Spring bike mechanical review questions.

Hi, Group...
I'm the Old Fool who started what was supposed to be mild offroad
trail biking two years ago. I have kept it up, and it has done me a
lot of good. I am 62 this year, but my physicals say I am in better
shape than when I was forty (Partly due to eliminating some
destructive party behaviour, but...)
Anyway, it is Restless Feet Season, I have been out a few times
despite the cold (0°C right now), have been going all over the
Specialized Expedition Elite, and must confess to Serious Bike
Abuse.
It seems that as last season wore on and I got fitter, I began to
stray onto New England Mountain Bike Assn. trails.
As a result, I see I have some work to do...I know, buy a mountain
bike, if I am going to do those...!
So, I have been going all over http://www.sheldonbrown.com, and I see
that my bike has been "rode hard and put up wet".
As an ex-motorcyclist,I have maintained the chain and sprockets well,
and the Shimano shifters work positively.
However:
1) Spokes. How often are these supposed to need tensioning? The
article on tuning by pitch indicates that at present, my spokes need
to be written with a bass cleff!
2) Fork shocks. May have to be replaced. Are these really supposed to
have adjustable preload? The manual that came with the Expedition
really has no details at all, except "Bring it to a bike shop"-(Dammit
NO! If I can keep my Jaguar running, I can fix a bike! At least the
bike does not have a Lucas ignition!!!)
.. Is there a GOOD aftermarket technical manual for these bikes? I
have diligently searched the Web, or I wouldn't ask.

I will be riding with a physical fitness freak/Gym Rat this season,
with the condition that we wil be staying off the mountain bike
trails. She likes her Trek too much, so this will be a Good Thing.

Counting Down to March!

"Methusaleh" wrote in message
...
Hi, Group...
I'm the Old Fool who started what was supposed to be mild offroad
trail biking two years ago. I have kept it up, and it has done me a
lot of good. I am 62 this year, but my physicals say I am in better
shape than when I was forty (Partly due to eliminating some
destructive party behaviour, but...)
Anyway, it is Restless Feet Season, I have been out a few times
despite the cold (0°C right now), have been going all over the
Specialized Expedition Elite, and must confess to Serious Bike
Abuse.
It seems that as last season wore on and I got fitter, I began to
stray onto New England Mountain Bike Assn. trails.
As a result, I see I have some work to do...I know, buy a mountain
bike, if I am going to do those...!
So, I have been going all over http://www.sheldonbrown.com, and I see
that my bike has been "rode hard and put up wet".
As an ex-motorcyclist,I have maintained the chain and sprockets well,
and the Shimano shifters work positively.
However:
1) Spokes. How often are these supposed to need tensioning? The
article on tuning by pitch indicates that at present, my spokes need
to be written with a bass cleff!
2) Fork shocks. May have to be replaced. Are these really supposed to
have adjustable preload? The manual that came with the Expedition
really has no details at all, except "Bring it to a bike shop"-(Dammit
NO! If I can keep my Jaguar running, I can fix a bike! At least the
bike does not have a Lucas ignition!!!)
. Is there a GOOD aftermarket technical manual for these bikes? I
have diligently searched the Web, or I wouldn't ask.

I will be riding with a physical fitness freak/Gym Rat this season,
with the condition that we wil be staying off the mountain bike
trails. She likes her Trek too much, so this will be a Good Thing.

Counting Down to March!

I'd just like to say that if you can keep a Jaguar, or any Lucas items
going, then you could quite easily fix a spaceship, run the United States,
build a skyscraper, design a new computer along with the operating system,
leap tall buildings and a host of other things. Biking is not for you at
all. Go flying, welding with your x-ray vision, saving the planet from
asteroids, mopping up oil spills and that sort of thing. I hope you get a
good price for the bike.

I'd just like to say that if you can keep a Jaguar, or any Lucas items
going,

I have the MANUALS for the Jag. That makes it EASY!

then you could quite easily fix a spaceship,

I worked for JPL for years. When things are well documented, it's not
a problem.

run the United States,
Given the class of people who DO, that's hardly a distinction.

