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Out of Commission

12.14.2014 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

I haven’t gotten in a lot of biking lately. Not only have I been caught up in the end of the semester crunch at the university, but my road bike has been acting up.

A week ago, I found myself unable to shift from the small chainring to the big one. I had to abandon a ride and get home, although that was the same ride where I discovered the broken spoke. I finally got the bike into the shop on Wednesday, where the mechanic listened to my shifting complaint and examined the bike. The chain is okay, since it’s fairly new. But he didn’t like the look of the big chainring.

“You’re missing the little pin that grabs the chain so it can move onto the big ring,” he said. “You’re going to need a new chainring.”

He thought he could get one into the shop the next day. But that didn’t happen, and I didn’t pick up the bike until Friday afternoon, after getting home from some Christmas shopping. Because of the lateness of the afternoon, I was unable to get the bike out for a shakedown cruise.

Saturday was mountain biking day, as we headed for a mountain bike park more than 60 miles from home. The ride was great fun, and although my friend Maggie and I took the “beginner” ride with an experienced leader, we agreed it provided plenty of challenges for us, and was just the ticket.

We figured that Sunday would be a recovery ride day on the road bikes. On the way over to the meetup place, I noticed that shifting to the big ring wasn’t as smooth as I’d like, but at least it worked. I liked the sound of a silent bike again.

We broke away from the main group several miles into the ride, and pointed ourselves toward the Veloway to do some slow laps. But as I pedaled along, I felt a snap.

The errant shift cable.
The errant shift cable.

The shift cable for the rear cassette broke away from the shifter. I was stuck in the smallest rear cog, and while I could pedal, it wasn’t going to be easy. I parted ways with Maggie and limped home.

After parking the bike in the garage, and showering and changing, I went back out to get a picture of the problem. And there it was — the rear tire had gone flat. First flat on the tire since I bought it last summer. Fixing the flat will be no problem, but the bike goes back to the mechanic this week — and I hope the shift cable can be repaired without me having to buy a whole new shifter.

In the meantime, I’m back to mountain biking for awhile.

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Categories // Equipment, Maintenance Tags // bike maintenance, flat tire, shifters

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

Downgrading: A Tough Decision

09.14.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 14 Comments

I’ve written about my recent efforts to upgrade my bike.  So have my guest posters, Don Blount and Jeff Hemmel.  So after my problems Saturday, I faced a difficult decision.

As you’ll recall, I broke my right shifter — the one that controls the rear derailleur.

I took the bike into the LBS, and the guy looked over the shifter.  He had bad news: The shift cable had broken off inside the shifter, and he couldn’t get it out.  “These things aren’t really made to be serviced,” he said.  “You’ll have to replace it.”

Ouch. I didn’t want to hear that.  Shifters are expensive.

The Sora shifter, with its characteristic thumb trigger for upshifts.

“Lemme see what’s in stock,” he said.  He came back with a Shimano Sora shifter.  My bike has Tiagra shifters — one level up in the Shimano hierarchy.  The Sora is at the low end of Shimano’s lineup.

I asked about getting another Tiagra.  He said it would have to be ordered.  On top of that, it would cost 50 percent more than the Sora.  Another ouch.

I hemmed and hawed.  If I ordered the Tiagra, it would be several days before I had a bike.  If I had him put on the Sora, I would be downgrading my bike.

On the other hand, I recalled my only previous experience with Sora equipment: On a rental bike two summers ago.  It worked fine.  I thought about the price.  I thought about making the ride the next day that I had been wanting to do.

“Go ahead and put on the Sora,” I told him.  “And while you’re at it, the headset needs adjusting, and I need a new chain.”

An hour later, it was all ready.  I made my ride the next day.

The shifter performed well.  Not flawlessly.  It’s less precise than the Tiagra, which is not in itself the most precise shifter.  I learned on the ride that it helped  to plan my shifts more than I’d been used to, and to click the little thumb trigger very definitely — no flicking the thumb at it and expecting a clean shift.

This evening, I took the bike out to our local time trial.  I had to turn the barrel adjusters to tighten the derailleur cable, because it was jumping cogs, popping off the cog when I applied force, and being generally cranky.  I went out on the eight-mile course, and it appears from my unofficial time that I set a personal best, beating my old mark by at least 30 seconds.  I was very careful and deliberate with my shifts out there.

I think it will take several more rides before I’m used to it.  There will be lots more time spent adjusting the cables in the coming week.  But after my experience with it over the past couple of days, I intend to make it work.

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Categories // Components Tags // downgrades, shifters, Sora, Tiagra, upgrades

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