Monday, June 13, 2011
Of bike parts and bike rides.
So two weekends ago I decided to put in some long miles and travel from Carpentersville to Hebron via the FRT/MPT and the Hebron Trail and then back again. The early morning ride was uneventful and peaceful. I was inspired by a fellow cyclist to start picking up the pace. By the time I got to the Hebron Trail portion of the trip there, I was on record pace for myself. As I turned onto the Hebron Trail, I noticed a bit of headwind and that the hills were starting to take a larger toll on my pedaling. I noticed that I was getting more and more tired as I approached Hebron. Once reaching Hebron, I sure was ready for a break. After a ten minute break, it sure seemed to be easier to pedal back to the MPT/FRT. When I got back to the intersection, I started pedaling South again when I noticed that something was 'pulling' at the bike and slowing it down. I started hearing some rattling coming from the back tire every time I coasted. Every now and again something would pull at the bike. I would look down at the back wheel occasionally. Finally I saw the the rear spoke guard that keeps the derailer out of the spokes was spinning with the tire/rim. When I would coast it would rattle around and jump about. On further inspection I found the little nubs that hold the disk to the spokes had broken off and sometimes the disk of plastic would bind between the hub and the frame of the bike. With all that perceived 'headwind' and tougher 'hills' I had managed to melt a hole in the disk. Hahaha! So by the end of the day I found that if the disk was causing a problem I could just coast to solve the problem. I had gotten in 80+ miles and was going to ride similar the next day. I didn't want to take apart the bike at the time to replace the guard. So I decided to try a Rube Goldberg fix until I had a bit of free time during the next week. I would hot glue the disk to the spokes.
Hahaha! What a great idea! FAIL!!! It lasted a whole 20 miles the next day. A few days later, I just replaced it the correct way and removed all hint of redneck innovation.
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I think those spokes move as your wheel spins while you are riding so it breaks the bond. Nice try tho! :-] Cheers |_|D
ReplyDeleteYeah, that was a pretty dumb idea I had. Well, there's more where that came from! Hahaha!
ReplyDeleteThe spoke guard is the first thing to be removed from any new bike I buy as soon as it gets home. As long as your derailleur is adjusted correctly, there's no reason to have one.
ReplyDeleteNice to see all the trails that are popping up in the area you cover. I went to high school in Lake Zurich back in the 70's and early 80's. I put in hundreds of miles on a road bike in Lake and McHenry counties back then. There were zero bike trails back then (and a lot less sprawl).
Thats a good idea! I will do that as soon as I figure out how to adjust it well myself. Glad to know I could do that.
ReplyDeleteThe slow death of the railroads sure has been a blessing to the bike trail systems out there. A sad cost tho.