Spring bicycle maintenance, getting back in the game.

Well finally Spring decided to show its face around here and I managed to find some time to get my bike out of storage. Proper planning in the Fall of storing parts in designated places made getting them back on the bike a breeze. Nothing is more frustrating than losing an hour swearing like a sailor because you can't locate your seat. That's valuable riding time lost and your loved ones thinking less of you.

The one thing I caught myself doing however was having a hard time screwing the first pedal back in. I very well know that the left side pedal is a reverse thread, so I should be the first to catch on to any kind of problem. So there I am on the right side and the darn thing won't screw in. While scratching my head trying to figure out if the entire Universe had a pole shift for this not to work, I turned the pedal over and realized that it was the left side pedal!

This goes to show that, like the drivetrain on your bike, your skills can sometimes get a little rusty. Remember this if you start to wrench on your ride after you've been on hiatus. Deal with one problem at a time, double check everything you've touched and don't postpone anything for later, even for a minute.

Another important aspect is to do a short test ride after doing any kind of repair on your bike. Go as far as you are willing to walk and bring some tools. Going for a big ride right after a big repair is asking for trouble. I hope this little advice has helped you out.

Don't forget to check out the how-to articles post
and download my free bike maintenance book if you haven't already.

Until next time, ride safe and free.

Gerry :)

Vintage Japanese Bicycle Restoration

While waisting some time on Youtube, time well wasted, I came across this video about a fellow Japanese blogger into vintage japanese bicycle restoration, namely retr Richard. These old bikes are true works of art with their elaborate decorations and pinstriping that can put even an old English classic to shame!

What is even more impressive is that this enthusiast Master restorer brings back those bikes to life with an insane amount of talent and patience, Check out his blog here: Vintage Japanese Bicycles There are post in English and for whatever isn't, just use Google translate.

The information there and eye candy is well worth the bandwidth.



Don't forget to check out the how-to articles post
and download my free bike maintenance book if you haven't already.

Until next time, ride safe and free.

Gerry :)

How to install a bicycle cargo rack

A bike is a great way to get around and becomes even more practical when you are able to carry some cargo. May it be a bag of groceries or an entire saddle bag kit for touring, you can't get around that if you want to carry your stuff safely. Installing a a bicycle rack is quite simple and anybody can do it. Here we go:

First things first, buy a proper rack. Do not grab one of those cheapy steel racks that you unfold the legs and bolt on your bike by squeezing the the living daylights out of your seat stays. Those press rivets that hold the legs will eventually give out and you'll have to fork the bucks for a decent rack anyways. Unless you already have one and it's free, stay away from those pieces of junk.

For a few dollars more, invest in a lightweight aluminum cargo rack like the one pictured here. I have yet to go through one or see one busted. Just make sure that when you buy it, all the hardware, nuts and bolt are included. It should be.

The first thing you should do is to bolt the legs on the eyelets at the bottom of the frame near the rear wheel nut. This is usually threaded so you can go right ahead with the bolt. If not, use a nut provided with the rack, just make sure that you have enough clearance for that nut between the chain and the frame. Don't go too tight yet, we need to adjust the level of the rack.

Next, pull out the bracket that will hold the rack to the seat stays on top. Bend the bracket if you need to and attach it with the nuts, bolts and small brackets. On this bike I had some threaded eyelets already there for that purpose, so all I needed was the bolts. Check to see if the rack is level, make sure that the installation hasn't affected the operation of the brake caliper and tightened everything down.

click on image for full size

Now you can strap all kinds of things to your bike and ride on safely with your cargo. Just make sure you go around all the bolts every so often to make sure they remain tight.

Don't forget to check out the how-to articles post
and download my free bike maintenance book if you haven't already.

Until next time, ride safe and free.

Gerry :)

We make it on MAKE's top 10!

Wow what a kick. A recent post on the MAKEZINE blog list the top 10 homebuilt recumbents and 2 of my creations make it at number 5 and 6. Too bad that number 5 was a failure but I did learn a lot while building it.

There are two things to remember when trying to build your own recumbent, the R&D is the fun part and when in doubt, overbuild. You'll always come out on top.

The Bart Simpson fairing served on 2 of my creations. The one pictured being the worst. The fairing was made of Coroplast held together with Duct tape and silicone. I had painted the whole thing black and made the Bart skull from reflective vinyl. It worked great and never went unnoticed. I made quite a few fairings and tail boxes out of coroplast. All of them were inspired by Bill Volk's coroplast craziness page on ihpva.org.

Don't forget that you can consult all the how-to articles here
and you can always download my free bike repair book here.

Until next time, ride safe and free.

Gerry :)

A basic bicycle tune-up

click on the image for larger view

I have a friend who has this twenty something Rocky Mountain and he brings it to me every year to do the annual check up. I taught some of you might find it interesting to see what the process is when going over a typical tune up for a very well loved mountain bike.

First off this bike and its owner have a very good relationship and it's been a long one. To buy a similar bike today would cost a fortune but the owner throughout the years has made the smart choice of investing in regular maintenance and it has paid off. This vintage bike still runs great and has many great years of service in front of it.

Now to the task at hand, the first thing I do is go over the basic stuff like checking if the brakes work fine, check if the pads are not worn out, at the same time I turn the wheels to see if they are true using the brake pads to eyeball this and check the general condition of the tires. Next I shift in all the gears front and back to see it needs any adjustment. In this case I'm happy to see that all is still in order since last year.

After that I check if the cables for brake and shifters are frayed or rusted. If they don't require to be replaced, I lube the exposed portions using ATF or regular bike oil. I then go over the entire bike to tighten everything that can be, keeping an eye out for less obvious stuff like missing bolts, cracked metal, loose parts or anything out of the ordinary. This is also a good time to see if any of the main bearings are loose. Rock both wheels from side to side and if you feel any movement or clunking, the bearings are loose and require your attention. In the case of the main pedal axle, or bottom bracket, grab one of the cranks and try to shake it from side to side as well. If it moves, grab the other crank arm and try again. If both of them jiggle in unison, you have loose bearings. If only one jiggles, your crank arm is about to fall off. Adjust and tightened as needed.

click on the image for larger view

In the case of the Rocky Mountain the following problems were found: A flat rear tire, a loose cassette, a missing seat post bolt and a few loose bolts on the goose neck. I also had a chance to look over the general condition of the bike and I will recommend to my friend to start shopping for new tires, a chain and cassette for next year. Even though sometimes parts are still good, some may be border line. Taking the time the tune up ones ride gives you a chance to see the possible problems down the road and prepare for them.

click on the image for larger view

Once all of this is done, all that is left is to do is bring up the tires to the proper air pressure and lube the chain and gears (Don't forget to clean everything before you do this) and go for a test ride.

Don't foget that you can always check all of my previous how-to articles here: HOW-TO ARTICLES
And you can download my free Ebook for beginner bike mechanics here: Free Bike Maintenance book

Until next time ride safe and free.

Gerry :)