And I’m talking about your bike. Yes, that inanimate object that really only reacts to what you do to it. However, how it reacts makes all the difference in the world between a bad ride and a great ride. And, controlling how it reacts relies heavily on proper maintenance. Something I have not done much of this season at all. And last week, I was ready to throw this bike down the Peterson’s Creek canyon! the brakes were sticking… The front fork was bumping and clunking… The derailleurs were grinding and jumping (and even actually jumping right up and over the crank, check out the picture)… And the front tire kept losing air.
Just how exactly is this possible? Mix in a poorly maintained drivetrain, dirt and grime, along with a bit of over-zealous shifting and blamo! Derailleur actually jumps up and OVER the front crank when going for the big gear.
Yes, my bike was letting me know loud and clear that it needed my attention. And more than just a quick wipe down on Sunday night with some dabs of grease and lube. But it needed help! As the picture above shows, I was riding down to Mac park on Thursday to meet Corrie there and watch her soccer game. However, as I turned downhill from TRU and tried shifting to the big gear, crunch! The derailleur actually jumped over the crank. I’ve never seen this before. I didn’t even know it was possible. But it was enough for me to realize that enough was enough, and that if I didn’t take care of this bike soon it would start costing me more money than it was worth (and that I have to spend). The good news? I was able to loosen the clamp, raise the derailleur and slide it back into position with no harm done.
So, I spent a bit of money, and about 5 hours of my time, on getting this bike back into shape. I replaced both shifter and both brake cables. I also lubricated the housings and cut them shorter where needed (the rear brake I cut off over a FOOT and still have plenty of housing). I even zip tied the cables at various points to remove much of the flex of the housing during operation (see the picture below). However, I didn’t just stop there. I took the brakes off, pulled them completely apart, scrubbed them clean, re-greased them and got them back into tip-top shape, clean and sparkly!
Zip tied cable housings create a much quicker and firmer response to braking and shifting. A very easy and cheap mod that brings a big benefit to the overall ride!
The result of all this work? A bike that ran better this morning than I think it did when it was new! It was a thing of beauty, really. No, I’m not kidding. Why else would I actually write up an entire blog entry just about this if I wasn’t so excited about it? 
Anyways, the payoff was a pretty darn good ride this morning. The shifting was crisp and oh-so-easy! The shift levers clicked up and down with very little effort, really. And the chain hopped from one gear to the next without a sound, sometimes it did so with such ease and lack of noise that I had to actually double check that it actually even shifted! I rolled through the trails quieter than a mouse (well, except for the sound of me wheezing and gasping for air of course). It was such a good ride!
Therefore, the moral of this story is take care of your stuff! There’s a reason why this entry-level ride has given me so many great miles over the last two seasons. Even cheap stuff will work better and last longer with the proper care.
*Steps down off of soap box*
No comments:
Post a Comment