Your bicycle repair needs? Speak up!

[Elliot]

Two questions:

Do you really like having a “ten-speedâ€

[fatal_GRACE]

That sounds like a great gift/theme to be sharing with people on the playa, but, if I come across you there (it'll be my first year), I think it would do me alot of good to get a basic bike repair lesson from you. I think alot of people could benefit from the knowledge of simply how to change a tire or a chain.

I look forward to meeting you!

[gyre]

You need at least 3 speeds out there, preferably 5 in wide ratio.

I took a converted singles speed my first year and it was a nightmare.
Eventually got to where the chain would not stay on.
You have to leave the derailleur on for tension or change sprocket types and chain.

Try to keep the rear gears at least.

A really common issue out there is seats, especially with bought bikes.
Too low a post is really common.
Too loose, bad hardware and so on.


I'd like to have internal gears.
No dust issues.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohloff_Speedhub

[AntiM]

myLarry says that with the rhoadescar, the problems have been the derailer binding and breaking the chain, the bolt on the drum brake shearing (Flintstone time!), and the bearings, even though sealed, dry out and jam up with playa. Fortunately, he's been able to fix any of that on the playa, although a neighbor had the four inch machine-threaded bolt. He now carries a full repair kit to the playa every year. I'm immobile without wheels; I'm sure others are too, you have a very cool idea!

[Captain Goddammit]

Hey Elliot, from 2000 - 2004 I had a bike repair camp on the Esplanade (Johnny & the Playa Cruizers Chassis Lube and Body Shop).
My experience was about the same as you've described; but the last year, we finally got tired and just made the garage (a 10 x 20 Costco carport) self-service. We laid out lots of cheap import tools for obvious reasons, but people were pretty good about putting everything back.
That turned out to be a success! Almost everyone was able to fix their own bike, they really just needed tools, supplies, air, etc. People were more than happy with being given a garage with everything they needed to take care of their own problems!
We'd gather mostly free old bikes during the rest of the year and bring a trailer full of 'em. Originally we'd give out complete bikes here and there, but we stopped doing that when we saw that in general, one bike could be cannibalized to fix several other broken bikes, so it put more people back on their wheels to part them out.

When the garage was open, we always did have someone on duty to watch over things, but for the most part all they had to do was sit in the shade and drink margaritas.

[DragginLady]

In keeping with the radical self-reliance idea, we have always taken up spare tires, repair kits, air pumps, etc. and never needed any of it. I hope I don't jinx myself by posting here!! Throughout the year, we keep an eye on garage sales, especially in the Spring when people tend to clean out their old junk. We find bikes for less than $20 that are plenty good for the Playa. They have gears, but in three years out there, I have never needed to switch gears, even when attempting to get back to camp in near white out conditions. By the end of two weeks out there, the bikes sound creaky, and obviously are dusty, but we bring them home and clean them up and they are good to go for next year.
More important than the gears to me are the tires. The fatter the better.

[World Power Foundation]

If I have a street bike with skinny tires, what's the chance of swapping out the tires for a more playa-ready pair?

[Elliot]

Much good input.

Yes, teaching the bicycle owners how to do it themselves next time is of course THE thing to do!

And extra tools and supplies for DIY is also a great idea. We certainly had people who worked on their own bikes with our tools in 2007. In addition, some of them stayed a while and fixed more bikes! Then there was the guy who visited our camp, then returned later with his own full set of professional tools including a repair stand and spent several hours fixing bikes with us!
All "very Burning Man", which is why we do it, I'm pretty sure.

Saddles and posts, oh yes. I'm keeping long posts from bikes I scrap, and old-fashioned saddles with springs.

I also keep an eye out for tall frames, year 'round. Last year I built up three or four tall frames that were old skinny-tire drop-bar bikes. I put mountain bike wheels on them, and BMX handlebars, and they turned out pretty good Playa bikes for tall guys! The tight spot is tire clearance, so I could not put the widest tires on them. And I had to juggle brake parts so the pads hit the rim -- I welded a new brake mount on at least one.
Many burners buy a bike that is too low for them. Most of the (many!) week-old $54,95 Wally-world bikes we were gifted in 2007 were "teenager size".

