Commuting - Suffering from cycling withdrawals.

Sometime over the weekend I must have hit something pretty hard with the rear wheel. It was starting to resemble a Pringles potato chip. It was time for the complimentary tune-up (only had my bike three wonderful months) so I took it to the LBS. They said that it wouldn't take but a couple of days. They made it sound like that was a speedy turn-around. It might be but that doesn't make the wait any easier.

So I've been back in the car for the past couple of days and what a drag it's been. I find myself slipping into the same rut as the rest of the cagers. You know "Hurry up and change lanes!", "What are you waiting on?", "Where's my gun?", etc...

I don't feel any safer in my car either, so many blind spots. It feels like I'm window shopping when before the world was my oyster (Is that how that saying goes? I'll mutilate tradition sometimes :o). Several friends and coworkers have asked where the bike is and wondered if I had given it up. Oh the shame. :(

I suppose my wish list will now include a service stand and something to assist in the truing of wheels. I bought a spoke wrench (the one that came with the Topeak multi-tool kinda sucked). Do you really need one of those fancy truing stands to work on rims or can you use your brake pads as a Po-Az (southern for Poor Ass) caliper? Of course I'll need a few more of the basic bike tools but I think I'll start trying some of these repairs myself. I've purchased a Bicycle Maintenance manual and I was thinking about buying an old klunker to experiment on. I might also use that klunker to keep me out of the car.

Let's pray they get to my bike today. If not, my brother said that he would let me borrow his. I'm thankful to have a tall brother right about now. Though I wish he'd use his bike so much that he couldn't part with it. He informed me that I'd have to pump up the tires since it's been hanging from the garage wall for a year or so. Oh the shame returns... :(

the world was my oyster (Is that how that saying goes?)

Thats what Frankie says

Yeah I probably ought to get mine tuned up, the store said bring it back for the first tuneup early (to fix cable stretch etc). But then they told me they'd need to keep it for a WEEK... I was a little P.O.'d and decided I would have to come back later. I may try the other LBS near me, they of course will charge for the tuneup but someone told me they're more of a while-you-wait kinda place.

I can sympathsize with bike withdrawal. I broke a spoke so my bike was at the LBS for a couple of days. Then my wife was out of town for the past week. So to be able to pick up my son at school it meant forgoing the long commute and just doing the short ride to the train. So it has been almost 2 weeks since I've been able to do my long commute. I am anxious to get back.

I don't know what to make of repair times at LBS. None of them are big operations so I can certainly see their inability to do big jobs while you wait, but on the other hand many of these operations don't take long. So far I'm happy with my LBS so I'll probably put up with a little frustration at being wheel-less for the occasional repair.

Gosh last time I broke a spoke the guy at the LBS fixed it in an a few minutes while I walked around the block. Anyhow, I feel your pain, having recently taken several days off the bike to calm down a spot of tendonitis.

I usually just flip the bike over and true it like that. However, be careful...the nipples are threaded in such a way that, when the bike upside down, you must turn clockwise to loosen, counter to tighten. Also, it helps to have someone press the brake lever a bit to get the pads closer to the rim.

I usually just flip the bike over and true it like that. However, be careful...the nipples are threaded in such a way that, when the bike upside down, you must turn clockwise to loosen, counter to tighten. Also, it helps to have someone press the brake lever a bit to get the pads closer to the rim.

can't you tighten it via the barrel adjuster?

Not like I'd know... I got the truing stand from performance when it was $30. That being said, they have a workstand/toolkit combo for less than $100. If you have more money to spend, by all means do it. I've been thinking about getting a more stable workstand w/ a 360 rotating clamp, but the workstand is good for basic tuneups.

Bicycle withdrawls are a pain, but once you get to maintaining your own steed, you can be back on the road the next day, as opposed to a week >:P I remember taking my bike to the lbs co-op, and they told me 10 days for a full tuneup. WTF. Me? One freakin' day, or 2 hours to be more precise (although I've yet to check my frame alignment and wheel dish... but it seems to ride just as fine, so I think it's okay :D).

Thanks for the tip Ivan. I just thought if you didn't have someone to hold your break levers, then a cable tie could do the job.

I thought Frankie said "Relax".

Do you really need one of those fancy truing stands to work on rims or can you use your brake pads as a Po-Az (southern for Poor Ass) caliper? Of course I'll need a few more of the basic bike tools but I think I'll start trying some of these repairs myself. I've purchased a Bicycle Maintenance manual and I was thinking about buying an old klunker to experiment on. I might also use that klunker to keep me out of the car.


I just cut out a couple of pieces of card (1cmx5cm or so) and blue-tack them onto the forks (at the front) or the forward legs on my rack (at the rear). Line them up with the rim and that's an easy way to do lateral truing, which I find most common. Take off the tyre and tube and pop the wheel back into the dropouts and you can do radial truing (you may need longer pieces of card for this).

