From my first bike, I couldn't afford upgrades or fixes so I learned to fix them myself. Started with the most basic of bikes, the basic components and it went from there as the technical complexity of bikes increased.
First it was cantis, then V's then Hope C2's, Bomber forks, gearing systems, hubs and on.
Forums such as RetroBike and Single Track World were my instructors. People relating what they knew. Plenty of pics, advice, solutions to problems and then as you tube became more popular that was a place to go to see a fix or such in real time. Easy to pause, rewind and watch again and again till i could do these things blindfold.
Once you have the basics and you've stripped and rebuilt a few dozen bikes and serviced their components, you gain confidence in your abilities and sometimes the only thing stopping you is unfamiliarity of a particular fork, shock or brake.
But even then the only thing stopping you is fear itself. The instructions are readily available, how to vids on YT, personal accounts on forums, it's all there, you only need access it.
In the beginning i couldnt afford new parts, so i had to take it off, sell it on a forum or ebay to get funds for the bit i wanted/needed, and to sell something on for the best price it needs to be in the best condition, so i would sit in front of the tV, a small collection of tools beside me, some cleaning and wiping rags, a tin of GT85 and strip, clean and polish the parts, sometimes going as far as sanding out scratches and other marks using increasing grits of wet and dry, finishing with metal polish and lacquer.
