A not so great biking day.....(kinda long)

S o r n i wrote:
Yeah...I'm starting to get that....some other lady trued my wheel...I
remember spinning it and noting to her that it had a wobble...and she
could see that it was right radially, either. So she trued it
again....but she was so young...she probably doesn't truly understand

What, are you going to some jello-wrestling bike shop or something?!? Do
any MEN work there???

Bill "not jealous" S.

The smart thing would've been to ask for the shop's address. Then,
simply "accidentally" mess up your bike on a regular basis.


"Dang, another spoke! That's, what, seventeen this month?"
--
Frederic Briere *

= IS NO MO http://www.abacomsucks.com =

Roger Zoul wrote:

Plus, maybe they'll sell me a spoke wrench, too. I'll see her at 3pm. I
don't really understand how the spokes work to keep the wheel straight, so
I'll be reading up on that. Thank.

Wheel truing: definitely worth some time to "get the feel"
on how to do. And actually quite simple.

During a RAGBRAI a couple years ago, I was behind one of
the ladies on our "team" riding along. It was the last
day of the ride and the first time I'd ridden with her for
so long a stretch.

I noticed the rear wheel seriously moving back and forth
laterally as she pedaled along. I know she'd had some
spokes break during the previous 6 days.

The wheel was so far out of true that it alternately rubbed
up against the brake pads on its most extreme lateral
wandering, effectively applying the brake every few moments.

She had simply gotten used to the constant, iterative brake
application for most of the ride! Took me a couple minutes
to straighten the wheel enough for it to spin freely.

Your road bike might take more time to true than the hybrid
from the above story, but you should be able to true a wheel
even with the tight spaces of a road wheel, in just a few
minutes while out on the road.

It's a skill well worth learning!


SMH

Ironman event in Florida (we're in SC
I have to know, we are moving from NYC to Charleston this summer.
Where exactly is this store located?

tk wrote:
::: Ironman event in Florida (we're in SC
:: I have to know, we are moving from NYC to Charleston this summer.
:: Where exactly is this store located?

Greenville SC - The Great Escape

::: Ironman event in Florida (we're in SC
:: I have to know, we are moving from NYC to Charleston this summer.
:: Where exactly is this store located?
Greenville SC - The Great Escape

I will pass by...

Thanks for posting the story. It was a great read of the "been there, done
that" sort.

I've been using "clipless" pedals (there's a mis-named gadget, if ever there
was one) for about a year down and have gone over four times, twice at the
start of each season. The best one was when I had to unexpectedly stop at an
intersection of the rail trail, de-clipped on the right and went over on the
left as a 60+ year old lady slowly drove by with that really worried look on
her face asked "Oh my God, are you all right?" Boy, did I feel silly. For a
feeling of shear helplessness and disgust, there is nothing quite like going
over on the B side when you have carefully de-clipped on the A side...while
an old lady watches with deep concern.

No advice, except de-clip on both sides unless you have supreme confidence
that one side will be OK.

As for the spokes, I used to break spokes regularly, last year, after I
switched from 2" dia. tires to 1.4" and then over-pressurized them by ~10
psi(to 90 psi) in search of speed. Thought it was the age of the spokes or
a bum wheel and bought a new wheel and promptly broke a spoke on it, too.
Shop thought that the wheel was bad and gave me a new one. Then I broke a
spoke on that one, too. Finally went back to the 2" tires (75 psi) and no
more broken spokes. I'll bet if I ran the 1.4" tires at 75 psi, the spokes
would hold up as well. This may not be the cause of your broken spokes, but
it's worth a thought.

--

- GRL

"It's good to want things."

Steve Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, chemist,
Visual Basic programmer)
"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...
Well, Thursday I had cleats put in my shoes and I switched over to
clipless
pedals.

I spent an hour or more on the trainer at the LBS getting used to locking
in/out. The hot lady who works there adjusted the tension so that they
were
pretty easy to lock in/out -- which seemd to be what I needed at the time.
I got home, moved the bike out of the garage, locked in the left foot,
then
nearly fell to my left. I managed to catch myself. I got on the bike and
rode around my small subdivision a bit while practicing locking in /
locking
out.. No real problems until once I got to a stop while a car was going
by...I felt unsure....

So yesterday I did about 6 miles around my neighborhood, hitting a few
hard
hills. Practiced locking in / locking out while riding -- over and over.
Didn't really stop, though. No problems. I found that working the cleats
in / out of the pedals on a real bike ride is much easier than doing so on
a
trainer. I felt good about it...

