Awesome. A guy I used to work with put a Lefty together so the axle was 90* off and didn't notice until he went to install the wheel.The "biking related mistakes you only make once" thread
- Thread starter CrabJoe StretchPants
- Start date
Awesome. A guy I used to work with put a Lefty together so the axle was 90* off and didn't notice until he went to install the wheel.
spending any amount of time in the DH forum...
Yup. Only once.
cleaning my chain, driving an hour to the trail, leaving the chain at home.
Sorry, but that made me laugh.
Woke up late once for a DH race. Got there, had one practice run and was amazed how well the rear tire gripped better than yesterdays practice. Realized at the start gate that my rear tire was flat. Completed race run and landed 2nd... all thanks to an airless Intense 4ply 909.
My "only once mistake"
forgetting to tighten the stem after installing a new fork... snap crackle pop in the middle of a rock garden.
taking off my clipless pedals for some fun at the park. once i got there i realized i forgot to put my flats pedals on.
taking off my front wheel and leaning it up against my rear bumper while i put my bike on my car, only to back up over it.
taking off my front wheel and leaning it up against my rear bumper while i put my bike on my car, only to back up over it.
Letting CrabJoe "help out" and build one of my wheels hammered. Only took 3 tries to lace it up right.
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Hey, I thought you wanted every other spoke laced radially from alternating sides. Should have clarified beforehand.
It was a rather stupid thing to do that is for sure.
Building a bike for Wife, GF, or significant-other with hopes of getting them into the sport.
Buying a saddle without demoing it.
Look Quartz Pedals.
Buying a saddle without demoing it.
Look Quartz Pedals.
I hear ya, that is one of the worst things I've ever had to do- I flatted a rental bike not more than 100 yards from the lift.
-Cut finger fairly bad in spinning disc rotor
-Burned from hot rotor
-Riding from my house to the trails and noticed after about 10 minutes I forgot my helmet (meaning, I didn't have it on my head).
-Was on the bike in a parking lot, clipped sunglasses to the neck of my jersey for a second; hit bump, run over/destroy glasses
-Squirted brake fluid in my eye once
-used splined crank puller in a square taper and broke the tool (even had a square taper one with me too...)
-Rode home from a trail ride, open automatic garage door, old latch on the door hooks onto my Camelbak, lifts me off the ground just enough that my toes can't really touch and sternum strap goes into my neck. Undo the clip (pretty hard since my arms were at weird angles and my whole bodyweight was on it), door keeps going up and waist strap pulls my arms above my head and resumes strangling/hanging. Eventually kind of forced my shoulders through; did not feel good. So, yeah, my garage door almost killed me.
-Burned from hot rotor
-Riding from my house to the trails and noticed after about 10 minutes I forgot my helmet (meaning, I didn't have it on my head).
-Was on the bike in a parking lot, clipped sunglasses to the neck of my jersey for a second; hit bump, run over/destroy glasses
-Squirted brake fluid in my eye once
-used splined crank puller in a square taper and broke the tool (even had a square taper one with me too...)
-Rode home from a trail ride, open automatic garage door, old latch on the door hooks onto my Camelbak, lifts me off the ground just enough that my toes can't really touch and sternum strap goes into my neck. Undo the clip (pretty hard since my arms were at weird angles and my whole bodyweight was on it), door keeps going up and waist strap pulls my arms above my head and resumes strangling/hanging. Eventually kind of forced my shoulders through; did not feel good. So, yeah, my garage door almost killed me.
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Impressive! Michael Hutchence and David Caradine would be proud!
Riding XC w/o a seat. Actually, I would do that again.
-Measuring just once before cutting that steer tube.
-Leaving your camelback at the top of a really fun steep descent after a lunch/safety break.
-Leaving your bike unlocked anywhere out of sight for "just a second".
-Trying to drive OUT of the garage with bikes on the roof. (Not mine, but I know at least two people who have done it.)
-Leaving your camelback at the top of a really fun steep descent after a lunch/safety break.
-Leaving your bike unlocked anywhere out of sight for "just a second".
-Trying to drive OUT of the garage with bikes on the roof. (Not mine, but I know at least two people who have done it.)
Riding steeps rock faces with no rear brake in the spring. My coworkers wondered who the hell I'd messed with on the weekend caus' my face looked like hamburger. It's very hard to modulate a front brake on slippery granite slabs...
Ladies and Gentlemen.... We have a winnar!
Tried to remove an ISIS crank arm using a square taper crank arm puller. Since the ID of the ISIS spindle was bigger than the OD of the puller face, I stuck a penny in there to give the puller a face to push against. In the end the penny deformed and got stuffed into the ISIS spindle. Oops.
I've done this exact same thing.
You should have tried a Canadian penny, I hear they take more abuse..hehe
riding with a head full of amyl nitrate & Phencyclidine. wooooo-weeeee...will never do that again!
Manitou fork
Marzocchi fork
Marzocchi fork
I didn't secure the holder on a Yak tray rack. I drug a $4000 road bike in the process. Fortunately...it only took $100 to fix it.
