[CZroe]

Originally Posted by adouglas

What a clusterfrak.

This guy is responsible for screwing up your fasteners and your rim. He should be held accountable.

So what have we learned here today?

- Cheap tools suck. No, that's not strong enough... CHEAP TOOLS ARE DESTRUCTIVE. I know it hurts you because of all your penny-pinching posts, but you MUST SPEND THE MONEY FOR GOOD TOOLS or you will wind up spending more in the end. This is a fundamental law of the universe. You are learning this first-hand. Have you gotten the message yet?

- There is never a good reason to trust someone's "expertise" unless you've seen proof. This guy may well have been a mechanic. You do not need to be a genius to be a mechanic. In fact, a lot of mechanics are rather far over on the left end of the ol' bell curve, if you know what I mean. Personally, I trust my own judgment far more than that of most "professional" mechanics.

- Rushing leads to disaster, every single time. If you start to feel time pressure STOP IMMEDIATELY and pick it up later. Patience is a virtue.

- You need to be in control of the situation at all times. Accept help, but maintain control. You lost control and you're paying for it now. It may be his garage, but IT'S YOUR BIKE. He does not own your bike. It is your responsibility to protect your bike.

- A wise man knows when it's time to call for help. How much has this cost you so far? How much do you have yet to spend to make it right? Remember that you've got screwed up rims and screwed up fasteners. How much would it have cost you to have the tire mounted? Do you subscribe to the "penny wise, pound foolish" axiom? If not, you should!

LEARN FROM THIS!

The cheap tools didn't blemish my rim or screw up my Allen bolt; he did. The tire irons and rim protectors were working fine, he just did something he wasn't supposed to do. The metric Allen wrench I had was working just fine, he just used the wrong one (non-metric tool from his "good" set).

From what I can tell, any lever-type bead breaker only breaks the bead on one side, which makes me wonder about kkim's. The one depicted in the service manual is some kind of plier/vice thing the clamps both sides (I guess the tire remains standing vertical). Because he seemed to be in a hurry but didn't answer me when I asked if he had metric sockets, I used his Husky and Snap-On ratchets with my 17mm piece and the cheapie 22mm that came in the Ninja's tool kit. Worked like a charm, except that I couldn't ratchet the 22mm side (held the axle nut with the ratchet).

No, I don't think cheap tools were to blame. Ironically, the cheap tools seemed to be the most helpful! But you're right, there is a lesson to be learned from this. I wouldn't say that I trusted his expertise rather than simply accepted his help. In fact, I expected to be doing all the work myself both before and after he offered up his garage/tools. Originally he said that his brother was going to be there doing work on the drywall and AC ducts and that he would be doing that with him but, as it turns out, his brother was sick. I thought I had control by asking the right questions and telling him what was needed, but as soon as I'd look away he'd do the wrong thing.

As far as not rushing, I offered to stop so frequently that it almost felt like begging.

As far as cost, I won't count the $32 stand and $8 spools because I needed those anyway. I would have paid for the tires either way. What remains is a $16 bead breaker (20% off coupon), $14.40 worth of tire irons, and a $12 set rim protectors. I already had the torque wrench, 17mm socket, and cotter pins since I bought the bike last year (for adjusting chain slack) and everything else came from the bike's tool kit. AFAIK, the rim is only damaged cosmetically and is nothing that polished rim lips wouldn't hide. He did put his slippered foot on the brake disc (I cringed and asked him to let me do it) but I have no indication that anything is bent. So, yeah, ATM, cost is low, but that's not the issue. The issue is transportation. If I can't solve that and miss any work, costs will be sky-high!

I've got to get this dealt with fast and I'm ill-equipped. I don't have a Dremel or anything that I can use to cut a slot in the fastener and I don't have a replacement one or an impact wrench even if I could. I don't have any of my replacement credit or debit cards so I can't take it to the dealer or a mechanic. How much will it cost to fix? Unprofessionally, I'm hoping someone on these forums can help me finish the job, be it with a better bead breaker or the tools to remove that bad Allen bolt. Professionally, I don't really know if it will cost any more than a typical mounting, considering that I will still have to take the tire back to the stranded bike and mount it myself. Isn't it trivial for a shop to "slot" a rounded Allen and get it out? Heck, I'm not even sure that it budged, so that may not even be needed provided that they can change the tire without removing the brake disc. After all, it doesn't seem that Kelly had to, though I still don't know how he broke the bead on the OTHER side with his similar setup.