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Bike Checks

01.15.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

Earlier this week, Pat and I were about to take a short ride in the neighborhood. While I waited with the bikes in the driveway as she finished putting on her shoes, I glanced down at the rear wheel of the bike — and I was stunned by what I saw.

The left-side brake pad was sitting at a right angle to the wheel rim. I put my fingers on it, and it was very loose. If I had ridden the bike that way, I would have had no stopping power in the rear brakes — and could have been in for a serious on-road problem.

I grabbed my Allen wrench set from the garage and quickly put the brake pad in place and made sure it was tightened down. Then I did a careful inspection — as careful as I could given the few minutes available — to make sure no other bolts were loose, and that everything was working as it should.

What bothers me about this incident is that I’m pretty good at doing the ABC Quick Check. I hadn’t done it yet this day, but would have before Pat came out. But on the previous ride I did, I didn’t catch the loose brake pad. Maybe it didn’t come loose until the end of the ride. Maybe something caused it to come loose while it was sitting in the garage for two days without being ridden (yeah, right). Maybe I had done last Sunday’s club ride with a loose brake pad. I get shivers just thinking about it.

But although I do the ABC Quick Check, I am negligent at doing a more careful inspection of the bike at a regular interval. Things like my tires, for instance. I know I should check them after every ride to make sure nothing got caught in the tread that could lead to a puncture, or if I have any new cuts or gashes in the tire. But I don’t. I check them when I think about it. I just don’t think about it near enough.

Since that experience with the brake, I’ve been over-diligent about checking out the bike. I suppose that’s a natural overreaction, but over time, I’ll ease up on doing it. Instead, I found a nifty little bike checklist, courtesy the folks at Active.com, that I’ve printed out and tacked to the garage wall near the bike. Now, I’ll have an ever-present reminder of the kinds of checks I need to do on the bike to prevent any other easily-detected problems from cropping up.

How about you? Do you have a bike inspection routine you normally use? Share it with our readers.

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Watch That Sweat!

07.26.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

The oddest thing happened on my Sunday ride. I was about six or eight miles from the end, when suddenly, I couldn’t shift from the big ring down to the small ring.

This was problematical, because at the time, I was approaching the crest of a hill, and I needed the easier effort the small ring would give me to get over the top. I back pedaled — something I never do — and downshifted the rear cogset. That did the trick, and I was in the small ring again.

But the same thing happened throughout the rest of the ride, until for the last two miles, I kept the thing in the small chainring, even when I had an inviting downward grade.

The next afternoon, I took the bike over to our club mechanic’s house. (It’s nice to have a “club mechanic” — in this case, a member with over 20 year experience “making money off of fixing bikes” who at one time was wrench for a pro team.)

“So, won’t shift down to the small ring, huh?” he asked.

His next question startled me.

“Are you a heavy sweater?”

I did a double take.

“Yeah, I am,” I replied. “Does that have something to do with it?”

He got the bike up on the stand and checked it over.

“I’m already seeing some corrosion on the brakes,” he said. “And here on the front derailleur, too.”

“That’s really strange,” I said. “It was shifting fine, and then suddenly, I couldn’t get it to shift down.”

“It was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he retorted. “You thought it was shifting just fine, but it probably wasn’t. You’d just gotten used to it.”

There might be something to that. I’ve had some balky shifts in recent weeks. But I thought that was my lack of shifting technique, not my sweat. I watched him as he took out a bottle of lube and went to work.

“Front derailleur, front brakes, bottom bracket, rear brakes, in that order,” he lectured. “That’s what’s most affected by sweating. The rear derailleur rarely, if ever.”

He squirted some lube on the brake pivots.

“Pay attention to the pivots,” he said.

He shot some lube into the brake grip pivots, then pulled loose the brake and shifter cables and applied a light coat of grease to them. Then he cranked the pedals and started shifting through the gears — snick, snick, snick. Now it was time for the moment of truth — he changed hands to shift the front derailleur.

Click, click, it went. He shifted between the large and small rings several times. Each time, the shift was smoother than the previous.

“I think that’s got it,” he said, wiping his hands on a clean rag.

“So the trick is to keep everything clean,” I observed.

“I recommend that everyone at the very least wipe down their bikes at the end of the ride.”

I paid him for his trouble (he charges a pittance, compared to the LBS), loaded the bike into the car, and headed home.

This morning when I got home from my ride, I found a clean towel and went over the bike.

