The Makings Of A Mechanic

Carrera

I'm going through cold turkey. Haven't done a hard bike training session in ages and the lack of dopamine and stimulants has affected my mood, especially after the crash.
The reason for the lay-off? Basically, I've been fixing my bike up for spring and the main problem has been the chatter caused by the chain rubbing on the front derailleur so I bought a new shimano derailleur and fitted it. I also changed all my shifter and brake cables, fitted new brake blocks and am adding new tyres. I also bought some fairly expensive cable-tension adjusters as the old ones had locked up.
After hours of cussing, struggling and going back and forth to shops for spare bits, my bike is now working better than ever. I've reduced the chatter coming from the front derailleur so now I'll be starting work on my triple in the garage (that hasn't been exposed to any winter weather).
But the point of this post is I figure I can now, more or less, hold my own as a bike mechanic and am getting near that stage where maybe I could start thinking about building my own roadbike, buying a carbon frame and adding components bit by bit.
I wonder how many cyclists out there also feel confident at doing their own mechanical maintenance and whether you also lose a lot of training time trying to keep the bike in order. I know I do, but I guess hiring a full time mechanic isn't an option for me.
Incidentally I also plan to graduate to a bit of basic diesel mechanics in order to keep on top of the boat but I really hgave to go out and train soon as the cold turkey is killing me. I feel irritable and depressed without the usual fix.

Carrera

I've cracked it so I have. I now consider myself almost an expert on front derailleurs but it has cost me a lot of training time.
Thing is, I was sick and tired of my training runs being ruined by clatter and chatter of the derailleur so I invested in new parts, cables and what have you, before fitting it all and greasing the casings e.t.c.
But let me tell you, bike mechanics ain't easy. Look what happened to David Millar when his chain flew off 2 tours back when he was doing a time trial.
At any rate, my project may well be a future superbike I'll construct myself out of carbon with gearing you can only dream of. Maybe I'll buy a Rourke frame and do it step by step (while also dealing with the old boat, of course). A bike so light it would be illegal in the TDF.