That brings the story to today, my first real day of bicycling shame, I
might add. I was planning to do 45 to 50 miles, depending on how I felt.
So, I left out at first light, got through the first red light fine -- had
to stop...locked out right foot...no problems...Got to the place where I
meet my riding buddy about 4 miles from my house -- he's there ready and
waiting....so I lock out my right foot...sort coast up to him to chat a
bit.
Get my right foot to the ground. Bamn! Fell to the left (while talking
to
him) while left foot is locked in (Pat suggested I lock out both feet but
I
forgot)...there was a slight incline near the road edge so that my right
side was lower then my left...on the fall I twisted the saddle, and
knocked
off some of the seat material -- I guess a new saddle is in my distant
future. Messed up the rear brakes enough that the rear tire didn't roll
freely. Fixed all of that...

Everything was great for the next 16 miles or so, in fact, it seemed like
my
speed was up, though I was pushing it a bit since I had birthday cake last
night and wanted to burn it off....at mile 20...I was coming to a stop to
meet my riding buddy, who got there ahead of me (he weighs 60 lbs less
than
I do)...so this time I lock out both feet as I only had maybe 30 yards to
go
to stop....Bamn! Fell to the right. Turns out, my right foot had locked
back in and I didn't even know it! That was really embarrassing as I was
talking to him and we both knew the moment I was going down. It all
happens
in slow motion it seems, even though once you start to go you can't do
much
about it. Glad I had my helmet on as my head hit the pavement. Talk
about
the inverted pendulum problem.

Anywho...at about 25 miles out along the route, I hear this noise....had
popped a spoke on the rear wheel. Dang -- I just had popped a spoke on
tuesday on that same wheel and had to have it trued. Well, there I was
with
the wheel out of true again. I could do nothing to get the spoke back in.
Some out-of-town cyclist came by to offer a hand...he was training for an
Ironman event in Florida (we're in SC)...there was nothing he could do so
he
wished my a good walk home...I was looking at about 11 miles....not too
bad
but at 3 mph with a bike I was not looking forward to it. My buddy was
nowhere to be seen although he was to wait for me at a certain point on
the
route since he didn't know where we were going today beyond that
point...so
I released the rear brake and tried to ride with the wheel out of
true...it
all seemed to be working, so I made a U-turn in the middle of the road to
head for the meet point. But, alas, the rear wheel hung and --- what do
you
know --- bamn! I was on the friggin pavement again! This time I felt a
bit
defeated. So I just started hoofing it home. Luckily, after about 4
miles
a kindly old fellow and his wife stopped to ask how far of I walk I
had...I
told them 9 miles...I did the math wrong..it was only about 7 miles...but
anyway, the fellow was cyclist...81 years old...had a bike rack on his
other
car....so he went home and came back, hitched up my bike, and drove me
home....finally (after calling my riding buddies to see if he made it
back),
I hurried to the LBS where the hot lady (who sold me my bike) managed to
rush my bike back so I can get it back by 3pm (hopefully, that was nice of
her to try, huh?). I discovered that my left palm is all swollen, too.
Must
be from one of those falls....

Comments on how to avoid any more spills and what to do with a popped
spoke
and an untrued wheel on a ride would be much appreciated. Somehow, I feel
a
bit unsure if myself now....damn!

From personal experience, I'd say your tendency to blame it on weight is
correct. A fatter tire and less pressure will help. So will re-spoking with
thicker gage spokes, so will a new wheel with more spokes (and thicker ones,
too). I have a low-rent hybrid and had a similar problem (you and I weigh
about the same) when I went to skinny tires at high pressure. Problem
vanished when I went to a fatter tire at lower pressure. I lost maybe a mph
or two, but gained a whole lot of reliability. Problem is road
imperfections combined with components not designed for Clydesdales like us,
but for puny humans.

--

- GRL

"It's good to want things."

Steve Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, chemist,
Visual Basic programmer)
"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...
R15757 wrote:
:: Roger Zoul wrote in part:
::
:: ... Bamn! Fell to the right. Turns out, my right foot had locked
:: back in and I didn't even know it! ...
::
:: Those inadvertent clip-ins are the worst. We've all been there.
::

Believe it or not, that makes me feel better!

:: That cleat-related floundering will be a thing of the past before
:: too long. More worrisome is the fact that your spokes keep breaking.
:: That should not be a regular occurrence. Probably you have a
:: poorly-built wheel or a wheel that is simply not built to handle the
:: girth. What kind of wheel are you riding?

I bought this bike in September 2003. I only had 200 miles or so up until
April 17. Since then, I've put on 600 miles. My wheel is a Specialized
"Rolf design 700c twin spoke design high performance wheel set", whatever
that means.


http://www.specialized.com/SBCBkMode...t snk7.j27002

My tendency is to blame it on my weight -- I'm 235 to 240 or so.
::
:: If you pop a spoke on a ride, it should be possible to straighten
:: the wheel enough so it clears the stays by adjusting adjacent spokes
:: with a spoke wrench. Maybe the hot chick at the LBS could show you
:: how...

