Time For a Trip To The Bike Shop

Published on October 12, 2005 By MasonM In Blogging

As many of you know, I ride a recumbent bicycle as my primary means of transportation.

To put it in perspective, the bike is 6ft long. As you can see, it has a very long chain. The drivetrain system is a pretty complex derailleur system and misadjustments of even a fraction of an inch can severely affect shifting. This morning I did a tuneup on the drivetrain to improve shifting performance and eliminate some problems associated with cable stretch as I had replaced the rear shifter cable a couple of weeks ago. New cables always stretch a bit.

During the tuneup I noticed that the rear wheel is slightly out of true causing a small wabble. This can be fixed with some adjustments in the tension of the spokes. Sounds easy enough but it's a critical adjustment that can make the difference between a true wheel and breaking spokes while riding. Not something I care to attempt myself without the proper tools and equipment.

I have an appointment to take the bike to the shop on Saturday to have the wheel trued and to see about some new tires.

I've had a couple of flats on the rear wheel lately which, as the tire is kevlar belted, indicates that the tire is simply wearing out. (I have put a lot of miles on it)

Even with the mechanical adjustments and problems here and there, it's a lot easier and cheaper to make adjustments and repairs to a bike than a motor vehicle. Most of the work a person can easily do themselves with a few simple hand tools and the more complex/critical ones can be done in a few minutes at the local bike shop who will charge very little or even nothing to do them. (assuming you have a good relationship with the shop).

Since I bought my bike from him, and buy all of my bike related stuff there as well, my lbs (local bike shop) owner has yet to charge me labor for any work he's done for me. Try and find a car repair shop that'll do that LOL.

Even with the small problem here and there, I love being car free.

Comments

foreverserenity

on Oct 12, 2005

Yep, repairing the bike is definately cheaper than repairing a car. Parts are probably more readily available too!

That's good that you've established a relationship with that shop, makes things easier! My hubby developed one with the local car repair place we use and sometimes gets a discount!

Dr Guy

on Oct 12, 2005

I use to love to work on bikes. Had a little side business when I was in HS as well! But looking at that chain, I would be afraid to mess with it!

MasonM

on Oct 12, 2005

Serenity, is always good to develop a good relationship with the folks who perform services for you. It can really pay off.

MasonM

on Oct 12, 2005

I use to love to work on bikes. Had a little side business when I was in HS as well! But looking at that chain, I would be afraid to mess with it!

Yeah I was big into bike building/repairing when I was a kid and would love to be able to open my own bike shop. Alas, that darned financial pest!

The tuneup worked wonders for my shifting, was nearly perfect. Only had to make a couple of minor rolling "tweaks" on the way to work to get it shifting nice and smooth once again.

The long chain is actually more tolerant of minor misadjustments and cross chaining than the shorter chains found on standard upright bikes. On an upright, a 10 speed bike actually only has 8 useable gears as you want to avoid cross chaining, using the opposite extremes from front to back. A standard 24 speed bike only has 18 useable gears because of cross chain issues. On a recumbent, because of the length of the chain and the chain guide system, you can use all of the gears as cross chaining is a non-issue and doesn't have any effect on chain life.

Dr Guy

on Oct 13, 2005

On an upright, a 10 speed bike actually only has 8 useable gears

And most people only use 2!

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