Floating style chainguard.

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. Still bicycling/commuting. Not as much due to work and family but I can’t give it up!

So I bought this chainguard from a local cyclist that was selling his on craigslist. Pretty sure it’s this OGK chainguard by Soma Fabrications:

http://store.somafab.com/ogkchainguards.html

The only hangup was that the seat tube was a little thicker than the downtube.  So, I had to use a larger hoseclamp for the thicker tube. The included tube wraparounds weren’t long enough.  I couldn’t get it to set flat and upright. It kinda juts out in the back, but since your pants go up when you pedal, it doesn’t get caught.  Gotta be careful when you bring you straddle the bike, or you could hit it.  Kinda “floats” over the chain. Pretty cool.  Working well so far.

So far we’ve had very mild winter temperatures. This weekend, however, we had a cold blast that came down from Canada and dropped our temperatures to below freezing. I think yesterday’s high was around 31 and Saturday was a little bit colder. Thus, I left my bike outside rather than in the comfort of my garage to try an experiment.

This morning (temp 25 degrees) I rode it after it sat outside the whole weekend and it shifted fine. I had a prior problem with the Nexus 7 that seemed to not shift during prolonged subfreezing temperatures. For the Nexus 7, the indicator showed that I had downshifted or upshifted, but the gear inside the hub did not move. I can only attribute this to subfreezing temperatures since it shifted fine when things warmed up. Maybe the Nexus 7 uses a more liquid-type grease in there (?). So count this as an advantage for the Nexus Alfine.

I realize that our cold temperatures are laughable to some of you in colder climes, but there you go. Maybe if average temps are the in the teens or single digits, it could affect the Alfine, but we haven’t gotten those this year. And, I don’t know if I would have any desire to ride in that kind of weather, lol.

Paid $60 for this Dahon on Craigslist!

Picked up this Dahon Vitesse 3 speed on CL recently. It was actually $100, but the guy threw in his El Bolso bag with it. The El Bolso hadn’t even been used! Well, I sold the El Bolso for $40. Thus, my net for the Dahon was $60. I don’t know what I’ll do with another bike, but at this price I couldn’t pass it up. I’ll post a review later.

Another Dollar Store Find.

Found this at the Dollar Tree. Anyone who commutes in an urban area could really use this air horn. I carry one of these by mask taping it to my handlebar. When you’ve expended all the air, just tear it off and do it again. Masking tape leaves very little, if any, sticky residue. Or you could always carry it on our waist or backpack. Also, helpful to scare away dogs. For $1, it’s a steal.

Re-lubing, Re-conditioning the Downtube front suspension fork.

As I posted earlier, I found that my stock downtube 8H front fork did not have as much travel as my Full suspension downtube. I ended up buying an earlier downtube front fork from J. Monti. It did have more travel. The fork worked well, but I could detect a little grittiness coming from the fork as I bounced it up and down.

So, I undertook this project to recondition, or relube, the front fork so it could have freer up/down play. Tools needed:
*Socket extension bar (I think mine is 9” or 10”)
*5mm socket
*Cheap Automobile grease (I used Coastal hi-temp grease)
*Skintight nitrile or other surgical type gloves (to keep your hands clean)

It is a straightforward job. You undo the Vbrakes, remove the wheel. Remove the protective caps on the top of the suspension fork. Insert the socket extension until you feel yourself gripping the screw head. Then, just turn counterclockwise. The fork will separate from the bottom part when you fully loosen the screws. And, the bottom fork bars will slide down.

As you hold the bottom part of the fork, turn it over. The springs will come out. There are some rubber (?) inserts/bushings at the top and bottom of the springs (see pix).That’s pretty much it.

As I suspected, the springs were dry. Some dirt may have penetrated there contributing to that gritty feeling. I lightly cleaned the springs with a cloth. You can be anal and dip the springs in gasoline or some other solvent, but I didn’t do that. Then, I just liberally slogged the grease on the springs all over. I guess the springs looked like tree branches after freezing rain (only with grease not ice). Then, I dropped the springs in the bottom part of the fork, connected it to the top part, and rescrewed. Finally, attach the wheel and brakes.

Much better. I now have a front fork that “gives” much better than it used to. This is a job you can do if you want more play or, I guess, if you have too much play, you can remove some excess grease and dry up your front fork a little. I was afraid that there would be some sort of complicated spring mechanism that I would have trouble putting back together. It was nothing like that.

This guide doesn’t have to be limited to DT bikes, but other MTB-type bikes esp. with cheap suspension forks. You’d just need a longer extension (maybe) or a different size socket.

Folding bike at COSTCO!

Spotted this folding bike yesterday when I was at the COSTCO. This model looks like those old Hummer/Montague folding bikes of yesteryear. Price was $399.99 USD. Bike had 26” wheels and had an impressive looking air rear suspension. It is also equipped with disc brakes and front suspension. I noticed that the rear derailleur was “Altus”. Model of the bike was “Cam Rock”. The box said the company was “Kent Bicycles”, which are not known for providing quality bikes. COSTCO usually stands by their products so perhaps this is different.

Anyway, I got excited to see a folding bike at a well-known retailer like COSTCO.

A Request for Bike Tube Manufactures: Put the Seams Away from the Center!

I've repaired my share of flats in my day and 9 times out of 10, the puncture is at the center of the tube. And, it's usually right next to the joining raised seam of the rubber tube. For repairing a flat, you have to ground down the area around the hole with that mini scraper. With the puncture next to the seam, it makes it harder to grind away most of the raised joining seam. Sometimes I've had unsuccessful flat repairs because I didn't prep (i.e. grind down the seam) the area around the hole enough.

I was wondering why bike tube manufacturers don't put this seam on the sides or at another place where punctures don't usually happen. Or, how about putting the seam on the inside of the tube (and inverted seam tube!)? I don't know if this is even possible with bike tubes but I thought I'd post about my gripe.