? The wisdom of a St. Paul Taxi Driver | Main | Exercise as part of life ?
October 04, 2006
The progression of a bike repair
Tonight I decided to work on my own bike at the shop. It's been skipping in the gears as I put pressure on the pedals. So it's been a little irritating and I had to take some time to figure out what the problem was and fix it. Especially before winter hits. Here's how it progressed...
Step 1: Check chain with a chain checker to see if it's worn. It's really worn out.
Step 2: Find used chain that is not worn out. Too short. Find another chain. Too short. Splice two chains together. Discover one sprocket has two missing teeth.
Step 3: Hunt around and find an old five-speed freewheel to replace it with.
Step 4: Take off wheel and see that axel is bent also.
Step 5: Find an old 27" steel wheel, which has an appropriate freewheel on it already.
Step 6: Clean it, lube it, put a new rim strip on, and transfer tire from old wheel.
Step 7: Put new wheel on and discover it is a little narrower than my frame, so put a spacer on the inside. Discover derailer now doesn't work properly.
Step 8: Discover cable housing is rusted, replace it.
Step 9: Derailer bolt breaks while tightening the cable.
Step 10: Recycle the derailer and find an appropriate old replacement.
Step 11: Take the chain apart again to thread it through the derailer and reconnect chain.
Step 12: Inflate tire.
Step 13: Adjust derailer to hit all of the gears.
Step 14: Transfer magnets for magnetic lights from old wheel to new wheel.
Step 15: Lubricate chain and derailer.
Step 16: Look at the time and realize just how long all of this took.
Step 17: Ride home on nearly empty streets.
Posted by carl1236 at October 4, 2006 11:22 PM | Bicycles
Comments
I know that sort of progression. Very frustrating!
Posted by: Dan at October 5, 2006 06:47 AM