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

[MarkKBike]

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?

 

[GTs58]

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

 

[bobcycles]

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.

 

[Oilit]

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....

 

[mantaray]

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

 

[Gordon]

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.

 

[sam]

Cutting up all those $5 Schwinn Varsities

 

[MarkKBike]

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.

 

[marius.suiram]

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.

 

[3-speeder]

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