How best to improve a cheap bike?



P

Pyromancer

Guest
I live 10 minutes drive, and 30 minutes cycle, from my
office, and currently cycle about two days out of five. I
really enjoy the ride, even though it is right through Leeds
city centre on some decidedly dodgy routes, with maniac bus
drivers and suicidal pedestrians providing equal risks, even
in the middle of busy dual carriageways!

My current bike is a bog standard big clunky fixed-frame 100
quid ex-catalogue reject MTB, bought from Langsett Cycles in
Sheffield about six years ago and somewhat abused since - it
spent several years living outside, had the original saddle,
seatpost, and seatpost bolt nicked, and gained lots of evil
looking, but functionally harmless, rust on the chrome
sections of the handlebars. It now lives in a warm and dry
basement, chain oiled, saddle and post replaced, and the
traditional seat-mounting changed to one with an allen bolt
fixing to the saddle rails, which an LBS told me was a
better arrangement, and seems less prone to the saddle fore-and-
aft movements that have always plagued bikes I've ridden.

It's 21 speed, v-brakes, and does the job reasonably well,
despite two slow punctures requiring both wheels to be
pumped up again before each trip. I ordered full mudguards
and a back rack when I bought it, this meant the supplied
rear reflector was removed and nothing ever replaced
it. The gear cables are out of adjustment though I made
sure the brakes were OK before taking it out again. I
find I tend to ride mostly on the extremes of the
gearing - just using largest or smallest cog on the
cassette and using the three chainrings to keep the
cadence / speed ratio to something I'm happy with.

It has one major fault, in that the smallest sprocket on the
cassette has seemingly bent or broken off the end of the pin
which I assume keeps them all locked together, and this can
rotate on it's own. The other gears still work fine however
so I've not yet done anything about it and just use No6
instead of No7 as the fastest working gear.

I don't want to (can't, in fact) spend a lot of money on it,
but I want to fix it up so I can start riding to work the
majority of the time. I can already feel my stamina
improving from the restricted riding I'm doing now, having
lurked for a while in here I'm now trying to keep the pedals
spinning at a steady rate instead of the hill-heroics I used
to get up to, and it does seem to work.

I'm assuming I should junk the back cassette and get a new
one rather than messing about trying to repair it, I'm
also thinking of just replacing both tyres and tubes, and
then getting the index gears back into adjustment. I
gather getting rear cassettes off is a bugger of a job,
and I've never been big on upper body strength, it's all
in my legs from nearly 25 years of cycling, off and on,
esp as a teenager.

So I'm planning to take both wheels to the LBS that did me
the saddle, Drakes in Harehills, Leeds, and have them do the
tubes and cassette at the same time.

So, the questions: Anyone got any experience of this shop
and their service facilities? How much, roughly speaking,
should I expect to pay for these jobs? Anything else I
should be looking at doing to the bike?

I've had lots of bad experiences with cheap dynamos, so in
these days of cheap batteries and LED lamps I'm planning to
go the battery light route
- how much should I expect to pay for a cheap but functional
(as opposed to cheap and useless) system? I'm not fussed
about whether the lights are technically legal, given the
complete disregard everyone else round here on bikes shows
the law, I think jut having lamps which make me visible
will be welcomed by other road users and the police alike.

Long term, I've the frame of what was once a very expensive
Peugeot racer which I plan to slowly rebuild myself into a
really good bike - I'm planning to turn the basement into a
workshop for woodworking, and the bench will be handy for a
bit of bike work too, but for now I want to use the clunker
as a basic get-fit and get-to-work runabout.

All suggestions / comments / "get a real bike!" rants
welcome!

NP: (in my head) The "Big Bad Bicycle" song by PWEI.
--
- Pyromancer Stormshadow. http://www.inkubus-sukkubus.co.uk
<-- Pagan Gothic Rock! http://www.littlematchgirl.co.uk
<-- Electronic Metal! http://www.revival.stormshadow.com
<-- The Gothic Revival.
 
