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Archives for August 2014

Leave It To The Pros

08.31.2014 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

Well, I finally got around to taking a look at my ruined brake hood. I had the replacement, I had new bar tape to install, and I had a free Sunday afternoon with no distractions.

What could go wrong?

Luckily, my wife was out of the house doing some errands and exercise classes. That meant I could roll the bike into my favorite bike repair center — the kitchen. (Shh! Don’t tell her!)

Cold glass of iced tea, repair stuff scattered on the kitchen table, I think I'm ready to tackle this.
Cold glass of iced tea, repair stuff scattered on the kitchen table, I think I’m ready to tackle this.

I quickly removed the old bar tape, and got the brake loosened. And it all went downhill from there.

When it comes to things mechanical, I think an encounter I had with my son sums it up best. About 20 years ago, I was sitting on the steps of my deck, unscrewing the housing of some kind of powered garden tool — I forget just what — when he came around the corner and saw me.

“Dad! What are you doing?” he cried.

I told him.

“Aw, Dad, you know how this is going to turn out. You’ll get it all apart, and you’ll get frustrated, and you won’t be able to get it back together, and it’ll be in worse shape than it was before you started.”

He had that figured out at a tender age. I, on the other hand, haven’t figured that out yet. And sure enough, the scenario of 20 years ago replayed itself, as I realized I would have to undo one of the brake cables from the brake assembly.

I didn’t figure that out until I had some tiny Phillips head screws lying on the kitchen table, and nowhere to go. I managed to get everything kind of back to where it was when I started.

Oh, crap.
Oh, crap.

Our club’s bike mechanic told me he’s cutting back his repair time, since he’s getting a new full-time job. But I’ll book something with him sometime this week. He’ll have fun looking over what I attempted, and how it turned out. And he’ll fix it in a fraction of the time it took me to wreck it.

Maybe I’ve finally learned my lesson: When it comes to bike mechanicals, leave it to the pros.

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Categories // Maintenance Tags // bike maintenance, incompetent

Brake Hoods

08.24.2014 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

I’ve been riding the same road bike for more than six years now, and inevitably it’s going to show signs of wear and tear.

But one area I didn’t expect to see problems is the brake hood. These are items we take for granted. They’re a comfortable place to rest our hands during our rides, and 80 percent or more of our ride time is spent grasping these rubber sheaths.

So I was bothered awhile ago when my left brake hood started showing signs of wear. And tear. In fact, my first inkling that there was a problem was a small tear in the hood.

It's easy to see how the hood separates from the top of the brake lever. A tear is visible, too. (Click pix to enlarge.)
It’s easy to see how the hood separates from the top of the brake lever. A tear is visible, too. (Click pix to enlarge.)

Of course, it doesn’t take long for a small problem to morph into a larger one — and that’s what happened here. First, the rounded area at the top where the hood rests on top of the brake lever popped loose. It’s held in place by a small protrusion on the brake lever. On the underside of the hood is an indent that fits the protrusion perfectly. The first few times it popped off, it was easy to pull it back into place.

Trouble is, with our hot, humid summer this year the hood is subject to a lot of twisting action. Because it’s the left hood, it covers the brake lever/shifter that controls the front derailleur. When I shift into the big ring, my hand twists the hood. And with the hood coming loose from that little thing that holds it in place, it just softened and tore some more. Now, I’m at the point where I don’t even try to fasten it down, because I know it will last only until my next shift.

So, what to do? Well, replacement hoods are available. I like the ones called “Hudz.” They come in a variety of colors, and I thought it would be cool to get some blue ones, and put black bar tape on the bike — just the reverse of my current look.

But Hudz doesn’t make hoods for every model. Mine is a Tiagra shifter, and I guess that’s not high-end enough. I couldn’t find any that filled the bill. (Oh, another thing I learned during my search is that every model of shifter has just enough of a different shape that it requires its very own hood cover. You have to find the one made expressly for the type of shifter you use.)

Here they are. Now what do I do with them?
Here they are. Now what do I do with them?

That’s just a simple Internet search. I found some Tiagra brake hoods at bikeparts.com and placed an online order. They came in the mail yesterday. With no instructions.

I’ve been doing another search — this time for online videos on replacing brake hoods. There are more online that you might expect. I seem to have a complication, in that the shift cable is going to interfere with an easy replacement. It looks like I’m in for taking off the bar tape, then taking off the brake/shift assembly, mounting the hood, and putting it all back on the handlebar. I think. I’ll let you know how it all turns out.

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Categories // Maintenance Tags // bike maintenance, brakes, shifters

A Morning Quickie

08.21.2014 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

No — not that kind of quickie. I’m talking about getting your day started with a short ride.

It was my wife’s idea. She had  a big day coming up at work, and wanted to ride to clear her head. I didn’t have to start at work until 10 a.m., so I was happy to volunteer to ride with her. All we had to do was make sure we were ready on time.

Not too tough to do in our house these days. We have two dogs, and our beagle is always ready for her breakfast at 5:30 a.m. Trouble is, the beagle eats only one meal a day, and it’s not breakfast. But I rolled out of bed to feed our other dog, a chihuahua mix. That got us going, and after eating our own breakfasts, we jumped into some cycling clothes and got the bikes.

Our route was going to be a simple one — my wife’s favorite out-and-back that I’ve written about on this blog before. I figured I’d be able to get a little more out of the nine mile trip by taking my mountain bike. The greater rolling resistance on that bike keeps my speed down, so we could ride together for most of the ride, instead of me being way ahead of her.

The morning was already hot — almost 80 degrees (26C) — and not even a hint of a breeze. By the time we reached the turnaround point, we were soaked through.

“It’s a perfect morning for a ride!” said my wife. “I’m really glad we came out.”

I was, too. We headed back home, dealing with lines of cars parked in the bike lane. Local side streets are getting a coat of sealant, and residents were told to get their cars out of the area — so they all moved to the bike lanes on the through street. Luckily for us, rush hour traffic was light, and we made it up the one big hill on the route and cruised home. We had just enough time to get our days started — she in the home office, me over on campus. We were invigorated. Amazing what just 43 minutes on the bike can do.

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Categories // Rides Tags // Rides

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