[ickyickyptngzutboing]

Ok, so I rode a lot this weekend, and I didn't have a lot of time last night to clean my ride, so I'd figure I'd clean it today. So I take my rig, start giving it some TLC, you know... the usual. So I take my chain off (SRAM PC-99) and I'm all happy because the PowerLink is pretty sweet. Little bending here, a pull there, and a little push and tada! One chain off.
Well, I put the chain in a bottle with some soap and water to let it soak before I clean it off with my oh-sooooo-trusty toothbrush. And I'm like, eh, I'll throw the little PowerLink in there, won't hurt it to soak a little bit.
I totally return a little bit later, and after slaving over the sink toothbrushing my chain, I finally finish. I'm like "WOOHOO! <-that feller there... I'm finished, so I'll just take this bottle of dirty water and dump it down the sink. I pick it up, start to tip--tip all the way, and swooooooo-clickety clank-ooshhhhh. #@%&*!!!! I definitely poured the PowerLink down the sink. And well yea, I could take the trap out, but I'm at college... so when's the last time you've seen a college kid walking around with some pipe wrenches in his back pocket.
So yea, I'm just ranting over my inherent stupidity and now I have to wait for the Maint. people to get my beloved PowerLink out of the trap...


And for the sake of not making this thread completely useless... what are some of the stupid things that you've done?

 

[Wormburner]

I feel your pain. No garage or basement in my apartment. Left with the choice of drivetrain work in the living room (and an angry wife), or do it outside on a small concrete slab. It was early spring, so my bike is extremely grimy from winter commuting, and I end up working outside. No surprise, as soon as I drop my link it doesn't stay on the concrete but finds it way into the grass. Yeah, it wasn;t a good place to be working, but you've got to work with what yo've got...

 

[mward]

One time I was changing the spring in my duke u turn, this was right after I started dating this gal, and I was in her house, on carpet, and tapped that little bolt on the bottom of the leg out (oil's in the other side, RIGHT??). NOT! I dumped however many cc's of fork oil in her carpet. Good thing she didn't kill me. I'm married to her now.

 

[Christine]

A few weeks ago, decided to attempt a repair on my own, on my retired HardRock Sport. The chain never stays in the big ring, and according to the repair book, the derailleur guide-thingy could be adjusted by removing/adjusting the clamp that attatches it to the frame.

So I get a screwdriver and {{{boiiinngg}}} clamp jumps open, never to be re-closed enough to screw it back together. No big deal, just felt kinda stoopid bringing it in.

 

[CHUM]

Truing a friends wheel

after a few beers - ugh!! It turned out very "taco" with no chance of recovery. Had to bring it in. No more drinking and and twisting spokes.

 

[bmateo]

Kinda funny, I guess...

Was out riding with some new friends and old, and my chain broke. I had about 10 people waiting up on me at a night ride, so I was trying to go fast, but also did not want to make any stupid errors.

I got the thing put together very fast, being sure to not make my usual error of threading the chain on the outside of the rear deraillure cage (I can't count how many times I've forgotten to go UNDER that little metal part on the cage, and then had to redo the whole thing.)

Well, got 'er done, didn't keep folks waiting, and one of the guys on the ride even commented "You're the first person I've seen in a long time who did not forget to thread the chain through that little spot." Yeah, my chest swelled with pride (well, not really, but....).

So I got back on the bike to join the ride, and clankety clankety clank.... Turns out I was so focussed on not screwing up the threading of the rerar derraillure that I forgot to put it through the front deraillure altogether (or as you would say, "totally" ).

It was kinda funny at the time. Maybe I should focus less on safety meetings, and more on maintenance moments.

 

[Walt Dizzy]

Minor annoyances

How about breaking off a Shimano 9-speed chain pin before it pins the chain together?

My least favorite so far: putting Loc-Tite on my shock pivots! Boy, did that not stop the squeaking. Don't ask what I was (not) thinking.

Then there is the usual. Several weeks ago I replaced my winter tires and pinched a hole in an inner tube.

Walt

 

[crager34]

Back when I did some (weak) road racing I was doing some in door training on some rollers. Threw them puppies right on the floor in front of the TV at my dads place. He came home... was quite impressed with what I was doing. Then I finished and lifted up the rollers........ BAM!!! Three real nice black marks on his carpet from the rollers and tire rubber....he wasn't impressed anymore.

 

[iviguy]

Ok, so I rode a lot this weekend, and I didn't have a lot of time last night to clean my ride, so I'd figure I'd clean it today. So I take my rig, start giving it some TLC, you know... the usual. So I take my chain off (SRAM PC-99) and I'm all happy because the PowerLink is pretty sweet. Little bending here, a pull there, and a little push and tada! One chain off.
Well, I put the chain in a bottle with some soap and water to let it soak before I clean it off with my oh-sooooo-trusty toothbrush. And I'm like, eh, I'll throw the little PowerLink in there, won't hurt it to soak a little bit.
I totally return a little bit later, and after slaving over the sink toothbrushing my chain, I finally finish. I'm like "WOOHOO! <-that feller there... I'm finished, so I'll just take this bottle of dirty water and dump it down the sink. I pick it up, start to tip--tip all the way, and swooooooo-clickety clank-ooshhhhh. #@%&*!!!! I definitely poured the PowerLink down the sink. And well yea, I could take the trap out, but I'm at college... so when's the last time you've seen a college kid walking around with some pipe wrenches in his back pocket.
So yea, I'm just ranting over my inherent stupidity and now I have to wait for the Maint. people to get my beloved PowerLink out of the trap...

And for the sake of not making this thread completely useless... what are some of the stupid things that you've done?

