Found a fellow cyclist stuck with his young daughter on the corner of Harrison and West Bryson roads, chain stuck after coming off
Asked if I could help
"only if you are a bike genie" he said
decided to give him that and not take offence then leave him to hardship (actually wanted his wee girl to get to nursery and warmth)
"I am not far from home let me get tools"
Chain released with pliers and screwdriver I sauntered off as he got back on the road to a "woohoo"
Friday morning mental health day boosted
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Stuff
Today's satisfactory bicycle maintenance
(485 posts)-
Posted 3 months ago #
-
curse my metal fingers, they are too fast
Posted 3 months ago # -
The last couple of times I was riding my bike it had started making Yet Another Strange Noise, this being a click and a slight graunch every time I turned the pedals. I was convinced it was a pedal bearing and concluded it was the left, but then it seemed to be the right one. Sure enough, the bearings were very slightly loose, but really, on an XT SPD pedal, that I rebuilt not that long ago?
I switched pedals and went out again but annoyingly it didn't fix anything. Hmm! I could feel the graunch each time I turned the cranks, soft pedalling or hard. I figured it must be the BB, even though it's not that old, and it's a Tange Seiki for crying out loud. But it wasn't wobbly or anything.
Back in the garage I wondered more and turned the cranks gently. Hah! I had clipped my pump onto the frame at the wrong angle and the crank was gently knocking into the nozzle. Turned the pump a bit in its bracket, problem solved!
Posted 1 week ago # -
“Hah! I had clipped my pump onto the frame at the wrong angle and the crank was gently knocking into the nozzle“
‘Obviously’ it should have been obvious with a regular noise every time you turn the cranks.
But bike problems aren’t always so simple… (even to people with a lot of experience of different bikes.)
I started a list of “misdiagnosed maintenance problems” a while ago.
One annoying mystery I had, similar to yours, was apparently skipping gears when in the smallest sprocket. Not an unusual thing in itself, but new freewheel, so, chain?
Well, no. Turned out the problem was the pedal spindle.
Skinny steel cranks with a pedal thread poking through. Changed pedals, no more ‘issue’.
I’m slightly used to freehub problems. They don’t last forever. Usually it’s a skip caused by ‘sticky’ pawl. They are usually well sealed so a quick spray is probably optimistic - but anything to avoid dismantling/replacement.
Problem was strangely infrequent - especially when I discovered the cause.
I’m used to pulley wheels getting gunged up so they don’t turn smoothly, but this XT rear mech had somehow got a damaged tooth on one pulley which caused periodic chain slip - and misdiagnosis.
I bought a bike a while ago which had not-perfect gear changes. Whole thing was a bit bitza, but a bargain, of course. Eventually I realised it had a 9 speed cassette and 8 speed lever. Replaced, sold, cassette!
I had a similar problem (of my own making) with a 7 speed chain on 8 speed block. I usually find ‘mixed’ components ‘just work’ - whatever Shimano says. A ‘proper’ chain made a big difference.
‘Usually’ Shimano mechs work fine with SunTour (remember them?) levers, but had one combination that refused to play nice. Can’t remember which one I changed.
Then there’s non bike stuff.
Not going to relate whole tale of the smoke alarm.
Too long, too embarrassing.
Different batteries, body swaps etc
Still kept beepping
Found a forgotten about CO2 detector saying its battery was end of life…
Posted 1 week ago # -
I had a lot of love for SunTour, back in the day. Their gear levers and chainrings were excellent. Still use Dia Compe brake levers; they made a lot of parts for SunTour.
Posted 1 week ago #
Reply
You must log in to post.
posts
