Bicycle work
May. 22nd, 2015 01:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogI miss having a working bike! I *so* want to take a ride down the Lakefront Train like I used to do when I was living in Rogers Park!
But I did make more progress today. Two days ago, I cleaned the brakes and rear derailleur. Today, I removed the wheels from the frame and cleaned the rims. I also wiped down the accessible parts of the frame and cleaned all the goop off the front sprockets. Those rims are shiny now! There's still dirt worn into minor grooves on the sides though. I may have to think about new rims at some point; they can actually wear through the sides and crack.
It looks like the problem is that the freehub is jammed and won't spin independently of the wheel like it's supposed to. I'm not sure if that's fixable or not, but I'll hopefully find out at The Recyclery tomorrow. If not, it's probably a $25 part. I also need to replace the chain and the rear cassette anyway. I got on the bike and rode around the parking lot briefly after putting the wheels back on. My winter bike, Percy, is great, but I've really missed this one; I'm looking forward to getting it into shape again.
Keeping the bike in the foyer of Miriam's condo was really a pain for everybody, so her hatchback is going to be a bike shed. This is a relatively low crime area, there are other (easier to steal) bikes around to serve as ablative armor, and you'd have to be near the car and looking down through the window to see there's a bike. I think it should be safe. I hope....
But I did make more progress today. Two days ago, I cleaned the brakes and rear derailleur. Today, I removed the wheels from the frame and cleaned the rims. I also wiped down the accessible parts of the frame and cleaned all the goop off the front sprockets. Those rims are shiny now! There's still dirt worn into minor grooves on the sides though. I may have to think about new rims at some point; they can actually wear through the sides and crack.
It looks like the problem is that the freehub is jammed and won't spin independently of the wheel like it's supposed to. I'm not sure if that's fixable or not, but I'll hopefully find out at The Recyclery tomorrow. If not, it's probably a $25 part. I also need to replace the chain and the rear cassette anyway. I got on the bike and rode around the parking lot briefly after putting the wheels back on. My winter bike, Percy, is great, but I've really missed this one; I'm looking forward to getting it into shape again.
Keeping the bike in the foyer of Miriam's condo was really a pain for everybody, so her hatchback is going to be a bike shed. This is a relatively low crime area, there are other (easier to steal) bikes around to serve as ablative armor, and you'd have to be near the car and looking down through the window to see there's a bike. I think it should be safe. I hope....
