Question about my bike

[DerbyDave 18]

This will be my third year. The first year I bought a basic used bike and did fine with it. My second year I bought a cruiser with the wider tires and no gears and had a hard time riding that thing and getting around was something of an effort. Someone gave me their racing bike and I'm wondering if it would do well at the Burn. I will switch the seat to a regular one and the handlebar to a normal one but will the thin tires make it harder on me to get around. I have asthma so the less straining while riding the better.

[Ratty]

Deja Vu. I could have sworn that I answered this already.

[TT120]

Gears and wider tires are the best combination out there. Skinny tires will be dig in and cause problems. Fat tire bikes are the best but the cheaper ones are heavy so there is a tradeoff. You could also get a regular old mountain bike and put a cushy cruiser seat and cruiser bars on it and call it good.

[burner von braun]

Deja Vu Too..

but yeah, what TT120 said is good solid advice DD.


..speaking of which.. Good to see you back around here more often lately TT120! Woohoo!

[TT120]

Deja Vu Too..

but yeah, what TT120 said is good solid advice DD.


..speaking of which.. Good to see you back around here more often lately TT120! Woohoo!

Thanks Burner. My job, (which I lovingly call "The soul sucking vortex of death") gets a little hectic sometimes and I don't get much time to myself.


Dave: You definitely want gears, shift that sucker down to first and you can mosey around all day without much effort. You won't win any races but you'll get there.

[EGAZ]

I understand money is tight but Electric is Da Bomb! But yes, fat tires and gears, fat seat and taller bars are the ticket.


Hey TT, What's shakin?

[DerbyDave 18]

Unfortunately money is extremely tight. I can't work and got in on the low income ticket each year. This is my one big thing a year that I save up to do so no electric bike for me. The cruiser I had last year didn't have gears so that must be why it was so hard to get around. I guess I'll search craig'slist and things like that for a used bike like what you guys suggested.

[Token]

If you have the cruiser already, re-gear it.

You can put either a smaller sprocket up front or a bigger one at the rear wheel.

You lose some velocity but the pedaling will be allot easier.

I'm guessing your not in a hurry

[Elliot]

Token beat me to it by a few minutes.

One-speed bikes are geared for pavement. We routinely "completely transform" (a customer's phrase) these by installing either a smaller front sprocket or a larger rear one.
Replacing the front is easier in that you will remove a link or two from the chain, rather than have to come up with extra chain to add. When the bike has a one-piece crank, this is what I usually do.
But if the bike has a three-piece crank, it may be difficult to find the right part at a sensible price, so then we install a larger rear sprocket instead.

However.... Most one-speed bikes have a coaster brake. That is, you pedal backward to stop, and that's awkward enough. In my experience, most people are accustomed to squeezing a brake lever with a hand, rather than using a coaster (pedal-backward) brake.
What's worse with a coaster brake, is that you cannot spin the crank backward to put a pedal at a good starting point to begin moving.

That brings us to a mountain bike. These have hand brakes.
First thing I do on a mountain bike is throw the front derailleur as far I can possible fling it. The next county is too close. (I call this a "correction" to the design of the bike.) Put the chain on the middle of the three sprockets and leave it there. (Keep an eye on it, and put it back on the middle sprocket if when it goes astray.)
Then happily change gears as needed for headwind and tailwind and whatnot.

Cables, for the rear shifter as well as for brakes, are consumables. They must be replaced often. You can minimize this by paying attention -- avoiding kinking the cables.
K-mart sells a kit of all four cables complete with ferrules and tips for around eight bucks. The brand name is Schwinn. These are nylon-lines housings.
Do NOT by the Bell brand of such kits. Those are unlined housings, which quickly rust.
As soon as you buy the kit, open it and unwind the ridiculously-tightly-wound cables, and smooth them out best you can, and store them in looser coils.

There are other variations of bikes, but they are less common.
For example, there are cruisers with gears. These usually have gears (the derailleur type) only on the rear wheel, so they work like a "corrected" mountain bike.
And some bikes have gears inside the rear wheel hub. This works wonderfully on Playa.

Twist grip shifters often fail to work properly, or even work at all. They are an attempt by manufacturers to make shifting easier, and very much a failed attempt. Ask your bicycle shop to install a lever shifter instead -- the kind with adjustable friction, which is why they are called friction shifters. If it has detents, take it apart and remove the spring and pawl. Now you have a regular friction-lever-shifter. I buy them online for ten bucks each -- Sunrace brand, model M10. See photo of label for more info. Even comes with cable. Make sure it is for Right side, which is for the rear derailleur.

Edit to add photos:

[EGAZ]

A quick google says they can be had from Amazon, Walmart, and eBay.....

[Joeln]

Did the rear sprocket thing to my bike and loving it!
(of course I had plenty of extra chain bits lying around)

If you have the cruiser already, re-gear it.