Internal gear hubs are nice. I hate derailers. Just listen to the word -- derail, as in train wreck! The old Sturmey Archer three speed hubs can still work fine, but they are somewhat fragile. The modern Shimano hubs have something like five or six speeds and are probably a good deal for... I'm not up on it... a couple hundred bucks? The Rohloff 15 speed hub costs a thousand dollars.
There is a new gear hub called NuVinci. It is a CVT -- Continuously Variable Transmission. It's extremely clever, and I love the way I can change ratios with infinite variety from 0.5 to 1.75 ratios. It can be shifted even when standing still. (Before I get carried away, I must disclose that I have a relationship with the factory. I'm testing Nuvinci hubs in Kinetic Sculpture Racing.) So far, I have found one drawback to the NuVinci hub, and that is internal drag. It transfers power essentially by friction, so there is some loss. It is also expensive -- full retail is something like 450. But you can get it on eBay for around 330. Complete cruiser style bikes are also available.

Bearings jamming with dust.... My theory is that all four bearing sets on a bicycle should be adjusted a tad loose before heading for the Playa. Many of the tight bearings we fixed really only needed to be loosened.

Hey, I see a new post just popped up -- about tires. I already talked about my road-bike to Playa-bike conversions. There are at least three things to consider. One is the width of the rim, and the second is the width ("elbow room") in the front fork and in the rear triangle. The third is the diameter of the tire -- a road tire may be 27" or 700mm, whereas mountain bike tires are 26", so you may need to change the entire wheel, as I mentioned above. It's a trial and error thing. I would not suggest it unless you have a pile of bikes in the yard like I do -- and the experience to make weird things work. Probably better to buy a cheap mountain bike and be done with it.

[gyre]

I found the Rohloff for $750 or so.
If exchange rates go back, it won't be so bad.
Seems worth it anyway.
Last dura-ace bikeset I got cost a lot more.
And it looks like it wouldn't need repair until after I'm dead.

SRAM has 3 to 9 speed hubs.
I think 7 and 8 speeds are pretty common now.
The 9 speed has a 340% ratio.
And then there's the SRAM Dualdrive with an internal gearset and a derailleur.

Some of the fancy pants shifters cost a lot more than the gearhubs.

[SonOfUgly]

i did have a bikle with a few speeds that got all jammed up out there and got it worked on by one hell of a nice dude, he turned it in to a one speed it lasted the rest of the burn, got back and parted it out for a few other bikes i had...im not to good with bikes myself and really anything to make it last a few more rides out there is a dang good gift in my eyes as its always the cheap'o bikes i have and dont give a shit about em other then moving me

[Teo del Fuego]

If I have a street bike with skinny tires, what's the chance of swapping out the tires for a more playa-ready pair?

If you have skinny street tires, just leave the bike at home. It will be worthless on the playa-even in good weather conditions when the playa is relatively hard-packed. My other sugestions--and its not meant to be snarky--is to use the remaining 250 days until the next Burn to invest in cruiser tires and wheels. That's the self-reliance portion of the event. But understand, wider tires may not work on a street frame because of tire-clearance issues.

K-Mart is selling a basic single speed retro cruiser with chrome fenders for $129. That's tough to beat.

[Teo del Fuego]

[quote="gyre"]You need at least 3 speeds out there, preferably 5 in wide ratio.

Not unless you are out of shape and overweight. Simple single speed cruisers work the best out there. Deraileurs are more prone to develope problems with the jockey wheels gunking up.

Folks, if you bring a bike with 20" or 24" wheels, make darn sure you have at least two spare tubes. Not many folks are going to be able to help you out if you flat with that odd size and your tube is beyond patching.

[wedeliver]

You need at least 3 speeds out there, preferably 5 in wide ratio.

Not unless you are out of shape and overweight. Simple single speed cruisers work the best out there. Deraileurs are more prone to develope problems with the jockey wheels gunking up.

Folks, if you bring a bike with 20" or 24" wheels, make darn sure you have at least two spare tubes. Not many folks are going to be able to help you out if you flat with that odd size and your tube is beyond patching.

I'm with ya Teo, it takes good playa conditions though. I remember (could have been a dream) riding with no hands, barely having to peddle with the wind behind me, EYES CLOSED. counted to 100.. what a RUSH!

I think we have been using the same tubes and tires for 6 or 7 years. No wear or tear out there. (hey that rhymes) (my feet must be longfellows)

(i hope i got those quotes in the correct place)

[mdmf007]

You need at least 3 speeds out there, preferably 5 in wide ratio.

Not unless you are out of shape and overweight. Simple single speed cruisers work the best out there. Deraileurs are more prone to develope problems with the jockey wheels gunking up.

