Mountain Biking - Curse of the trek... or Cheeto....

Well my cursed bike has done it again.

Ever since the move... this thing has not worked properly..
I don't know if its the German Air, damaged in shipping somehow.. or what... but the bike just isn't very cooperative.

I know some of you will blame this on me being a hack Mechanic or a Hack rider... But I can HONESTLY say that my Mech skills have improved a lot, and I haven't really ridden anything that would cause the bike to mess up. It hasn't seen any real trails, just road miles. and a few stairs, but that was a while ago and it didn't cause any problems.

The last few weeks the rear has been cursed. I was on a fire road jsut to get out and explore off base and 8 miles in my tire goes flat.... My glueless patch came off... and somehow something ripped the sidewall of my Bonty Conenction Trails (stock tires I put on for road/non trail use.)

I re-patched the hole, after cleaning the area really well, adding some sealant(s) to the tube, made sure the patch was really good, and solid...
Put on my IRC Mytho II rear, after checking for debris in the tire and inspecting the rim. I filed down a rough part along the edge just to be sure, and rinsed it all clean with water. Dried it all, and applied more rim tape.

Looses air over night.

So Today, I spent 5 bucks on a new tube.... made sure it was all good, aired it up, took it around the block for a test ride... worked flawlessly..
or so I thought


I went up, changed into riding clothes and then this happened:
the bent-ness of my Wheel....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX4UDCqA6mE
Where'd they go?!?! lol
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii179/Cheeto010/100_2046.jpg

Couldnt get it out on the trail... wrapped it around other spokes so I could "ride" home
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii179/Cheeto010/100_2047.jpg
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii179/Cheeto010/100_2048.jpg
Luckily my RD doesnt seem hurt to bad, jsut a tad bent. I had most of my working gears for the ride home. needs a few tweaks.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii179/Cheeto010/100_2050.jpg
the incident bent my brake lever
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii179/Cheeto010/100_2051.jpg

It's just you. You need to use the force.

I know... doesnt sound very normal on the video... I need to tweak it a little but.

but it shifts ok for getting yanked around a wheel and taking completely out 2 spokes, and damaging about 4 more.


But this is the final straw.

New bike time lol.



IDC.

and my parents gave up telling me I cant buy a new bike lol

Nah, that's all part of mountain biking...

except the glueless patch... ditch those, they don't work.

.

SHould I add this is the 3rd timet this has happend?

I know some of you will blame this on me being a hack Mechanic or a Hack rider... But I can HONESTLY say that my Mech skills have improved a lot

That's....pretty much what you said last time too... :p

Not engaging^ lol

Did he use slime and a patch or did I missread that first post

yeah, +1 on those patches not working. I always use the cement stuff and a proper patch. the kit is slightly less expensive and i've never had a failed patch.

how tight are your spokes? they don't have to be super-duper tight. I haven't broken a spoke in my life! Mind you I'm a sub 130lbs rider, riding on tough wheels, but still!

You know how there has been that memetic shift where "cheeto" becomes a verb meaning "to destroy?" There's a reason this is happening 'round here on BF.

SPokes arent that tight,
but my derailleur went into them.... ripping them out.

now my wheel is all jacked up and the tension of several spokes is off.
like badly off.

some of the spokes, I hand tightened just so I could ride home... so this isnt good lol.

Nah, that's all part of mountain biking...

except the glueless patch... ditch those, they don't work.

.

True dat. I'm still riding around on patched tubes, no problems.

How'd you wreck?

lol,
I see thats the thing, I didn't wreck,to cause it.I wasn't riding abusively, wasn't riding anything ridiculously rough....

I did bend the brake lever though when I laid it over after the rear seized up.

It just happened. This Trek is cursed. lol.

did your derailleur shift into your spokes?

I guess thats what happened,
But I had the limit screw and everything perfect.

It was shifting perfect when I first started.


---Edit---

I wasnt even in my top 3 gears when I was riding though, I was somewhere in 4-5

If your der went in to your spokes then your deraileur hanger may have gotten bent. It can happen with a pretty small bump to just the right (wrong) part of the bike. You can easily frag your deraileur when that happens. Pull the two deraileur pulleys out of the cage and see if the cage stays straight and together. If it doesn't, well...

If you're losing a lot of spokes it could be that your spokes just aren't tuned right. Too much tension (which could be caused by too little tension on other spokes) or you twisted them during your last adjustment. I used to true my own wheels but after screwing up my rear wheel so bad that I was losing a spoke or two every month I got new wheels and now leave the spoke adjustments to the guys at my local shop. It's one of the few repairs I just don't do anymore.

The derail. ate my spokes lol/


but on the good news,
I re-trued the rim to the best of my abilities (i don't have a truing stand or anything fancy) but I got rid of the side-to-side movement, and it's actually rather straight.... I'm just missing two spokes lol.

