Bike assembly

[BeeLee]

Hi everyone,

Can't wait to see all your dusty faces!

This year I'm planning on buying a new bike instead of renting a used one. Our camp has storage space, so why not...

Probably going to get one of these sexy cruisers from Wmart, but because I'm in nyc I'll have to order online and pick up in store. And I was thinking about assembling it myself on their parking lot.

Is that a stupid idea? I usually always have a multi-tool with me but can also buy a couple wrenches if needed.

Anyone did that before? I have no idea of how hard it is and how long it'd take... I'm assuming that it shouldn't be that hard if I have the proper tools, but I'd be curious to get other people's thoughts.

Thanks!
French Taco

[maladroit]

It will probably be assembled (badly) when you pick it up. Since a million other people will have the same idea, that statement MAY be false if they can't keep up with the rush.

[BeeLee]

Hmmm... Badly as in I'll have to re-tighten all the bolts and nuts myself? Or badly as in they'll put the pedals where the wheels go and the handlebars where the saddle goes?

[Captain Goddammit]

Badly as in nothing adjusted right and usually no godsamm grease on the bearings!

[BeeLee]

Got it. Yeah that could prove problematic...

Anyone could recommend an alternative? Any good bike shops in Reno I could contact?

[dustyfux]

Not all the W-World / Target / Big5 $129 imported bikes are complete crap, some of them are less shitty than others.

I think I remember Elliot (one of the eplaya in house bike experts) posting a great introduction to bikes (Huffy Cranbook?) and how to bring them up to playa-worthy standards. Can do a search.

If you end up not making the perfect decision, not all hope is lost. There are bike repair camps on the playa who can help you out.

[BeeLee]

That's what I've heard too. I was more worried about the assembling it myself part... Especially the ones with gears or brakes on the handlebars...

I might just go the refurbished route and go with the Reno Bike Program. Anyone has experience dealing with them? If i go Saturday morning, will there still be inventory or will all the good bikes be gone?

[BBadger]

Unless you can reserve one at that Reno thing, they may all be gone. I never count on any reasonably priced bikes being available around when the burn starts, but I have seen some people selling bikes at the side of the road at times. Who knows if they're even rideable. Often they're rusty pieces of shit that cost $80.

My Cranbrook bike was preassembled from WMart, but I pulled it off one of the top racks and it looked like nobody ever rode it. I wheeled it to my car and am still in the process of replacing stuff like the chainring and other crap to make it ridable in addition to greasing up everything.

I've had other bikes that were unassembled and they're pretty easy to assemble. For the most part they just take off the handlebars, pedals, and front wheel so that they're more boxable.

Having just greased up a Cranbrook myself for the first time, assembling a bike isn't a huge pain, and you can probably buy a tube of marine grease from a department store to grease up the bearings, and a tube of chain lube too.

You'll need more than a multi-tool. You'll need some wrenches, and some pliers/screwdrivers to get slip rings off. You may also want some spoke tighteners. Also get some inner tubes and a bike pump. My bike had oil on the bearings, but I gooped them up with a bunch of marine grease to give them some extra lube.

Oh, and I replaced the chainring because I don't like the gearing, but I had to get it on Amazon, and use a rotary tool to grind down the crank hole to make it fit because it wasn't the highest quality part (but cheap!). The default gear ratio was pretty tough on my legs.

[Ano]

Y'know, a lot of folks poo-poo all over $100-200 dollar bikes sourced from the cheap places... and in some cases, rightfully so. They aren't made with the best parts, and some things come a bit screwy on them.

But tens of thousands of us do, in fact, survive just fine on those cheap bikes every year, many amateurly built and never serviced. Yes, tons do break down - but I would estimate more, on average, do just fine. You don't need the fanciest bicycle for Burning Man, you mostly just need a functional one.