Folks, if you bring a bike with 20" or 24" wheels, make darn sure you have at least two spare tubes. Not many folks are going to be able to help you out if you flat with that odd size and your tube is beyond patching.

2008 playa conditions blew. Youneed more than one gear - let me tell you. Especially when trying to travel upwind across a playa covered in dust.

Single speeds rock normally, 2007 they were perfect - 2008's a different story.
IMO

[Elliot]

The fundamental derailer = train wreck aspect aside, the main reason I'm on a crusade to relieve people of their derailers is that so many perfectly normal intelligent educated humans simply do not know how to use derailers. To them, it is as alien and uncomprehensible as computer programming is to me. I cannot count how many times I have seen a chain on the far left sprocket on the front, and the far right sprocket on the rear, and vice versa.

I am NOT picking on you! There is no reason on Earth why anyone should have to learn such a bizarre skill just to get down the street. I cannot fathom why Cheapo-Mart carries derailer bikes at all. Does Toyota sell cars with UN-synchonized stick shifts? Of course not.

I figure they still sell derailer bikes because of what I call the Lance Armstrong Factor. People, being human, like to be seen on the same kind of equipment that the "serious" bike riders use.

What we need is a critical mass. Not the usual bicycle critical mass, but a critical mass of bicycle consumers who realize they are not being properly served by replicas of racing machinery. There is no reason why every bicycle on the shelf at Cheapo-Mart can not have internal hub gears 12 months from now. People just need to learn that such hardware has been invented, and would serve them much better.

How's that for a Sunday sermon?

[Elderberry]

I cannot count how many times I have seen a chain on the far left sprocket on the front, and the far right sprocket on the rear, and vice versa.

And there is something wrong with that?

JK

[Elliot]

I cannot count how many times I have seen a chain on the far left sprocket on the front, and the far right sprocket on the rear, and vice versa.

And there is something wrong with that?

JK

Hi JK,
Yes, wrong on two levels. Of course, I'm not talking about any stick-of-dynamite-in-the-living-room level of wrong. But less-than-ideal as bicycle technology goes. Everything is a matter of degree (short of that stick of dynamite going off).

Roller chains are designed to operate straight back and forth. Any bending increases friction, and the risk of derailing. So the bicycle chain should always be kept as straight as possible.

Let's use the typical 21 speed bike as our example.

As a starting point, it is suggested to have the chain on the middle of the three front sprockets, and also on the middle of the seven rear ones. Then shift the rear up or down as needed. From the middle front, the chain will reach any of the rears without excessive bending. You can think of this as a pendulum swinging horizontally within a safe range, not banging into anything. Also, the tensioner (the fore-and-aft part of the derailer) will be within its middle range, avoiding high tension (friction) and low tension (increased risk of derailing).

Now, if you find yourself riding mostly on the left-most (largest) rear sprocket, you can straighten the chain line (reducing friction) by going to the left (small) front sprocket. This will give you an even lower gear, so you go back one step on the rear and... perfect chain line. And you still have the "full left" gear for pulling up tree stumps.

Likewise (with the chain on the middle front sprocket), if you find yourself using the right side (tiny) rear sprocket, it may be a good time to go to the right side (large) front one. Again, the chain will be as close to parallell with the sprockets as possible. "Full right" is your Bonneville Salt Flats gear.

So... here comes JK, pounding away and not paying much attention to other things. From the middle-middle starting point, he needs a lower gear, so he uses his free hand to shift the rear to the left. Then the terrain changes, and he wants back to a higher gear, but he has changed hands in the meantime, so it is now easier to shift the front derailer to the right. Now the chain is running in the maximum zigzag, far right to far left, and the tensioner is at its tightest. The pendulum is bumping into the furniture.
Similarly, left front to right rear would have the pendulum at the other extreme, and the tensioner would be at its slackest.

Sure, you can ride all day like that. It's just not the way the bike was designed to be ridden. There will be more friction than necessary, detracting from your "riding experience". And there will be more wear than necessary, detracting from the service life of the bike. And with chain wear comes increased risk of accidental derailing.

Worse... and now we get to that second level of wrong... One glance will tell me that you don't know a derailleur from a ditch witch. So it's a philosophical thing.

But don't take my word for it. Instead, take a look at this fabulous web site that I discovered just a few days ago. (Was it somebody here who introduced it? I forget.)

http://bicycletutor.com/gear-shifting/

This site has more than 20 short videos about bicycle use and repair. Enjoy!

Here ya go: I made ya a pit'cher:



The blue chain is at an agreeable angle, and the red one less so.


