2manyoranges
Old School Grand Master
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There are two types of repair vortices.
The 'why did I do that' class 1 vortex
Starting to do something simple which turns into a nightmare. Example - decide to replace bottle cage but find that the allen bolt undoes by one turn, then jams, and then the inset nut starts to turn and then you can't do the nut back up and then you have to cut the bolt off and then you have to get the inset out and then you have to get a new inset and put it in....
The 'no problem bring it round' class 2 vortex
I experienced this two years ago when the lovely postie in our village said 'can you service my bike'? She is brilliant and has done so many things for us in terms of postage and parcels. When the bike came, the bottom bracket was seized, the seat post was seized, as was the stem (crooked) and the cranks set extraction thread in the driveside crank arm was non-existant. The wheel bearing were dire, the V brakes weird and impossible to balance, and every cable was seized. That became a fun project that involved a great deal of use of applied force. In the end it cost over 200 gbp in parts and would have been double that in workshop fees. But she is lovely, not brilliantly paid, and deserves all the community support which she can get. But it was one hell of a vortex.
The 'why did I do that' class 1 vortex
Starting to do something simple which turns into a nightmare. Example - decide to replace bottle cage but find that the allen bolt undoes by one turn, then jams, and then the inset nut starts to turn and then you can't do the nut back up and then you have to cut the bolt off and then you have to get the inset out and then you have to get a new inset and put it in....
The 'no problem bring it round' class 2 vortex
I experienced this two years ago when the lovely postie in our village said 'can you service my bike'? She is brilliant and has done so many things for us in terms of postage and parcels. When the bike came, the bottom bracket was seized, the seat post was seized, as was the stem (crooked) and the cranks set extraction thread in the driveside crank arm was non-existant. The wheel bearing were dire, the V brakes weird and impossible to balance, and every cable was seized. That became a fun project that involved a great deal of use of applied force. In the end it cost over 200 gbp in parts and would have been double that in workshop fees. But she is lovely, not brilliantly paid, and deserves all the community support which she can get. But it was one hell of a vortex.