Sheldon Brown is a great website you should google that can help you fix most problems on any bicycle, and most aren't too tough to fix with a few tools. Most of the bikes that come broken can usually be fixed, there was one particular bad batch of cruisers (the cranbrook ones) in 2013 that were nigh impossible to fix... but eh, you should be fine for at least a week. Worst case scenario, it dies on Saturday I'd wager.

I just got one of the cheaper fat tire bikes off the big cheap online retailer, and I'm pretty happy with it. Just tightened things up a bit, took it on a test ride, all is well. I'm sure it'll survive. And it'll be fun.

[trilobyte]

Until you're ready to make the financial commitment to something more rugged and durable, I'm an advocate of the Huffy Cranbrook. That one specifically because it's what the BRC public bike (yellow bike/green bike or whatever they call it) program uses, and so if you're coming from a long distance and don't have an easy way to get it back or a good way to store it, you can donate it to the program.

But if your camp has a storage space and you've got a little room in your budget, look for something better and more durable. You might even want to check with your campmates (or camp leader) to see about establishing a 'bike toolbox' - a set of common tools used for bike assembly, maintenance, and repair... that way you and anybody else in camp can borrow/use to assemble or fine-tune their ride on the playa. Depending on the size of the camp, it might just mean each campmate kicking in a few bucks (or a generous person footing that bill).

To your question of parking lot assembly, it'll be hot and uncomfortable and annoying... BUT you'll be right there in the lot so that if a part is missing or broken or there are any issues, you can get it squared away asap. Don't forget extra inner tubes - if you end up not getting a flat and not needing to use them you can donate them to a bike repair camp towards the end of the week. Good luck!

[BBadger]

Hell, this $80 Cranbrook bike with $40 worth of parts has been a good learning experience. All my other bikes were used mountain bikes I got for like $20-30 that worked, but often had problems. This bike isn't the best thing, but with a little love it can be a decent bike, especially for a burn.

Grease up the bearing and it should hold for quite a while. It took only about an hour.

[Captain Goddammit]

I'm gonna reiterate something Trilo said because it might be the most important thing: if you can't transport your bike and are buying one locally, get a Huffy Cranbrook. That's the model the Burning Man Yellow Bike program uses, so you can donate it to them right on the playa after the event and your problem of getting rid of the bike is taken care of, in a responsible and non-assholish way like chucking it somewhere for someone else to deal with.

[Elliot]

[Ann_Vader]

I'd rather deal with assembly of a single speed cruiser than something with brakes and gears in the parking lot. Also, bikes come boxed with a ton of potential moop in the box, so having a place to put it, like a dumpster, is awesome!

Still, If I was buying a department store bike and I had an option to get it In the box, I'd have a local shop put it together. Even if I had all my tools and my park repair stand, building a bike in a parking lot in Reno is not my ideal. I'm not even sure if Walmart sells unassembled bikes in the box in Reno, and if you can make an appointment to have a local shop do the work that is convenient for you. Two big hurdles to that idea!

It's not unheard of though. We built up boxed bikes fairly frequently at the LBS I worked for. Sometimes people cannot resist the 129.00 wallyworld or target special, but had the sense to listen to staff and pay us to build the bike. Sometimes they bought something from a catalog that wasn't built up, or had their bike packed for shipping from another city as part of a move, and shipped to us to build. Either way their ride was properly and safely assembled.

Good luck!

[Captain Goddammit]

I say bolt it together in the parking lot. Counting on this magically-appearing conveniently located bike shop that has time to do it for you sounds like another failure point for this trip.
The bikes don't come entirely in pieces. As mentioned, just a few ultra simple things are unbolted to knock them down for shipping. Not unlike what you might do anyway to fit it in with your other stuff on the trip.
Walmart stores have everything you need right there. I don't think you need more than an adjustable crescent wrench and a screwdriver to slap a Cranbrook together. You can buy tools, grease, rags, whatever right there. It's not rocket surgery to slap the wheels and pedals on.
If you're so helpless you can't do it you may be unfit for taking on this adventure.
The truth is you CAN do it. There's two bolts that hold the wheel on. Tighten them.
The pedals just screw right on. The left one has backwards screw threads, you turn it the opposite way to tighten. (That way instead of trying to unscrew itself as you ride it's always naturally tightening itself as you ride.)