Edits: add link and add illustration.

[Elderberry]

Hey Elliot,

Thanks for taking the time to explain that all to me. I grew up in the days when bikes didn't have gears. When I decided to go to BM I knew I needed a bike. Well, I decided to get a better bike, then I could use it to ride around town too. And to my ignorant way of thinking, the more gears, the better! LOL

Anyway, nobody ever bothered to explaining shifting to me and I sort of just 'figured it out'. Whenever I asked my partner about it, he just couldn't understand why it was go hard for me to 'get'.

But what you said makes perfect sense. I guess I just sort of assumed if you could move the chain into a position, the position was OK. Otherwise, why would you be able to shift to that position?

Anyway, thanks again. Unfortunately, the only time I use that bike is when I'm at BM; What's that about the road to hell? I could have saved a ton of money.

JK

[Elliot]

JK, this makes you a perfectly normal human -- so far as bicycle gearing goes.

And I didn't write it for you -- I wrote it for some nice lady that I have not met yet, who will be so impressed that she will want to marry me.

Here's an other great web site. Sheldon Brown was a major bicycle guru with a great sense of humor, and he gathered a ton of info on his web site:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/articles.html

Edit:
From Sheldon Brown's web site:

Try to avoid the gears that make the chain cross over at an extreme angle. These "criss-cross" gears are bad for the chain and sprockets. Especially bad is to combine the inside (small) front sprocket with the outside (small) rear sprocket. This noisy, inefficient gear causes the chain to wear out prematurely.

[gyre]

I always leave the chain in the lowest tension position, even more important for storage, I would think.

I remember someone offering a higher flexibility chain for this issue.

[gyre]

A few things from the bike shop.
Date: 2009-05-27, 4:05PM PDT


Whoo-hoo Seattle, the sun is out! Let's discuss a few things before you fumble with swapping the unused ski rack for the unused bike rack on the Subaru.

So yes, you've noticed the sun is out, and hey!- maybe it would be cool to to some bike riding. Let's keep in mind that the sun came out of all 600,000 of us, so for the most part, you're not the only one who noticed. Please remember that when you walk into my shop on a bright, sunny Saturday morning. It will save you from looking like a complete twat that huffs "Why are there so many people here?"

Are we all on the same page now about it being sunny outside? Have we all figured out that we're not the only clever people that feel sunny days are good for bike riding? Great. I want to kiss all of you on your forehead for sharing this moment with me. Put your vitamin D starved fingers in mine, and we'll move on together to some pointers that will make life easier.

SOME POINTERS FOR THE PHONE:

- I don't know what size of bike you need. The only thing that I can tell over the phone is that you sound fat. I don't care how tall you are. I don't care how long your inseam is. Don't complain to me that you don't want to come ALL THE WAY down to the bike shop to get fitted for a bike. I have two hundred bikes in my inventory. I will find one that fits you. Whether you come from the north or the south, my shop is downhill. Pretend you're going to smell a fart, ball up, and roll your fat ass down here.

- Don't get high and call me. Write it down, call me later. When I have four phone lines ringing, and a herdlet
of people waiting for help, I can't deal with you sitting there "uuuuhhh"-ing and "uuummm"-ing while your brain tries to put together some cheeto-xbox-fixie conundrum. We didn't get disconnected, I left you on hold to figure your shit out.

-I really do need to see your bike to know what is wrong with it. You've already figured out that when you car makes a noise, the mechanic needs to see it. When your TV goes blank, a technician needs to see it. I can tell you, if there is one thing I've learned from you fucking squirrels, it's that "doesn't shift right" means your bike could need a slight cable adjustment, or you might just need to stop backing into it with the Subaru. Bring it in, I'll let you know for sure.

- No, I don't know how much a good bike costs. For some, spending $500 dollars is a kingly sum. For others, $500 won't buy you one good wheel. You really need to have an idea of what you want, because every one of you raccoons "doesn't want to spend too much".

FOR YOU INVENTIVE TYPES AND DO-IT-YOURSELFERS:

- Just because you think is should exist, doesn't mean that it does. I know that to you, a 14 inch quill stem makes perfect sense, but what makes more sense is buying a bike that fits you, not trying to make your mountain bike that was too small for you to begin with into a comfort bike.

- If some twat on some message board somewhere says that you can use the lockring from your bottom bracket as a lockring for a fixie conversion doesn't mean that A: you can, or B: you should. Please listen to me on this stuff, I really do have your best interests at heart.

