Beer Drinker Appreciation Society - Open For Business (Page 121)

Ouch this sounds like my household...

Love the recycling comment.

Funny, I almost ALWAYS pour my beers(bottle or can)into a glass unless of course it is a run of the mill guzzling after I cut the grass beer.

When are you coming to Canada...more specifically Alberta?

Most of it is pretty easy.  A few drops of Triflow on the cables every few months will keep them lubricated - the metal cables will wick it up.  Takes about 15 seconds.  Bearings last forever, and will let you know, with no uncertainty, when they go bad.  The most common headset bearing issue is a loose headset, and again, it's something that is noticeable - as in really loose steering that makes you go "there's something wrong here. . . "

Cable adjustment is really easy as well - it's hard to write about, but any YouTube video will teach you how to do it in about five minutes.

Other that wheel truing, wheel building, and bike fitting, I feel that pretty much every bike adjustment is a "watch one, do one, teach one" situation.  

What gear combinations are you getting chatter?  Is it a cross-chaining issue, i.e., big cassette and big ring, or little ring and the small cassette gear?  

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I'm probably a little stung by bike shops, since I have had lots of cruddy experiences.  My Felt came with shift cables for brake cables from a really well-recognized and highly respected bike shop - and that was not a cheap bike.  Brake cables have a different winding due to brake compression, so it's just either laziness or outright stupidity that caused that.  

 I also went to the bike shop that sponsors my club (in club kit with the shop name on the back, after a ride, and wearing the shop's faux vintage hat, and just having finished a ride with the shop owner, who wasn't at the shop) to see about getting a replacement suspension fork for a hybrid bike someone gave me, and after explaining I was just curious about price and that budget was fitting for a dumpster bike, was told it would take 10 days and cost $150.  I then bought a brand new one off of eBay for $20.  

So, yeah, I don't really trust most of the local wrench jockeys with my life or my bike.  

I think it's important to develop a relationship with an LBS. Switching between shops or showing up with a new bike you didn't buy at the shop (if you have a history with that shop already) is often a good way to get on a shop's bad side. I just moved to Ottawa and have no idea where to take my bike now. I had a good thing going in London. My LBS there have gone out of their a few times to help me out. When I crashed and busted up a bunch of spokes and needed a rebuild, the one mechanic took my wheel home with him so he could work on it in his spare time so I could race on it the next day. I bought him a 6 pack of my favourite beer. I always spend 15-20 minutes chatting with the mechanics at any LBS I go to. Building a rapport is essential IMO. 

As for maintenance. Cassettes and chainrings do not wear as much as people would have you believe, even if you don't replace your chain regularly. I'm on my third chain and still running the original cassette with no problems. Bottoms brackets are typically good for about 15-20 thousand kms if the bike is cared for and not ridden hard in the mud and rain. Rear derailleurs will need to be adjusted every couple hundred kms depending on how you shift. If you shift under load a lot maybe more frequently. If you invest in decent equipment (105 or better in the Shimano range for example) should last as long as you'll have the bike for. I know guys who still use Dura-Ace components from the 80s on their training bikes. I disagree with Charles about lubing cables every few months. IMO cables and housing should be replaced rather than lubed at least once per season (more if you ride a lot). I don't even lube my cables, the lube never makes it beyond the first few inches of the housing anyway and really has no effect on anything. Keep the cables clean and replace them annually, they're not expensive. 

When it comes to wheels, I don't mess around with truing. If I had a truing stand, I might. But there is more to truing a wheel than just getting it to ride straight. If you're not careful you can put a flat spot in the rim or turn the hoop into an oval. I've made on the fly adjustments using a zip tie in the chain stays but never on my racing wheels and never as a permanent fix. Hub bearings should be repacked annually. You can do it yourself but I don't recommend it unless you have a crappy set of wheels to practice on. It costs about $20 to have bearings repacked. Headsets nowadays are made well enough on mid to high end bikes that they'll likely never need to be replaced as long as you have the bike. Unless of course you enjoy cobbles. The best way to make sure your bike runs smoothly is to clean it regularly and thoroughly. It keeps the components free and clear of debris or anything that can cause damage but it also gives you a chance to spot anything out of the ordinary or anything that might need to be replaced in the future. It's always better to replace something before it goes rather than wait until it falls apart on the road.