Applying what I learned from the Bike of Doom
by Steve ~ September 1st, 2007. Filed under: Maintenance & Repairs.Just because I can repair the Bike of Doom, does that mean I can repair my more expensive bikes?
I’ve wondered about this. Let’s face it, the SC1800 is a $99 bike. Working on it, repairing it, fiddling with it, is no great risk. If something goes wrong, it’s not like I’m out a lot of money. Working on my other bikes has always struck me as a bit risky. As I said, a replacement wheel on my Jamis cost me $200 a couple of years ago. Can I take what I learned from the Bike of Doom and apply it to the Jamis?
I got my chance on Friday when Mike and I took the day off from work and cycled out to Lockport for lunch. An enjoyable 72 Km ride. We stopped at Halfmoon for lunch, and parked our bikes in a bike rack… the kind that supports only your front wheel. Shortly, a couple of kids came along and threw their bikes in the rack. They were a bit rambunctious, I guess, and our bikes leaned over hard. With the weight of the rear pack, I guess the front rim on my Jamis Coda got over torqued and came out of true. I noticed it as we left the restaurant. No broken spoke, but a pronounced wobble that required the loosening of the brakes.
After the bikes fell, we moved them to a more secure spot.
I tried a little bit of truing on the road, but didn’t have a true spoke wrench. I made a little bit of difference. When I got home, I gave it another stab with a real spoke wrench. It was a more complex truing job than I’m accustomed to. There were no broken spokes, and the wheel seemed to wobble in both directions. With a broken spoke, it’s easier, because you know exactly where the problem is. This wobble took some thinking about. Still, I decided to give it a go. Within 30 minutes I had the wheel trued again. Spoke tension felt okay, but I played with that for another 20 minutes to be sure I hadn’t over tightened or over loosened any of the affected spokes. Gave the bike a test ride, checked the wheel again. Looks good.
Sigh of relief. In previous years, I would have taken the wheel into a bike shop. At this time of year, that would have meant a wait of at least a few days as they checked the wheel and trued it. This year, I did it myself before I even changed out of my riding clothes, and I’m ready to ride again.
Related posts:
Sheldon Brown on department store bikes
Read my lips: don’t buy a crappy bike!
September 2nd, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Update. Mike and I cycled out to St. Francois Xavier today, a 78 Km round trip. The front wheel was fine. On the other hand, the Specialized Armadillo tires on the Jamis are in dire need of replacement. I’ve put on over 7,000 Km on these tires, over three summers years. The laminate tread on the rear wheel is coming off. I think it’s seen its last ride. Which goes to show, even expensive components wear out, just a little slower than their cheap counterparts. I expect to pay $80 in total to replace the front and rear Armadillos. Yeesh. Mike suggested I buy another SuperCycle instead. I laughed, but faintly.
– Steve