Sprockets and Such

April 25, 2010












It was a cold, dreary Sunday today, and the forecast said rain. So instead of riding our bikes to the Montague Bookmill (http://www.montaguebookmill.com/), we decided to have a little bike clinic in our living room. Though we're not brave enough to completely dismantle our bikes and put them back together again, we did have instruction books open and at our sides, and we took turns spinning wheels, tightening wires, and testing brakes and adjusting derailleurs.


The only thing that had been bothering me about my bike was that the unit holding the brake pads kept shifting to the right every time I hit a bump. And then, the right brake pad would slightly graze the wheel as I road, making a tshhhhhhhhhhh sound. So I found the right sized allen wrench, and tightened the until holding the brake pads in place. Call me Ms. Fix-it! So after that, I took my front wheel off, and put it back on (with Lyon's help), and turned my bike upside down and turned the pedals and shifted the gears just to get a better sense of what happened when I did that.

And while I did that I browsed our miniature 'Roadside Bicycle Repairs' book that I plan on taking with us.

Lyon's bike ailments were a little more complicated. His chain had actually come off his bike the last time he road it to Amherst, and shifting gears had become a noisy affair. Se he spent a lot of time with the bike propped upside-down, spinning the pedals with his hands, shifting gears, and watching the positioning of the derailleur, as it moved the bike chain from one "sprocket" (gear) to another. He eventually fixed his gear problem just by fiddling with the set-stop screws that limit how far a derailleur can move (if the limits not restricted enough, it can shift the chain right off the last sprocket), and by tightening the tension on the cable.

Our 4 year anniversary is In a couple of days. I think it's the perfect time to change things up and go for a nice, long bike ride.