Recognizing the Repairs You Need Help With

With this book in hand, a few tools, and a healthy dose of confidence, patience, and determination, you can do just about everything needed to maintain and repair your bike. There are only a few situations in which you may have to step aside and let the professionals in your local bike shop handle the load. In this section, we fill you in on when to leave it for the pros.

Repairing frames

In general, all frame repair should be handled by professionals — either your local bicycle store or a professional frame builder/repair facility. Most local bicycle stores can handle minor frame alignment issues if they have the proper tools and experience. If your bike has any frame-integrity issues — such as cracks, dents, or stress marks in the paint — they should be inspected, repaired, or replaced by a frame specialist.

If you need to have your frame repaired by a specialist, you may as well have an extra set of fasteners attached for an extra water bottle, bike rack, or tire pump. You may even want to get the cool new paint job you’ve been dreaming of.

Installing a new headset

Adjusting a headset is an easy job that you can perform at home or on the road. Overhauling a headset is also a job you can perform at home. However, installing a new headset is a job probably best saved for the professionals at you local bicycle store.

There are several specialty tools required to remove the old headset and then install the new one: a fork race removal tool, a headset cup removal tool, a fork race setting tool, and a headset cup pressing tool. Plus, you need the knowledge to use these tools properly. Most bike shops will have the tools and the expertise to put them to use.

Truing a wheel

The basic concept of straightening a rim by adjusting spoke tension is easy. The problems begin when you get into concepts that the professionals call dishing or rounding or when you have to straighten a rim that has a flat spot or a bend in it and the spokes are all tensioned differently. This is where sig­nificant expertise is required.

Even with a truing stand, spoke tension meter, dishing tool, and spoke wrench, you still need the knowledge and experience to make everything come together properly. The big advantage of having your wheels trued by a professional is that they’ll stand behind and warranty their work. Just because you get the wheel perfectly dished, rounded, and straight doesn’t mean the wheel will hold up the first time you go for a ride.

Working on suspension

There are many different types of front and rear suspension and all repair work on them should be done either by the manufacturer, your local bicycle store, or one of the specialty bicycle suspension repair facilities.

irt№EП

Most of the manufacturers have programs set up so you can ship the suspen­sion part back to them where they’ll repair it and ship it back to you for a nominal charge. A couple of independently owned repair facilities provide the same service. The advantage of going through your local bicycle shop is that you don’t have to pay the shipping costs, although there are certain repairs for which the bicycle store may also have to send the part back to the manufacturer for service.

Refer to your owners manual for the proper oils and lubricants and the routine maintenance you can and should be performing yourself on your suspension parts.