bike service - reasonable price? (1 Viewer)

[JohnnyRaz]

whats a reasonable price for a bike service? excluding parts or anything?

going to drop my yoke in - or figure out how to do it myself - depending on answers.

its a complete crock, but still going. just the gears are slipping a bit..

 

[rettucs]

Bike lords of thumped - judge my cogs..

looks to me like the chain has stretched and the cassette is well worn. Can you get a photo of how the chain sits into the front chainring. The chain should be tight to the chainring and if you see little gaps towards the back part of where the chain sits into it, then thats a sign of stretching

 

[magicbastarder]

my limited tinkering time is wholly and totally consumed with making fucking instruments

oh? that's a bit of a departure.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

looks to me like the chain has stretched and the cassette is well worn. Can you get a photo of how the chain sits into the front chainring. The chain should be tight to the chainring and if you see little gaps towards the back part of where the chain sits into it, then thats a sign of stretching

I've noticed, for want of a better word, 'play' when I'm pedaling - basically there's a momentary point in each rotation where I feel I'm not fully making contact - this a like symptom of a stretched chain?

 

[JohnnyRaz]

oh? that's a bit of a departure.

ah yeah - it was a bit dramatic I guess ;-)

 

[rettucs]

I've noticed, for want of a better word, 'play' when I'm pedaling - basically there's a momentary point in each rotation where I feel I'm not fully making contact - this a like symptom of a stretched chain?

yep, but it could also be something else too, for example if the cones in the rear wheel are loose (@flashback will know more but I think that will leave the hub loose and will cause the play you described)

 

[Deadmanposting]

Listen, for a commuter bike - if you're just going into town and back again, clean it properly and lube it properly.
If everything is moving as it should, I wouldn't be too worried about chain wear or any of that stuff.

If you want to start spending more time on the bike as the weather improves, then take it in to have it looked at properly.


Or that's what I'd do

 

[flashback]

I've noticed, for want of a better word, 'play' when I'm pedaling - basically there's a momentary point in each rotation where I feel I'm not fully making contact - this a like symptom of a stretched chain?

That might be your cranks are slightly loose on your bottom bracket.

So, depending on the bottom bracket design I suppose, there's usually a squared off axle running through the frame. You mount the cranks onto that axle, and tighten them down with a 15mm (?) bolt.
If that bolt gets loose you'll feel like there's this momentary point in each pedal rotation that isn't engaging properly.

Below is a picture of what's (possibly) inside your frame, the black metal bits on each end are the ends of the axle. If you look at the end of the axle you'll see the bolt I'm talking about.

A stretched chain... you probably wouldn't notice any real symptoms directly. If it's absolutely knackered and the chainring is bollixed you might find it slipping with a horrible noise when you're putting loads of torque into it, but basically that's not going to happen I'd guess.

(thanks for the @ @rettucs )

 

[flashback]

sorry, be nice if I told you how to test if the above is true.

Hold one crank steady and grab the other and try to rock it around to see if there's any play at all. It should be absolutely solid.
If there is play, you can try to tighten it up but the crank itself might not longer be square and it might keep loosening. You can put a ferocious about of torque onto those crank bolts. I forget what the number is, but you needn't be shy.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

sorry, be nice if I told you how to test if the above is true.

Hold one crank steady and grab the other and try to rock it around to see if there's any play at all. It should be absolutely solid.
If there is play, you can try to tighten it up but the crank itself might not longer be square and it might keep loosening. You can put a ferocious about of torque onto those crank bolts. I forget what the number is, but you needn't be shy.

Yeah that seems solid. Based on other reckonings suggested I think I have a stretched chain..

 

[Deadmanposting]

Based on other reckonings

Everyone on here is yanking your chain, bro

 

[seanc]

There's been a lot of talk on here. Most of it good, but maybe a little overcomplicated. And then there's my nonsense.

You almost certainly have a stretched chain. But that might not be the only thing. I guess it depends on your methodology in problem solving. Like, for me, a stretched chain is just the most likely thing, A basic methodology, but it works. If I was cleverer I would talk about the properties of the metal in the chain, relative to the properties in the other components, but that's overcomplicated as I said. Get a new chain, see what happens after that, work through it.

If you're really good, you can finagle a workaround, but that's dark arts level shit that I don't think you're interested in.

Edit: or just get it serviced by a professional. Then once you know it works, you can play around with it.

 

[rettucs]

JUST GET A NEW FUCKING BIKE

 

[JohnnyRaz]

There's been a lot of talk on here. Most of it good, but maybe a little overcomplicated. And then there's my nonsense.

