📢Hub Chatter

c/bicycle-mechanics

6

iris_mason88•9h ago

Beware of cheap disc brake pads vs quality ones

I swapped some generic $8 pads into my Shimano calipers and they squealed like crazy after just 2 rides. Went back to the name brand ones for $25 and haven't had a single peep since. Anyone else find that saving a few bucks just costs you more in noise and stopping power?

29

paulb98•18h ago

TIL I was lubing my chain wrong for 6 years thanks to a conversation at the shop

I always wiped the chain then put lube on the outside links until a pro mechanic at the co-op on 3rd street showed me you have to drip it on the inner rollers from the inside out, so has anyone else been doing this backward or am I the only one?

4

markm27•1d ago

Had a derailleur hanger tool for 2 years before I realized it had a built-in alignment gauge

I was straightening my hanger by eye like always and bumped the tool on the bench. Noticed this little indicator arm I'd never touched. Always just used the threaded part. Anybody else miss something obvious on a tool for way too long?

31

jason112•1d ago

Shimano crank arm fell off mid-ride on Tuesday

I was about 8 miles into a morning ride on the Greenway trail when my left pedal started feeling loose. Before I could even stop, the whole crank arm just dropped off. Turns out the self-extracting bolt had backed out completely over time. I had to walk 2 miles to the nearest bike shop in my cleats carrying the crank arm. The guy at the shop said he sees this at least once a month, especially on bikes that get ridden in wet conditions. I should have checked that bolt during my weekly cleaning. Now I put a tiny drop of blue threadlocker on it and torque it to spec. Has anyone else had a crank arm fail on them like this? What do you do to keep yours from backing out?

15

the_jason•4d ago

Warning: That cheap spoke tension meter from Amazon cost me a wheel rebuild

Bought a digital tension meter for $35 last month to save time on wheel builds. It was reading all my spokes at 120 kgf when actually they were barely at 80, ended up with a taco'd rear wheel on a test ride. Anyone here use a specific method to verify a new tension meter before trusting it on a build?

14

price.tyler•6d ago

That mechanic at the group ride made me question my chain lube choice

I was at the Tuesday night shop ride last month and one of the old-timers saw me using wet lube on a dry day. He said something like 'you're just grinding sand into your chain using that stuff.' Now I'm wondering if I should switch to a dry lube for summer riding or stick with what I know. Anyone here run different lubes based on the season?

26

mark731•7d ago

Can we talk about learning to clean a chain without taking it off?

I spent 20 years pulling my chain off every deep clean until a customer told me to just use a Park Tool chain scrubber with simple green. Has anyone else found that trick saves way more time than the old way?

14

michaela16•7d ago

Spent a year using wet chain lube because the bottle said it was better for dirt

I was cleaning and re-lubing my commuter bike every 3 days last winter in Chicago and still getting a gritty chain. Switched to dry lube last month and I've gone 2 weeks without needing to touch it in the same conditions. Anyone else find the marketing on wet lube is just wishful thinking for real urban riding?

3

ward.piper•8d ago

Question about bleeding Shimano brakes with a plastic funnel vs the metal one

I was at a co-op shop in Portland last week and the mechanic there swore I was wasting time using the plastic bleed funnel from the kit, said it lets air bubbles sneak back in. Has anyone else noticed a real difference between the two or is that just old-timer lore?

14

the_lisa•8d ago

Question about using Park Tool rotor truing fork vs my old method

I've been truing rotors for years with an adjustable wrench and a rubber mallet. Always felt like it worked fine, was skeptical of spending $30 on a dedicated tool. Last week I finally borrowed a friend's Park Tool DT-2 and gave it a shot on a really warped 180mm rotor I had sitting around. The difference was night and day honestly, got it straight in like 3 minutes versus my usual 15 of tapping and cursing. Has anyone else switched from a hack method to the real tool and felt stupid for waiting so long?

33

troy_ross•8d ago

Park Tool spoke tension meter debate finally got me

I always thought Park Tool's tension meter was overpriced and you could just go by feel. But I was at a shop in Portland last week and this old mechanic showed me how two wheels I built by feel had spokes all over the place tension-wise. He let me use his meter and I found spokes that were 15kgf apart on the same side. I get it now, you can't really feel that difference. Has anyone else changed their mind after actually trying a precision tool?

18

margaret_flores17•9d ago

Spent 6 hours chasing a ghost chain skip on a 5 mile test ride

New chain, new cassette, even swapped the derailleur hanger. Checked cable tension like five times. Turned out the quick link wasn't fully seated. Felt like a fool after all that. Anyone else had a dead simple fix eat up a whole afternoon?

9

jana_henderson52•11d ago

Had the worst week ever after a new hydraulic brake bleed went wrong

So last Thursday I did a brake bleed on a customer's Shimano XT setup, same as I've done a hundred times. Used my usual kit, followed the steps, everything seemed fine. Then Friday morning the guy comes back saying the lever goes all the way to the bar. I check it and somehow I got air in the line, but worse than that, I think I contaminated the pads with mineral oil. I spent all Saturday stripping it down, cleaning everything, and rebleeding it three times before I got it right. Lost money on the job and felt like an idiot. Has anyone else had a bleed go bad like this out of nowhere?

