Lethargic Man (anag.) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lethargic_man) wrote2006-02-03 09:36 am
lethargic_man) wrote2006-02-03 09:36 am
Bike woes
I am livid with Steels of Gosforth, who were supposed to have performed a full service on my bike as well as repairing it. A matter of weeks later, it's all bar unusable.
Before my range wheels got bent, the chain would occasionally fall off, because I'd got the chain replaced without replacing the range wheels. You're supposed to replace them together, so they wear together.
After whatever happened to my range wheels—I still don't know what happened; standing on the wheels and bouncing lightly up and down wasn't enough to bend them back into place—my chain was falling off far more often; enough for that I bashed my knee as it flew off the suddenly resistance-free pedal several times a week. The chain also skipped on a more frequent basis.
When I got my bike back after servicing, the chain was still intermittently skipping—about once a mile, and falling off completely about once a six-mile commute—when using the upper range. Previously I could generally get the chain back on without even stopping; now there was a bloody great rivet holding the bent inner range wheel straight, and trying to reseat the chain it often got stuck against that. The lower range, which had been giving me the most problems beforehand was now fine; the problem was now with the upper range.
You're not supposed to cycle with the chain on opposite ends of the range and gear wheels, as it stresses the chain, but in this case I thought it would be the lesser of two evils.
Evidently not. By last night it seemed the chain was falling off the upper range more often than it had been, but the lower range was still fine. This morning the chain was falling off the lower range every few seconds. I didn't dare use the bike for cycling to work; on a Friday I couldn't risk problems part-way there, and after a couple of minutes turned around and went home.
Now it's faintly possible the problem is due to differential thermal contraction (the bike having suddenly gone from nearly twenty degrees to three below zero), but it still shouldn't do that.
So now I'm going to have to make up and extra three quarters of an hour's work time (how long extra going back home, then taking the Tube to work cost me) on a Friday on which I already have to leave half an hour early (due to forgetting last night to make my meal for tonight due to disruption of my normal evening pattern). And I'm out on Sunday so won't be able to take the bike to the bike shop in West Hampstead. Looks like I'll have to cycle to work, slowly and jerkily, on Monday, and take the bike in for replacement chain and range wheels on the way home.
And I've already spent £30 on it this week (two inner tubes (one to keep at work, one at home), and an Armadillo tyre for my front wheel so hopefully the puncture rate will now drop down to once a year, like my back wheel.
Grr!
Before my range wheels got bent, the chain would occasionally fall off, because I'd got the chain replaced without replacing the range wheels. You're supposed to replace them together, so they wear together.
After whatever happened to my range wheels—I still don't know what happened; standing on the wheels and bouncing lightly up and down wasn't enough to bend them back into place—my chain was falling off far more often; enough for that I bashed my knee as it flew off the suddenly resistance-free pedal several times a week. The chain also skipped on a more frequent basis.
When I got my bike back after servicing, the chain was still intermittently skipping—about once a mile, and falling off completely about once a six-mile commute—when using the upper range. Previously I could generally get the chain back on without even stopping; now there was a bloody great rivet holding the bent inner range wheel straight, and trying to reseat the chain it often got stuck against that. The lower range, which had been giving me the most problems beforehand was now fine; the problem was now with the upper range.
You're not supposed to cycle with the chain on opposite ends of the range and gear wheels, as it stresses the chain, but in this case I thought it would be the lesser of two evils.
Evidently not. By last night it seemed the chain was falling off the upper range more often than it had been, but the lower range was still fine. This morning the chain was falling off the lower range every few seconds. I didn't dare use the bike for cycling to work; on a Friday I couldn't risk problems part-way there, and after a couple of minutes turned around and went home.
Now it's faintly possible the problem is due to differential thermal contraction (the bike having suddenly gone from nearly twenty degrees to three below zero), but it still shouldn't do that.
So now I'm going to have to make up and extra three quarters of an hour's work time (how long extra going back home, then taking the Tube to work cost me) on a Friday on which I already have to leave half an hour early (due to forgetting last night to make my meal for tonight due to disruption of my normal evening pattern). And I'm out on Sunday so won't be able to take the bike to the bike shop in West Hampstead. Looks like I'll have to cycle to work, slowly and jerkily, on Monday, and take the bike in for replacement chain and range wheels on the way home.
And I've already spent £30 on it this week (two inner tubes (one to keep at work, one at home), and an Armadillo tyre for my front wheel so hopefully the puncture rate will now drop down to once a year, like my back wheel.
Grr!
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no subject
My father said: "It seems to me your chain tension isn't great enough, a simple bounce shouldn't displace the chain. Do a simple retensioning, probably on the derailleur mechanism, there may be a spring which you pull round a further notch." So if I'm lucky, I may not need to take the bike in.
It's funny; it feels wrong, taking the Tube today. Like I'm not getting my proper exercise.
Bike troubles...
(Anonymous) 2006-02-06 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)I think its terrible and really rubbish
SW
Re: Bike troubles...
You wouldn't expect a car to be able to go on forever without needing servicing, and a bike's no different. But you have to use it a lot to cause it to wear out like this.
And it turns out my father misunderstood what I wanted of the bike shop in Newcastle, and merely got a general tightening of cables, etc, done, rather than a complete "MoT".
Re: Bike troubles...
(Anonymous) 2006-02-06 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)SW