| They're always oppressing me |
[Nov. 17th, 2008|02:56 pm] |
The bike shop called to tell me they managed to un-pretzel my frame. I actually had help breaking it for a change. I was walking past Lee behind him in the parking lot and he started walking backwards and tripped over my bike. He bent up my wheel badly. Enough so that I had to bang it against the curb to straighten it enough to ride.
I didn't realize till this morning, partway to work that it was the *frame* that was bent.
I turned around and went home at that point, called my boss and told her I would work from home Friday.
The truly sad part is we were all stone sober, just hanging around in the QFC waiting for people to finish up.
My rear triangle looked a bit like this:
That's why Ben (who was trying to help me fix it) kept muttering about my wheel dish being off. The frame is off, not the wheel. But we couldn't see it in the dark.
The thing that gave me a chuckle was what the bike shop said when they called to tell me my bike was done.
Mechanic: "You know the rear wheel is unsafe, the braking surface is totally concave."
Me: "No no no, I've got 1.8mm of rim left, that's at least 0.8mm more than minimum safety margin.[1]"
I did end up assuring her that I had decided to swap the rim regardless. Between Lee falling on it, the fact that it has had a lot of braking surface worn off and other things, it's probably time to change it. It doesn't hurt I have a spare rim to hand to do it with, so I don't even have to go buy anything.
[1] Yes, I actually have a caliper just for this. |
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| A bike for Sunny days |
[May. 9th, 2008|11:46 am] |
Well, my commuter bike frame getting broken inspired me to get my Sunny day bike fixed up last week. I've been stockpiling parts for it for a while, so it was relatively quick to build up.
( Pretty pictures after the cut )
I talked to the shop that has my old frame (Recycled Cycles in the University District). They've left some messages with Surly, but they haven't actually talked to them about it. So my bike is still languishing in their shop. And I've got this bag sitting on my desk at home full of all the parts I took off the frame.
I'm just glad it broke during the summer so I'm not missing my dedicated all weather/bad weather bike in the rainy season. Well, and that I didn't bother overhauling the headset and bottom bracket right before the frame broke. Procrastination saves the day again! |
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| Another day, another broken bicycle frame |
[Apr. 25th, 2008|08:15 am] |
Last month I had wheel problems, this month it looks like frame problems are on the agenda.
I broke my Crosscheck frame again in pretty much the exact same location (on my way home from work). I didn't have time to finish putting my sunny day bike together from pieces, so I dragged my fixed gear out of the shed to ride to work this morning.
I really should just shell out for a sturdier frame. |
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| Another day, another broken bicycle part |
[Sep. 28th, 2005|04:04 pm] |
This is just not my week for cycling.
Last Wednesday I broke my handlebars.
Friday, Saturday and Monday I rode my Crosscheck like normal. As I was coming up the last little hill home Tuesday, I stood up to climb it and something was wrong with my bike. I stopped immediately, thinking at first I'd popped multiple spokes, or broken my axle. If only that were so.
I somehow managed to pull/snap my drop-out off of the driveside of my bike. This leaves the stem, crank and actual brake mechanism as the only things on the frame that I haven't had to replace. I'm 99% sure that this is from a crash I had last year. The handlebar probably also got damaged at the same time. I am a little disappointed in the bike shop (Recycled Cycles) that did the repair work at the time, in that they didn't spot either problem. OTOH, it may very well not have been noticeable then.
:-/
( Pictures behind the cut ) |
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| Singlespeed here I come |
[Feb. 3rd, 2005|09:57 am] |
So in a previous entry, I whinged about Shimano chains. Mainly that they stink (literally), and didn't have a convienent link like SRAM's chains do.
Today, about a quarter mile from work, my chain evidently broke partway. Just enough to jam in my derailleur and bend it. Also, somehow at the same time managing to bust *another two* spokes on my rear wheel.
So, if I can manage it, I'll be limping home as a single speed. I joked about that last time.
I hate being prophetic. It's never about good things.
Unfortunately my multi-tool's chain tool is complete shite. It's not long enough to push a pin completely through, which makes me want to kill the designer. So I might have to bus it, or hitch a ride with someone.
Update: I managed to persuade my chain tool to fully push a pin out of the chain by wedging a penny betwixt the chain plate and the end of the tool. So, I now have my chain joined without the derailleur giving me a singlespeed with a 38/15 gearing. Unfortunately the two broken spokes are drive side ones right next to each other. So I don't know if I can fix my wheel well enough to ride home on it.
:(
Update the second: So, I fiddled with my wheel, and I think I can get home on it. I'm going to have to change my route a little to avoid the worst hills, but I should be ok. |
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| Where have all the sprockets gone? |
[Jan. 28th, 2005|10:47 am] |
Ten little, Nine little,
Eight little sprockets.
Seven little, Six little,
Five little sprockets.
Four little, Three little,
Two little, One little sprockets.
One little sprockets left.
So, as if to only add the final punctuation to a crappy day, I had a bike malfunction on the way home. I left work at about midnight, and everything was fine until just about Mercer Island. As I was climbing one of the hills to the bridge, my bike slipped out of gear and I heard a "ping, clang, clang" like something metal dropping to the ground. I thought I had just run over something and continued on my way.
I realized after about a mile that my fifth gear was skipping incredibly badly. I stopped and looked at my rear cluster a lot more closely and realized only about half of the cog was there. Bleah. I shrugged and cycled the rest of the way home.
Of course, I didn't have time to do anything about it this morning. So I limped back in to work with the same wheel in.
I started out with nine cogs. I switched to eight cogs Monday. Yesterday I lost a cog, so I'm down to seven. At this rate, I should down to a singlespeed by the end of February. |
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zuvembi's journal
bouncy
hungry
apathetic
tired