ka0use

that would be me.

went into denver this am, going to bike depot, a non-profit lbs. stopped for a couple of gyros at a new place and saw a sidewalk sale next door. they had 3 used tires, my size. ooooooo. i bought a dyno something with lotsa tread left for this winter. no cuts, no sidewall failing. $3!

got to the shop, got a station and proceeded to 'true' the back wheel. i saw a park tension meter on the wall and used it to see what the average tension was. (you wrenches KNOW what happened next. like giving a five year old a hammer). i got the
non-drive side set at 20 lbs and the drive side at 25 lbs. gave it a proud spin and.......

lawsy me. looked like a still-drunk wino had done it. biblical case of wobble. it was alllllll
over the place. i had 'falsed' the wheel, terminally, i feared.

hmmm, i had read a couple of books that covered the subject. i suspicioned i missed something. time for help.

an employee took pity on me, came to look, and like to died when he spun the wheel.

what the hell happened here?

ummmmmm.

then i told him about the tensionmeter. i think he got a headache , but was very kind and started tweaking it. a couple of minutes later it was better than when i came in (and it was pretty good at that time) and he s'plained what he was doing and did it slow so i could put the info into my feeble mind. told me relying too much on numbers can get someone into trouble. tensionmeter is for folk more advanced than me (that would be most of the entire world) and said the same went for the 4 wheel alignment gauges i had been fondling. 2 of those french ones (different models) and 2 different park (portable and fixed). but i waaaaaaaant them!

well, guilt drove me to buy another (spare) brake cable and i ponied (ponyed?) up $5 for their pizza kitty. he was much pleased. his headache seemed to have dissipated.


i took a much-needed lunch break (the gyros) and whilst so engaged i saw a feller older than me pull up in something like a toyota echo. opened the back and started pulling on a bike wheel. the thing grew and grew. freaking out, thinking it was one of the surly moon bikes (monster balloon tires). the car looked like it was giving birth. whatever it was stuck and he was having a very hard time. i went to help and darned if the thing being birthed wasn't a sears ted williams free spirit adult trike. i'm thinking late 60s, early 70s. rough, but fixable. i lifted it out (now i'm a midwife) and he pushed it to the door which i held open after moving half the store displays. this thing is w-i-d-e. going to be his grocery and very short trip transport. works for me.

jeepr

LOL.. I love a good story..

Jeff Wills

Oh, so you're a midwife now?

BCRider

It's nice to read a thread where we can all just smile and share in a good day well spent.

AlphaDogg

YES! FINALLY ANOTHER DENVERITE ON THE FORUMS. Also, nice story .

Edit: where is bike depot? I could use their services.

cyccommute 

The Bike Depot is located at 2825 Fairfax St. in Denver. ka0use's wheel is probably is better shape even after he applied his mechanical skills than most of the bikes that are worked on there

AlphaDogg

So I shouldn't use them? There is another non profit bike repair place that I can think of in Denver. They are called Derailer (sic) Bicycle Collective. They supply bikes to the homeless and function solely off of donations.

cyccommute 

I didn't mean to imply that there is anything wrong with Bike Depot (I volunteer there and am one of the shop leads). It's just that we see a whole lot of very rough bikes. I doubt that ka0use did more harm then we see on a regular basis.

Feel free to bring a bike out. You can have mechanics work on your bike or you can fix it yourself. Check the link for the Fix-a-bike hours. I'm usually there on Saturday afternoon if you want to meet the famous - some would say infamous - Cyccommute. If you have old parts, old bikes or new ones to donate bring them along.

AlphaDogg

Can I trade old bikes for old parts that I could use?

AlphaDogg

Also, would you be able to use old children's geared and singlespeed mountain bikes?

Medic Zero

I was the idiot in the shop yesterday. Blew my front tube just before a long a descent where I probably break the speed limit. Doubly luckily though I not only blew it just as I rolled to a stop at a stop light but there is a big bike store there. Thrice luckily they actually had tubes to fit the Gatorskins I have mounted on my back-up bike. I was feeling alright at this point because I hadn't found my spare tube after switching over to the back-up bike and didn't really have time to patch one and make it into work on time. Come to think of it, I was lucky they were open at nearly 8PM too!

So I purchase a couple of tubes, make it out to my bike parked outside, flip it over, pop open my courier bag (no racks on the spare bike yet ) and have a little mini-panic attack. Very uncharacteristic for me, usually I am cool as a cucumber! I see the tubes I just bought are Schraders not Prestas! Now I am stressing that the time it will take to exchange them will make me late for work for sure and start thinking about the fact I was lucky they had any tubes in 1 & an 1/8th x 26" and I didn't see any Presta ones. So I leave my unlocked bike sitting there upside down on the sidewalk out front and dash in. Of course, the counter is now deserted! Standing there holding the tubes and receipt in my hand, wondering if I can get the one I opened folded up decently and the rubber band around it and back in the box - it occurs to me which wheel I actually have on the front of this bike. Yes! It IS a Schrader! I'm stoked, but sheepishly slip back out of the store thankful no one was at the counter and hoping the guy who had helped me didn't notice my faux pax from the back of the store!

cyccommute 

I don't know about trading bikes for parts but they have a bunch of old parts for very reasonable prices and even some very nice old bikes for sale. They will always take donations. That's how the shop continues to operated.

ka0use

your crack went well with your professor bunsen avatar and his pose! made me snort!

'ohhhhhh, missy scarlett! ah don' know nuffin 'bout birfin' bayyyyybies!' (gone with the wind).

ka0use

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! the 'idiocy' has spread to seattle!!
where next?

grab something and get it home without confirming it is what i need? a HEAPA times!

Preynmantis

Sounds like a cool place, I'll have to stop in next time I am in town.

cyccommute 

It's a dangerous place to work but, thankfully, I pretty immune to old bikes

rekmeyata

Frankly, I don't give a damn!