Written in a cold garage

Spoke & Chain exists because the two of us kept explaining the same six repairs to the same friends, and eventually it was easier to write them down.

Neither of us is a trained mechanic. What we have is a shed, two bikes each that are ridden year-round through British winters, and a decade of learning things the slow way — including the memorable evening spent stripping a bottom bracket that turned out not to be the problem at all.

That experience shapes how the guides are written. Every procedure here has been done by hand, usually more than once, and usually badly the first time. Where a job went wrong for us, we say so. Where a repair is genuinely beyond a home workshop, we say that too rather than pretending everything is a five-minute fix.

There is no shop attached to this site, no affiliate links, and no sponsorship. Tools are described by what they do, not by brand, because brand advice ages badly and varies by country.

House rules

• Safety-critical work gets flagged. Brakes, steering and anything load-bearing on carbon carries a note telling you to hand it over if you are unsure.
• No specification chasing. Most riders are better served by a clean drivetrain than by lighter components.
• Corrections get published. If we are wrong about a torque figure or a procedure, tell us and the page changes.