Equipment | ...bike to work to live to bike...

…figured it out… April 25, 2008

Posted by Chief in Bicycle, Biking, Equipment, Hawaii, Information, Rides.
Tags: bike, life, tire
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Well, in my review of the Specialized Borough tires, I talked about a small bulge on one tire. It was the back tire. Nearly a year later, I have finally figured out what the bulge was. First I’ll tell you what it wasn’t…

It wasn’t a bulge deformity from the tire being stored all folded up.

It wasn’t an out of true tire, rotating oddly.

It wasn’t a thick or thin section of tire which bulged abnormally.

Nope, it was none of those. It was tread separation. The tire has slowly been coming apart. The bulge got bigger and bigger over the last year until I couldn’t stand it rubbing on my chainstay any longer. I finally flipped the bike over (again), but to look specifically at the tire tread. Sure enough, I found a two foot section that was coming apart.

So, defective tire? Is this normal? I don’t know. What I do know is that it is Friday, and on Sunday morning I need to be up in Haleiwa to ride 100km around the North side of the island in the Haleiwa Metric Century.

What to do? I’ll have to update my review. Regardless of this issue, I have loved these tires. They have served me well even with this little issue.

…bike is done… January 8, 2008

Posted by Chief in Bicycle, Biking, build, Equipment, Hawaii, maintenance, Photos.
Tags: bike, blog, life, Photos
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Well, it’s finished. I even rode it to work today. It was fast! I won’t be keeping it, though. It is a size too small. I really need a bike just a bit bigger to be comfortable. Anyway, here are some pics:

Besides tearing it completely down to get rid of corrosion and grease everything, I replaced the bar tape, the pedals, the rear derailleur, and all the cables and housings.

The only reason I replaced the rear derailleur is that it was cheap and I didn’t feel like all that polishing and cleaning. It was going to be a lot more work than the brakes or shifters.

So, overall it turned out to be a great bike! A little bigger and it would be a great bike for me… oh well…

…going back together… January 5, 2008

Posted by Chief in Bicycle, Biking, build, Equipment, Hawaii, maintenance, Photos.
Tags: bike, life, maintenance, Photos, rebuild
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So, I’m slowly getting the little parts and pieces cleaned up and putting the bike back together.

2004 Giant OCR 3 rebuild

After taping the handlebars, I had to fit up the new seat to see how everything looks… I’m still grinning! 🙂 This is going to be one sharp looking bike.

…lots of little rust areas… January 1, 2008

Posted by Chief in Bicycle, Biking, build, Equipment, homebrew, maintenance.
Tags: bike, fix, maintenance, replace, rust
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…remember what I said about the cables looking good? They do. It’s the housings that are horrible.

The shifter cables at the head tube.

The brake cables on the handlebar.

Inside the STI lever.

It’s easier to replace all the cables. Should be fun.

…shopping list… January 1, 2008

Posted by Chief in Bicycle, Biking, build, Equipment, maintenance, review.
Tags: bike, fix, maintenance, opinions, parts, rebuild, reviews
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…Ok, so I am working up a shopping list for the bike rebuild. It doesn’t need much. Stuff does add up in a hurry, but I think I can make a pretty cool looking bike fairly inexpensively.

Handlebar tape:

The Yellow/Black near the middle of the image. About $15.

Seat:

It’s a yellow and black saddle, so it matches the bike color scheme, for $20. Waaay cheaper than the Brooks I really want to put on it.

Pedals:

CrankBros Eggbeater Chromoly pedals. $40. And I can use the shoes I already have.

Other items:

Yellow paint for details, like head tube emblem.
New shifter and brake cables.
Small yellow/black under seat tool bag.

So, take a look at my flickr set for the bike rebuild, and let me know what else you think I should do. So far, I’ve cleaned up and fixed the front derailleur and rear brake, wire brushed and primed the head tube badge, removed the bar tape, removed the rusted toe clip pedals, and removed the front brake for cleaning/repair.

Depending on the price of the cables, I’ll have the bike rebuilt and looking great for about $100. Add to that the $250 purchase price, and it’s a nearly new compact road bike for less than $400!

…fixed front derailleur… December 31, 2007

Posted by Chief in Bicycle, Biking, build, Equipment, Information, maintenance.
Tags: adjust, bike, derailleur, fix, maintenance
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…so, I fixed the front derailleur. Pretty easy. The two adjusting screws, seen in the pic below, affect the range of travel. They were both screwed in all the way and lock-tite’d. Simply backing them out allows normal range of travel.