Plus, maybe they'll sell me a spoke wrench, too. I'll see her at 3pm. I
don't really understand how the spokes work to keep the wheel straight, so
I'll be reading up on that. Thank.

GRL wrote:
:: Thanks for posting the story. It was a great read of the "been
:: there, done that" sort.
::
:: I've been using "clipless" pedals (there's a mis-named gadget, if
:: ever there was one)

Right! I thought maybe I was the only one thinking that...


for about a year down and have gone over four
:: times, twice at the start of each season. The best one was when I
:: had to unexpectedly stop at an intersection of the rail trail,
:: de-clipped on the right and went over on the left as a 60+ year old
:: lady slowly drove by with that really worried look on her face asked
:: "Oh my God, are you all right?" Boy, did I feel silly. For a feeling
:: of shear helplessness and disgust, there is nothing quite like going
:: over on the B side when you have carefully de-clipped on the A
:: side...while an old lady watches with deep concern.

I'm always going to unclip on both sides...I maybe get some pedals that have
slightly bigger platforms, if such is possible, so I can pedal unclipped.

::
:: No advice, except de-clip on both sides unless you have supreme
:: confidence that one side will be OK.

I'll de-clip

::
:: As for the spokes, I used to break spokes regularly, last year,
:: after I switched from 2" dia. tires to 1.4" and then
:: over-pressurized them by ~10 psi(to 90 psi) in search of speed.
:: Thought it was the age of the spokes or a bum wheel and bought a new
:: wheel and promptly broke a spoke on it, too. Shop thought that the
:: wheel was bad and gave me a new one. Then I broke a spoke on that
:: one, too. Finally went back to the 2" tires (75 psi) and no more
:: broken spokes. I'll bet if I ran the 1.4" tires at 75 psi, the
:: spokes would hold up as well. This may not be the cause of your
:: broken spokes, but it's worth a thought.

You're talking about a mountain bike, right? I usually inflat to about 120
psi on my 700c x 26 tires.

Thanks.

:: I've been using "clipless" pedals (there's a mis-named gadget, if
:: ever there was one)

Right! I thought maybe I was the only one thinking that...

Heh ;-) IIRC comes from the fact they don't have toeclips. Of course I could
be wrong!

Cheers, helen s


--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam--
to get correct one remove fame & fortune
**$om $

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off--

MarkR wrote:
:: What a great post to read today. I just got clipless and shoes two
:: days ago. Yesterday, I rode to the end of my gravel drive (about two
:: miles) and then decided to try some slow speed u turns with the
:: clipless to see how my balance was. Bam! I went down on my left
:: side. Being slow to learn, I tried again and went down left again.
:: The third try was different - I went down on my right side! NO real
:: damage, just twisted the seat around a bit, plus a bit of skin loss
:: on one knee and a nice bruise on one shoulder. It sure is a long way
:: down from on top of a bike seat (and enough time for some good
:: choice words during that helpless interval when you know you're
:: going down and know you can do nothing about it!)

Amazing....our planets must have been in the same orbits.

::
:: Though slow to learn, I think I'll next practice slow u turns and
:: track stands with the clipless on the lawn, like the book I have
:: suggests. Duh!
::

I did a slow U-turn in the street on Sunday....I de-clipped....I didn't want
to end up in the middle of a wide street on the ground...it was early am
though, so not many cars around. I did manage 25 miles with no spills, but
I still felt unsure. I took a route that had lots of stop lights, so I got
a good amount of real-world practice de-clipping/unlocking/getting free


:: Anyway, today I did about twently pretty easy miles. The clipless
:: seem to let me go up hills in about two gears higher than I used to.
:: I know what you mean about accidentally clipping in. For now, I'm
:: unclipping both feet at any danger, and putting the pedal in my arch
:: to avoid clipping back in accidentally!

Yes...I read your post a couple of day ago and did exactly this arch thing
on Sunday. It seemed to work. Part of it is just getting use to having your
foot there...I can even pedal a few hundred yards like that....don't
particularly enjoy it though.

::
:: Question for clipless gurus: Does setting the clips up stiffer help
:: avoid unintended clip in? Also, the one place I seem to have a bit
:: of trouble unclipping is right at the top of the stroke. Any
:: suggestions?

Not a gurus by any means, but I think the answer to your first question is
yes. As for the second question: I don't unclip at the top of the stroke.
I don't know if I'm simply not flexible enough or what, but I bring the
pedal parallel to ground and unclip there....