# What are some of the mistakes you have made along the way?



## MarkKBike (Feb 15, 2018)

I have made a few. My most resent one, goes back to a bike I posted this last summer.

I posted some photos  back when it happened, last summer I took this newly purchased Raleigh for a ride. Mid ride the fork came apart on me.










It was a night ride, and I wasn't able to see what happened until after I got home, (I just new something was not right). Once I got home I discovered the front drop out broke off.

Being a new to the hobby, The mistake I made came when I dissembled  the fork from my bike in my back yard. In the past I have worked mostly on Schwinn 10 speeds, and mountain bikes. When I took the fork off I wasn't expecting all the bearings to poor out into my back yard.

I ended up loosing a few of them, even after searching with a magnet.

I recently found some new bearings to replace the ones I lost, and have welded the dropout back into the fork.





Have any of you done any stupid things while working on your bikes?


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## GTs58 (Feb 15, 2018)

Nope, I have never ever done anything stupid or made mistakes. But I've been known to lie a lot.


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## bobcycles (Feb 15, 2018)

I restored an early postwar 'fat bar' Schwinn a year back and made a mega-blunder oversight.  
I bought the frame from a collector in Spokane...a rough project...frame / fork only on wheels
It was covered in surface rust so I couldn't examine it structurally too close. 
Once the restoration began and I had it media blasted I noticed some odd 'lines' on the top tube
near the head tube.  They were almost 'factory' looking and did not appear to be cracks
due to damage, they were perfectly straight with right angles.  
They were super tight and looked like some JB weld would smooth over what
appeared to be minor cosmetic flaws.

The restoration went on and the frame was etch primered, then red oxide premiered and finally enameled.
It wasn't until after full assembly that I noticed these odd 'straight line' cracks re-emerged through the
paint actually separating the paint where the cracks were positioned.  Ow man.

I ended up completely disassembling the whole bike, stripping the paint on the front half of the top tube
back down to bare metal and welding up the cracks, grinding, polishing and reshooting the entire area
both colors blue and ivory.  The results were flawless....but WHAT a flipping lesson I learned on that one.

Happy ending after a few extra days work and hassle.


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## Oilit (Feb 16, 2018)

I've learned to check frames very carefully before I put money down. I've bought a couple that had problems I didn't see until I got them home. And EBay has taught me some lessons too. If there's one view not pictured, that's probably the one you most want to see. Talk about busting bubbles....


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## mantaray (Feb 16, 2018)

ALOT of stuff in the beginning... like forcing threads & ruining parts/making them crooked, slicing new tubes when changing tires, buying cheap aftermarket stuff that rusts or warps quickly, buying parts that don’t fit like I thought, scratching paint and chrome with tools, how to adjust cables and gears correctly, proper maintenance. All the basic mistakes


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## Gordon (Feb 16, 2018)

I have made lots of boo-boos in this hobby. This is one that I remember from when I was just starting. A guy called that he had an old Schwinn. I got directions and took off. Forty five miles later I'm in an old barn looking at a girls Huffy with Schwinn grips. After that I learned to ask lots of questions before taking a road trip.


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## sam (Feb 17, 2018)

Cutting up all those $5 Schwinn Varsities


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## MarkKBike (Feb 17, 2018)

I started out with a varsity, It was a Schwinn varsity that first got me  back into the hobby. For a while I was buying every Schwinn 10 speed I found at a garage sale for under 20$, and was using the female bikes to rebuild my male bikes (Sometimes I just needed the tires or maybe the wheels were in better shape). I  ended up accumulating about a 1/2 dozen of them. I now have enough projects going that I tend to pass them up.

I still have two varsity's, and do enjoy riding them. One of them I will never sell as it has a place in my heart, (my father purchased it for me as a teenager).

I'm still messing around with cheaper bikes i happen to stumble upon. One of these days I'll make a larger targeted investment.

I can still have fun riding a varsity, I pretty much enjoy riding any bike that functions well regardless of its price. There was I time I thought I needed the best I could afford, and spent allot of money on newer bikes. I have since found I'm just as happy riding a well functioning 20$ clunker that I can make my own. For me, it doesn't always have to be pretty, its just got to work. Its also fun to be able to take out a variety of bikes depending on how I feel on that particular day. (Mountain Bike / Road Bike / 10 Speed / 3 Speed / Single Speed / Fixie / Cruiser) There all fun!

Honestly the bike that has received the most compliments out on rides is the one in my avatar, and its just a clunker compiled of random cheap parts that happened to semi fit together, and little elbow grease.

Last summer my brother and his wife stopped by, and I was able to outfit a group of us for a ride. We all had fun, and I have since also got him interested in riding once again. I gave him a bike I built up last summer, and he was ridding it back and forth to work before winter hit.

The hobby is infectious, so far  I have got my father and brother riding again, as well as a few friends.


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## marius.suiram (Feb 17, 2018)

Last one... I stripped the thread at a Campagnolo crank.
I went than to the LBS and they professionally took the crank out. At least I was smart to do that and not ruin the Italian frame.