Pyromancer wrote: ..............
> I'm assuming I should junk the back cassette and get a new
> one rather than messing about trying to repair it, I'm
> also thinking of just replacing both tyres and tubes, and
> then getting the index gears back into adjustment. I
> gather getting rear cassettes off is a bugger of a job,
> and I've never been big on upper body strength, it's all
> in my legs from nearly 25 years of cycling, off and on,
> esp as a teenager.

Depends on whether it is actually a cassette or a freewheel.
See: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/free-k7.html

Cassettes are easy to remove when you have the right tools,
requiring little physical strength; may also be possible to
get that top sprocket sorted out. Freewheels are a
different matter: can require vice or extra long spanner
plus big muscles!

> So I'm planning to take both wheels to the LBS that did me
> the saddle, Drakes in Harehills, Leeds, and have them do
> the tubes and cassette at the same time.

Get some tyre levers and a puncture kit instead of replacing
the tubes.

I don't think this bike will be worth spending much money
on at all. I suggest either replacing it with a better
second-hand bike or getting new tyres and a few basic
tools and maintaining the existing bike yourself to save
on labour charges. You don't have to be "mechanically
minded", just keen enough to avoid repeated bus rides
home from bike shops :)

http://www.mwdyason.ltd.uk/shop.asp for: allen keys,
puncture stuff, cassette remover, chain whip (cassette
remover requires large adjustable spanner).

http://www.wiggle.co.uk for new tyres: Schwalbe City Jet are
good for road riding.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com for cassettes &
chain, etc.

http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQindex.shtml for
instructions

~PB
 
Pyromancer wrote:
> I've had lots of bad experiences with cheap dynamos, so in
> these days of cheap batteries and LED lamps I'm planning
> to go the battery light route
> - how much should I expect to pay for a cheap but
> functional (as opposed to cheap and useless) system?

£25ish to £40ish

I recommend this front light (to be seen by):
http://tinyurl.com/2x5ws

and this rear one: http://tinyurl.com/2y32r

~PB
 
It might be worth your while to visit www.upmystreet.com where there's many
a bargain to be had:

I have obtained from the site:

A Ridgeback Chro-Mo framed hybrid - mint condition £70 or so
(from Pontefract) A Raleigh Equipe 12 Speed racer - good
condition - free! (from Bradford) A 23" framed Raleigh 12
speed bike - unknown model £25 (from Glasshoughton) A Dawes
Galaxy well used but in good shape £200 (from Cardiff) A
Raleigh R100 road bike - unused £160 (from Tingley - Leeds)

The site seems to be a portal for small ads placed in local
newpapers from around the UK. The goods are listed in order
of distance from where you
live. There are plenty of bikes listed in the £25 - £60
price range which may prove to be a better prospect
than refurbishing your own bike.

Get a quote from Drakesand weigh up your options. I know
it's hard to part with a bike - it was a wrench for me to
part with the two Raleigh 12 speed bikes but it served
several good causes - it equipped a colleague and his spouse
with a bike each, it soothed my wife's ire at the seemingly
ever expanding 'collection' and best of all it created
enough space for a motor cycle in the garage!

Vernon in Leeds
 
> I've had lots of bad experiences with cheap dynamos, so in
> these days of cheap batteries and LED lamps I'm planning
> to go the battery light route
> - how much should I expect to pay for a cheap but
> functional (as opposed to cheap and useless) system? I'm
> not fussed about whether the lights are technically
> legal, given the complete disregard everyone else round
> here on bikes shows the law, I think jut having lamps
> which make me visible will be welcomed by other road
> users and the police alike.

A decent rear LED light will be 12-16UKP - its worth going
for one of the higher-end CatEye's or equivalents. You can
get rear lights for a fiver, but my experience is that they
don't last very long, and aren't particularly bright.
Personally I hate flashing lights (its very difficult to
figure out relative position and speed from a flashing
light), but some people love 'em. Flashing lights make it
obvious you are a bike (not always a good thing!), but they
are better combined with a steady light as well. If you
can't afford to get a flashing *and* a steady light, get a
really bright steady light.

