Back on the bike today!!! finally!
Went for a quick 2mileish run to check the brakes and gears out before my commute to work tomorrow.
Mudguards - FITTED! AND ALIGNED! FINALLY!! :D
New Tyres and Tubes - Fitted and oooohhhh so fast.
New Speedo & HRM - Fitted! and so cool!
Busted gears - Fixed... better than they were in the first place.
Since owning the bike I have been unable to change down to the granny chainwheel. I paid for a gear service, and this didnt fix the problem. After remounting the rear mech and tightening everything up, I can now change through all 21 gears with no issues! :D
Brakes, since owning the bike Ive had a really really squidgy back brake, and a front brake that needed me to pull the lever until it touched the handlebar grip, to apply the brakes fully.
I followed the advice given in my haynes manual about adjusting brakes, and gave the inner and outer cables a lube and cleanthrough with some WD40. I can now stop dead from 20mph, in less distance than a car length using only two fingers to hold the brake. First time using the front brake almost sent me over the bars and into a hedge.
The slick tyres are brilliant! :) So so fast, over the 2mile run I had an average speed of 20mph! :) Soooo fast! :D lol. Overtaking cars even!
You know what though, after all of that, im really really reallllly looking forward to riding my bike to work and back tomorrow, Ive really missed it. It took willpower not to extend the 2mile jaunt earlier into an 11 mile loop Ive devised for myself over mountains (want to improve climbing).
Im just so happy to have finally got my bike working again! :)
I am also really happy I never jacked it in and got the bike shop to do it. It took me ages, but finally I learnt a load more than I would of otherwise, and I can stand back and say yea.. I did that. :)
p.s. Piccies will be posted later :)
I can by no means relate to the joy, but after seeing your rant the other day Im chuffed for you. :-)
Gratz - now get the pictures up. Your efforts are almost making me buy a new bike for getting to work.
A bike when its well tuned, should give you no more hassle than a refrigerator. :lol: But then there are the days when you open the door and the shelf breaks and youve got ham and pickles, and perhaps a couple eggs and diet coke on your shoes.
Life can be random. :lol:
(http://www.m3-computers.com/bike/1.jpg)
(http://www.m3-computers.com/bike/2.jpg)
And a close up of the slick slick tyres! :D lol I love these! :D
(http://www.m3-computers.com/bike/3.jpg)
looks to be a practical city scoot. :ptu:
Surprised to see rim wear indicators on such a bike. Thats a good thing. ;) And the tires look nice and tirey. :lol: I wouldnt mind such a set. Utter simplicity.
Look to be zefal chromoplastic fenders--theyre nice and handsome, but very rigid and will crack very easily. I broke mine when I face planted against a T-Mobile store window after falling down a small flight of stairs. :lol:
We need to get you a less gimpy rear carrier. :P
lol less gimpy rear carrier! Ill have you know that rear carrier does the job! :P lol Want new pedals first before replacing that hot mamma of a rear carrier that I have :D lol.
Do you dig the Mousetrap design! :)
oh and sorry should explain the black crap around the nipples. Its vaseline.
Best tip Ive had :D lol kept my nipples and ferrules rust free on the back wheel :D lol didnt do it on the front and the front ones are rusted through, may need to do something about that at somepoint.
Nuttin wrong with them pedals other than probably needing a repack and adjustment. Or do ya covet some shin scraping beartraps? :lol:
Mousetrap carriers are good, but you can get them with a stronger design. Wobbley carriers suck. :lol:
(http://www.wiggle.co.uk/images/push%20cc961.jpg)
lol well I fully intend fitting some SPD pedals to it at some point.
As for the rack, ahhh its sturdy enough at the moment, holds the bikes weight no problem when its upside down, and holds all the weight Ive put on it ever. Doesnt even shake side to side.
But yeah, things on my "to do" list include, pedals, possibly dynamo lights, Saddle, Wheels (either a respoke, or a complete new set), change the handlebars from flat to trekking/touring, or drops.
All things that "oooh quite fancy doing that" but are going to be a while in the future. The pedals will be a reward for actually commuting 1000 miles on the new speedo I think. Then Ill get the pedals :) the rest is all just notions I quite like.
Oh and not forgetting, converting it to singlespeed :)
Id keep my eyes peeled for a classic old touring rig instead of pouring money into that scoot. It is what it is, a sharp looking, but inexpensive basic city bike. You add up what wheels and bars and everything else costs and lets say its $300--well, you can quite often find a complete high quality used bike for that amount of money. Keep the Blue Demon as a spare, or repurpose it. Heck, the brilliant womans touring bike I just sold for $150, was bought at a yard sale for $20. :P
Look like youve got semi-horizontal dropouts--when you find that awesome used bike, its singlespeed time. :lol:
Youve pretty much nailed it on the head there mate.
My idea with buying upgrades on this bike was mainly the thought that they can mostly all come with me on to my new bike when I get hold of one.
Mudguards, pedals, tyres (if the wheels are the same size), speedo, handlebars if needed.
But yeah, Id love a nice used bike but Ive no idea what on earth im looking for. With moving to the City in september I may be tempted to get a road bike (making sure I have braze-ons for MGs and rack), as most of my commuting around the city will purely be on road.
Did first commute today since fitting the wheels, ashamedly I had to call it at exactly 4 miles. Rear Mudguard bolt worked loose going over some heavy gravel. Thankfully a train station was only around the corner, just rolled on in there and got the next train. Need some beefier bolts and some locktite, will get them today hopefully. But what I meant to say is, I love slicks, no road noise (I can hear the jingle jangle of my zips and stuff! :D), and just feels so smooth, no vibration through the bars.
Tread on the road indeed sucks and makes no difference. The road itself is rough enough to provide grip. I just put a fresh narrow KMC chain on me single, and with 23mm tires at 100psi, its dead silent.
If you cant be arsed to buy loctite, grab some of mammys nail polish. ;)
As for what to look for in a used bike: probably the least glamorous bike of all, the 80s touring bike or "sport" touring bike. Basically a beefy drop bar bike with provisions for fenders and a rack.
Such a bike is uber simple, and usually friction shift, though you can upgrade them for clicky downtube shifting if you really want, for next to nothing.
Optimal for a clyde rider would be finding one with cantilever brakes.
Spares for such old beasts are chEEp. Over here you can find sales on spare freewheels for $10, and 7spd tandem chains for $8 that can be separated into 3 regular bike chains. Ya get the idea.
I quite like friction shift, back in the days when bar mounted shifters had a lever to switch from friction to rachety noise I used to flick it to friction. :) Silence!! except the "ka-chunk!" of the gears.