San Rensho 

I ride an old road bike with a 6 spd, straight block (13-18) freewheel. Several years back I bought a few since they were getting rare. I was down to my last one and when I put a new chain on, it started skipping on the 18 (the gear I ride the most).

I couldn't find a replacement straight block anywhere, so I took the freewheel apart and turned the splined cogs over and reassembled. No more skipping! Now I have to change the chain more often to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Bekologist

Good work!

Too,You double the life of your chain by flipping it over when it is stretched halfway (as per the shimano engineers who discovered this by accident!)

roadfix

Your cleats too......swap them between your left & right shoes.

lyledriver

Don't forget to swap your left and right grips too!

=D

edit: Sorry for getting off topic.
The tip about the freewheel is definately a good one=]

jur

How about swapping front and rear tubes?

froze

My hands now last twice as long because I swapped my right with left. Actually the chain swapping is a myth, nor do chains "stretch". If you know how a chain wears then you can see how flipping it over would be useless: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html (Read the whole page, there's a bit about using wax on chains as well as other tid bits).

Brian

Just change the air. Swapping tubes causes flats.

HillRider

Flipping cogs used to work with old-style freewheels but won't with current cassettes due to the shaped and ramped teeth. They go together only one way to shift properly. Also, most newer cassettes, particularly 9 and 10-speed, have the cogs mounted in groups on a spider and you can't even use them as individual cogs.

Nice suggestion but obsolete.

Also, flipping the chain is a myth. Chain wear is permanant elongation and reversing it doesn't make it shorter.

DannoXYZ 

What would work better is to swap the AIR from the tubes. That way you don't risk the flats, but get extended life by rotating the air...

sydney

^^^ yeah, and depending on the freeheel, and how it's made, the cogs don't reverse either. But a useful trick for uniglide cassettes.

Bekologist

the chain flipping to extend its life is a myth? better tell the guys at shimano. I just read that somewhere, too. I think it might have been in Berto's The Dancing Chain

jur

Just flip the entire cassette.

roadfix

you don't want to do that.... now you've converted your derailleur to a rapid rise.... who wants that...?!

RockyMtnMerlin

Easiest way to extend the life of the entire drive train is to keep it very clean. And its pretty cheap to do. (Hope that is not an OCP answer )

HillRider

Somebody better ask them again. Think about how a chain wears. The pins wear from friction and get slightly thinner which causes the chain to elongate until the roller pitch is no longer exactly .500 inches. Reversing the chain still results in a pitch of over .500". A worn chain that is 12.125" over 24 pins is still 12.125" long no matter how its oriented. It doesn't shrink because you point it the other way.

FarHorizon

Extend the life of your saddle by mounting the bike backwards half the time and riding with a mirror!

roadfix

OK...let's then talk doubling, tripling the life of every component on the bike. Do not ride the same bike more than twice in one week. Alternate usage among your fleet of bikes.

Brian

That has worked for me for a very long time. Do you have any idea how hard it is to wear stuff out on 5 or 6 bikes? And with all the parts swapping and upgrades, I've never kept a chain long enough to wear it out.

mechBgon

I rotated my brain's hemispheres today
network administration, the art form within the sullen science of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, as never seen save by the imagination
my bicycle! wherefore art thou Romeo... ahhh, dang, that reflective tape is making me... well, I must not post that here
down the highway, draw me my steed, reeling me ever further along the ribbon of HID light

*staggers away*

HillRider

And when it comes time to sell one of your bikes you can truthfully claim; "it was owned by a little old man who only rode it on Sunday."

Brian

I don't understand. What do you mean by "Sell"?

Bekologist

I knew this old Finn who had the original battery in his 57 DeSoto. We went out to the garage where he kept the Desoto; it was like a mechanics shrine in Lourdes.

Brian

I had a friend who was like that with his Ferrari. He owned a restaurant, so Monday was his only day off. The temperature and humidity had to be just right for him to take it out. It sat in his garage most of the year. He had it on raised stands to avoid sag in the suspension, it was covered, and the battery was on some fancy charger. The leather interior smelled like nothing I can describe here, but it was a wonder to behold.

sydney

I have an old leather saddle like that...

Bekologist

cepting i think this fella had a half million miles on the desoto, it was the only car he'd ever owned.