This way you don't have to fiddle with the brakes, and you can micro-adjust the card to get it finer and finer to get the wheel into true (careful you don't over-tighten, though).

I don't know what to make of repair times at LBS. None of them are big operations so I can certainly see their inability to do big jobs while you wait, but on the other hand many of these operations don't take long. So far I'm happy with my LBS so I'll probably put up with a little frustration at being wheel-less for the occasional repair.
My LBS is very small, basically one guy and sometimes his wife on busy days. The problem we have is that the times I most want him to work on it, the week-ends, are the very times he's busiest out front doing sales, so he has the least time to do the repair work. I know he takes in service jobs over the week-end that he has to get to during the next week (including mine). Don't know if it's the same with yours, but maybe.

Get more bikes. You should have more than one! :eek:

Koffee

Get more bikes. You should have more than one! :eek:

Koffee
I'll just consider that an instruction I received a little late. You see, yesterday I went over to my brother's house to borrow his mountain bike. It was pretty nice to get back on a bike for a while, even though it didn't fit as well as my bike and I started noticing discomfort from the new riding position. Never fear, I should be getting my bike back today.

Anyway, your comment turned out to be quite prophetic. My brother was running late getting home and I already had the mountain bike packed in the car. I tell him I'll return it as soon as possible. Then he tells me that I can HAVE his old Schwinn "World" (maybe world sport?) roadbike that was stashed out of sight. As far as he can remember, he bought it in 1982.

I'll need to replace the tires for sure. From there I'll have to check out the cables and perhaps the brake pads. I'm pretty excited about it since I was thinking about buying an old roadbike, if for no other reason than to practice my maintenance skills. I'm hoping it won't require too much more work at first because I'm itching to get out and ride it.

Oh joy! :D

I'll just consider that an instruction I received a little late. You see, yesterday I went over to my brother's house to borrow his mountain bike. It was pretty nice to get back on a bike for a while, even though it didn't fit as well as my bike and I started noticing discomfort from the new riding position. Never fear, I should be getting my bike back today.

Anyway, your comment turned out to be quite prophetic. My brother was running late getting home and I already had the mountain bike packed in the car. I tell him I'll return it as soon as possible. Then he tells me that I can HAVE his old Schwinn "World" (maybe world sport?) roadbike that was stashed out of sight. As far as he can remember, he bought it in 1982.

I'll need to replace the tires for sure. From there I'll have to check out the cables and perhaps the brake pads. I'm pretty excited about it since I was thinking about buying an old roadbike, if for no other reason than to practice my maintenance skills. I'm hoping it won't require too much more work at first because I'm itching to get out and ride it.

Oh joy! :D

Cool! All right... now get a third bike for emergencies only. You'll be set! ;) :D

Koffee

Bike shops are extra busy this time of year, aren't they?

I suppose my wish list will now include a service stand and something to assist in the truing of wheels. I bought a spoke wrench (the one that came with the Topeak multi-tool kinda sucked). Do you really need one of those fancy truing stands to work on rims or can you use your brake pads as a Po-Az (southern for Poor Ass) caliper? Of course I'll need a few more of the basic bike tools but I think I'll start trying some of these repairs myself. I've purchased a Bicycle Maintenance manual and I was thinking about buying an old klunker to experiment on. I might also use that klunker to keep me out of the car.
I got a Performance truing stand on sale for $30. It's really awesome. In my opinion, you can true a wheel okay in a frame, but it tends to be uncomfortable because you have to bend over and squint at the brake pads and such. The stand is very nice because you can set it on a table or something and work in a comfortable sitting position. Something to think about if you true a decent number of wheels. Plus it will take less time because you can sight the position of the rim more accurately.

Then again... I'm too cheap to buy an actual repair stand, I have a ghetto setup that consists of ropes hanging from the basement rafters :)

As for a book, I recommend this one: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1579548830/qid=1115213798/sr=8-4/ref=pd_csp_4/103-0613158-9131040?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
I like it a lot because every chapter first includes detailed information on one component, then followed by illustrated step by step approach to diagnosing and fixing it.

I didn't realize a truing stand was that affordable. I'll be looking into getting one soon. I'd be interested to see what you've concocted in your basement.

Actually, the book you recommended is the book I have. I'll be putting it to good use very shortly.

I didn't realize a truing stand was that affordable. I'll be looking into getting one soon. I'd be interested to see what you've concocted in your basement.
Sounds good, wait for it to come on deep discount or use a coupon or something and you can get it very cheap. I can take a photo of my "repair stand", but I assure you it's extremely primitive. Basically there are a couple of holes in the rafters. I loop a thick cord through them and so then it droops down from the ceiling. I tie off a loop in the back which holds the saddle. I make it at just the right height so that the back wheel is 6" off the ground. Then in front another loop, except I put an old inner tube through it and wrap that around the handlebars. It works surprisingly well and I can adjust it in 30 seconds by retying the loops where I want them.