Loaded For Bear

"BikeWorks" very nicely provides red shop aprons for us to wear while we volunteer as bike mechanics.  Visitors can wear an apron as well although theirs are coloured black to help distinguish who is a volunteer and who isn't.

After many shifts of wearing the red apron, I decided that having one big pocket on the apron wasn't going to work for me.  I found it too difficult to fish around for whatever tool I needed.  I needed something more organized to hold the handful of tools that I use on a regular basis.

From having taken in my bike to United Cycle for repairs, I knew their mechanics wore overalls with many pockets on the chest flap and I thought this was an excellent way to retrieve tools.  So there is no confusion when I empty my pockets, I use my own tools.

A convenient way to access tools

On the far left (right in the photo) is a pen which can also be used to check the smoothness of bearing races by running the ballpoint along the race.  Next is a mini flashlight which comes in very handily when needing to read a tire size or catch a glimpse of the inner workings of a shifter.  Next is what is called a "Quik Stik" - one of the best tools for tire removal and on the far right is my chain - checker.  The longer end of the chain - checker can be used to let the air out of a tire.

Down below most of the tools is a cute little pocket which nicely holds a picker made from a shortened and sharpened spoke.  Convenient for poking out the gunk from any number of crevices.

My left pocket holds a Zed shaped allen key and my right holds a bike tool and a pocket knife which has many uses.  Not only for cutting zip ties but I like to use the flat screwdriver blade to clean off jockey wheels.

I guess I should have looked for red overalls so that cyclists visiting "BikeWorks" would be able to tell that I'm a volunteer and not a mechanic visiting from United Cycle.

"Get Your Bearings"

A simple but helpful tool

Here's a simple tool that is easy to make from an old spoke that will help you if you go so far as to service/repack your bearings.  The looped part is used to scoop individual bearings from their races and the pointy end is handy for dislodging an errant bearing that may have fallen into the channel created by removing the axle.

Make a right angle bend with blunt nosed pliers

This is what it should look like

Bend again

Will look like this

Using hands, bend the long part up

Like so

Keep bending and press the long part into the crook

Cut off half of the remaining spoke

When cutting off the excess spoke, don't be tempted to use a pair of cable cutters.  I've seen numerous pairs of cable cutters in the shop ruined by this practise.

A file works well to sharpen the end of the spoke or if you have access to a grinder, you can do a quick job of it.

Studly Do-Right

As the days shorten, it is only a matter of time before the snow flies and ice begins to form on our streets which means it is time to stud a pair of tires to use on this winter's commutes.  And you'll find that with a minimum of mechanical expertise, it is easy to do.


The knobbier the better


The first step is to use a pair of knobby tires - the bigger the knobs the better.  Using a drill, you'll want to screw 5/8"sheet metal screws into the inside of the tire.  With a bit of luck, you'll end up placing the screw right into the center of one of the knobs.  50 screws per tire will do the job.


With self-tapping screws, drilling is easy


Alternate the knobs that you put the screws into otherwise you'll find that your tire will go bump,bump,bump as you ride.  The ends of the screws are very sharp so handle the tires carefully.  Through riding on pavement, the screws will eventually wear down to a smaller size and lose some of their sharpness.  Don't worry - that wearing down won't affect their performance.


You can also use 1/2" screws

Next: Part Two - Lining the tire and mounting

Spokeconfusion

In an effort to learn as much as I can about repairing bikes, I signed up for a wheel building course at "Bikeworks".  Gathered around me were seven other enthusiasts who seemed to grasp the very complicated instructions necessary to determine what parts are needed to build a wheel.

Oh sure, I  was okay at the beginning of the class when it came to asking questions like "In this example you're passing around, why is one nipple bigger than the other?"  Or "The longer it gets - the harder it gets?" - spokes that is.  But when our fine instructor Axel got down to the nitty-gritty of "SPOKE CALCULATION" that's when my eyes began to glaze over and I knew then that I shouldn't have dropped math as soon as I could in high school (grade eleven for those of you who care).

I looked around at the twenty-somethings and they were all nodding in understanding (except for the guy next to me who had fallen asleep and was snoring gently).  My friends Rob, Alex and Coreen were asking intelligent questions and making clever observations while I stared at my notebook and tried to make sense of my nearly illegible scrawl: on rims with a deep V-cross section, using hexagonal nipples, tensioning up to 2,000N can be carried out
Or this doozie: fewer spokes reduce weight and improve aerodynamic properties, but need to be given a higher tension, which on the other hand, require more, stable, and thus
heavier rims....
Glancing at my notes again, I couldn't fathom what I had written only moments before:
 NTN=581(2)
(2)N-14.8X=29
595X2
600.6

I'm so glad that Alex and Coreen were there to help my class partner Rob and I to do the actual spoke calculation for the wheels we were going to build.  In fact, the two of them seemd so non-plussed that I'm confident that with them at my side at next week's class I might just be able to build a wheel that won't collapse the moment someone climbs onto the bike that has my hand-made wheels.

Yes We Have One Bandana

In my April 11th blog I mentioned the value of taking a bandana along while out biking and now I have found another use for that handy square piece of cloth.

After day one of the Tour and while preparing for the evening's banquet, I decided to wash my snazzy MS jersey so I could wear it on day 2.  During the ride from Nisku, I'd been wearing my MEC hydration pack and some perspiration had accumulated on my back and a good wash of the cycling shirt was necessary. This was all fine and dandy - but how to dry it?

Not wanting to drape the shirt over the hotel furniture, I opened the window and the roar of diesel pickups and the blamming of car exhausts filled the room. Ah!  Lovely rural Alberta!

I snagged one of the theft-proof wooden hangers from inside the closet - but how to hang up the shirt when the hanger has no hook?  Bandana to the rescue.  I tied a knot to the curtain rod  and using the same granny knot, tied the other end of the bandana to the metal post of the hanger.  And voila!  A do it yourself clothesline.  The line held the shirt at just the right height so that the exhaust - filled breeze could waft its way through the mesh fabric and dry this year's version of the MS jersey.

NEXT: Earthworm Thruway (MS Tour Day 2)