes Bike Maintenance book, but I've found it quite a handy resource; as a starting point at any rate.

I don't know what Brucey thinks of it, but I think it's a fairly broad starting-point book, although it's very much entrenched in some current fashions and omits some things, including at least one thing that I thought was commonplace but I forget what it was. If you combine it with SheldonBrown.com and ParkTool.com, plus videos from RJ and Park, that's probably a fairly good mix that would cover most things.

Pashley, of course. Expensive but hub gears and brakes and enclosed chain. When everyone cycled to work every day in all weathers and on poor roads, they all rode these bikes it seems.

There's still a heck of a lot of such bikes still doing good work in East Anglia. The trade bikes have almost all gone now, sadly, and recent similar-looking bikes like the Pendleton Summerby and Cinzia Citylife(? might have fluffed that) have derailleurs which I suspect won't last as long. Pashley remain popular, but Brucey mentioned a few other brands (not including the Royal Imperial) at viewtopic.php?p=1081660#p1081660

Many of the bikes I see have hockey-stick guards rather than full cases and I actually replaced the chaincase of my Dutchie with a hockey-stick because enough silt was getting in through the holes for the BB axle and rear axle to mound up along the bottom of the case (fen silt is sticky and doesn't drain out easy) so then I was basically dragging the chain through grit all the time. Washing it out was fiddly. I also couldn't see what the chain was doing if there was a problem (or I suspected there was) and oiling it was a problem. Some of that could have been addressed by a better design of chaincase (one where the rear section detached, perhaps, making it easier to oil and to remove the rear wheel) but the basic silt build-up problem would remain. I think the hockey-stick is still worthwhile, based on the amount of splatter that builds up on top of it between washes.

Gear parts are mostly easily replaced. You are throwing money away by getting shops to do these easy things.

Probably. I'd say to give it a go, but be prepared to take awkward things like stuck freewheels (lesson: grease the threads better next time) into a shop for replacement rather than bend tools or parts forcing them.

[Brucey]

I confess I have not read it...

I think Haynes manuals for other things are pretty good. If I have a criticism of them it is that they often encourage 'learning by rote' rather than a deeper understanding, but perhaps that is the nature of the beast.

Oddly enough I have idly wondered about having a go at writing something myself. However it is a lot of work and furthermore I think one would always be vulnerable to accusations of omission.

In the 1970s, Richard Ballantine's excellent 'Richard's Bicycle Book' was a good starting point for a lot of people. I thought it was a bit simplistic (with very little on hub gears...) but it was something a novice could use; it did help a lot of people to fix their bikes and in addition the cycle advocacy within was a powerful message in its own right.

However back then, there was much less choice in cycle componentry; bikes were a lot simpler. These days there are so many complex systems (that work in subtly different ways...), if you tried to cover everything you would end up with Sutherlands Bicycle Manual, and that isn't in any way an approachable thing for a novice.

cheers

[iandriver]

The Park Tool site is also very good (i.e, for changing the chain http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-hel ... -section-3)

Just remember you don't have to buy their tools which can be quite pricey.

[hamster]

This: http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TOJWTK/job ... e-tool-kit
for £30 plus a pair of pliers will allow you to do all the common repairs to your bike. All for the cost of one cycle repair.

Add the Park Tool website and some patience and you are good to go.

[UpWrong]

Worth having a 2nd bike so that you are still mobile whilst carrying out repairs. Most maintence is easy enough but it helps if you don't have to finish the job in one evening.

If your journey is reasonably flat then I'd consider a bike with an IGH, enclosed chain and drum brakes. I'd be tempted with the 8 speed version of the Paper Bicycle http://www.paper-bicycle.com/hustle/the-bicycle/

[Si]

I'd go with whoever said look for community cycling groups who do free basic maintenance courses. Books and vids can be good but there's no substitute for getting your hands dirty with someone there to show you what to do. I'd have thought that somewhere the size of Manchester would do them. Here in Birmingham there are a few places doing them...<blatant plug>I'm running one next week in Kingstanding WBC if anyone is interested?</blatant plug>

Once you know how to maintain it you'll find that you have to fix it a lot less

[tykeboy2003]

1. Not at all surprised about the chain. Just try to replace the chain before you get excess wear on the cassette, otherwise you'll have to replace that as well because the new chain will skip.
2. Very surprised about cables needing to be replaced so soon. I would have thought you'd get years rather than months out of a cable, unless you damage it whilst taking the brakes or gear mechs of for cleaning etc.

Hope you get it sorted.

[Sweep]

surprised to hear that public transport in Manchester is so poor

Yes, me too - the OP should get out into rural lancs where there are now rather a lot of "heritage bus stops".

So OAPs with their free bus passes can no longer get to the closed libraries.

On the main topic OP, i second/third the advice above to get in touch with a community workshop.

If i can, bit by bit, learn how to do bike mechanics, anyone can. I can now do anything except wheel trueing or headset insertion.

Also, get a good book and take things slowly.

I can reccomend

The Big Blue Book of Bicycle Maintenance

By park tools.

Excellent step by step instructions.

I have it by my side when i do pretty much any job in case I turn things the wrong way!

[karlt]

Is it possible gears/brakes/cables just need adjusting/lubricating, and the LBS thinks the OPer is a soft mark?

[ChrisButch]

Is it possible gears/brakes/cables just need adjusting/lubricating, and the LBS thinks the OPer is a soft mark?

That, unfortunately, was my first thought too when I read the OP

[foxyrider]

Is it possible gears/brakes/cables just need adjusting/lubricating, and the LBS thinks the OPer is a soft mark?

It does sound a bit over the top but I know it's common practice at some shops to just replace all the cabling to save time trying to make dry/damaged cables work.

Personally i'd have been back to the original shop in the first instance who should give advice on preventive maintenance.

To the OP, don't be disheartened. Some of the pious here make it sound like it's all your fault and you should do this or that. Some preventative maintenance (the odd dab of oil, bit of air in the tyres) will mostly keep you on the road and some basic skills like changing a tube or cable can save you a lot of money. But don't stress over it, if you aren't mechanically minded it will be safer not to try but accept stuff will need doing.

Case in point one of my bikes had a workshop visit last week - not because I don't know how to do the jobs but I lacked some specialist equipment to do them. Paying rankles of course but buying the tools would have cost as much as the labour charge and i'd still have to do the work!

[bigjim]

surprised to hear that public transport in Manchester is so poor

So am I. I live in Manchester and have a very good bus and tram service nearby. But if you are paying the tram is quite expensive.
The terrible roads and traffic in Manchester take their toll on bikes. I think the simplicity of a self build fixie would be a good option for the OP.

[hamster]

I absolutely agree with saving the complexity of gears. But I can't see why a fixie is necessary - a singlespeed is much more user-friendly to the average punter.

[bigjim]

Not necessary. But yea single would do. Just save having to service a rear brake with the fixie.