Bicycle thread

[pierce]

Originally Posted by trailer Rails

I don't know who the bozo is but that is standard bike mechanic practice. That is the sign of a good mechanic. A lazy mechanic would have just dialed the adjusters out. The pads look like they may have had some life left in them, he should have dug all the bits of metal out of the pads.
Whenever I get a bike in for a tune up I dial all the adjusters in all the way and then pull cable to adjust everything. That way there is plenty of adjuster for the customer to work with until the next tune up.

um, the pads that were on this bike were A) so thin the remaining rubber was cracking off the backing, and B) so hard they felt like a rock. I didn't take a picture of them, that pic of a shimano rsx brake is just a random internet pic I cribbed to show what the brake looked like. they were flush with the bottom of the grooves, which is officially completely worn out.

I'm not going back to that used bike shop I picked this thing up at. the chain and rear cluster was totally shot (I've never SEEN such a badly worn chain), the brake pads completely worn out. afaik all they did with this bike is put a new/used front wheel on it (radially spoked a used rim with a used hub), replace the drop bars with a T-bar and some cheap grip-shifts and no-name mtb brake grips, and a used seat in OK shape. ok, it had all new cables.

[RLK]

Originally Posted by pilot

What fenders are those on your bikes, RLK?

A pair of Beaver Tails, rear modded to fit the front on the slow bike that used to be the Stupid Electric Bicycle. Both with $9 Bell headlight and tail light sets for streetfighting at night.

Look who's parked behind the workplace.

Axles sagging a bit. There's some cool shit in there.

[pierce]

Welp! I figgered out how to rack-ify my wife's new comfort bike!! Scored a rack purpose-built for the Electra Townie, and voila!







I think I need to redo the brace straps to be a little sturdier, V2 will be either double thickness (same 1/32" stainless folded in half), or be folded 90 degree angle-iron style, except the ends. or I'll just put a standoff brace between the two straps. but for a hack-bash, that came out OK.

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by pierce

I think I need to redo the brace straps to be a little sturdier, V2 will be either double thickness (same 1/32" stainless folded in half), or be folded 90 degree angle-iron style, except the ends. or I'll just put a standoff brace between the two straps. but for a hack-bash, that came out OK.

That rack looks really nice on there. It works perfectly with the frame's curves.

Generally a rack would be adjusted level, front to rear. So, it looks like you need, either, a shorter or adjustable set of straps.

The local home improvement stores have aluminum flat stock. If I were making a set of straps, I'd start there. Plus, the aluminum can easily be polished to look as good as that bike.

[trailer Rails]

UCI makes disc brakes legal for cyclocross racing:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/...r-tires_122744


I doubt most race courses will be so bad that disc are an advantage. I am happy to see them open up the doors to technology. I have always thought it was like banning STI shifters or index shifting.

[EvilGenius]

It's too hot outside.

Can only make it about 5-7mi.

[pierce]

Originally Posted by ducnut

That rack looks really nice on there. It works perfectly with the frame's curves.

Generally a rack would be adjusted level, front to rear. So, it looks like you need, either, a shorter or adjustable set of straps.

Its leveler than it looks in the pics, blame it on camera angle. the straps could maybe be 1/8 or 1/4" shorter, however, OR if I 'pinch' them in the middle and attach a crossbrace in the form of a spacer, that will effectively shorten them....

I thought about Aluminum, but rejected it as A) its soft unless its fancy exotic stuff, and B) if its not anodized, it gets pretty ugly looking outside in the salt air. its certainly easier to cut and file than stainless.

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by pierce

I thought about Aluminum, but rejected it as A) its soft unless its fancy exotic stuff, and B) if its not anodized, it gets pretty ugly looking outside in the salt air. its certainly easier to cut and file than stainless.

These are adjustable, via the slots. You'd have to flatten them and cut the second slotted section off, but, they might work.

http://harriscyclery.net/product/jan...k2549-qc49.htm

[Dahveed]

Ok wimps (me included) saw today in New Mexico a chick cranking her city hybrid bike up a steep gravel road wearing blue jeans and cowboy boots. I wanted to get a picture, but didn't have a camera. Elv 7,500 feet, temp 89 degrees.

Oh, and yeah, she had other clothes on too, so don't get too excited.

