Used when describing an otherwise unconventional and often risky/dangerous - way of fixing a problem. Ideally a short term solution that will be fixed properly ASAP.
Questions on how to get a problem working without necessarily following workshop guidance or professional methods.
Bodge: To repair or fix in a poor or clumsy way.
Example common bodges on bicycles;
- Filling a tyre with grass clippings instead of patching or swapping a tube. A possible get-home bodge but only as a very last option.
- Rotating drop bars upward at the stem to make a kind of highrise bar.
- Using a strip of aluminium can as a shim under any brake lever clamp, bad enough on flat bars but on dropbars the brakes hold a lot of your hand-weight and movement there would be bad)
- Swapping brake pad toe washers around to allow for shorter cable to achieve a better tension (debatable - seems perfectly reasonable adjustment.)
- Using sellotape or insulation tape or masking tape to wrap your bars.
Contrasting examples of Hacks that are not Bodges:
- Performing a flip-and-chop on some old dropbars to make bullhorn bars.
- Using a strip of aluminium can as a shim under a clamp-on part (front derailleur, or stem/bars)
- Strapping a torch/flashlight on as a front light.
- Wrapping some part of your bike in Hockey tape or shrinkwrap tube.
Definition of 'Bodge': https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bodge
