Bike jobs that took WAY longer than you ever imagined

[Jeremy McCreary]

It's happened to all of us: A bike mod or repair that should've taken 5 minutes but still has you tearing your hair out 30 minutes later.

Share your most exasperating examples here.

I'll start with yesterday's attempt to shorten my wife's kickstand. Never worked with one quite like it, but how hard could it be?

Having no work or floor stand, thought I'd just have her hold up the bike while I did the job in place. Very awkward access, but I loosened the single adjustment screw a bit with the help of an inspection mirror. The lower end wouldn't slide, so I loosened the screw a little more.

After 3 iterations, it finally budged, so I shortened the stand to the right length and went to retighten the screw — only to find that the screw no longer tightened. It just spun and spun. Grrrr.

Removed the kickstand to see what was going on. Turns out, I'd backed the screw out of an internal sliding nut that then promptly slid out of place — and out of sight — without a sound. Could barely see it when I got it to slide back up into approximate position but then had no way to hold the wobbly nut in proper alignment to rethread the screw. Grrrrrrr.

Took another 20 minutes of mostly blind fiddling to get them threaded, fearing that I'd end up stripping them the whole time. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

My rule of thumb for maintenance procedures on youtube is that the time it will take me to do the job is half the time of the video converted to the next higher unit. So a procedure in a 3 minute youtube video takes me about an hour and a half.

The ones that really escalate in time is where you don't have the proper tools and have to scramble around to find that tool. This is especially entertaining when you are halfway through the procedure and realize that you don't have a certain tool you are going to badly need to get your bike back together.

 

[indianajo]

It took me a year and a half to figure out how to replace the wire harness to a Cutler Mac 12t. I built a puller to yank on the ring while the screw pressed on the shaft. No help. No useful videos on youtube, just something about it needs a torque arm to keep the shaft from spinning out of the dropouts and tearing the harness off. Duh! My harness end was burned off by rain on an ASI controller with 48 v and 0 v pins 0.4 mm apart. The small wire colors were weird, not the usual yellow blue green red black.
I finally took the wire side accessories off, and tapped on a nut on the other side with a hammer while holding the shell between my knees. Success. The insides came out of the shell. I was able to figure out the harness, replace it with 2 mm spaced pins in a white block, and rode it another 2000 miles before the clutch wore out. The ASI controller went in the trash. Good riddance.

 

[BEC111]

It even happens at an LBS. My rear derailleur was working correctly. Brought to the shop. Checks and adjustments were made. Went for a short test ride. Back for more adjustments. Seemed ok. Rode home. Rode next day, same problem, just not as bad. Back to the shop. Rinse and repeat. Several times over almost two weeks. Finally replaced the derailleur and it was ok. After almost three weeks.

i won’t even go into the time i helped my friend replace a toilet that had frozen and cracked. Though that repair was hindered by the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Though that repair was hindered by the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol.

Give yourself more credit. You were just preparing yourself for the aggravation that part of you knew was coming.
;^}

 

[PCeBiker]

I'll start with yesterday's attempt to shorten my wife's kickstand.

I tried to do the exact same adjustment on my kickstand, but the slot for the slider bolt wasn't long enough so the kickstand wouldn't compress short enough.

I ended up taking it apart and cutting the slot about an inch longer with my grinder and a cutoff disk.
I managed to shorten my kickstand enough that it wouldn't fall over backwards.
I ended up spending an hour or two trying to figure out what to do, but I had an excuse to use my cordless grinder, so it was kinda fun.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The bike jobs I hate the most:

• Pulling the tyre bed onto the rim during the tyre replacement (sometimes even ripping the tyre bead off the rim is a mission!) Once, I bought a Tire Bead Jack by Kool Stop (helping pulling the tyre bead onto the rim). The tool snapped soon Necessary to mention, the way I'm pulling the tyre onto the rim often results in a destroyed inner tube
• Routing a new chain in the derailleur cage. For some reason, I almost always do it wrong and need to repeat the action...
• Replacing the seat-post on Vado SL (or, the "tricky Seat-Post Wedge")
• Installing SQlab Innerbarends. Not only that requires removing the grips and all controls from the handlebars but also any loosening Innerbarends for angle fine tuning requires loosening the brake levers and possibly the shifter...

I cannot recollect any more sins! I do not do any more complicated jobs on my e-bikes!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Though that repair was hindered by the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol.

I never do bike repairs after the dark or after drinking I learned that lesson pretty long ago!

 

[DaveMatthews]

It's happened to all of us: A bike mod or repair that should've taken 5 minutes but still has you tearing your hair out 30 minutes later.

Share your most exasperating examples here.

View attachment 186188

I'll start with yesterday's attempt to shorten my wife's kickstand. Never worked with one quite like it, but how hard could it be?

Having no work or floor stand, thought I'd just have her hold up the bike while I did the job in place. Very awkward access, but I loosened the single adjustment screw a bit with the help of an inspection mirror. The lower end wouldn't slide, so I loosened the screw a little more.

View attachment 186189

After 3 iterations, it finally budged, so I shortened the stand to the right length and went to retighten the screw — only to find that the screw no longer tightened. It just spun and spun. Grrrr.

Removed the kickstand to see what was going on. Turns out, I'd backed the screw out of an internal sliding nut that then promptly slid out of place — and out of sight — without a sound. Could barely see it when I got it to slide back up into approximate position but then had no way to hold the wobbly nut in proper alignment to rethread the screw. Grrrrrrr.

