Bicycle repairs?

Motorcycle Mike

Motorcycle Mike

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Anyone know a bike mechanic, preferably in the west end or mississauga?

I just want to get my wheels straightened. I would learn to do it myself, but don't feel like spending a couple hundred on a truing tool or spending hours trying to build one myself.
 
You could always take it to a shop, like Gears in Port Credit. Or if you're looking for a dude working out of his home garage, maybe check craigslist or kijiji for anyone advertising their services.
 
Diesel said:
Anyone know a bike mechanic, preferably in the west end or mississauga?

I just want to get my wheels straightened. I would learn to do it myself, but don't feel like spending a couple hundred on a truing tool or spending hours trying to build one myself.
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You don't need a truing stand..I do mine on my bike. You do need a spoke wrench. Let me know where you are and what kind of bike it is and I might be able to drop by and fix it up. I don't work on junk so don't bother if it has the letters "CCM" or "Supercycle" on it!! :-D
 
invictus43 said:
You don't need a truing stand..I do mine on my bike. You do need a spoke wrench. Let me know where you are and what kind of bike it is and I might be able to drop by and fix it up. I don't work on junk so don't bother if it has the letters "CCM" or "Supercycle" on it!! :-D
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I was considering straightening them on the bike, but what do you use as a guide, just the brake pads? I was thinking about rigging up something to hold a guide so I can easily tell where it needs tightening, but haven't figured that out yet. I think I have a handle from a drill somewhere that has a plastic depth guide that I might try to temporarily rig to the forks.

I have looked on kijiji and have seen some repair dudes... but I was more looking for a recommendation so as to not get scammed or shoddy workmanship.

Thanks for the offer invictus. While it is neither a CCM or supercycle, it is a 16 or 17 year old Peugeot Nature that was $600 way back then, so not a high quality bike by any means. I think I might go buy a spoke wrench and try to figure it out on my own first (and after I install the new tires I have coming in the mail), but if I can't make any progress I will chill some beer, bbq some meat, and you can come show me how to do it.
 
Zipties on the fork legs work well as guides, easily moved but stay where you put them. Cut them off when you're done. Take it easy with the tension, make small changes and see the effect. Wheel truing is an art (one of the many arts that I am terrible at) and it is easy to make things much worse.
 
Diesel said:
I was considering straightening them on the bike, but what do you use as a guide, just the brake pads? I was thinking about rigging up something to hold a guide so I can easily tell where it needs tightening, but haven't figured that out yet. I think I have a handle from a drill somewhere that has a plastic depth guide that I might try to temporarily rig to the forks.

I have looked on kijiji and have seen some repair dudes... but I was more looking for a recommendation so as to not get scammed or shoddy workmanship.

Thanks for the offer invictus. While it is neither a CCM or supercycle, it is a 16 or 17 year old Peugeot Nature that was $600 way back then, so not a high quality bike by any means. I think I might go buy a spoke wrench and try to figure it out on my own first (and after I install the new tires I have coming in the mail), but if I can't make any progress I will chill some beer, bbq some meat, and you can come show me how to do it.
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Yeah, just the brake pads. I even dish my wheels that way. It's really not as hack as it sounds. Truing stands are great if you can afford/use them enough..but for home, I have no problems using the brake pad method..as long as you can get someone to hold the bike off the ground while you spin the wheel (if they're bad..most bikes only take about 3 mins to straighten the rims if it's normal wear and tear). I put my bike on the work stand and just spin them on the bike. If you're turning the nipples more than 1 turn you're steering into trouble. You shouldn't have to turn the nipples more than 1/2 turn usually to get the results you're looking for, provided the wheels aren't in serious need of help. If you find yourself turning them a lot, step away and give me a call. It's really a simple process for minor repairs once you see it done and have someone give you some pointers.

Your bike, I believe, has stainless spokes and that makes all the difference. You can tell instantly..on a bike that old, stainless spokes will still be shiny. Cheap spokes will be fairly heavily oxidized. If you have stainless it makes life SOOO much easier..you should have no problem with those spokes. Cheap spokes oxidize so badly that they'll often just snap in your hand as you try to tighten/loosen them. I won't even touch them if they're in that state.

I've found that CyclePath in Oakville are pretty good. Take the wheels off the bike and tires off if you bring them in. They might do them for you while you wait and not charge you very much. Extra points if you wipe all the crap off them before you bring them in too. :-)
 
I got it figured out, and it was very easy.

