My Monday morning commute

Being half term, and with a little time on my hands, I have enrolled
in a bike maintenance course in Brixton. This invovles a longer
commute than I am used to.

I looked up a cycle only route from Lee Green to Brixton using TfL's
journey planner, and immediately discounted the suggested route as
being too slow using side roads. Instead I chose a less direct route
using major roads:

Lee Green to Lewisham (A20)
Lewisham to New Cross (A20)
New Cross to Peckham (A202)
Peckham to Camberwell (A202)
Camberwell to Brixton (Side roads & A23)

This would be a particularly unremarkable commute, except for one
fact... I was haulling a trailer with four children's bikes aboard in
urgent need of a service.

The A20 is a major trunk route into central London, it is wide and for
about half the length of the commute above it has bus lanes. Cycle
lanes were evident for parts, but with a wide trailer they were of no
use to me.

Soon after I set off I was overtaken by a Virgin Media van. I passed
this van in Lewisham, and was passed again by it shortly before New
Cross. We then passed each other several more times, me passing the
van in bus lanes while it was held up in traffic at lights, and it
passing me when the traffic was flowing more freely. At the point
where I turned off the A202 the van was nowhere to be seen - though I
suppose it may have reached its destination or turned off somewhere
between Peckham and Camberwell. I would prefer to believe that I was
faster than the van even with my load.

The commute was pleasant. I was rarely held up, found car drivers
polite and good mannered, and never had a problem moving from the bus
lanes to main lane to pass stopped busses.

Haulling such a load, a Rohloff hub is a boon. Approaching red lights
I was able to coast to a stop in a low gear, usually 3, for a steady
acceleration through the gears after the lights changed to green.

Hills are a slow effort, but fortunately there is nothing too long
between home and Brixton - the worst being the climb from the
Ravensbourne Valley in Lewisham to New Cross. I simply changed into
first gear and spun my legs all the way to the summit.

The six and a half miles took me 45 minutes.

My unladen return journey took me 30 minutes. I wasn't pushing myself
either way, though with the traffic and the lights, I don't suppose I
could have shaved much time off my return journey.

The course itself is excellent.

I learnt how to service and clean hubs, remove casettes, how to
replace wheels correctly, how to strip and service V-brakes, replace
rear brake cables and recycle the old rear brake cable as a front
brake cable. Day off tomorrow. Wednesday is servicing gears and
other types of brake. I'm not yet sure about Thursday and Friday, but
should be returning the older Raleigh bikes to schools and taking in
four Islabikes: a Beinn 20, a Beinn 24, a Beinn 26 and a Luath 700.

On Feb 18, 10:32 pm, Tom Crispin
wrote:
...I have enrolled
in a bike maintenance course in Brixton... I learnt how to...replace
rear brake cables and recycle the old rear brake cable as a front
brake cable.

Shirley not. If a brake cable is knackered enough to need
replacement, why would you recycle it on the primary brake? Whilst
the riders of your machines are not likely to have quite the hand
strenght of an adult I would have thought that the cost of brake
cables would suggest a fairly conservative strategy of replacement
given the application. I can't iamgine this practice being worth
while other than perhaps if you damage the end of a rear cable during
installation. Would you be able to ask the instructor for his/her
reasoning? I would be interested to know what it was

best wishes
james

In article
,
wrote:
...I have enrolled in a bike maintenance course in Brixton... I
learnt how to...replace
rear brake cables and recycle the old rear brake cable as a front
brake cable.

Since most cable breakages occur at the lever end of the cable this
is a dangerous practice.

--
A T (Sandy) Morton
on the Bicycle Island
In the Global Village
http://www.millport.net

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:45:02 +0000 (GMT), Sandy Morton
wrote:

In article
,
wrote:
...I have enrolled in a bike maintenance course in Brixton... I
learnt how to...replace
rear brake cables and recycle the old rear brake cable as a front
brake cable.

Since most cable breakages occur at the lever end of the cable this
is a dangerous practice.

This is what we were told...

Part of servicing a bike's brakes is checking the brake cables. Once
you have taken a rear brake cable out to check it. It should not be
reclamped because this weakens the cable too much at the clamp point.
However, if it is fine, trim off the end and use it as a front brake
cable.

If this advice is not sound, I'd like to know.

On Feb 19, 10:11 am, Tom Crispin
wrote:
On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:45:02 +0000 (GMT), Sandy Morton

wrote:
In article
,
wrote:
...I have enrolled in a bike maintenance course in Brixton... I
learnt how to...replace
rear brake cables and recycle the old rear brake cable as a front
brake cable.

Since most cable breakages occur at the lever end of the cable this
is a dangerous practice.

This is what we were told...

Part of servicing a bike's brakes is checking the brake cables. Once
you have taken a rear brake cable out to check it. It should not be
reclamped because this weakens the cable too much at the clamp point.
However, if it is fine, trim off the end and use it as a front brake
cable.

If this advice is not sound, I'd like to know.

