Rear mech hitting spokes

[mig]

bent mech hanger.

under what sort of riding circumstance is the rear mech flicking the spokes? pootling along or heavy strain uphill in what would make sense to be bottom gear?

[Mr Tom]

You are both work colleagues.
You need to keep things on a professional basis.
She may regard your interest with suspicion - did she approach you to find out what was wrong with her bike?
Possibly she mentioned the problem in passing and you offered to help - of course you have also mentioned her reluctance to allow this so perhaps you are being too persistent ?

My workplace is very small, only two or three people in on most days, and we have quite a lot of downtime, so lots of chance to chat. No bike sheds, just the back of work. So, it's not like an office job in a big building where it might seem like being a lot more pushy to start pestering somebody because I've seen they cycle in. We are often out the back by the bikes emptying bins and so on, so it's an easy for something to come up in conversation. I will tread carefully going forward though. It's a shame as I'm always keen to help people out with bikes - have given various colleagues old lights so they aren't riding home in the dark, stuff like that. Still I guess it's important to make sure that if it's a woman they know I'm doing it to be nice and because I enjoy working on bikes. I think she did approach me about it though, in answer to your question.

I think it must be the case for most people on here that it you see something wrong on someone's bike it's really tempting to offer to fix it because you know it will work so much better when it's done

[Jupestar]

it's really tempting to offer to fix it because you know it will work so much better when it's done

Actually not for me, unless its a really quick fix such as turning the barrell adjuster or aligning a brake pad.

Or if its a childs bike, and i can see the parents have zero interest, and i'm confident that what i do will make it safer. Normally fixing a brake or straighting a wheel. I've turned forks the correct way around before. I'll also let the parents know they should take it in to be checked as my fix is only temporary.

In general if someone i know has a genuine interest, I'm happy to talk them through it discuss options and make the changes with them (time permitiing), so they know what is being done why and are aware that it may not solve it.

But if someone asks me to look at a bike, has zero interets in understanding it, and i can see the headset needs adjusting or their is play in the wheels, BB is loose, or something, tell them i don't have the correct bearings/parts etc, and suggest what i think could be wrong and point them at a bike shop. They can then book it in with a more direct diagnoise.

Take your example, you diagnose a bent RD or hanger. You bend it back, make it worst, you replace it at cost, but it was not the problem. Maybe its a broken axle.. they now have a redundant RD. You take the chain off, and can't get it back on, maybe you pushed the pin too far, needs a new chain or you shortern it. Suddenly your responsible and there has been wasted cost, and further cost and its still not repaired. Your now owning future maintenance on the bike.

Plus we have 9 bikes in our family and keeping them on the road is enough spare time faffing for me.

[pwa]

It depends how well you know the person. If it is a mate, I'll happily have a go, in their presence, talking them through what I'm doing. possibly with the warning that if it doesn't get the right result they may have to visit a bike shop. But mostly, if I reach for my tool box it is because I know what will work. With my family's bikes I have always been able to stop the mech gently tapping spokes by adjusting the relevant limit screw, or tweaking a few spoke nipples to pull a few spokes away from the mech. I'd be more reluctant to start bending hangers because bending non-bendy metal is always a gamble.

[thirdcrank]

I think it must be the case for most people on here that it you see something wrong on someone's bike it's really tempting to offer to fix it because you know it will work so much better when it's done

That assumes above all being able to rectify any faults. In this case, the colleague may have sensed that the temptation to offer help is greater than the ability to provide it but does not want to seem ungrateful

[Carlton green]

it's really tempting to offer to fix it because you know it will work so much better when it's done

Actually not for me, unless its a really quick fix such as turning the barrell adjuster or aligning a brake pad.

Or if its a childs bike, and i can see the parents have zero interest, and i'm confident that what i do will make it safer. Normally fixing a brake or straighting a wheel. I've turned forks the correct way around before. I'll also let the parents know they should take it in to be checked as my fix is only temporary.

In general if someone i know has a genuine interest, I'm happy to talk them through it discuss options and make the changes with them (time permitiing), so they know what is being done why and are aware that it may not solve it.

But if someone asks me to look at a bike, has zero interets in understanding it, and i can see the headset needs adjusting or their is play in the wheels, BB is loose, or something, tell them i don't have the correct bearings/parts etc, and suggest what i think could be wrong and point them at a bike shop. They can then book it in with a more direct diagnoise.

Take your example, you diagnose a bent RD or hanger. You bend it back, make it worst, you replace it at cost, but it was not the problem. Maybe its a broken axle.. they now have a redundant RD. You take the chain off, and can't get it back on, maybe you pushed the pin too far, needs a new chain or you shortern it. Suddenly your responsible and there has been wasted cost, and further cost and its still not repaired. Your now owning future maintenance on the bike.

Plus we have 9 bikes in our family and keeping them on the road is enough spare time faffing for me.

Unfortunately the hazards outlined are all too real. Up to a point I’ll help anyone, but beware because sometimes you do end up with unexpected problems and a load of hassle - and looking the bad guy. As a rule of thumb: keep whatever you do really simple, guide others to DIY info and other repairers, and certainly don’t go bending anything (‘cause Sod’s Law is remarkably accurate).

[rareposter]

I think it must be the case for most people on here that it you see something wrong on someone's bike it's really tempting to offer to fix it because you know it will work so much better when it's done

No it bloody isn't!

Most people have zero clue about their bikes, especially if it's just a utility/commuter bike and as a result they do very little cleaning or maintenance so you end up fixing one thing but discovering another 2-3 things that are dodgy and before you know it you're chasing problems around the bike, it's gets worse before it gets better, you find hidden costs and it becomes a world of complexity that neither of you need.

Or as mentioned by others, you end up breaking it or making it worse.

Leave it alone!

[pwa]

It was once suggested to me that might lead a session with a local youth club, on bike maintenance. The idea being that the kids bring their bikes along and I show them how to do basic things themselves. It took me about two minutes of thinking to discount it altogether. I knew that they would be bringing along bikes with absolutely everything malfunctioning and possibly with seized nuts, rusty chains and frayed cables, and little chance of them getting a satisfactory result by themselves. Certainly not in the half hour they would want to limit their efforts to.

[Mr Tom]

I'm really referring to more like the temptation to fix very simple things, like when a chain is totally rusted and you know you could make it stop squeaking, or if somebody hasn't put a light on properly and you can fix it with a shim so it points in the right direction and you can actually see it. I might not be expressing it very well, but I guess I've done enough fiddling with bikes to realise that I don't actually know that much. The stuff I've done so far has been within what I would say I can definitely do safely, like trimming frayed cables or giving my friend a new bell I had spare.

I think my reason for posting this in the first place was being worried that a colleague / friend was riding on a bike that wasn't safe.

Thanks for all the advice and warnings though, that is genuinely appreciated.