Bike update
Monday, January 31st, 2011 09:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lethargic_manAfter a weekend away, I've just finally got to look at my bike after my second accident. Turns out the reason my tightening the nuts where the mudguard fastens onto its supports failed to stop the mudguard hitting the wheel again is because that's not where the problem was. Instead, the place where the supports are attached to the front fork is loose. Turns out the thing isn't securely attached at all. There's a plastic mount which goes around the frame, and is tightened in place with two wide cable ties. (I'd link to a picture, but there's no such thing on the Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative website any longer; perhaps other people had problems with them too, and they no longer make them.) I pushed the mount back into place, and tried tightening it, but couldn't get anywhere, so I just pushed it as far up the front fork as I could: as the front fork grows wider higher up, that will jam it into place.
The rear mudguard is secured in the same manner; and I discovered one of the two plastic mounts securing it was also loose, so I did the same there.
There's now a very wide clearance between the wheel and both mudguards, so I should hopefully get a bit of notice if I keep my eyes open before the problem recurs again, but when I take my bike in to get the derailleur looked at (after my second accident, it's now hitting the spokes in first gear, which means no more first gear when climbing Mt Hampstead for the time being, *groan*), I might see if I can get the mounts replaced with something more secure.
The rear mudguard is secured in the same manner; and I discovered one of the two plastic mounts securing it was also loose, so I did the same there.
There's now a very wide clearance between the wheel and both mudguards, so I should hopefully get a bit of notice if I keep my eyes open before the problem recurs again, but when I take my bike in to get the derailleur looked at (after my second accident, it's now hitting the spokes in first gear, which means no more first gear when climbing Mt Hampstead for the time being, *groan*), I might see if I can get the mounts replaced with something more secure.
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Re: A 'bit of notice - hopefully' is not enough
Date: 2011-02-01 05:55 pm (UTC)Many years ago I knew someone on alt.fan.pratchett (not the same person) who went by the name of Whippy because she, too, had suffered whiplash injuries in a car accident.
She changed that when she realised people were pulling completely different associations from her moniker than she had intended.
Me, I just thought she liked ice cream.