I
Ianb
Guest
We often read here about good rides or rows with cagers, but here is one from a quiet area -
MAINTENANCE! I had decided to sacrifice a Sundays ride to do some work on the bikes, Number one
needed the brakes tweaking and on number two I had noticed the rear tyre was rubbing on the frame. A
quick check revealed a broken spoke (on the easy (non-chain) side). The front wheel was also a bit
loose, so today after the rain stopped I got started. Number 2, front wheel was simple loose bearing
so I adjusted one cone & locked up the nuts again. Then I flicked the bike over to work on the back
wheel. Right there staring at me was a hole in the tyre, it had Tuffy Tape fitted so I was seeing
that rather than a bulge of inner tube. Checked for the broken spoke and found THREE (one on the
chain side). Removed the wheel and found another hole in the tyre! Fortunately this bike is a fixed
wheel machine thus no block or cassette to get in the way so into the shed to find an old piece of
chain (buried) to use to remove the fixed sprocket
[1]. I know I am overdue to replace this sprocket and the chain ring - have you tried buying a
SINGLE chainring recently? Some LBSs have fixed sprockets but only multiple chainrings -
however this sprocket had 4 of its 20 teeth missing! Spokes I have in stock so fitted three
and trued the wheel [2]. Sprockets I do not have (unless I raid another machine) so shopping
trip needed for that & so refitted broken one. Tyres I have in stock but my last 27x1.25 was
used a month ago on number 2s front wheel. However back in the days when all my bikes had
same size tyres, used tyres were finished off on my No.2 (town/shopping) bike so there was a
stock of worn 27s. Cleaned off the cob-webs etc. and decided two should have been scrapped.
Fitted 3rd spare. Being old it was not flexible so needed to use tyre levers - and pinched
the tube! So stripped out the wheel again & started patching operation. Decided to do No.1s
brakes while glue drying - that appeared to go very well including checking the front wheel
for buckle. Back to No.2, tube patched & re-assembled into frame. Pumped up hard but saw a
bad fault on this tyre. So, replaced that with used spare number
2.Tidied up, re-stowed things in the shed & put bikes away, had late lunch, just in time as when I
started typing this I couldn't see across the road due to a hailstorm
notes
[3] to remove fixed sprocket using old chain, first remove lock ring (LH thread). put wheel in
frame & do nuts up, put chain onto chain ring and take both ends onto top of fixed sprocket
lower end of chain goes onto about 2 teeth and the upper end lies over the top & wraps onto
the next teeth. turn (or jerk) the wheel to free the sprocket.
[4] other threads have discussed wheel truing - I use a finger to check the wobble, hook it round
the frame and you can feel the rim moving in & out if adjustment is needed - more sensitive
than watching the gap to the brake block
--
IanB
swap my names around to reply to me storm
MAINTENANCE! I had decided to sacrifice a Sundays ride to do some work on the bikes, Number one
needed the brakes tweaking and on number two I had noticed the rear tyre was rubbing on the frame. A
quick check revealed a broken spoke (on the easy (non-chain) side). The front wheel was also a bit
loose, so today after the rain stopped I got started. Number 2, front wheel was simple loose bearing
so I adjusted one cone & locked up the nuts again. Then I flicked the bike over to work on the back
wheel. Right there staring at me was a hole in the tyre, it had Tuffy Tape fitted so I was seeing
that rather than a bulge of inner tube. Checked for the broken spoke and found THREE (one on the
chain side). Removed the wheel and found another hole in the tyre! Fortunately this bike is a fixed
wheel machine thus no block or cassette to get in the way so into the shed to find an old piece of
chain (buried) to use to remove the fixed sprocket
[1]. I know I am overdue to replace this sprocket and the chain ring - have you tried buying a
SINGLE chainring recently? Some LBSs have fixed sprockets but only multiple chainrings -
however this sprocket had 4 of its 20 teeth missing! Spokes I have in stock so fitted three
and trued the wheel [2]. Sprockets I do not have (unless I raid another machine) so shopping
trip needed for that & so refitted broken one. Tyres I have in stock but my last 27x1.25 was
used a month ago on number 2s front wheel. However back in the days when all my bikes had
same size tyres, used tyres were finished off on my No.2 (town/shopping) bike so there was a
stock of worn 27s. Cleaned off the cob-webs etc. and decided two should have been scrapped.
Fitted 3rd spare. Being old it was not flexible so needed to use tyre levers - and pinched
the tube! So stripped out the wheel again & started patching operation. Decided to do No.1s
brakes while glue drying - that appeared to go very well including checking the front wheel
for buckle. Back to No.2, tube patched & re-assembled into frame. Pumped up hard but saw a
bad fault on this tyre. So, replaced that with used spare number
2.Tidied up, re-stowed things in the shed & put bikes away, had late lunch, just in time as when I
started typing this I couldn't see across the road due to a hailstorm
notes
[3] to remove fixed sprocket using old chain, first remove lock ring (LH thread). put wheel in
frame & do nuts up, put chain onto chain ring and take both ends onto top of fixed sprocket
lower end of chain goes onto about 2 teeth and the upper end lies over the top & wraps onto
the next teeth. turn (or jerk) the wheel to free the sprocket.
[4] other threads have discussed wheel truing - I use a finger to check the wobble, hook it round
the frame and you can feel the rim moving in & out if adjustment is needed - more sensitive
than watching the gap to the brake block
--
IanB
swap my names around to reply to me storm