A front LED light will be more expensive - a cheap CatEye
will be about 15-20UKP, while more expensive ones will be
25-35UKP. Its worth paying the extra. Don't be tempted by
the cheaper lights which use orange or green LED's. The
orange lights can often look like street lights being
reflected in car windows, and green lights just don't grab
people's attention until you are very close. White lights,
like flashing rear lights, scream `bike' these days.

You could get AA/AAA/C/D battery halogen lights, but a set
of batteries won't last very long, and the light will
become noticeably dim quite quickly. You can use
rechargeable batteries, but in my experience, only NiMH
seem worth the effort.

Alternatively you could fit big-battery halogens, but
commerical systems are a complete rip off - 50UKP or more
for a basic system. I bought an MR11 low-voltage halogen
downlighter (about 5 pounds for a bulb and holder at local
DIY shop), a few metres of cable, and a 12V 3Ah sealed lead
acid battery. Throw in a switch, brackets etc, and for about
15-20 quid you can have a 20W halogen lighting system -
thats bright enough that people think you're a motor bike!

hope this helps.

dan.

http://www.towner.org.uk
 
Pete Biggs:
> Depends on whether it is actually a cassette or a
> freewheel. See: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/free-k7.html

I'm just wondering what could be causing the OP's problem
and I'd guess that it's more likely to be a cassette than a
freewheel. Is it perhaps possible that the locknut has come
loose (but still attached) and the smallest sprocket has
fallen off its splines (maybe if it's an 11 tooth sprocket
on a C hub?) in which case it would just be a case of
pushing the sprocket back on to the splines and tightening
the locknut. But this is pure guesswork and my knowledge of
cassette hubs is somewhat limited, to say the least. If it
was this then I'd guess there would be some lateral movement
in the rest of the cassette too.

> Freewheels are a different matter: can require vice or
> extra long spanner plus big muscles!

My sore arms can testify to the truth of that.

d.
 
John Hearns wrote:
> On Thu, 20 May 2004 23:43:20 +0100, Pyromancer wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>> It's 21 speed, v-brakes, and does the job reasonably
>> well, despite two slow punctures requiring both wheels to
>> be pumped up again before each trip.
> Get the tubes patched. Carefully go round the rims when
> the tyres are off and make sure nothing sharp is causing
> the punctures. Pump the tyres up very hard - its
> surprising how much of a difference this makes to the
> effort to ride the bike. In your bike shop, ask if you can
> use their track pump and get the tyres blown up hard. Its
> worth getting yourself a decent pump. There are plenty of
> good quality 'mini-pumps' around.

I got a Blackburn Mountain Air pump the other week. Ten
quid, not so small as to be useful and you can get a decent
amount of pressure in the tyre with a bit of effort.
 
davek wrote:
> I'm just wondering what could be causing the OP's problem
> and I'd guess that it's more likely to be a cassette than
> a freewheel. Is it perhaps possible that the locknut has
> come loose (but still attached) and the smallest sprocket
> has fallen off its splines (maybe if it's an 11 tooth
> sprocket on a C hub?) in which case it would just be a
> case of pushing the sprocket back on to the splines and
> tightening the locknut. But this is pure guesswork and my
> knowledge of cassette hubs is somewhat limited, to say
> the least.

Seems like a reasonable guess, but I'm not sure. I've never
experienced a problem like it myself with freewheels or
cassettes.

> If it was this then I'd guess there would be some lateral
> movement in the rest of the cassette too.

Not necessarily.

~PB
 
For the last couple of weeks, the Speedmachine had been
making very strange noises with the chain on cogs 7, 8 and
9. There was still drive, and the shifting was OK, but it
was all horribly noisy. Investigation last weekend shewed
the lock ring to be loose, and thus the sprockets were able
to rattle around in an undignified manner. A quick twist of
the lock ring doofer and pristine silence was restored.

I /always/ do up the lock ring pretty tightly, so how it
managed to loosen itself is something of a mystery.

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
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Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
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