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08-04-08, 11:17 PM
Hey there, group. I am a lifelong clyde - I reached the qualifying weight when I was 15, I think, after I began road racing and replaced my 190 lbs of soft adolescent chub with 210 lbs of slightly less chubby teenager. I have not been under 200 lbs since I was 19, after I went on a two-week road trip and ran out of food money after 5 days. :)
I am currently a fairly fit 260 lbs, 6'4" tall. I would be leaner and faster on my bike if I were twenty ponds lighter.
I have ridden road and mountain bikes, raced a little, worked as a wrench and salesperson for over a decade. I now ride to work, and enjoy the occaisional longer road or more challenging mountain bike ride.
My favorite bike is an aluminum framed touring bike I made to do some long distance touring (never did any, though) The frame was a leftover from a small bike brand my previous employer has made in Taiwan. It is a very lightweight curved-tube aluminum hybrid frame. The parts are off a vintage mountain bike given me by a co-worker. Mostly Exage 500LX but with drop bars with bar end shifters. I am using the Exage hubs, which I laced to Alex-DH22 trekking rims (Fantastic rims).
The hubs are on my mind today...
I have re-built and -greased them regularily since I built the bike. I started noticing some wear on the non-drive side cup surface, as well as minor cone pitting, since the first rebuild two years ago. With regular maintenance (twice a year rebuils) the hub has carried me for thousands of kms of dirt road and trail riding. I also leave the bike out in the rain a lot and somtimes ride it in the winter when the road is clear of snow (but usually wet and salty).
Well, I did a rebuild today because my hub was making some funny noises as I rode my bike to get coffee yesterday. Inside the non-drive side bearing (not well sealed) assembly, the cup was sort of rough and almost rusty looking, the balls (new as of last rebuild) were also rough and discoloured.
I decided during my last rebuild to replace the "ALL PURPOSE GREASE" with a Teflon and silicone (i think) clear FinishLine grease. I don't know if I used enough of it last time, though.
I cleaned everything, regreased with "ALL PURPOSE GREASE," moved the good balls from the drive side to the non-drive (the drive side is part of the replacable freehub body), and it went back together pretty well - not perfect, but useablem, and the noise is gone.
Now I plan to pick out a new hub before this one completely takes a poop. I might go back to my old friends and get one of the sealed bearing hub (probably with disk flange to keep my options open). I might upgrade it to 8 speed with new barcons and casette at the same time. Or I might look for a used hub or bike (to cannibalize) - I am thinking old 7sp XT or Deore DX.
Anyhoo, that is my boring maintenance story.
I look forward to talking bikes and biking with people here while I try to keep my fleet of bikes running and get down to a lean 240lbs over the next year or so.
I am currently a fairly fit 260 lbs, 6'4" tall. I would be leaner and faster on my bike if I were twenty ponds lighter.
I have ridden road and mountain bikes, raced a little, worked as a wrench and salesperson for over a decade. I now ride to work, and enjoy the occaisional longer road or more challenging mountain bike ride.
My favorite bike is an aluminum framed touring bike I made to do some long distance touring (never did any, though) The frame was a leftover from a small bike brand my previous employer has made in Taiwan. It is a very lightweight curved-tube aluminum hybrid frame. The parts are off a vintage mountain bike given me by a co-worker. Mostly Exage 500LX but with drop bars with bar end shifters. I am using the Exage hubs, which I laced to Alex-DH22 trekking rims (Fantastic rims).
The hubs are on my mind today...
I have re-built and -greased them regularily since I built the bike. I started noticing some wear on the non-drive side cup surface, as well as minor cone pitting, since the first rebuild two years ago. With regular maintenance (twice a year rebuils) the hub has carried me for thousands of kms of dirt road and trail riding. I also leave the bike out in the rain a lot and somtimes ride it in the winter when the road is clear of snow (but usually wet and salty).
Well, I did a rebuild today because my hub was making some funny noises as I rode my bike to get coffee yesterday. Inside the non-drive side bearing (not well sealed) assembly, the cup was sort of rough and almost rusty looking, the balls (new as of last rebuild) were also rough and discoloured.
I decided during my last rebuild to replace the "ALL PURPOSE GREASE" with a Teflon and silicone (i think) clear FinishLine grease. I don't know if I used enough of it last time, though.
I cleaned everything, regreased with "ALL PURPOSE GREASE," moved the good balls from the drive side to the non-drive (the drive side is part of the replacable freehub body), and it went back together pretty well - not perfect, but useablem, and the noise is gone.
Now I plan to pick out a new hub before this one completely takes a poop. I might go back to my old friends and get one of the sealed bearing hub (probably with disk flange to keep my options open). I might upgrade it to 8 speed with new barcons and casette at the same time. Or I might look for a used hub or bike (to cannibalize) - I am thinking old 7sp XT or Deore DX.
Anyhoo, that is my boring maintenance story.
I look forward to talking bikes and biking with people here while I try to keep my fleet of bikes running and get down to a lean 240lbs over the next year or so.