A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair • Hacker News Board

Re: A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair

#31

Post by dailykoder » Sat, May 04, 2024, 7:26 AM UTC

leke wrote: post #20

I got into bikes after moving to a cyclists' town. I know the pride of riding something you've fixed up like the author mentioned in the article. Bikes are truly a marvel. My town and bikes have provided me with a higher standard of living and health than I would have had in some other town. Bikes are for everybody. You can ride a beat up bike for years with just basic knowledge, like changing an inner tube and oilin…

>Bikes are for everybody. You can ride a beat up bike for years with just basic knowledge, l

That is true. But what changed most sceptics, that i met, mind were bikes that actually worked. I understand the fear when people see the price tag and think they could buy a second hand car for that, but once they sit on a good bike they just enjoy it. And if they then learn how to do basic maintenance themselves so that it just stays good and doesn't creak all the time, they fall in love with them. I love bikes.

Re: A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair

#32

Post by WA » Sat, May 04, 2024, 7:27 AM UTC

victorstanciu wrote: post #16

xkcd1963 wrote: post #15

But it is true. Most websites concern with companies competing in a market. If you believe a war-industry is good because it provides jobs, but you don't take into consideration that war destroys stuff and lives and just creates misery for most of us, you are shortsighted at best.

Uh, what? Did you reply to the wrong post by any chance?

I think it relates to the last section of the post about building websites.

Re: A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair

#33

Post by stouset » Sat, May 04, 2024, 7:29 AM UTC

kqr wrote: post #26

jstanley wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don't like cyclists because their only interaction with cyclists is when they're holding up traffic.

This one surprises me because it seems far more common to me that cars hold up traffic than bicycles. When you look at images of traffic jams it's almost always other cars in the way, not bicycles. I suppose maybe it's a city/countryside thing? Cars are great at long straights, but they take forever to safely clear an intersection compared to a bicycle -- and they block most of the road while they do.

It’s an outgroup thing.

It’s “normal” to be held up by traffic. It’s novel being delayed by a cyclist. Plus you’re doing something important and their leisure is getting my way!

When a cyclist does something unexpected, it’s extremely dangerous; pay no mind that they’re the one in 95% of the danger. When a fellow driver speeds, rolls through a stop sign, or fails to yield it’s lost in a sea of normalized deviance. No matter that car accidents are a leading cause of death.

Re: A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair

#34

Post by julian55 » Sat, May 04, 2024, 7:30 AM UTC

iamthemonster wrote: post #8

Beautifully written, but I couldn't disagree more. Bicycle maintenance is an annoying chore to me that gets in the way of my enjoyment of cycling. I even have good bicycle shops near me that did maintenance far quicker/cheaper/better than I would do. It just all seemed like such a hassle. I finally ended up buying a belt-drive hub-geared hydraulic-brakes medium/fat-tyre bicycle and my maintenance woes appear to be ma…

I agree with you. I've also found that themore modern a bike is the more difficult it is to maintain

Take hydraulic disc brakes for example, when they work they are great but when they fail they don't work at all. You then have to bleed them which is fiddly, messy and requires special tools then you'll probably have to do it all over again after a few rides. Tubeless tyres are similar.

Re: A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair

#35

Post by gsora » Sat, May 04, 2024, 7:32 AM UTC

__mharrison__ wrote: post #2

Sadly, many parts of modern mountain bikes seem to be less durable and not repairable. For most of the stuff I can't or don't want/have time to do, I take into the shop. And generally, they throw up their hands and say it needs to be replaced. Did that with two dropper posts this week. (One needed a rebuild that would cost more than replacement. The other had a (luckily under warranty) faulty cartridge). I will also…

One should choose their bike components carefully. I have been able to service every single component on my mountain bike, excluding suspension since that requires knowledge and time I don’t have time to acquire (yet!). As a general rule choosing mechanical components instead of electronic ones has been rewarding on the longevity and repairability fronts. That said some components are consumable, like the dropper post cartridge you mentioned, but to arrive at the point it requires replacement you either used it a lot (I’m jealous!) or it was simply faulty :-/

Might also be a good idea looking for other bike shops in your area. Mine is always trying to recycle and repair components.