I checked my RD and hanger seems to be fine, removed the pulleys and cleaned them and such and re-assembled and adjusted. I have all my gears and brakes back now...

I just need two spokes, and the shop need to rebuild the wheel before I trust it again,

But I got a Q, will the rim hold up without the two spokes for just runs up and down the street to the dumpster and sisters friends house... (she doesnt answer her cell, my sister) or will it combust?


I dont want to pay the money for a rebuild right now, as Im trying to get that Dawg.

i wouldn't ride with two adjacent (well, nearly) spokes missing... not with your history.

and why don't you rebuild it yourself? you always seem to be tight on the cash... just install the spokes yourself and use the force to true it (don't literally use force!)

I think truing the wheel with two missing spokes may not be the right approach. When you install the new spokes the wheel will be out of true unless you put very little tension on those spokes, which means the others are now too tight. Although my guess is that the wheel isn't quite true right now so when you add the spokes and re-true just give everything a pluck (like a guitar string) and listen for the pitch, set everything right again and you should be fine.

Glad you didn't break your deraileur in the incident. I lost one that way. Luckily I didn't break spokes when it happened to me. You may want to try and see why you caught the spokes in the deraileur, maybe try and push (not shove, just push) the der in to the spokes and see how close it gets. If it gets too close then re-adjust your bottom stop.

I think truing the wheel with two missing spokes may not be the right approach. When you install the new spokes the wheel will be out of true unless you put very little tension on those spokes, which means the others are now too tight. Although my guess is that the wheel isn't quite true right now so when you add the spokes and re-true just give everything a pluck (like a guitar string) and listen for the pitch, set everything right again and you should be fine.

Glad you didn't break your deraileur in the incident. I lost one that way. Luckily I didn't break spokes when it happened to me. You may want to try and see why you caught the spokes in the deraileur, maybe try and push (not shove, just push) the der in to the spokes and see how close it gets. If it gets too close then re-adjust your bottom stop.


I didd that last night to see if maybe my limit screw was off somehow. It was close but not close enough. I gave the screw a little more tweak just to be sure.


I checked the spokes, theres a few that are prob. to tight but for the most part the majority of them are equal. I run into the problem around the misisng spokes, and on the opposite end.


I'm buying the new bike before I fix this one. I was just tired of staring at the bent rim.

......and the fun continues. You know Chee....errrrrrr Rebel, you seem to be one of the few breaks from the flood of "what kind of bike" threads ruling this place. Post on young man.

I went to the shop today, saw someone fingering up the bike!!!!!!! I found a sales person and asked him to let me ride it around... feels great for an 18 incher... i thought it'd be to small, guess the different Geometry help.
asked him if I could lay-away it..... can't


so now its on hold... but they can only hold it for 24 hours!!!!

I need my next paycheck to come in.... NOW

Cause I am getting the bike for only 1100

Luckily I know the guy who is semi in charge. he had them put a hold sticker on it, and hide it in the back.


=) looking better

feels great for an 18 incher...

that's what she said.

that's what she said.

Nicely done sir.

What the heck is "fingering up the bike"? Should I be grossed out?

that's what she said.

hahahahahahahhaha




I kinda figured someone would pull that joke out on this one.

What the heck is "fingering up the bike"? Should I be grossed out?


LOL

Minds out of the gutter now yall....

He was sittin on it and looking at it and checking out the components...
which is why I had them hide it in the back for me lol.


Now... I'm in a bind.

My parents don't want me to get this bike... so they've decided to pull a harsh trick..

They wont let me drive unless I fill up both the vehicles with gas.... Looking at 75 bucks for the truck and 40 for the BMW..... and now I'm supposed to pay 100 a month, or paycheck (they dnt know which yet) to them.......
So now I'm carless, but the catch is... I have to drive to get to work, unless I take the bus but the bus takes 2 hours to do a 20 minute drive....

soo....... I'm not sure how to play this game.
=(

I wish my parents understood the sport. They say I don't need a 1100 dollar rig to ride... so I told him he doesn't need a 500 dollar bat to hit a softball... his answer was he played competitively... my answer was I race.... he said my races were small baby races.... I told him we had riders from Sweden come to our races and race with us, and that his softball was no more than a step above church league...


SO that was my battle today..... ALL I want is a bike lol..... Didn't know it would be this much trouble to spend my own money....

emancipation of a minor has worked successfully in the past for some kids.

My guess is that they support at least some of your expenses (room, board, etc). So until that ends, they pretty much own you. Look at it from their perspective: they probably want to buy cool stuff too, and they've got a kid who works who's going to use his money to buy cool stuff, all the while they're spending money on the kid for clothes, food, gas, electric, heat, insurance (health, car, etc). Why should they deny themselves cool stuff in order to provide a life of liesure for their kid when their kid gets to buy cool stuff with the money he earns?

