Fixing and Tuning-up My Own Bikes

Reading an article from BIKE magazine and this is part of the subheading:

"Why learning to fix your bike makes riding it a richer experience....."

During my early teens, when I was getting into BMX.  I decided to learn how to fix my own bike because the shop where I was having my first BMX assembled, was being careless and causing nicks and scratches on my brand new bike.  So as the mechanic was working on my bike, I was observing what he was doing.  There was no Youtube back then so I had to do my research by reading from bike magazines and asking other bike mechanics how to do this and that.  From then on, I did my own fine-tuning and repairs as needed.  I even took the time to take apart my bike's wheel, including spokes just to re-assemble and align the wheels myself.  Since then, I built my own bikes, a 2nd BMX (when my 1st bike was stolen) and a road bike.

I have also invested in certain tools that can help me fix my bikes.  Bottom-bracket wrenches, crank extractors, bike repair stand, etc.

Nowadays, bikes can be bought as built already. There are new technologies like threadless headsets, disc brakes, etc.  I had to do research and ask bike mechanics how to maintain or tune such parts so I can work on them myself. Although there are more bike shops with adept mechanics at present, I still have the knack to fix my own bike so it doesn't get scratches from mishandling.

Just as the subheading said, it is indeed a richer experience riding my bikes knowing I am the one who built them or have done my own share on repairs and tuning.

I believe that every biker should take the time to learn to be able to do their own tune-ups and repairs every now and then so that you can fully understand how a bike works and enjoy biking better.

Have you learned to fix your own bike yourself?