Dummies Caught Faking Experience

The internet is a marvelous source of information; but the sad truth is that too often that information is incomplete, of poor quality, or both. Today, we’ll take a look at a freelancer who sucks in the eyeballs with a promising title, but doesn’t deliver on the promise. We’re talking about Julie, sometimes known as DIYmommy, over at HubPages.com. Julie’s article promised to answer the question, “How Can I Replace My Bicycle Chain?” Unfortunately, it didn’t…

There must be a million internet tutorials on changing a bike chain out there. We know, a staffer wrote one of them, and it gets exactly zero traffic. The difference between him and DIYmommy is that he's actually done this changing a chain thing, instead of just looking at an online tutorial. You know how we can tell?

DIYmommy said, "Does your chain seem to jump around a lot? It's a good sign it's time to replace that bike chain." 

Wrong: a jumping chain can mean any of several things, the simplest of which is a shift cable in need of adjustment. If your chain has exceeded the recommended amount of wear, you can only spot it by measuring the wear with a chain checker. DIYmommy said, "...just place the hook in the chain, and let the point drop into the chain. It will show exactly how worn out the chain is, in percentage." Well, no: you're describing a GO-NOGO checker, which only shows whether or not the chain has exceeded the recommended wear -- not "exactly how worn out" it is. Oh, by the way, Julie, what percentage IS "worn out"?

Chain tool centered on roller pin

Here's what Julie tried to tell her readers: 

"You want to push the pin about 80% of the way out. If you push the pin out all the way (so it falls out), it's almost impossible to reattach it. Keep this especially in mind when attaching your new chain.

Once the pin is pushed out about 80% of the way, you should be able to detach the links from each other, and pull it apart. Once detached, it should be easy to remove and replace your bicycle chain.

Use this chain tool method in reverse to push in the pin and attach the new chain."

Again, wrong, and here's why: If  you're replacing the chain, the 80% estimate is irrelevant because you won't reuse this pin. It's also irrelevant because the chain tool you pictured can't push the pin all the way out... She omitted the most important step in replacing a chain, which is making certain the new chain is both the same width and length as the old chain. She didn't bother to discuss routing the new chain or cleaning the drive train, both critical topics The smart DIYcyclist uses a replacement chain with a master link (power link, etc.) because the pins don't have to be peened to be secure

It's pretty clear DIYmommy had never performed this process; if she had she'd have addressed some of those very important subjects. At best, we suspect she watched while her "hubby" did it; at worst, she just read about it. Either way, for incomplete and poor-quality "instructions," she's our Dumbass of the Day.

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DD - BICYCLES