The correct answer to "why do you need a $500 baseball bat?" isn't "because I play competitively" it's "because I work all day to make money, pay the bills, mortgage, put gas in your car, and when I have some left over I'll spend it on whatever I want."

If my kid wanted to buy a $1000 bike they'd better be paying rent. I didn't buy ANYTHING of importance (say, in excess of $100) until I was moved out and supporting myself. The deal my folks had with me was that I'd save all that I earned until I moved out. That savings went to college (books, expenses) and years later towards a down payment on a house.

My guess is that they support at least some of your expenses (room, board, etc). So until that ends, they pretty much own you. Look at it from their perspective: they probably want to buy cool stuff too, and they've got a kid who works who's going to use his money to buy cool stuff, all the while they're spending money on the kid for clothes, food, gas, electric, heat, insurance (health, car, etc). Why should they deny themselves cool stuff in order to provide a life of liesure for their kid when their kid gets to buy cool stuff with the money he earns?

The correct answer to "why do you need a $500 baseball bat?" isn't "because I play competitively" it's "because I work all day to make money, pay the bills, mortgage, put gas in your car, and when I have some left over I'll spend it on whatever I want."

If my kid wanted to buy a $1000 bike they'd better be paying rent. I didn't buy ANYTHING of importance (say, in excess of $100) until I was moved out and supporting myself. The deal my folks had with me was that I'd save all that I earned until I moved out. That savings went to college (books, expenses) and years later towards a down payment on a house.

Hey duuude, this is an internet forum. No common sense and logic allowed!

I'm spoiled :). My parents cover the necessities for me (food, room ... socks, at times), I cover my own luxuries... and save for school. This runs as long as I maintain good grades. August (late) I'm out the door.

You really don't "need" a $1100 rig to ride.

My guess is that they support at least some of your expenses (room, board, etc). So until that ends, they pretty much own you. Look at it from their perspective: they probably want to buy cool stuff too, and they've got a kid who works who's going to use his money to buy cool stuff, all the while they're spending money on the kid for clothes, food, gas, electric, heat, insurance (health, car, etc). Why should they deny themselves cool stuff in order to provide a life of liesure for their kid when their kid gets to buy cool stuff with the money he earns?

The correct answer to "why do you need a $500 baseball bat?" isn't "because I play competitively" it's "because I work all day to make money, pay the bills, mortgage, put gas in your car, and when I have some left over I'll spend it on whatever I want."

If my kid wanted to buy a $1000 bike they'd better be paying rent. I didn't buy ANYTHING of importance (say, in excess of $100) until I was moved out and supporting myself. The deal my folks had with me was that I'd save all that I earned until I moved out. That savings went to college (books, expenses) and years later towards a down payment on a house.


We live on a military base...... electric, water, heat, trash... everything is provided for us at no cost..
house is gov't... no mortgage. Health insurance is provided by the military.

They'd rather spend their money on a family trip to Paris.... in which I wasn't invited to go...


Bottom line is, I was told in the beginning that it's my money do what I want with it.... and now it's not the case.

They wont even let me drive to work now... apparently I'm riding in with my dad and how I get home is on me............ at 9 at night. About 1.5 hour walk I presume.

I'm spoiled :). My parents cover the necessities for me (food, room ... socks, at times), I cover my own luxuries... and save for school. This runs as long as I maintain good grades. August (late) I'm out the door.

Thats what was supposed to be the deal here.....
I stay an A, sometimes B student (AP classes) and it's all good.
guess not..

all this over a bike...
this bike had better feel real damn good.

No offense, but you're parents come off as stiff shirts. The Girlscout busted his butt working for me all last summer. What did he do with the coin???? I took him down to ReCycles bike shop and he dropped it all on a new Stinky. Thats what he wanted to do with his money(it was his money). He just picked up a new 661 FF helmet....using his money. My point is he works for his stuff and that means he's not asking me to buy it. When he has bills of his own to pay it won't be that easy to just go out and pick up a new bike, so if he wants to do it now that's fine with me.

We live on a military base...... electric, water, heat, trash... everything is provided for us at no cost..
house is gov't... no mortgage. Health insurance is provided by the military.

They'd rather spend their money on a family trip to Paris.... in which I wasn't invited to go...


Bottom line is, I was told in the beginning that it's my money do what I want with it.... and now it's not the case.

They wont even let me drive to work now... apparently I'm riding in with my dad and how I get home is on me............ at 9 at night. About 1.5 hour walk I presume.

Because one or both your parents are in the military! Surprise! If they worked in the private sector it would come out of their pockets. It amounts to the same thing - you get the benefits of all that because of their work. Their house/their rules. Sucks, but suck it up, save your money, and buy it when you can. Don't bother telling them you plans. You've got it pretty damn easy, really.