Well this isn't bike related but you said college and drain and it made me think about something my wife did in college. She was in a chemistry lab working with Hydrochloric acid doing some type of something... This acid was a really strong acid with hardly any dilution. She had to wear the special gloves and goggles and rubber apron. Without thinking she poured the stuff down the drain which very quickly ate holes into the already old pipes and water and acid drained out all over the floor of the lab.

When the guy came to fix it he was about to sit down in the water and she told him it might not be a good idea because people pour chemicals down the drain all the time. She was too embarrassed to tell him it was because of her that it happened...

As far as bike related, squeezing the front brakes to hard and doing an endo doesn't score many intellegent points... I just did that 3 weeks ago. The scars are looking fairly good now.

 

[Warp]

My rear Magura Julie inner piston is giving me headaches. So I dismount the caliper, and start doing the sticky piston fix stuff.

Trying to find out how good/bad it was going I pressed the lever with the pads out. Ouer piston moves further, faster and wedged. Inner still sticky.

I call my wife to show her... I press the lever, keep pressing until I popped out part of the outer piston and oil comes out (not much but enough to soak the caliper)

Nevermind the bleed I had to do, it was embarrassing for my wife to see me like an incompetent wrench.

 

[GirchyGirchy]

One time I was changing the spring in my duke u turn, this was right after I started dating this gal, and I was in her house, on carpet, and tapped that little bolt on the bottom of the leg out (oil's in the other side, RIGHT??). NOT! I dumped however many cc's of fork oil in her carpet. Good thing she didn't kill me. I'm married to her now.

From the RS Duke service manual:

4. Loosen shaft bolt(s) and nut (Race) (110-005651-00)five turns (fig. 4) and tap firmly with a plastic faced mallet to separate the shafts from the lower tubes.
5. Keep a bucket below the fork to catch the oil. Inspect the condition of removed oil. If the oil is opaque and/or milky (water contamination), the lower tube assembly should be cleaned.

"Directions? I don't need any directions!"

BTW, was it pretty easy to do maintenance on that fork? The seals just blew out of my '02 Duke XC, so I'll be taking it apart sometime soon. In the meantime, I'm rockin' with the '01 Judy TT!

 

[GirchyGirchy]

after a few beers - ugh!! It turned out very "taco" with no chance of recovery. Had to bring it in. No more drinking and and twisting spokes.

Really? I perform my best truing work while under the influence of alcohol. Seems to flow better.

 

[Ricko]

Nah, safety first...

Was out riding with some new friends and old, and my chain broke. I had about 10 people waiting up on me at a night ride, so I was trying to go fast, but also did not want to make any stupid errors.

I got the thing put together very fast, being sure to not make my usual error of threading the chain on the outside of the rear deraillure cage (I can't count how many times I've forgotten to go UNDER that little metal part on the cage, and then had to redo the whole thing.)

Well, got 'er done, didn't keep folks waiting, and one of the guys on the ride even commented "You're the first person I've seen in a long time who did not forget to thread the chain through that little spot." Yeah, my chest swelled with pride (well, not really, but....).

So I got back on the bike to join the ride, and clankety clankety clank.... Turns out I was so focussed on not screwing up the threading of the rerar derraillure that I forgot to put it through the front deraillure altogether (or as you would say, "totally" ).

It was kinda funny at the time. Maybe I should focus less on safety meetings, and more on maintenance moments.

A friend of mine brought his bike over once...then a second time... complaining it didn't shift correctly. I sez "your chain is routed through the derailleur wrong", he sez "it was like that before I took it off and cleaned it" . Round and round we go!

 

[nnn]

If anyone has a frame with internal routing you know what a PITA it is every time a cable snaps 30 mins( if you're lucky ) very very annoying work. So me finally threads the damn cable all happy and gleaming when I suddenly remember I forgot to thread it through the actual shifter pod and outer cable before it went inside the frame. Basically it's the equivalent of forgetting one ball bearing from a freehub (gotta remove wheel -> remove cassette, always a pain ->remove cogs ->exert a billion newton-light years to get freehub loose -> all in the oposite order )

 

[Warp]

Basically it's the equivalent of forgetting one ball bearing from a freehub (gotta remove wheel -> remove cassette, always a pain ->remove cogs ->exert a billion newton-light years to get freehub loose -> all in the oposite order )

Awwww!! Servicing a hub's drive side bearing, now that's a PITA!

 

[Locoman]

BTW: Sometimes the rollers will come off the end links.. just something to think about when pouring it off.

 

[Bird]

Wow! i thought after reading these posts i would feel somewhat mellowed from my own stupidity.Well...i still feel stupid after 10 yrs.
I bought this 300.00 manitou sx ti and marked the steerer tube and cut it only to find out i cut it an inch to short.Why is that head-set laying on the floor?Duh!
Instead of eating the 300.00 bucks i used the bottom stem bolt only when clamping it to the tube.
Learned a valuable lesson.My next fork i must have used 10 spacers,i wanted that head-set cap touching my chin.

 

[mattbikeboy]

Stupid Human Tricks

I once got three flat tires while leading an onganized ride. Never mind that it took me three flats to realize that I had blown out the side wall. Sooooo, fter fixing the third flat (no more CO2, no more extra tubes) I got the tube patched and the rear wheel on and was ready to go -- only to notice that I had left tube hanging from my saddle and wrapping around the seat stays.
Man I was not about to remove that wheel again (reverse entry droppouts on my old Ventana). So I whipped out the Leatherman and cut the tube. Of course as I'm tugging on the knife I'm also thinking I have 5 miles to go on this ride. Luckily it didn't blow out again. I did get dropped by the group I was leading and rode at a snails pace to the end.

mc