[Gummee!]

I found out the hard way that my old skool Mavic hubs don't do 11. When Stick taco-ed my rear Mistral I moved that cassette to the other wheels I have with me. They're older Mavic 571/2s laced into some Reflex Ceramics. Got em from a former Pro. Rear wheel useta be FW but I found a cassette hub a while back and re-used everything.

So I get the cassette on and there's play.

Try it again cause the last cog don't *quite* wanna play nice.

Still play



Oh! Waitaminit! there wasn't anything smaller'n a 12t cog 'back then' so let's try that! So I did.

...and it was good...

Too bad I only have a 12-27t with me! (brought it JIC for Stick in the hills of CO) So now I have old, fat, and outta shape gears on my road bike.

S'more GOOD news, the buddy who I sold my S-Works to a while back is gonna be in Denver and we're gonna switch out frames. My S-Works for my Fetish SAC. I miss the old gal! I'm gonna hafta change bars tho. I have Wing Compacts on there now, and with the reduction in TT length, I'm gonna go back to the original Wing bars. Anyone interested in about a year old o-size Wing Compact AL bar? You'll hafta google the dimensions cause I don't know em... OR trade me for a standard Wing bar?

M

[pierce]

Did something over 20 miles today after work, almost all of it on bike trails.

google is being a stinker and won't let me embed this. its confusing and not all together accurate, I did the parts of the river levy trails a couple more times than shown, and its the URL from heck.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...&z=14&lci=bike


ugh, now that I've got my old cruiser fixed up so its running really great, I find.... a hair crack in the seat tube

gonna have to see if my neighbor can TIG it. he's a master boilermaker, I think he can weld anything. worse case, I find a new frame with the right geometry, and move the handlebars, wheels, and stuff to it.

[pierce]

Originally Posted by ducnut

These are adjustable, via the slots. You'd have to flatten them and cut the second slotted section off, but, they might work.

I ended up 'pinching' the two strips together until they met in the middle, and that made the rack perfectly level. so I pulled the strips off, drilled a 13/64" hole (good size for M5 bolt), and reassembled it, running an extra M5 bolt + lockwasher + nut through said extra hole. added bonus, this made it all more rigid, so any plans to thicken or angle the metal, pooof, not needed.

[Dahveed]

Originally Posted by pierce

ugh, now that I've got my old cruiser fixed up so its running really great, I find.... a hair crack in the seat tube

gonna have to see if my neighbor can TIG it. he's a master boilermaker, I think he can weld anything. worse case, I find a new frame with the right geometry, and move the handlebars, wheels, and stuff to it.

Is it a steel or titanium frame? They're fixable. Aluminum is not as fixable. I'm guessing the crack is near the BB? The new frame idea is a good one. Maybe find an older bike and strip and clean it and then build it with your parts. Its a good little project, unless you would rather be riding then wrenching.

[pierce]

Originally Posted by Dahveed

Is it a steel or titanium frame? They're fixable. Aluminum is not as fixable. I'm guessing the crack is near the BB? The new frame idea is a good one. Maybe find an older bike and strip and clean it and then build it with your parts. Its a good little project, unless you would rather be riding then wrenching.

its a steel cruiser frame from the 70s, with a redline 26" tubular fork and fluted aluminum longhorn handlebars. The bike's weak spot is that the seat tube is undersized and I'm overweight. I'm using a really(!) long fluted solid aluminum seatpost thats something from the oldschool BMX world. The 7/8" ID seat tube goes -through- the sloped fat top tube and sticks up another 3-4" above it. There's a hairline crack a third of the way around the front of the seat tube about 1/4" above the top weld to the top tube, below the bike lock in this picture (taken before the crack was evident)



here's a picture of the bike a few years ago (it didn't have v-brakes, and different wheels, and still had its original fluted seat post that I later broke). you can see the seat tube geometry. the only reason it works is the seatpost goes a good 18" or more into the seat tube and helps distribute the load when you hit a hard bump.



I really like the way this bike rides and steers, and will be hard pressed to find another frame with the right mojo that doesn't cost an arm and a leg..

[pierce]

hmmmm.



http://2009.feltracing.com/09-catalo...8-deluxe.aspx#

no, wait, I really really don't want a new bike.