Talk:Bicycles/Maintenance and Repair

Revision history

Legend: (cur) = difference with current version, (last) = difference with preceding version, M = minor edit

* (cur) (last). . 23:11, 4 Jan 2004. . Egil (Moved to Wikibooks) * (cur) (last). . 12:11, 4 Jan 2004. . Egil (Move to Wikibooks?) * (cur) (last). . 16:15, 20 Dec 2003. . Dhodges (changed tires to rims in wheel truing. The tires are *off* when truing) * (cur) (last). . 04:17, 20 Dec 2003. . Morven (another renaming) * (cur) (last). . 04:14, 20 Dec 2003. . Morven (yearly maintenance page renamed; fixing link to fit) * (cur) (last). . M 06:08, 14 Dec 2003. . Infrogmation * (cur) (last). . 06:00, 14 Dec 2003. . Jwpurple (Most parts on bicycles are not interchangeable. e.g. 700c tires vs 27", US vs metric threads, etc.)   * (cur) (last) . . 05:48, 14 Dec 2003 . . Dhodges    * (cur) (last) . . 05:46, 14 Dec 2003 . . Dhodges (ft #Tire Levers#Pump)    * (cur) (last) . . M 13:05, 12 Mar 2003 . . Stephen Gilbert    * (cur) (last) . . M 12:35, 12 Mar 2003 . . G (the --> they)    * (cur) (last) . . 12:26, 12 Mar 2003 . . 217.158.229.141 (removed line)    * (cur) (last) . . 12:24, 12 Mar 2003 . . 217.158.229.141 (simple enough for many bicycle user to make simple repairs to their own vehicles.)    * (cur) (last) . . 12:22, 12 Mar 2003 . . 217.158.229.141 (')    * (cur) (last) . . 12:22, 12 Mar 2003 . . 217.158.229.141 (This article describes 'bicycle repair techniques.)    * (cur) (last) . . 12:03, 12 Mar 2003 . . Egil (Finally a lexicon that tells how to actually repair a bike)    * (cur) (last). . 00:31, 11 Mar 2003. . Statkit1 (more repairs added) * (cur) (last). . 20:56, 10 Mar 2003. . Statkit1 * (cur) (last). . 20:55, 10 Mar 2003. . Statkit1

Accessories
I'm of two minds about including a section on accessories (someone else put it on the main page). There are a few pieces of advice that can be offered. Still, with the great variety of accessories out there I'm most inclined to say RTFM.Dhodges 00:33, 13 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Organization
I'd like to propose a reorg of this into:


 * Tools
 * Supplies
 * Basic Tasks (where things like removing pedals go)
 * Repairs
 * Maintenance tasks

with a distinction that a Repair gets you back on the road, a Maintenance task improves something that's degraded, and a Basic task is a component of either of the above.


 * Nice to see someone else taking an interest. I'm more concerned with getting actual repairs written up, but hey go for it. Dhodges 22:27, 10 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Commuting bike
It's perhaps outside the scope of this book but I'd like to put together some advice for selecting a commuting bike. The content would go well alongside advice for fitting mudguards, fitting rear racks and other commuting essentials. Would you like to add a section for me to get started? --DavidBoden 19:12, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

Illustrations
Text only is a bit hard to follow, we could do with some more pictures (like on the spoke wrench). I've some tools at home, so I could do a few pictures, but only of the basic stuff. MWF 09:20, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Diagram(s) with labels needed.
Thanks great start. I repaired my friend's bike like most of us do. Found very brocken sprocket in rear derailer (one of the two where the chain does the S bend, where the slack is taken up), removed it, with it in hand asked for a replacement at a bike shop, and was told I had to buy the whole rear derailer unit!! Until owner came out and pulled out recycled replacements. Inoperable bike totally fixed. Cost me $2. I didn't RTFM. Under most circumstances I like to have a diagram and name of the part so I appear to know what I am talking about, or can show I have made an attempt to research. Looking and sounding like a newbie can be very expensive. I hope someone can put in a diagram of the typical gear change bike with labels of parts to make phone calls easier.

Organization
Wouldn't it be better to organize the book based on the part of the bike being repaired rather than the skill level needed to perform the repair? Ex: Chapter 1: Wheels, Chapter 2: Brakes, Chapter 3: Drivetrain, etc. Each repair could also then be given a difficulty rating, such as on a one to ten scale, as well as a list of tools needed for the repair (a master list of tools at the beginning or end would still be helpful). I believe this is how most repair manuals are written and I almost just did it, but I decided it would be better to discuss it here first. --FurciferRNB 10 October 2005
 * I'm an utter newbie here, but that seems very sensible to me. --Danny Wilde 14:38, 16 October 2005 (UTC)


 * I think it might be useful to provide both an index by part and the old system that broke tasks up by difficulty and the frequency they need to be performed. The current system is more useful as a reference when your bike breaks, but the old way is more useful to a beginner who wants to learn or buy tools. --Dmonego 04:47, 11 November 2005 (UTC)


 * It seems like we almost need two 'streams' for the maintenance/repair part of the book: a reference manual that can be 'dipped into' at any point, and a learn-about-your-bike sort of book, which reads well cover-to-cover and incrementally introduces bicycle parts and concepts. A organisation that lets the reader go quickly to the bit they need isn't any good for someone who doesn't know what they need.  Similarly, the more experienced mechanic just wants to look something up doesn't want to trawl through all the 'this is a chainring' introductory material.  --Samwilson 02:32, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Reorg
Based on input above from FurciferRNB and Danny Wilde as well as my own consensus, I've reorganized this book to reflect part-groups of a bike rather than difficulty level of the task. I think that this way users will more easily be able to find the information they're looking for. I still think difficulty should be reflected though. I suggest that sections in each chapter should be listed in order of difficulty from easiest to hardest. For example, in the chapter on 'Tires & wheels', 'Fixing a flat' would come before 'Truing a wheel.' I moved the listing of tools and supplies to its own chapter and I moved the manufacturer links to the Appendix.

Also, I reorganized the Bicyles page, of which this page is (has been) a module. I see this page, as well as those listed with it on the Bicycles page, as volumes in a library, where each volume should be able to stand on its own as much as possible.

With respect to DavidBoden's comment about equipment for a commuting bike, I think that information would go well in the volume on 'Equipment & accessories'. I'd also, personally, like to see more info on this topic, with maybe focus on what type of riding you do (i.e. commuting, touring, MTBing, BMXing, etc.)

Lastly, I've cleaned up this discussion page a bit to make the threads easier to read. Overall, I'd love to see some feedback and improvements on this book's reorganization. Thanks. Mindfrieze 18:12, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

Company Specific Manuals
--Georgio8 (talk) 15:15, 18 March 2010 (UTC) I notice that the Appendix has a list of links to Company Specific Manuals.

Some members of the Moulton Bicycle Club (moultonbicycle yahoo list) would like to use this book itself as a place to hold information that we have collected but haven't yet posted anywhere about the maintenance of the (many) different models of Moulton. So we're wondering whether it would be in the spirit of this book to add a Moulton section to the Appendix.


 * Georgio8, I say go for it. This hasn't been a very active book over the last five years, so drop your info in, and we'll see how it works out.  --Mindfrieze (talk) 14:34, 29 June 2010 (UTC)