Trade: Assemble bike

Start from a place where your bike works perfectly, where you know it's safe (remember, as much as we love bikes they are primarily for transport and need to be road worthy). As things need doing, learn how to do them. Get excited about small triumphs of learning how to fix a puncture and how to replace brake pads when the need arises, but give your self a chance to learn what your bike feels like when it works properly so that you know when it isn't.

This seems like very sage advice.