Robert C

Upon landing in Roma my daughter noticed that she had not packed her bike will enough. Note the upper brake cable bracket.

She is now in Lucca and is trying to ride. Is this something that can be fixed sans-tools? Can you give any advise?

wschruba

Can't see much from that angle/that shot, but a well placed rubber mallet would probably move it back to center...but might also knock the headset out of adjustment.

Heck, good aim with a heavy stick would do it.

hockey

Can't see much either. But she could just disconnect the front cable for now until she meets up with a fellow tourer. These parts are usually not very expensive so it might have to wait until she finds a bike shop.

Andrew R Stewart 

I doubt the off center hanger will limit steering while riding. So the next question is does it bother the brake adjustment? That we can't tell from the poor photo. But there might be a cable length adjuster (barrel adjuster) along the cable (lever or hanger) that can be loosened if the off center hanger did pull the brake enough to cause rubbing on both pads.

If only one pad is rubbing then the off center cable path is pulling that arm more then the other. So either sliding the straddle cable pull up clip to one side or changing the arms' spring tensions might fix this.


But I'll just add the unsaid- touring without tools is asking for this kind of little issue growing into a big one. That and the inability to do the basic repairs when away from other support... Andy.

dsbrantjr

Maybe a pair of strong hands can shift it back to center; it does not look bent but just twisted to the side.

AlexCyclistRoch

Wow, this is such a simple fix that seems to have you flummoxed. What are you going to do when you have a REAL breakdown in some rural town?

Dan Burkhart 

It can likely be pushed back in place, but it would be better to loosen the lock nut first. The hanger should have a tab that fits in the slot in the steer tube, and it's probably already buggered the threads a bit by being forced out of place.

10 Wheels

Lighter

fietsbob

its just friction fit between the 2 headset nuts hit it with a Soft hammer , or loosen the locknut with the headset wrench pair..

Did not bring 2 headset wrenches? .. Rome Italy Has Bike Shops, Believe Me .. maybe even Lucca Italy..

Andrew R Stewart 

Thank you for this far clearer shot. It is as we all have said and the possible ways to deal with it are still the same. But my concern is more for the headset adjustment. There's a good chance the top nut and threaded race are no longer set as they should be. If when applying the front (only front) brake and trying to rock the bike fore and aft there is a knocking/slop to the fork then the headset also needs adjustment.


All this is a very quick and low cost service at any US bike shop. Gosh, if the rider is pretty some guys would do it for free. Andy.

Robert C

Thanks all (. . . well, most all . . . there has to be one in every crowd). This pretty much reinforces what I told her.

She is now wandering about, looking for a bike shop. No matter what, it gives her a reason to ride around town.

I had forgotten the simple, expedient, of just loosening the adjusters. The picture was, as commented, a bit to dark for me to see that as an obvious temporary fix.

fietsbob

looks like it moved CCW (to the left when vued from the top ) so if anything headset is Looser.



I brought a Park RW-1 wrench on my bike tours , 6" long.. a 15 on one end for the pedals , a 32 on the other for the headset.

RW 3 is a 13 - 36 for , like my Brompton headset.. 1.125" threaded steerers.



Most European Towns Have a Tourist Information Center , in the middle of town, so no need to wander around without directions.

Robert C

She just called me.

It has been fixed. The cost was zero, yes, she did the "helpless girl" act.

She then went and rode another 20km. Her only complaint was that a lot of that was wet clay. All is going well.

She is still on her Florence>Assisi>Roma bike tour.

10 Wheels

Cool

Wilfred Laurier

I agree. If it was accidentally knocked out of alignment, it can be intentionally knocked into alignmemt. If it were affecting the function of the brake or the headset and you can't muscle it back by hand, pehaps you could borrow or rent a pair of channel lock pliers (or a pipe wrench) from a non-bike repair shop (auto, plumber, etc).

Homebrew01

Bike Forums has a policy against insulting/trolling etc. My general advice is not to post in threads if you do not have anything to contribute to the topic.

m_yates

I'm envious. I was fortunate enough to take a short bicycle tour in the countryside around Florence about 10 years ago. It is a gorgeous area and I've never had better food in my life! As others have said, bike touring is fairly common in that area and it isn't too difficult to find a bike shop. Apparently she has the most important survival tool: a phone, so she should be fine.

Homebrew01

Good to hear.

Not sure what kind of stem it has (quill ?), but looks very high. Is it safely inserted far enough ?

Robert C

Yes, it does look high. It is a Rodriguez 6-Pack, as such it has a small'ish frame and 20" tyres. It is supposed to look like that.

FBinNY 

here's the 2 quick no tool opions.

1- ignore it, and adjust the brakes if necessary.
2- turn the bars until it touches the top tube, back off and place a pad there to protect the frame, then turn the bars to use the top tube to move it back to center. Be careful, it may turn, or it may bend, so keep your eyes on it, and if it looks like it's bending, go back to option one for the moment.

fb

AlexCyclistRoch

Well, I was TRYING to instill the idea that, if you plan on touring, you need to carry TOOLS. But, go ahead and delete my post.....

dweenk

+ 100

Dsprok

Beat me to it.

sarahbruce

Glad she was able to have it fixed up.
On a side note- I thought the bike looked interesting from the pic and looked it up once the name was mentioned. That is a very cool bike, I have never seen one with that many couplers! Then I saw that they start at $5000...holy moly!
Bruce

Robert C

That is, pretty much what I said; but then, she does use the feature frequently, and she does not spend money on a car. But yes, it makes a lot of my toys seem reasonable buy comparison.