Took another 20 minutes of mostly blind fiddling to get them threaded, fearing that I'd end up stripping them the whole time. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

I feel your pain.
I'm more of a geek than mechanically inclined. That said I do have a Park Tool stand and do maintenance and minor to moderate repair/replacement. Not afraid of getting my hands dirty, but anything major is a trip to LBS.

 

[PCeBiker]

I did keep in mind the whole time that I could replace the kickstand if I make a complete mess of things, but I'd think long and hard (like a month or two,) before I'd ever decide to take my grinder to the frame or something major.

I spent months trying to figure out how to attach a second battery to my e-bike.
I was considering installing riv-nuts for a battery mount, but I was really apprehensive about drilling holes in my frame.

I could probably pull it off, but not without having a dozen extra holes in my e-bike.

 

[BlackHand]

I decided to put shorter cranks on my new bike as I had several pedal strikes in the first few weeks. Ordered some from Ebay that were sold as Bosch, Brose, Fazua compatible as they were cheaper and lighter than the Bosch specific offerings in the size I wanted. Figured it was 50/50 that they would work on Bosch since FSA only marketed them for Fazua bikes.

Set the bike up, got the torque wrench out, put in the bit and only then realized that the original cranks weren't self-extracting (why would you do that on a bike originally meant to sell for over $6k?). Dig out my crank puller only to realize that I have a ccp-22 and I need a ccp-44.

Ordered the right tool, waited for it to show up and finally pulled the left crank off to test the shiny new cranks and sure enough it rubs the plastic motor shield as I'm tightening it. Ok, crank off, take the motor cover off - I can hack it, if it's only the plastic shield in the way. Nope, after snugging up the crank completely the crankarm hits the motor itself, just barely, but it does.

Put the motor cover back, replace the old crank, package up the Ebay cranks, send them back, order the pricier ones that I know will work. They show up, I go down replace the left crank, looks good. Now the right crank - damn, it's really on there. Get out my bigger ratchet put the 1/4 inch adapter on it with the 8mm hex head from my bike torque wrench. No joy, get the pipe extension out, brace the crank so it cant spin, give it some muscle ... and the damn adapter snaps off inside my only 8mm bit! The adapter came from my 25yr old Craftsman socket set - except apparently some time in the last quarter century the Craftsman one got swapped with a POS pot metal one.

Had to order a new heavy duty hex wrench - which was tough enough to handle the pipe extension and a couple hammer whacks to break the crankarm loose.

I think it took about 2 weeks in the end. My older bike the same operation took about 20 minutes just a few months ago.

 

[harryS]

Was going to pull the crank and pedals/axle (BB) from my diamondback. I couldn't get the arm off. Ripped the threads out of the pedal. Ok. Got a new tool at LBS and tried the other side. Ripped those threads out too,

A wedge under the pedal would have worked, but not having one, I turned to my trusty sawzall.. The chain side remained stuck even after I cut thru the middle. As soon as I cut the second ring gear, the tension released and the gear came off,

I've taken off like a dozen pedals since then, and none were ever as bad. Oh, I cut those slots with hardly any scratching of the BB cartridge, I saved it and put it back onto use on another bike a few years later.

 

[BlackHand]

I figured out the hard way how KMC came up with the name for their master link...

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I feel your pain.
I'm more of a geek than mechanically inclined. That said I do have a Park Tool stand and do maintenance and minor to moderate repair/replacement. Not afraid of getting my hands dirty, but anything major is a trip to LBS.

Bike jobs would be soooooo much easier — and I'd be a lot more adventurous — with a Park Tool stand and more garage space to work in!

Asking for the 9.3 stand for Christmas. By then, the wife's reaction to how much I spent on my new Vado SL should have faded a bit.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Bike jobs would be soooooo much easier — and I'd be a lot more adventurous — with a Park Tool stand and more garage space to work in!

Asking for the 9.3 stand for Christmas. By then, the wife's reaction to how much I spent on my new Vado SL should have faded a bit.

Good idea.
It's saved me a bunch of times. Checking tires for punctures, cleaning/lubing chain (wax), adjusting derailleur, removing wheels etc. It's just so much easier.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I figured out the hard way how KMC came up with the name for their master link...

These are at least easy to buy! Fancy what happens when you lose or pull an OEM bolt... Besides, all that "reusable or non-reusable" chain link talk must be bullshit. How can a link that does not stretch be non-reusable?!

A little story that may amuse you.

On the latest group ride, I met a man riding a Santa Cruz Heckler. As he overtook me on the trail, I heard some squealing. I almost asked him what was wrong with his e-bike! That would be shame as it was my Vado SL that emitted the squeaking! Turned out it was my SKS Speedrocker mudguard that had to be fastened stronger...

 

[Prairie Dog]

Bike jobs would be soooooo much easier — and I'd be a lot more adventurous — with a Park Tool stand and more garage space to work in!

Asking for the 9.3 stand for Christmas. By then, the wife's reaction to how much I spent on my new Vado SL should have faded a bit.

Check out the Feedback Ultralight stand too. I purchased a used one while in Japan and found it to be way lighter, more compact and user friendly than my old Park PCS 9.2. The rotating clamp on the Park stand ceases up constantly and the only way to release it is to place a bar in the clamp and use brute force to release it. This might not happen with other models in the park lineup but it was enough to push me over the edge to look for something else.

 

[m@Robertson]

Jobs that take longer to do than I thought: How about "all of them".

The fast quickies are the rarity. Not the other way around. I can't count the number of times where I have three things to do on a Saturday and by the time I have perfected #1 I decide its time for a sandwich and a nap.