I have too many stupids to list. Maybe Wumpus will do it for me. He seems critical.
I have too many stupids to list. Maybe Wumpus will do it for me. He seems critical.
Using a single tie-wrap in place of the missing ratchet strap on a side-arm roof rack carrying a 50lb DH bike while hitting a giant bump at 90mph.
figuring I could bunny hop that 2 foot high log at speed [ the one footer was easy enough]. hucked the bike forward and stuck the chainring square into the wood, bike stopped I didn't and my thighs snapped the top of the seatpost with the seat still attached right off while I endoed and slammed in on my back. rode out 8 miles with no seat.
Riding a technical area solo at mid day and trying a really steep chute. My front tire caught a root and launched me out upside down into the canyon. I remember watching the ground recede some 20 feet then come back at me really fast. I woke up and it was twilight, my helmet was in 3 pieces and a trail runner was looking down at me asking if they should call an ambulance? I had a headache for 3 days
forgot to tighten the bar in the stem once, got launched when the bar flipped down in a rock garden.
Guess this might be why I stopped riding stoned
Riding a technical area solo at mid day and trying a really steep chute. My front tire caught a root and launched me out upside down into the canyon. I remember watching the ground recede some 20 feet then come back at me really fast. I woke up and it was twilight, my helmet was in 3 pieces and a trail runner was looking down at me asking if they should call an ambulance? I had a headache for 3 days
forgot to tighten the bar in the stem once, got launched when the bar flipped down in a rock garden.
Guess this might be why I stopped riding stoned
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-buying 2 Thule Super G's. bike fell off roof because of the constant swaying in the front wheel cradle. thankfully i decided to use the cheap cable lock that day and it held onto my bike while hanging over the side of the car on the highway. put a huge dent in the rear passenger door. Thule thankfully sent me a new 594 and paid for the car repair.
-buying a giant DH saddle (in 1999.)
-buying a giant DH saddle (in 1999.)
These are great.... I have done alot of them...
Favorites for me are the brake rotor..... DOne it too many times
Leaving the chain at home....... Done it
My personal best mistakes...
Not drinking before racing Fontana
Deciding I could finish up the tehachapi course alot faster than I had praticed...
Buying a KHS FR
Putting the lower seals in my 66 upside down....... that was a fun race
Favorites for me are the brake rotor..... DOne it too many times
Leaving the chain at home....... Done it
My personal best mistakes...
Not drinking before racing Fontana
Deciding I could finish up the tehachapi course alot faster than I had praticed...
Buying a KHS FR
Putting the lower seals in my 66 upside down....... that was a fun race
- Putting on a neck brace on your collar bone
- Riding Champery WC track with 0.5mm of brake pads
- Using flat pedals with non standard pins (twenty6)
- Filling your camelback with soda
- Forgetting your full face hellmet and noticing after driving 300km
- DT Rims
- Atomlab clipless pedals
- DHX air
- Forgetting to tighten the maxle on a boxxer
- Spraying your whole flat with marzocchi oil
- Riding Champery WC track with 0.5mm of brake pads
- Using flat pedals with non standard pins (twenty6)
- Filling your camelback with soda
- Forgetting your full face hellmet and noticing after driving 300km
- DT Rims
- Atomlab clipless pedals
- DHX air
- Forgetting to tighten the maxle on a boxxer
- Spraying your whole flat with marzocchi oil
-not wearing knee pads on a huge drop and ripping my knee open
-not carrying a extra tube on a xc epic
-racing my freeride bike in a xc race
-racing xc
-deciding to see who could go the fastest after having a giant burrito
-thinking you can take the corner fast and ripping a side wall to sheds
and many more stupid things
-not carrying a extra tube on a xc epic
-racing my freeride bike in a xc race
-racing xc
-deciding to see who could go the fastest after having a giant burrito
-thinking you can take the corner fast and ripping a side wall to sheds
and many more stupid things
Remember the original Magic Motorcycle cranks/bb? I was working at a shop in WA that sold the heck out of them, had a customer that wanted his installed in 15 minutes, was doing fine until I mounted the crank arms. Didn't realize I had installed them "one spline off" until he went for his ride in the parking lot. He noticed the "womp-womp" of the off-center........
And I felt like a doofus as I bought the beer for that mistake......
drinking 20 beers and sleeping 4 hours the night before riding SJT
oh oh oh...
using an ultrasonic parts cleaner... not wearing glasses, not removing the tray to set parts on, just tossing the parts straight in.... got the degreaser in my eye (i think it was pedros). everyone in the shop was was cracking up (manager included) as I ran around half blind and cursing like a madman trying to find enough water to rinse my eyes
using an ultrasonic parts cleaner... not wearing glasses, not removing the tray to set parts on, just tossing the parts straight in.... got the degreaser in my eye (i think it was pedros). everyone in the shop was was cracking up (manager included) as I ran around half blind and cursing like a madman trying to find enough water to rinse my eyes
eating doritos while bleeding hayes and NOT wearing gloves. I also used to do this while developing film and photos in the darkroom too.
That reminds me of - drinking 12 red bulls 30mins before my race run.