Don't make yourself dependent on some shop that may not come through or exist. This is easy. Did you read the goddamm Ten Principles, which include Radical Self Reliance? This is that.

[BeeLee]

Yeah, you had me at "goddamn". Radical Self Reliance is actually one of my favorite principles and I need to start applying it more often off playa.
I'm a DIYer and have read a ton of bad reviews of Wmart's assembly services so I'll stay away.
Also read about shops offering assembly services in Reno but with the BM rush I don't feel I'll have enough guarantees of timeliness so I guess I'll do it myself! If you see a guy riding around the playa with handlebars in place of pedals, come say hi - it could be me...

Now I just need to figure out if spending a little more to upgrade from the basic bikes is worth it or not.

[dustyfux]

Assuming you're still interested in buying a bike that will be used more than one week in 2016, you'll want something that is easy to ride, easy to store, and easy to maintain. Think single speed, wide or fat tire, center pull brakes. Cruisers are extremely popular and easy to find.

Prior to it going into storage you'll want to clean and heavily grease the moving parts, if you can get away with it-I'd spray oil the whole thing from top to bottom.

The Cranbook can be this bike. Buy and ride this year. Grab a few parts and bring with you next year to upgrade. Feel like a badass-look at the Mongoose beast at WMart.

[Captain Goddammit]

Agreed except skip the center pull brakes. For a simple playa bike you don't really want hand brakes of any kind. Cables and levers and such are just unnecessary failure points.
Coaster brake (the kind where you just back-pedal) for the win on the playa.

[maladroit]

Agreed except skip the center pull brakes. For a simple playa bike you don't really want hand brakes of any kind. Cables and levers and such are just unnecessary failure points.
Coaster brake (the kind where you just back-pedal) for the win on the playa.

I have a coaster brake and it does work. However, if I had disc or caliper brakes, if they failed I could pretty easily fix them. Not so with the coaster brake. Additionally, there are many times when you're riding your bike slowly in the middle of a huge distracting chaos of other bikes and pedestrians. Hand brakes are much better for fine control without losing your slow steady cruising power. I find that a coaster brake means you'll be hopping off your bike more often to navigate complicated situations.

[Captain Goddammit]

Oh yeah I personality have discs on my own playa bike but I'm not afraid of maintenance or repair. Unless it's a 2014 Huffy, a coaster brake AIN'T gonna fail.
Of course, I never really ride mine anyway...

[BBadger]

BeeLee: One thing to consider buying now is a chainring (sprocket) with fewer teeth. Sometimes those cruiser gear ratios are a bit hard on the legs. A high gear ratio was something that dissuaded me from buying a cruiser for previous burns, until I tried one with a nice low gear ratio last year.

I bought a sprocket with 36 teeth (search for "36T cruiser sprocket" on your favorite online shop), which means I just need to remove chain links (get a chain tool) to make the chain fit tight instead of install a larger chain. This reduce the gear ratio from 44/19 (2.32) to 36/19 (1.89). I might bring a 20T cog (search for "20T coaster brake") too to reduce it further if I need to.

All this I just learned this past month with help from Elliot, online videos, and posts like these.

Yeah, this seems like a bit of extra work, but you don't need to do it in the Walmart parking lot. You can do this later in off-time on the playa under shade or something. While you're swapping out parts you can goop up the bearings too. Your legs will thank you.

Note, that on the cheap-ass sprocket I bought I did need to file down one of the holes to make it fit on my cruiser since it wasn't exactly precision engineered. Oh well.

[Elliot]

I'll allow myself a few more seconds this time. (Slightly busy these days. LOL)

But mostly, all I can do is confirm what others have posted.