You can put either a smaller sprocket up front or a bigger one at the rear wheel.

You lose some velocity but the pedaling will be allot easier.

I'm guessing your not in a hurry

[Zarqun]

There are other variations of bikes, but they are less common.
For example, there are cruisers with gears. These usually have gears (the derailleur type) only on the rear wheel, so they work like a "corrected" mountain bike.
And some bikes have gears inside the rear wheel hub. This works wonderfully on Playa.

Internal rear wheel hub gears are the best gears ever invented!
They rarely need any maintenance or repair.
As I haven't been on the Playa yet, I don't know if these gears survive a BM quite well...
Maybe you have a more profound knowledge, Elliot?

[EGAZ]

That .... he does.....

[BBadger]

Along with replacing the sprocket (rear gear) with one with more teeth, swapping out the chainring (pedal gear) with one that has fewer teeth also reduces effort required to pedal.

I bought a cheap 36T chainring on Amazon for $10 including free shipping (doesn't even need Prime!) and it worked just fine and didn't require me buying a longer chain. I did have to file out part of the hole, but $10 isn't much for extra riding comfort. I think I might install a sprocket with more teeth too for really easy riding.

[Elliot]

... ... ...
And some bikes have gears inside the rear wheel hub. This works wonderfully on Playa.

... ... ...I don't know if these gears survive a BM quite well...
Maybe you have a more profound knowledge, Elliot?

No personal experience, but by all accounts... gear hubs are well sealed and do just fine on Playa. Definitely the best type of gears for the purpose.

[Captain Goddammit]

Internal hub gears are available from 2-speed to 8-speed, with the 3-speed being most common. Often the cheapest way to get one is to find an old 3-speed bike from garage sale or Craigslist (although Craigslist of late has become full of people who watch too many "picker" shows and think their junk is gold) and take the whole rear wheel and shifter and swap 'em on.
Or just use the whole bike! The old 3-speeds are usually cruisers that are just about right for BM anyway.

You have to adjust them carefully so they shift right but they work great and they withstand all sorts of harsh environments because the parts are all inside the hub.

Internal gear hubs are available with a coaster brake (the pedal backwards to stop kind) which eliminates the need for hand brakes and their cables and levers, all of which are sources of trouble on the playa.
Internal hub gears are all I run on my bikes. Derailleurs suck. The chains are always loose and floppy, they fill with crud, they're prone to getting bent or busted. And mostly, they're just ugly looking.

[Elliot]

Just for the novelty of the fact that it exists.... There is a 15-speed gear hub, named Rohloff, made in Germany. Around a Grand.
EDIT TO CORRECT; 14 -speed.

[Captain Goddammit]

FIFTEEN???

There are also three speed front transmissions but they're rare vintage intems. I want one.

[Elliot]

Oops... I remembered wrong. Only 14 gears.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohloff_Speedhub

[DerbyDave 18]

If you have the cruiser already, re-gear it.

Unfortunately I don't have the bike anymore. I was running late to get to the Temple burn and ended up with the worst asthma attack I've ever had in my life. I had to be taken to Rampart and the people at the First Aid Station put my bike aside and swore they'd keep it for me. Next morning I went back. The station was closed down and the bike was gone so I'm starting from zero again.

[The Hustler]

I covet a Rohloff Speedhub, which is 14 internal gears. The hubs cost a fortune, but outlast everything and actually work out to be less expensive in the long run.

Another advantage of internal hubs is the ability to shift without pedaling, such as at a red light or sudden change in navigation (toward a shiny thing, perhaps).

I have an SON 28 dyno front hub (internal generator) that powers either a sunburn headlight (hand made and overbuilt by an Aussie) or a USB plug. As long as I'm moving about 5 mph I can recharge an iDevice, a wireless speaker or whatever else; or have that brutal light, which comes in handy in places like the trash fence of Black Rock City or dark forest roads.

Internal hub gears are available from 2-speed to 8-speed, with the 3-speed being most common. Often the cheapest way to get one is to find an old 3-speed bike from garage sale or Craigslist (although Craigslist of late has become full of people who watch too many "picker" shows and think their junk is gold) and take the whole rear wheel and shifter and swap 'em on.
Or just use the whole bike! The old 3-speeds are usually cruisers that are just about right for BM anyway.

You have to adjust them carefully so they shift right but they work great and they withstand all sorts of harsh environments because the parts are all inside the hub.

Internal gear hubs are available with a coaster brake (the pedal backwards to stop kind) which eliminates the need for hand brakes and their cables and levers, all of which are sources of trouble on the playa.
Internal hub gears are all I run on my bikes. Derailleurs suck. The chains are always loose and floppy, they fill with crud, they're prone to getting bent or busted. And mostly, they're just ugly looking.