You almost certainly have a stretched chain. But that might not be the only thing. I guess it depends on your methodology in problem solving. Like, for me, a stretched chain is just the most likely thing, A basic methodology, but it works. If I was cleverer I would talk about the properties of the metal in the chain, relative to the properties in the other components, but that's overcomplicated as I said. Get a new chain, see what happens after that, work through it.

If you're really good, you can finagle a workaround, but that's dark arts level shit that I don't think you're interested in.

Edit: or just get it serviced by a professional. Then once you know it works, you can play around with it.

thats kinda my thinking to be honest.. easier to start off by maintaining something that's working well to begin with

 

[JohnnyRaz]

JUST GET A NEW FUCKING BIKE

I got this bike for nothing from a lad I managed about 10 years ago when he moved to australia. For most of the past decade its sat in a shed. I've only begun cycling anyway regularly again in the past 10months.

so I don't mind throwing a few bob at it.

 

[magicbastarder]

i could have a quick look at it for you if you want. the chain might not be worn if it's not been used much.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

i could have a quick look at it for you if you want. the chain might not be worn if it's not been used much.

I didn't use it much - but it was heavily used by its previous owner(s) - was already a bit wrecked when I got it

 

[flashback]

I got this bike for nothing from a lad I managed about 10 years ago when he moved to australia. For most of the past decade its sat in a shed. I've only begun cycling anyway regularly again in the past 10months.

so I don't mind throwing a few bob at it.

wouldja just stick a photo of the thing up?

Here, I'm going to be annoying now. Chains don't stretch. The lube attracts dirt, and becomes grinding paste, and the rivets grind into the plate opening the joint out a micron or two. If you sum these up this slop it adds a few mil to the chain length. The plates don't stretch though.
You can test this by completely cleaning a chain, stripping everything off it, and measuring it. Then lube it, and measure it again. Once the lube gets between the rivets and the plates, the chain unstretches a fair bit.

To test if it's "stretched", put the chain on the big ring, and try to lift it off halfway down. If you can see full teeth, it's probably done. Or you can buy a special tool yoke. But, really if you've been using the bike and you haven't been keeping the chain immaculate, it's probably due to be replaced. (Going on pretty much every customer bike that came in, and every mate's bike I've looked at.)

The sprockets grind out too. If you stay reasonably on top of the chain, you'll get a few chains out of each set. Make sure you look at the sprockets you actually use though, often the middle ones. I'd wear through a very narrow range of sprockets quickly, but if you looked at the cassette you'd probably notice the top ones, which would be in good nick. Depending on how things are set up, you can just swap out single sprockets. I normally couldn't be arsed, I'd just replace the cassette. Usually I'd get around 3-4 chains per cassette (on commuter bikes).

So, if you've been using the bike, and it's a bike some lad gave you, yeah, the chain is probably done. Clean up the sprockets, and look at the ones you actually use, you can generally kind of tell if it's worn beyond being ok. You need a chain whip, big levers, and the right tool to change the block, so you might as well get the shop to look at this.

All of that stuff gets slowly crunchier, noisier, and more sloppy over time. Similar to your mum. But usually even completely bollixed chains don't do that once per pedal rev disengaging thing you're talking about.

Have someone look at it anyway.

Unrelated, but another thing I've noticed buying / acquiring bikes for the kids, is that wheel bearings are often coming out of the factory set up like shit. Way too tight, clamped right down. The most recent bikes I've had the misfortune to fix all had badly set up bearings, but the bearings themselves weren't the problem, and they worked after I took them apart and put them back set up properly. Similar story with the headset races, clamped down to fuck. Might not be applicable to your bike, but having wheels that actually turn properly makes a big difference.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

wouldja just stick a photo of the thing up?

I did - a few pages back. This thread is rivalling the twitter pile on thread for popularity at the moment, so it might be buried

 

[magicbastarder]

Here, I'm going to be annoying now. Chains don't stretch. ... If you sum these up this slop it adds a few mil to the chain length.

that's stretch in my book.

 

[flashback]

I did - a few pages back. This thread is rivalling the twitter pile on thread for popularity at the moment, so it might be buried

lol. Oh you did and all.

Right, that block... yeaaaah, the sprocket two up from where the chain is looks a bit tired. I can't tell what the chain is doing because you're not doing the stretch test.

I'd probably bring it in, and expect to get dinged for a new chain and sprockets.
But I'd tell them exactly what's going on with the once per rev thing. We'd get that all the time, normally you'd see it straight away, but occasionally you'd have to take the customer bike out for a quick spin to see.

The other, worse, reason for once per rev feeling loose type problems are frames. If there's a bad weld in the frame, things can look fine until you load them up, then they get funny. So tell them about that first, because if the frame is gone or it's a really bad issue, it might be a write off. No point in buying anything for it.