Coaster brakes (you pedal backward to slow down) are darn near bomb-proof. The exception is when the factory truly screws them up, as happened with the Huffy Cranbrooks and other bikes using the same brand rear hub in 2014. Wrong heat treatment (hardening), or maybe even bad steel, of the drive cone inside the hub. I can show you one. The next year's vintage was perfectly fine again. (I bet somebody in China was fired over that blunder. Somebody fairly high up. A whole annual production run of defective hubs! Must have been a couple million bikes. Yikes.)

The downside to a coaster brake is that you cannot spin the crank rearward to get good leverage for starting. I've been known to pick up the rear wheel by grabbing the saddle, so I can spin forward to a good starting position.

BBadger is very right about changing the drive -- "gear" -- ratio. Single-speed bikes are intended for pavement, and no wind. On Playa, and with a head-wind half the time, you want a slower -- easier to pedal -- ratio. But this is not a beginner job. And yeah, with cheap parts, some "fitment" work is to be expected. I bought eight of the same sprocket BB bought. Sharp edges. Handle carefully, or with gloves.

We have solved a lot of complaints in our camp with a "relatively" simple drive ratio change.

Sure, hand brakes are better. But the cables are like having your arteries dangling on the outside of your body. Major trouble guaranteed.

Hubs with internal gears are a good way to go on Playa. They are more reliable than derailleur gears. Except for the cable.

Plastic pedals often fail -- completely -- within a week. I buy nothing but metal ones. About $20. Be sure to get correct threads: 1/2 inch for one-piece crank. 9/16 for three-piece crank. Yes, "American" sizes, by some sort of tradition, apparently. The wrench is 15 millimeters, regardless. May require an extra-thin wrench.

Tools.... Allen wrenches. Metric, like most fasteners on a bicycle. I've seen bikes with no Allen bolts, but....

Never apply force to an Allen wrench unless it is seated All The Way into the hole in the bolt.

For combination wrenches.... 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17 mm. Do not buy a set without all those sizes. Some sets leave out the 9. All right, you may or may not need the 17.

To adjust wheel bearings, you should have "cone wrenches". These are open-end wrenches that are very thin. A decent bicycle store should have them.

Finally.... That tool I posted a cryptic photo of is a "spoke wrench", or "spoke key". It is used to adjust the tension of spokes. All Huffy Cranbrooks I have seen came from the factory with severely under-tightened spokes. That's why so many of those wheels take on a figure-8 shape after a couple days.

[claybcook]

Jumping in here. Newbie about to acquire a bike for first Burn this year. Dead simple Schwinn S1 cruiser or Huffy Cranbrook seems to be the entry level, but they seem to need some Pre-playa work to get them ready with new chain rings, etc. Stepping up a bit is the Schwinn Hornet with a 3 speed Shimano Nexus internal rear hub and coaster brakes. Frame seems sturdier with doubled top tubes, or maybe that's just the look.

I'm a competent amateur with bike tools and so can grease or mod or adjust whatever I get.

Thoughts?

[BBadger]

Depends on whether you're okay with this bike getting trashed, or even stolen (buy and use a lock always), at the burn. Bikes do hold up after multiple burns, but you're still subjecting this thing to corrosive dust and other crap. Looking online, those Hornets seem to cost about $350 or something which is way more than I'd want to spend on a regular bike just for the burn. If you're planning on cleaning this up and using it other times of the year, maybe go for it, but I'd probably spend that money on a tricycle if I had the space, rather than a nice bike for the Burn, but that's just me.

I bought all that extra stuff for my el cheapo Cranbrook because I wanted really low gearing. I might even gear it even lower this year.

[claybcook]

That's a really good answer. Seriously. Thanks.

[Zubeneschamali]

Don't buy new. Get a used / garage sale special. You got the tools and the aptitude and if you find the right base to work with you could have a nice playa cruiser that will go for years.

Cruising the Cranbook is fine, but kinda like driving a Civic in Anytown, USA.