Your worst mistake

[Chuckabutty]

Everyone makes mistakes at some point in their life, and I've made my share. A few weeks ago, I installed a new cassette on my fat bike. It went without a hitch. Then a few days ago, while working on wheel bearings on my hybrid bike, I had to remove the freewheel. So out came the chain whip, freewheel removal tool and adjustable wrench.

I tried for several minutes to unscrew that freewheel, and couldn't understand why it was stuck so hard. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and I've done it, before. Put the freewheel tool in a vise, drop the wheel onto it, and then using both hands, wrench the wheel around. To my surprise it was very easy. I was pleased but when I took the wheel back to the bike, I realized what I had been doing. Do I need to explain more?

So what's your worst mistake? It doesn't have to be on a bike.

 

[dabac]

Well, if you'd tried to use the chain whip to keep the f/w in place while trying to make it turn with the f/w puller, that'd explain things.

 

[Chuckabutty]

Well, if you'd tried to use the chain whip to keep the f/w in place while trying to make it turn with the f/w puller, that'd explain things.

Exactly! It's not like I haven't changed freewheels a few times. I'd been having a bad time with the wheel bearings on that wheel, and was about to remove the freewheel and ball bearings for the second time in 24 hours. There was another problem, and I guess my mind was still trying to figure that out when I put the chain whip on the cogs.

 

[jhuskey]

My first marriage.

 

[Chuckabutty]

My first marriage.

I regretted mine for the first 40 years. Seriously! It's now been 51 years and a marriage made in heaven. I wish it had been like this from the start. There's little doubt in my mind that marriage is one heck of a trial, perhaps the worst we'll encounter.

 

[jhuskey]

I regretted mine for the first 40 years. Seriously! It's now been 51 years and a marriage made in heaven. I wish it had been like this from the start. There's little doubt in my mind that marriage is one heck of a trial, perhaps the worst we'll encounter.

I agree on "trial" but too bad the death penalty is not an option . My second one is going well after 28 years.

 

[Froze]

I've never made a mistake, I'm perfect all the time...somewhere there's something about what bull does here.

 

[Chuckabutty]

I've never made a mistake, I'm perfect all the time...somewhere there's something about what bull does here.

Well, I did make a mistake but I learned from it. And now I'm perfect, like you.

 

[Yojimbo_]

I thought I made a mistake once, but I was wrong.

 

[Froze]

I thought I was wrong once but I was correct; don't get me wrong, I'm not conceited, conceit is a fault, and I have none.

I'm not a very good cook, so after reading the recipe that said set the oven to 180 degrees, so I did, but now I can't open the door because it hits the wall.

Funny thing is no one listens till you make a mistake; but some mistakes are too much fun to only do once. I discovered in my years that's it's useless to correct a mistake, so instead I focus my attention on creating new ones.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

I built a rear wheel for my bike. Never had problems before but this one was ticking like crazy when I took it for a test ride. Tried everything to stop the ticking, tension, cleaning spokes, checked everything and all seemed good. So I took the wheel totally apart and started over. Built it from scratch a second time but the ticking was still there. WTH!

Finally I realized that when I removed the rear wheel, somehow the lock ring on the cassette came loose or was loose. I noticed it then tightened it and the noise was gone.

Oh well, got one more notch under my belt as far as building wheels.

 

[Chuckabutty]

... Finally I realized that when I removed the rear wheel, somehow the lock ring on the cassette came loose or was loose. I noticed it then tightened it and the noise was gone.

I had a similar incident. A few weeks back I put a new cassette on my bike. The gears weren't moving smoothly to the next cog. Dismounting the bike, I poked at the cogs with my fingers and found they had slight sideways movement. It was caused by the smallest cog thingy not lining up with the right spline on the freehub. The lock ring was tight but it left the other cogs without pressure on them from the lock ring. It had looked perfect when I put the wheel back in the bike. But I hadn't made a mistake... it was an accident... okay, shoddy mechanical work.