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Categories // Maintenance Tags // Maintenance, sweat

Choosing the Right Style of Bike Repair Stand

03.31.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 4 Comments

Bike Noob is happy to feature a guest post by Sam Walker, for those of us interested in working on our bikes.

When I first started learning about bike repairs, I began with learning how to fix a tire.  That wasn’t too tough, and all I needed were a few minor tools.  As my knowledge of repairs evolved, so did the tools.

Sooner or later, if you are into bike mechanics, you start researching how to hold your bicycle while working on it.  Turning it upside down is a rather poor option for both your bike and your back.  Many of us make do with something at home in the beginning, but investing in a good bike repair stand sets the framework for all your bicycle maintenance.

A bicycle repair stand is useful for a few reasons:

  • It holds your bike at any height you need
  • It keeps your bike stable while you work on it
  • It allows you to work on your bike without putting pressure on any of your bike’s components

There are various types of bike repair stands on the market.  Which one you choose will depend on the type of bicycle you ride, the type of mechanic you are and how much space you have at home to do your bike tinkering.  In short, there are four main styles:

Racing Stands

As the name suggests, a racing stand is designed for people who are racers and therefore own a racing style bike.  They are also good if you own an ultra thin and light frame bicycle that you want to be extra careful you don’t do any damage to that light frame.

Racing stands are built light.  They are designed to be taken with you on the road or to the track and consequently are extremely portable.  They can also hold your bike without grasping it by the frame tube or seat post so as not to do damage to the ultra thin frame.  They are pretty nifty, but if you don’t fall into the category of owning a racing style bike, then it may not be the best option.

In order to make a stand super portable, you need to sacrifice on some of the stability and you should only do this if you really do need it to be that portable.  With that said, they’re building them better and better these days so that even a racing stand can hold your bike pretty stable if you get a good one.  Of course, you will pay for that quality.

Home Mechanic Repair Stands

This is probably the style that will suit most people.  A home mechanic stand is specifically designed for home bike mechanics that work on the average road cycle as well as mountain bikes.  They usually have a tripod base, and adjust to any height.

Home Mechanic stands are great because assuming you get a good one, they can hold your bike rock solid, rotate your bike 360 degrees and be folded up and put away after you are done with it.  If you buy one with a good wide base, it will allow you to work on your bike outside on uneven ground.  I wrote a comprehensive review of the Park Tool PCS-10 Repair Stand because it was a good example of having all the features that a home mechanic stand should have.

Most home mechanic repair stands have one of two styles of clamps.

Spring cam-style clamp – This is the most popular as it allows you to clamp and unclamp your bike in one swift clamping action.  It is good for all normal bikes and mountain bikes as the clamp is fully adjustable.

Screw-down clamp – This option takes a bit more work, as you need to hold your bike into the clamp while you screw it closed.  However it can be good if your bike is very lightweight and has thin-walled tubes, as you have a lot of control as you adjust the pressure.

Either style clamp will work well, but read the reviews before you buy and make sure you are getting a quality home mechanic repair stand.  They are not all built the same and the quality of the clamp makes a lot of difference.

Incredible Hulk Shop Stands

Okay, I added in the incredible hulk myself to emphasize the point, but heavy duty shop stands are the style of stands you would likely find in most bike shops, but some home mechanics choose them too.  They are for the real hard core mechanics… the handy types that know how to build a bike from scratch and spend a lot of time working on it.  They will generally hold any bike, and they will hold them completely solid no matter how hard you crank on them.  However, they are not portable, and you often need a parking space for it in your garage or basement.

Miniature Stands

These are my least favourite but some people like them.  Miniature stands are small and lightweight stands that can be used for average bikes that don’t have any unusual designed frames or accessories.  This style of stand is chosen by some who are low on space such as living in a small apartment and by those who want  something very lightweight for very minor maintenance or cleaning.  Basically they will only hold the bicycle upright.  They cost less, which is also why some people go for them, and they do the job, but they don’t do the job well.  For normal bike repairs they are not a good way to go.

A better way to go is to get a bench or wall mount stand if you have a place to screw it in, as it also doesn’t take up much space.

Learning to do your own bike repairs can be a fulfilling and worthwhile investment towards our sport. Putting a little love and care into your two wheeled vehicle can also go a long ways to help your bike live a long and healthy life.

About the author: Sam Walker works as a reviewer at Gear Reviews Online where he reviews quality gear for outdoor enthusiasts.

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