- I love that you have the enthusiasm to build yourself a recumbent in the off season. That does not mean however, that I share your enthusiasm; ergo I won't do the "final tweaks" for you. You figure out why that Sram shifter and that Shimano rear derailleur don't work together. While we're at it, you recumbent people scare me a little. Don't bring that lumbering fucking thing anywhere near me.

A DEDICATION TO ALL THE HIPSTER DUCHEBAGS:

-If you shitheads had any money, you wouldn't NEED a vintage Poo-zhow to get laid. Go have an ironic mustache growing contest in front of American Apparel, so that I can continue selling $300 bikes to fatties, which is what keeps the lights on.

- Being made in the 80's may make something cool, but that doesn't automatically make something good. The reason that no one has ridden that "vintage" Murray is because it's shit. It was shit in the 80's, a trend it carried proudly through the 90's, and rallied with into the '00's. What I mean to say is, no, I can't make it work better. It's still shit, even with more air in the tires.

SO YOU'RE GONNA BUY A BIKE:

Good for you! Biking is awesome. It's easy, it's fun, it's good for you. I want you to bike, I really do. To that end, I am here to help you.

-Your co-worker that's "really into biking" knows fuck all. Stop asking for his advice. He could care less about you having the right bike. He wants to validate his bike purchase(s) through you. He also wants to sleep with you, and wear matching bike shorts with you.

- You're not a triathlete. You're not. If you were, you wouldn't be here, and we both know it.

- You're not a racer. If you were, I'd know you already, and you wouldn't be here, and we both know it.

- So you want a bike that you can ride to work, goes really fast, is good for that triathlon you're doing this summer (snicker), is good on trails and mud, and costs less than $300. Yeah. Listen, I want a car that can go 200 miles an hour, tow a boat, has room for five adults, is easy to parallel park but can carry plywood, gets 60mpg, and only costs $3,000. I also want a unicorn to blow me. What are we even talking about here? Oh yeah. Listen, bikes can be fast, light, cheap and comfortable. Pick two, and we're all good.

ABOUT YOUR KIDS:

Your kids are amazing. Sure are. No one else has kids as smart, able, funny or as good looking as you. Nope. Never see THAT around here.

- I have no idea how long you kid will be able to use this bike. As it seems to me, your precious is a little retarded, and can't even use the damn thing now. More likely, your budding genius is going to leave the bike in the driveway where you will Subaru the bike to death LONG before the nose picker outgrows the bike.

- Stop being so jumpy. I am not a molester. You people REALLY watch too much TV. When I hold the back of the bike while your kid is on it, it's not because I get a thrill from *almost* having my hand on kid butt, it's because kids are unpredictable, and generally take off whenever possible, usually not in the direction you think they might go. Listen, if I were going to do anything bad to your kids, I'd feed them to sharks, because sharks are FUCKING AWESOME.


I hope this helps, and have fun this summer riding your kick-ass bike!

[Elliot]

Love it! A bit rude, but... yeah. Wonder what he would think of the bike I ride these days -- a full suspension Mongoose mountain bike with tall BMX handlebar and wide comfort saddle!

[gyre]

My guess is he would love it, as long as you don't ask him to troubleshoot it.

[Elliot]

That's a key point, yes.

When I put a tall handlebar on a bike, I always install all new cables of generous length for the new configuration. That's an absolute must -- no shortcuts with cables.

Here's a tip: With a BMX bar, I can hang a basket or bag BEHIND the bar so it does not tangle with the cables and front lamp.

Cast off BMX bikes are everywhere. The wheels may be gone, but the bar is almost always there. BMX bars tend to lack the wider diameter in the middle for mounting, so you need a sleeve to make it fit. I usually cut the wide section out of the old bar, and split it so I can bend it open to slip it on. Nothing to it.

[Tiahaar]

A few things from the bike shop...
...I also want a unicorn to blow me...

LOL!!! that caught me unawares...hilarious!!! I'm printing the whole thing and giving my local wrenches a copy

True story: I was in the bike shop getting a bunch of tubes last week and this young kid and his dad bring in a reeeally nice bike, with the carbon fiber fork legs busted backwards. Kid asked if the shop could bend them back for him? 'uh...no, dude, they're like, broken, see.' The shop guy and I exchanged some banter about fiberglassing the things, and he was telling me about a guy that put like 10 pounds of MarineTex on his carbon fiber frame to finish a ride.

Time to oil and air up the playa bikes!