I just put the bike upside down resting on it's seat and handlebars, watched a couple youtube videos and gave it a go.
The front wheel barely touched the pads at all, so very slightly tightening the spokes on the opposite side of the rub fixed it, now it spins without touching the pads at all.

The rear wheel was a bit more warped, but I discovered two spokes that were very loose and just by tightening them helped.

I used a set of pliers but was very careful not to strip or round edges on anything. Tomorrow I still plan to get a spoke wrench to do a better job on the rear wheel.

Thanks for the input guys, I learned something today.
 
Spoke tension and stress relieving are among the most important things for wheel longevity. The two loose spokes sometimes indicates insufficient tension in the wheel. I'd grab a spoke wrench as you mentioned and try to get a good amount of tension in the rear wheel. It should be somewhat difficult to turn the wrench (it can hurt your fingers somewhat) when the wheel is sufficiently tensioned. Also, the rear wheel is always more prone to truing/tension/breakage issues because it generally carries most of the load. Don't overdo the tension or you'll start to round nipples. If you've got it straight and there is fairly good tension, I'm not sure I'd mess too much with it. In generally, when trying to increase tension in an already-built wheel, you start at the valve hole and tighten each spoke about a 1/4 turn all the way around..then re-true the wheel. A 1/4 turn adds up after a while as you go around the rim so if you're already pretty close, you might just end up having too much tension and rounding nipples.

Good work so far!!! :-)
 
There are 4 sizes spoke wrenches (5 if you include Spline Drive [purple]). Buy Park. They are the best. The guy at the shop will steer you that way, anyway.

Park sizes:

SW-0 (black) .127"
SW-1 (green) .130"
SW-2 (red) .136"
SW-3 (blue) .156"

You will probably need a green or red. Make sure you get the right one. Take your front wheel with you to the shop if you have no accurate way of measuring the flat width of your nipples.
 
FullMotoJacket said:
There are 4 sizes spoke wrenches (5 if you include Spline Drive [purple]). Buy Park. They are the best. The guy at the shop will steer you that way, anyway.

Park sizes:

SW-0 (black) .127"
SW-1 (green) .130"
SW-2 (red) .136"
SW-3 (blue) .156"

You will probably need a green or red. Make sure you get the right one. Take your front wheel with you to the shop if you have no accurate way of measuring the flat width of your nipples.
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Yeah..and buying Park really isn't much cost-wise..I think they're $10 or something..they're well hardened and last a long time..AND they actually fit the nipples correctly. I have permanent grooves in my fingers from them.. :-)
 
invictus43 said:
I don't work on junk so don't bother if it has the letters "CCM" or "Supercycle" on it!! :-D
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There's racism & then there's Brand-ism??
 
RockerGuy said:
There's racism & then there's Brand-ism??
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Oh, I've got Brand-ism.. :-) Favorit..a gem built in Czechoslovakia and imported by our Eastern European friends.. Not MY favorit bike! No parts..so poorly engineered..metal parts made out of butter and rust..ugh.. CCM, Supercycle..so many garbage bicycles out there..Huffy..I'm vomiting a little just typing the names..
 
Excellent info... you probably just saved me a return trip once I realized there were more than one size.

FullMotoJacket said:
There are 4 sizes spoke wrenches (5 if you include Spline Drive [purple]). Buy Park. They are the best. The guy at the shop will steer you that way, anyway.

Park sizes:

SW-0 (black) .127"
SW-1 (green) .130"
SW-2 (red) .136"
SW-3 (blue) .156"

You will probably need a green or red. Make sure you get the right one. Take your front wheel with you to the shop if you have no accurate way of measuring the flat width of your nipples.
Click to expand...
 
The idea to keep it round is to loosen and tighten an equal number of spokes an equal amount of turns. So to move the rim to the left you would tighten the left spoke 1/4 turn and loosen the right 1/4 turn, rather than just tightening the left one 1/2 turn. If both need to be tightened you may have to tighten spoke on the opposite side of the wheel to compensate. If u destroy the true, loosen all the spokes to the top of the threads and start tightening 1/2 turn per spoke 1 revolution at a time until tight and star your true again.
 
There's a community bike shop on Bloor somewhere near Dufferin, north side where they show you how to fix your own free. Run by donations FWIW.
 
N3WMAN said:
Once you learn a bit about bikes you realize than 99% of what people ride around on is utter ****. At least CCM makes a valiant effort to copy the designs of good bikes from 5 years ago. Supercycle just, I dunno.
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I'm always amazed what parents will let their 7 year olds ride around on..yikes.
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