Bike maintenance, how to do it myself to save some money

[NoCO2]

Wow, Volones, thanks for that great resource! I will definitely look into those books when I get a chance. And for information, I bought it new in 2006. It's a Trek 1000SL and I wanted to get the 2006 model year because they had a color I really liked in it, but when I finally had the money to get a bike they were phasing out the '06's and I went with an '07 model in the orange "flare" color (pictured attached).

I road today and it seems that the skipping is less now that I'm getting used to where I need to shift. I think the problem with the wear may have been as a result of an initial setup problem when I first got the bike. I used to be able to take it, in the middle front sprocket, all the way through the range of rear sprockets (except maybe the very high end one) and I got no noise or anything. However, I did get lots of noise if I shifted too low in the back and was in the final tall gear in the front and vice versa if I was in the "granny gear" up front. I have it adjusted now to where I can get through the first 3-4 in the rear while in the "granny gear", then I down shift one in the rear and move to the middle gear up front to continue to the next 3-4 gears and then I can downshift up to twice once I switch to the tallest front gear and I can finish going up the cassette in the rear without any noise. This seems like it would be the proper setup (if I'm wrong please correct me) to avoid cross training (unless my understanding of cross chaining is warped somehow) and I think the previous setup caused me to cross chain without knowing it sometimes.

SVOboy, thanks for the advice on the FD. I know about adjusting those, that's what I've been playing with the last 2 days trying to tweak so it's not rubbing too much. The problem, however, is that it's very very hard to find this spot it seems to like to be set to. If I go even the slightest bit too tight, when I go to shift it will get stuck and not engage the chain and if I go too lose it takes forever to engage, so I'm still working on finding that spot between the two extremes.

[SVOboy]

Sometimes it's a matter of playing with that screw and adjusting where it clamps on the the shifter cable, as well. In setting up my new bike I couldn't adjust it with the screw so I ended up having to move the cable in the FD a mm and then playing with the screw again. Also, depending on the cassette you have, the skipping might be due to the chain not coming over the teeth exactly, I had that on my new SRAM cassette with the weird cutout teeth until I fiddled hardcore.

Volones, WD40 isn't a lube! I'm surprised your chain didn't blow up after wd40ing it and not relubing!

[dremd]

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

About the chain:
If you're seeing that the leading edges of your cassette are rounded off then you're chain has already stretched. Damage done.
You can try to put a new chain on and see what happens, but if the old chain's been there long enough a new chain will just skip under pressure. So be careful when coming out of the saddle for the first time with a new chain.

If the new chain skips, then it's time for a new cassette, your chainring you can probably just flip around (as long as it's not ramped/pinned for shifting)

I let a chain go to far; now the chain nearly slips, grinds constantly, but almost never slips.

Any advise on replacement?

Where?
Cost?

Not trying to HiJack

[Lazarus]

Originally Posted by Volones

Hey NoCO2,

I would also recommend that you find a new bike shop, as I think you're getting some HORRIBLE advice from that mechanic.

Vol

This is a very good point that should not get lost in translations.

[Volones]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

Volones, WD40 isn't a lube! I'm surprised your chain didn't blow up after wd40ing it and not relubing!

It actually does have a small amount of lubricant in the formula, which is why it would last for a couple of months instead of 5-6 months. Also, we're discussing a 7-speed Shimano STX drivetrain, not your fancy racer type 10-speed Dura Ace.

I do agree that is isn't the best choice, but for an old 70's Schwinn frame commuter, it got me from A - B and back reliably.

BTW, did you come out here to road Nats? If so, you're in trouble for not saying anything so I could spectate (although I would have to wear my CU Cycling t-shirt).


Finally, chains -
Shimano chains are supposed to be fine, and I've never had a problem with them as far as strength, but I've heard much better durability with SRAM than any other brand. Plus, the master link is so nice!
Check out...
www.mtbr.com
and
www.roadbikereview.com
for opinions from other cyclists on a variety of products.

[SVOboy]

Nope, I wasn't good enough to go out for nats, but my team took second place, with a nice #1 for one of the women.

[Volones]

Congratulations to them! I thought I remembered Dartmouth when I was reading the results.

Cheers, and good luck next year!
Vol