23

hugow30•13d ago

My old wheel truing stand finally gave up after 12 years

Picked up a cheap Park Tool truing stand at a bike co-op back in 2012 and it finally let go last Thursday. The little plastic guide on the arm snapped clean off while I was trying to straighten a dented rim on a beat up Schwinn. Ended up having to finish the job by eyeballing it with zip ties to the fork, which worked okay but took me twice as long. Anyone else had a tool completely fail on them mid-job and have to MacGyver a fix?

20

patel.daniel•17d ago

Used to swear by wet lube in winter, finally switched to wax after a chain snapped in 18 degree weather last February.

Took a mechanic in Burlington telling me wet lube just traps grit in salt slush to get me to try a wax drip. What convinced you guys to change your lube routine?

13

charlesowens•17d ago

Just hit 200 full overhauls in my home shop

I counted up my repair logs after finishing an old Trek 520 today and realized I've done exactly 200 complete teardown-and-rebuild jobs since I started this in my garage. The milestone hit different because I remember struggling through my first one on a rusted mountain bike and nearly giving up after I cross-threaded the bottom bracket cup. Has anyone else kept track of how many builds they've done?

24

paige514•18d ago

Took a chance on the Jagwire vs Shimano shift cable kit for my touring build

I was stuck between a $15 Jagwire kit and the OEM Shimano one for my Surly rebuild last weekend. Went with the Jagwire because the liner felt smoother and honestly it was a pain to route through the frame. Anyone else notice a difference in cable feel after swapping brands?

31

lewis.drew•19d ago

Wasted $80 on a fancy chain cleaning tool before learning the simple method

Bought one of those Park Tool chain cleaners last year for like 80 bucks. Used it twice and it just made a mess on my shop floor. Found out from an oldtimer at the co-op that a paintbrush and some simple degreaser works way better and costs a fraction. Has anyone else fallen for the expensive tool trap before realizing the cheap way works fine?

16

wesley_hart•19d ago

The guy who insisted on greasing every pedal thread

Overheard a customer at the shop telling his friend you have to grease pedal threads every single time or they'll seize. That's a good way to wreck your cranks if you don't clean all the old stuff off. I took away that people still can't tell the difference between anti-seize and regular grease for different parts.

7

blair_green86•20d ago

The day a customer showed me a 20 year old spoke wrench

A guy came into our shop last Tuesday with this old spoke wrench he got from his dad. It was a basic Park Tool SW-0 that looked beat up but still worked perfect. He said he used it to build wheels for over 20 years and never once had a spoke slip on him. That got me thinking about how we all chase the newest tools when the simple ones do the job fine. I still use my fancy digital tension meter, but that conversation made me grab my old spoke wrench off the pegboard. Has anyone else had a tool that just refuses to die on you?

28

ray_king•20d ago

Small win: Picked the $7 chain whip over the $35 one from Park Tool

Had to choose between a cheap chain whip from the local shop in Spokane and a fancy Park Tool one. Went with the $7 one figuring I'd upgrade later if it broke. Three cassette swaps later it's still holding up fine, no bending or slipping. Got me thinking, how much does brand name really matter for tools that don't see daily pro use?

17

finleyk87•21d ago

Spent 2 hours chasing a ghost noise on a customer's bike in Portland

I was dead set that the creaking on this Trek Domane was coming from the bottom bracket. After pulling it apart and regreasing everything twice (waste of an hour), I finally noticed the rear derailleur hanger was slightly bent. Took me another 45 minutes to straighten it and reset the indexing. Has anyone else been stumped by a noise that turned out to be something totally different than you expected?

10

sarahhart•23d ago

Can we talk about the guy at the shop who said I should use fishing line for cable housing?

Last Tuesday I was struggling with a sticky shift cable on a 2008 Trek 1.5 in my garage, and some random dude walking by told me to ditch the stock housing and run fishing line through the frame instead - has anyone actually tried this or is he just messing with me?

18

price.tyler•23d ago

Old chain checker trick from a guy at the co-op in Portland

Was volunteering at the bike co-op near my apartment in SE Portland a couple months back. This older dude, must have been 70, watched me using a chain wear indicator on a customers bike. He pulled me aside and told me "you're throwing away good chains if you only use that tool." Then he showed me how he checks by pulling the chain off the big ring - if it lifts more than half a tooth, then it's done. Said the chain checkers can give false readings if the chain is dirty or has a stiff link. Anybody else run into that issue?

7

the_robin•24d ago

Finally cracked a seized freehub with PB Blaster and a breaker bar

Had an old Shimano hub that wouldn't budge after sitting in a parts bin for 2 years. Soaked it overnight in PB Blaster then put a 24mm socket on a 2 foot breaker bar - popped loose after 3 good pulls. Anyone else got a go-to trick for rusty freehubs?