Servicing an older bike, DIY or LBS

smacl

I picked up a second hand Ridley Triton before Christmas, which I've had largely on the turbo with just a few road spins. I'd like to give it a full overhaul for the spring, new brake and gear cable inners and outers, new brake pads, etc... and am wondering whether to give it a go myself or take it to a bike shop. Reason for doing it myself is more about fun / experience / getting better at this kind of thing. Problems are getting the right parts and doing a decent job. I previously picked up new brake shoes, only to get the wrong ones (the Compag Xenon brakes on the bike have a different bolt size to these). No doubt I'd be liable to make similar mistakes on the cabling. So, a couple of questions;

Who would you recommend on the south side (Rathfarnham direction) as a decent LBS good at servicing this type of bike, and how much would you expect to pay?

Alternatively, which set of cables would be used for an older 9 speed triple Compag xenon group set?

Chips Lovell

Replacing pads is a cinch and anybody can do it in minutes.

Cabling is pretty straightforward to. It'll require a cable cutters, wrapping the bars again afterwards and knowing how to tune your gears.

Given the minimal amount of tools required, it's a job I think most people should be comfortable tackling themselves.

smacl

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

Replacing pads is a cinch and anybody can do it in minutes.

You'd think so. The brakes on the bike were different front and back, the front were integrated shoe and pad, hence I needed the same again or new shoes. The back were separate, see middle and bottom in pic below. So I decided to go with new shoes and pads front and back, selecting ones listed as 'Campagnolo brakes from 2000 and newer not compatible with Veloce' which turned out to be compatible with neither front nor back, see top of pic.

Cabling is pretty straightforward to. It'll require a cable cutters, wrapping the bars again afterwards and knowing how to tune your gears.

Given the minimal amount of tools required, it's a job I think most people should be comfortable tackling themselves.

I don't doubt I could do it, assuming I didn't hit any more incompatibilities on the parts I purchased, having already swapped the brakes around. Just wondering would someone more experienced do a better job, perhaps seeing other things that need attention that I'd miss as a novice.

mtdelany

You are very much in the "give a man a fish... teach a man to fish" terratory

call up to your LBS midweek when they are less busy and ask is it okay to help. I always find i can replace stuff, but it is never a finely tuned as the LBS.

Definately buy a mid priced bike stand as this means you can do the work by yourself

MungoMan

When someone inexperienced fixes their bike, there are hazards. To give an example, I bought a nice 20 year old steel roadbike recently. I replaced the Bottom Bracket, brake cables, axles, bearings. Everything worked fine for a few weeks, but last week I was cycling down a hill, pulled the front brake, and I hadnt tightened the inner brake cable tight enough to the caliper brake. It sllipped, and the brake didnt work at all. Luckily, the back brake worked. The LBS wouldnt make a mistake like this

smacl

Ordered up the bits and cable cutters on Friday, and will give it a go myself. If I make a mess of it, of to the LBS she goes. Time to start reading Sheldon Brown again.

07Lapierre

MungoMan wrote: »

When someone inexperienced fixes their bike, there are hazards. To give an example, I bought a nice 20 year old steel roadbike recently. I replaced the Bottom Bracket, brake cables, axles, bearings. Everything worked fine for a few weeks, but last week I was cycling down a hill, pulled the front brake, and I hadnt tightened the inner brake cable tight enough to the caliper brake. It sllipped, and the brake didnt work at all. Luckily, the back brake worked. The LBS wouldnt make a mistake like this

And i bet you wont make the same mistake again either!

Mycroft H

smacl wrote: »

Ordered up the bits and cable cutters on Friday, and will give it a go myself. If I make a mess of it, of to the LBS she goes. Time to start reading Sheldon Brown again.

Unless you dont have a sharp snips, cheap cable cutters are not really worth it imo. A sharp snips can cut cables and cable housing easily. You need a file to "neaten" up the ends of the housing so they sit into the end stops.

Mycroft H

MungoMan wrote: »

When someone inexperienced fixes their bike, there are hazards. To give an example, I bought a nice 20 year old steel roadbike recently. I replaced the Bottom Bracket, brake cables, axles, bearings. Everything worked fine for a few weeks, but last week I was cycling down a hill, pulled the front brake, and I hadnt tightened the inner brake cable tight enough to the caliper brake. It sllipped, and the brake didnt work at all. Luckily, the back brake worked. The LBS wouldnt make a mistake like this

First lesson. Test them! Recently rebuilt a 29 year old touring bike and the first job after I thought everything was put back together was to take it on a short 10 minute spin to find what needed to be readjusted. And there will be plenty.

Secondly, you will be lucky to find a shop that knows the ins and outs of old bikes. I've yet to find one that I'm entirely happy with. Recently I had a long established shop in west dublin tell me that 36 spoke wheels are "obsolete" and don't exist anymore and my tyres shouldn't be pumped above 55psi as they were "old". 36 spoke wheels are the standard for touring bikes and the tyres were brand new panaracers rated for 100psi.

Moral of the story, learn how to do it yourself!

Holyboy

BX 19 wrote: »

First lesson. Test them! Recently rebuilt a 29 year old touring bike and the first job after I thought everything was put back together was to take it on a short 10 minute spin to find what needed to be readjusted. And there will be plenty.

Secondly, you will be lucky to find a shop that knows the ins and outs of old bikes. I've yet to find one that I'm entirely happy with. Recently I had a long established shop in west dublin tell me that 36 spoke wheels are "obsolete" and don't exist anymore and my tyres shouldn't be pumped above 55psi as they were "old". 36 spoke wheels are the standard for touring bikes and the tyres were brand new panaracers rated for 100psi.

Moral of the story, learn how to do it yourself!

Are you running your tyres on hooked rims?

Mycroft H

Holyboy wrote: »

Are you running your tyres on hooked rims?

Of course, I wouldn't be putting 100psi on smooth rims.

Holyboy

BX 19 wrote: »

Of course, I wouldn't be putting 100psi on smooth rims.

Just checking:D

Strange advice to give you though!!

Mycroft H

Holyboy wrote: »

Just checking:D

Strange advice to give you though!!

It was strange. The spokes/wheel thing got me, like have they no knowledge of touring bikes?

And when I questioned the statement I got "ohhh I've been here 30 years, I know best"

I don't think I'll be going back tbh....