DIY

What do you do if your bike breaks? Is it an excuse to leave it for a month while you contemplate fixing it, or do you rush to a bike shop and get someone to fix it for you? What requires a bike shop, is it a puncture, or something a bit more dramatic that will send you through their door?

Fix it
According to the Guardian there is a severe lack of bike mechanics at the moment and you can expect a long wait if you’re taking your bike in to be looked at. They suggest that people might want to retrain and fill the gap in the market, but with salaries only just struggling up to around £25000 and averaging around £14000 it’s hardly going to attract many people, especially not in London, so my FMFT suggestion is that you learn to fix things yourself. Not only will this save you time, but it will also free up the mechanics to do the repairs that need more than a new inner tube, brake pads, or an allen key.

The Guardian does touch on this but stops far short of anything remotely difficult. They say,

“You can get a tool that allows you to remove the chain but you need to know what you're doing – might be time for a mechanic”.

Now I’m far form an expert, and have no qualifications in bike maintenance, but I’ve kept my bikes out of a shop for many years now. The right tools aren’t expensive, and, if you look at getting them when you need them, they’ll cost you way less than the labour charge on a shop repair, especially when you come to do the same job again. There’s not really anything that difficult on a bike to put right with a bit of research on here and the right tool. Changing, or fixing a chain is pretty easy, in fact the last time I did it was in the cold, at the bottom of a downhill run after snapping the chain, and I did it in less time that it took to send a text message. Not that I’m boasting or anything.

Mind you I still get a little scared by the thought of fixing suspension forks, and hydraulic brakes are a little confusing.

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