Now, all that aside, if they did tell you it's your money/spend it how you want...and then renage on their words, then they are indeed asshats.

Hell kid, if this is the worst problem you face in life right now, you have things pretty easy. Wait until you have to pay for everything on your own, without mommy and daddy helping out.

is the girlscout your kid, 66?

i sorta think it's the responsibility of the parents to support their child. the child didn't ask to be born. if the child sits around the house and gets no luxuries, that's fine. if the child decides to work his ass off on his own to make a buck and wishes to buy luxuries with the money, why shouldn't he be allowed to?

Cheeto seems to be in a situation where his parents CAN afford to have a child... so why is it so damn unfair for Cheeto to work his ass off to buy himself a toy? What's the point of working if you don't buy happiness with it? I completely agree that a child shouldn't spend all his money on luxuries (maybe only 10% max or something)...

To take away all reward causes you to not work. I found myself asking myself "why am I weeding gardens nine hours a day? What is the point of all this money? I could be out riding my bike!" I decided to save up for a road bike (750$) ... this is all I dreamed about for months. In those months I've made thousands and thousands of dollars - much more than the value of the bike. You need some form of gratification for motivation to work your ass off!

Now that I own the bike, I keep thinking "oh man, I gotta pay off that expensive bike - I'm guilty of splurging if I don't!" The bike is still motivating me to work. It'll wear off once the novelty of the newness wears off... I have no problem spending every awake hour shoveling dirt or staining decks now. I feel as if I have been rewarded - I got my new summer toy! Did 14 hours today. Will do another 13 tomorrow. do another 8 wednesday. do another 12 thursday. Long days. I can't even ride. What's the point if you don't think you're going to be rewarded at all?

Money itself doesn't provide happiness or motivation.

Cheeto, how long will/did it take you to save up for this new bike? If you say "at the rate I'm going at, about a week," go buy it (imo). Anyone who tells you otherwise is a fool. If it'll take you all summer to save up, I'd pinch and deal with the cursed trek.

is the girlscout your kid, 66?

Why???? What did he break?

haha, i'm just wondering... i've heard of this character being mentioned before... and I don't think it's a member on BF. Is it just a guy you chill with, or you son? Just outta curiosity - doesn't matter.

I think something people forget is that (in this area) as a kid you can gross around $6000 a year if you work full time and still are in school. That's a sneeze for an adult who makes 40 000$ a year. Even an adult working min wage all year can make $17 000 a year... kids just can't make money. The nickels and dimes you make now won't mean squat years from now.

who is this girlscout punk?

wow, okay, it IS a BF member. My mistake.

wow, okay, it IS a BF member. My mistake.

Its his son though i believe. Unless ive been wrong for the whole time ive been on this forum.

All I need is my next paycheck and the bike is mine. =) I will walk to that shop with a helment, H20 pack and bike shoes if I have to... just so I can ride it home.

Payroll was last Friday... So payday should be any of these days.
If I cant get the dawg, then I have to pay for a rebuild ofthe rear wheel of the trek, prob. around 100 bucks.'

Price out new rear wheels. I just picked up a pretty decent one (XT hub, DT spokes, WTB Laser Trail rim) for $150, and it wasn't the cheapest one available. My guess is you can probably get a wheel of equal or better quality to yours (what's OE on that Trek? Is it even a welded rim?) for less than the rebuild.

i sorta think it's the responsibility of the parents to support their child.

Last I remember, Cheeto lived with a single Mom and Mom had just dropped $500 on a bike rack for said Cheeto. Cheeto had also recently bought a Thompson seat post but didn't have a job, so that was probably with Mom's money as well... We're only getting half of this story.

Last I remember, Cheeto lived with a single Mom and Mom had just dropped $500 on a bike rack for said Cheeto. Cheeto had also recently bought a Thompson seat post but didn't have a job, so that was probably with Mom's money as well... We're only getting half of this story.

Where'd you get this single mom stuff?
1.My dad was deployed for that year he came home last January after 370 days.

2. Bike rack was 150.00..... a Thule 4 bike Hitch rack from performance..

3.I bought the Thomson Seat post when the bike was still brand new with my birthday money, 3 uncles, 2 aunts and grandparents both gave me money, and the money I got from the guy I landscaped with.


4.I spoke the truth, and the whole truth.

My parents strongly oppose me spending my own money on a rather "expensive" bike.

I wont go into it anymore, as I just ended a rather bad argument, ending bad between my father and I.

5.But next time you accuse me of being a liar, please ensure you have all the facts straight.





But to add the cherry on top of my "piss on me" cake... I spoke to a guy that works at the Bike shop today and he said he doesn't recall seeing the bike I want anymore. Said its not in the back anymore...........


yay!