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## 3-speeder (Feb 17, 2018)

I have mashed up a couple of cotter pins on my old three piece cranks before getting the right tool. This one works great. Well worth it IMO.
http://bikesmithdesign.com/CotterPress/
Pictured



The fixed cup tool works good too.
I have had some bad luck with stripped threads too. I bought a tap and die set to help renew or reset the old threading. Seems to work pretty good.
I have found I learn something new from every bike and do better each time.   Hopefully that continues.
Bob


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## abe lugo (Feb 17, 2018)

Mistakes.. 
I mostly learn from them.

The main one, don't buy stuff like it is the last part on earth.

Next , dont buy or part "together" bicycles, you will learn quick always better and cheaper to buy a complete and work from there.

If you send money to anyone on here, always start with standard Paypal. If you have been purchasing for a while from the same seller, maybe you have become "friends". But note I got burned here once and it was a good way to learn the hard way.

Bought stuff on ebay without knowing better. Now I have a list of sellers to not buy from.

Know where and when to buy repop stuff and know/be ok if you are getting said stuff. Sometimes there are good repops, sometimes there are crappy ones.

Measure and photograph or keep a folder on your phone with stuff you need.
make lists, keep measurements. save photos


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## MarkKBike (Feb 18, 2018)

3-speeder said:


> I have mashed up a couple of cotter pins on my old three piece cranks before getting the right tool. This one works great. Well worth it IMO.
> Bob




Lol, I just messed one up this weekend trying to get it out, I'm going to try and clean the threads up with my tap and die set. If that doesn't work, luckily those raleigh pins are not to expensive on the auction site, I was just pricing them out last night.


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## 3-speeder (Feb 18, 2018)

MarkKBike said:


> Lol, I just messed one up this weekend trying to get it out, I'm going to try and clean the threads up with my tap and die set. If that doesn't work, luckily those raleigh pins are not to expensive on the auction site, I was just pricing them out last night.



I had to get a few new ones too. Found nice ones at the Bikesmith site mentioned above. I was going to tell you to look for a decent ladies bike to rob a new fork off of. You can pick them up cheap sometimes.


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## MarkKBike (Feb 18, 2018)

3-speeder said:


> .




The tool you posted gave me a idea, I have some vintage iron clamps that are missing the cup portion on the end of the screw mechanism. I think I'm going to cut a section out on one of the broken clamps with a angle grinder or a zip saw, and see if I can make a clone of the tool you posted. The grove would not have to be real deep, just enough to get the pin moving.


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## Mr.RED (Feb 19, 2018)

Stripping bolts on French bikes, losing bolts on old Enlgish 3 speeds, overtightening bolts, stripping crankset pullers on Stronglite/ TA cranksets. In simple words English 3 speeds and French bikes I've never been a fan of.


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## Sven (Feb 20, 2018)

Not coming to the CABE sooner to learn tricks of the trade..

.1) thinkng I had a goldmine, when I bought what was advertised as a 54 schwinn middleweight ( I know middleweight didnt come out til 1955, built in 1954..later finding out the serial number was also  used in 1956 ) 

2) buying a set of Corvette fenders only to find out, later year rear fenders do not fit early frames ( without drilling and other mods)

3) Not buying a complete or almost complete bike.

4) At the age of 10 or 11, I thought it would be nice of me to take my sister's { who was at college at the time} Sears bike apart and professionally" fix" everything. Even though it was in excellent shape, but to me it needed repairs and cleaning.  I even tried to fix the rear wheel, by removing all the spokes. Needless to say I had no F-n clue that it would be that hard to put a wheel back together and not be so wobbly. [Truing stand?.... what is a truing stand?} Everything else went back together fine,somewhat , I guess. My sister was soooo  pissed off at me for my good intentions, when she came home for spring break. To this day, 40 years later, she still breaks my balls about it.


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## Bikerider007 (Feb 21, 2018)

Passing on a few good buys because I had enough bikes.


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## K-Love (Feb 23, 2018)

I've made too many to recall...
Oh, here's one. I forgot to unscrew the crank bolt on a nice 3 piece crank, and stripped ALL the threads when I went to pull it off the spindle.
Instead of re-examining when it refused to move, I just pushed harder lol.  Lesson learned.


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## detroitbike (Feb 28, 2018)

I once told someone about a very rare bike I had discovered and was making arraingements to buy it.  Another person found out where it Was and bought it....


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## Sven (Mar 1, 2018)

detroitbike said:


> I once told someone about a very rare bike I had discovered and was making arraingements to buy it.  Another person found out where it Was and bought it....



I believe that "someone" would have to have a can of "Whip-ass" opened up on him


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## bulldog1935 (Mar 1, 2018)

threw away the box from which my Viner frame came (well) packed.  Remembered the next day there was supposed to be a Campy SR seatpost with - I think it was taped inside the freaking box.


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