As Sandy says, cable breaks are common and the lever end (the nipple
shears off). In your situation (shared bikes used by children in your
care) I would have thought that a program of replacing brake cables
at regular intervals would be sensible, perhaps annully (I assume the
bikes are stored in a dry environment). Perhaps others will suggest a
different schedule. I would have thought that a maintenance manual
(checks/adjustments performed per-ride,perhaps mothly, termly and
annually) and log (checks done on a which bike, components replaced
etc) might be valuable as a record of responsibilities discharged and
of which bits are most reliable. If the age and usage of the cable is
known then the advice given may not be unreasonable. Personally I
reclamp my brake cables sometimes as your instructor recommends not
to. I have sheared off the nipple on a brake cable

best wishes
james

Tom Crispin wrote:

This is what we were told...

I have never had a brake cable snap, I have always replaced them long
before that (when they get gunked up, and start sticking).

Part of servicing a bike's brakes is checking the brake cables. Once
you have taken a rear brake cable out to check it. It should not be
reclamped because this weakens the cable too much at the clamp point.

Once I get the clamp at the correct position, I don't touch the clamp
again until I need to replace the cable.

Cables can be checked, cleaned and oiled in-situ. Inspect the cable as
it goes into the clamp (from the brake level side). If there is any
fraying, the you should replace immediately.

However, if it is fine, trim off the end and use it as a front brake
cable.

TBH I have never really thought about recycling brake cables, I regard
them as safety parts that need replacing every so often. The cost of
brake cables is very small for me considering my peace of mind.

If this advice is not sound, I'd like to know.

wrote:
Perhaps others will suggest a
different schedule. I would have thought that a maintenance manual
(checks/adjustments performed per-ride,perhaps mothly, termly and
annually)

Brakes should be checked daily. AIUI the HW code says something like
every time you use a bike you *MUST* check the brakes are working
efficiently. This is something you need to teach the kids.

If I were you, I would regualarly (pref. dayly) check the brakes on
every bike. Just squeeze both brake levers on all bikes to see that they
do opperate the brake mechanisms, and that the levers don't touch the
handle bars.

Then get the kids to do the same, make the check that the blocks are
aligned on the wheel rims, and make them ride a short distance and stop
(or something).

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:30:27 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Feb 19, 10:11 am, Tom Crispin
wrote:
On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:45:02 +0000 (GMT), Sandy Morton

wrote:
In article
,
wrote:
...I have enrolled in a bike maintenance course in Brixton... I
learnt how to...replace
rear brake cables and recycle the old rear brake cable as a front
brake cable.

Since most cable breakages occur at the lever end of the cable this
is a dangerous practice.

This is what we were told...

Part of servicing a bike's brakes is checking the brake cables. Once
you have taken a rear brake cable out to check it. It should not be
reclamped because this weakens the cable too much at the clamp point.
However, if it is fine, trim off the end and use it as a front brake
cable.

If this advice is not sound, I'd like to know.

As Sandy says, cable breaks are common and the lever end (the nipple
shears off). In your situation (shared bikes used by children in your
care) I would have thought that a program of replacing brake cables
at regular intervals would be sensible, perhaps annully (I assume the
bikes are stored in a dry environment). Perhaps others will suggest a
different schedule. I would have thought that a maintenance manual
(checks/adjustments performed per-ride,perhaps mothly, termly and
annually) and log (checks done on a which bike, components replaced
etc) might be valuable as a record of responsibilities discharged and
of which bits are most reliable. If the age and usage of the cable is
known then the advice given may not be unreasonable. Personally I
reclamp my brake cables sometimes as your instructor recommends not
to. I have sheared off the nipple on a brake cable

I will clarify with the course leader on Wednesday.

Perhaps we were only recycling the rear cables because we had removed
perfectly sound cables for practise.

My pool bikes have their brakes checked before every trip - usually
three times a week. I do a more rigourous check every half term. None
of them have had a proper brake service.

Most are stored in a dry secure shed, but several older ones are left
chained up in the outside bike racks at other schools: Lee Manor has
four and St Margaret's three.

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:01:46 GMT, Martin Dann
wrote:

wrote:
Perhaps others will suggest a
different schedule. I would have thought that a maintenance manual
(checks/adjustments performed per-ride,perhaps mothly, termly and
annually)

Brakes should be checked daily. AIUI the HW code says something like
every time you use a bike you *MUST* check the brakes are working
efficiently. This is something you need to teach the kids.

If I were you, I would regualarly (pref. dayly) check the brakes on
every bike. Just squeeze both brake levers on all bikes to see that they
do opperate the brake mechanisms, and that the levers don't touch the
handle bars.

Then get the kids to do the same, make the check that the blocks are
aligned on the wheel rims, and make them ride a short distance and stop
(or something).

Children do a four point check before riding:
A ir in tyres
B rakes working
C hain running smoothly
D anglers tucked away

The brake test is put on front brake, push bike forward so the rear
end lifts up. Put on back brake, pull bike backward so the front end
lifts up.

Tom Crispin wrote:

Children do a four point check before riding:
A ir in tyres
B rakes working
C hain running smoothly
D anglers tucked away.


The brake test is put on front brake, push bike forward so the rear
end lifts up. Put on back brake, pull bike backward so the front end
lifts up.

That sounds sensible, I usually do something similar with the front, I
pull the front brake as I am walking it out the garage, the back lifts
up, and I don't loose any time. However I feel much better testing the
brakes once I am on the bike, and I can test them loaded with my weight.