Re: A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair

#36

Post by dailykoder » Sat, May 04, 2024, 7:34 AM UTC

wpm wrote: post #25

jstanley wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don't like cyclists because their only interaction with cyclists is when they're holding up traffic.

Read: making someone drive slower to the next red light 100 feet ahead. At least that’s my experience in Chicago.

We should all just look out for each other. Mostly follow the rules, but don't let common sense go abroad.

There are so many cyclists in berlin that just go in front of all the cars at a red light, even it's just one car in front of them. I know that this car can accelerate way faster than me and drives way faster, why would I want to block it and make the driver mad?

Yes, if the road is congested I might pass the cars too, because I realize I am faster, but everything else just doesn't make sense to me.

Re: A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair

#37

Post by globular-toast » Sat, May 04, 2024, 7:34 AM UTC

jstanley wrote: post #10

BrianHenryIE wrote: post #3

Cycling is a joy. When I experience / see people diss cyclists, I'm sad for them. It implies they cannot empathise with others (me). My physical and mental health are better thanks to cycling.

People don't like cyclists because their only interaction with cyclists is when they're holding up traffic.

Cyclists don't hold up traffic. They are tiny and very easy to overtake if they are too slow. Cars hold up traffic because they're too big to overtake anything.

Re: A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair

#38

Post by eternauta3k » Sat, May 04, 2024, 7:37 AM UTC

BrianHenryIE wrote: post #3

Cycling is a joy. When I experience / see people diss cyclists, I'm sad for them. It implies they cannot empathise with others (me). My physical and mental health are better thanks to cycling.

I don't like cyclists sometimes, and I'm a cyclist... I think anything faster than walking can put the best people into a selfish hurried mind state.

Re: A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair

#39

Post by rsingel » Sat, May 04, 2024, 7:37 AM UTC

kashyapc wrote: post #18

iamthemonster wrote: post #8

Beautifully written, but I couldn't disagree more. Bicycle maintenance is an annoying chore to me that gets in the way of my enjoyment of cycling. I even have good bicycle shops near me that did maintenance far quicker/cheaper/better than I would do. It just all seemed like such a hassle. I finally ended up buying a belt-drive hub-geared hydraulic-brakes medium/fat-tyre bicycle and my maintenance woes appear to be ma…

That's the reason I use a single-speed bike (not to be confused with a "fixie") for commuting. I absolutely love the simplicity of it: no gears to muck around with, much less maintenance, light, and hassle-free. Perfect to deal with the "frequently stop and start" biking in a city. In a (flat) city for commuting short distances, you simply don't need gears if you're below 50. It's a nice to have . It also helps that…

Seconded. Love that my single speed rarely needs anything other than some air in the tires. I've got a converted 70s Raleigh that has been bomber for almost 20 years, with the only exception being a busted crank arm. Replace those old hollow aluminum things if you go this route.

Even got my dad a single speed e-bike. If you live somewhere mildly flat, that's a fantastic choice for durability with an ebike.

So many bikes end up unridden because the gears went wonky.

Re: A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair

#40

Post by pelorat » Sat, May 04, 2024, 7:38 AM UTC

During the pandemic I decided I wanted to build a bike too, the idea came to me after watching Berm Peak and Park Tools on YouTube, similar to what happened to this person. So being stuck working from home, I bought parts and tools to build a brand new full suspension mountain bike. Like this person it took longer than I wanted because I was missing some specialized tools (bearing and bearing press for the rear suspension) and parts I didn't know I needed. But it all worked out in the end.

When the project was finished took apart my old off-the-shelf mountain bike, now all that remains of it is a frame with the paint stripped off. I plan to convert it to internal cable routing, paint it (I've been watching Etoe on YouTube) and then turn it into an e-bike.

As a side effect of buying all the tools you need to build and repair bikes, I've also repaired my almost two decades sold exercise bike, which had trashed ball bearings. It also made me realize that most people would have thrown it away and bought a brand new one.