Biking is not for you at
all. Go flying,
Flight MANUALS are available. Little kids fly. It's EASY!
Properly trimmed, the plane flies itself.

My squawk is with the manual (Pamphlet, if that) supplied by
Specialized that repeats over and over, "Since your last job was
playing the banjo in "Deliverance", you are far too STUPID to attempt
to fix a bicycle."
It renders me indignant, and makes me want to buy 6-4 Ti tubing and a
TIG welder and give them a gesture.

I hope you get a
good price for the bike.

If I like the bike well enough to ride it to death, it's HARDLY for
sale. One could argue that in only two seasons, I got my money out of
it. That's not even beer money. Every mile hereafter is a bonus.

Methusaleh wrote:
Hi, Group...
I'm the Old Fool who started what was supposed to be mild offroad
trail biking two years ago. I have kept it up, and it has done me a
lot of good. I am 62 this year,

By calling yourself those names you're calling everybody else your age
or older the same. I think you are a fool, anyway.

By calling yourself those names you're calling everybody else your age
or older the same.
No, that's just the self-effacing name I have used on here for two
seasons. There are people twenty years older than I am who ride
Centuries, and we all know it.


I think you are a fool, anyway.
Well, then THIS will really get you going:
I don't dress up specially when I ride, either.
In some circles, that's a real crime, and I meet them once in a while.

Methusaleh wrote:
By calling yourself those names you're calling everybody else your age
or older the same.

No, that's just the self-effacing name I have used on here for two
seasons. There are people twenty years older than I am who ride
Centuries, and we all know it.



I think you are a fool, anyway.

Well, then THIS will really get you going:
I don't dress up specially when I ride, either.
In some circles, that's a real crime, and I meet them once in a while.

Join my circle and do centuries in Levi jeans.
Irritates some of these elite snobs to no end.
I am 57 and enjoy off roading and downhilling that scares the crap out
of my 13 year old grandson and his friends.
Welcome to the society of insanity.
Bill

"Peter Cole" wrote in message
...
Methusaleh wrote:
Hi, Group...
I'm the Old Fool who started what was supposed to be mild offroad
trail biking two years ago. I have kept it up, and it has done me a
lot of good. I am 62 this year,

By calling yourself those names you're calling everybody else your age or
older the same. I think you are a fool, anyway.

Your first statement is ridiculous. He makes no mention of others his age or
older. Your second statement is simply an opinion, and a pretty dopey one at
that!

I think you are a fool, anyway.

Well, then THIS will really get you going:
I don't dress up specially when I ride, either.
In some circles, that's a real crime, and I meet them once in a while.

Join my circle and do centuries in Levi jeans.
Irritates some of these elite snobs to no end.
I am 57 and enjoy off roading and downhilling that scares the crap out
of my 13 year old grandson and his friends.
Welcome to the society of insanity.

There is some of it, but not all that much on the Trails.
I find the vast majority of people in the real world are gregarious
and good humoured. While I may get snarled at on here a couple of
times, generally the worst that happens on the trail is the kind of
look one would get for showing up wearing white shoes after Labour
Day, etc.
Now, there IS the occasional hard-core cultist that nearly gasps in
indignation if one is Out Of Costume, and it must be especially
grating when they are BEHIND you, watching the Levis disappear in the
distance.
Maybe we are supposed to just slink home and lay on the sofa getting
beer drunk because of our Crimes Against Fashion?
Though, this year I am going to buy some proper attire, for my own
comfort. After I change the oil and work in the garden in them long
enough, and they look as disreputable as possible, I will then enjoy
them for their actual function of riding cooler and more comfortably,
rather than to show the World how serious, ponderous, important
about-me fashion-conscious I am.
How's that for a compromise!? :-)
I do deeply respect anyone who completes a century, though, even if
they do a Lady Godiva, or wear a tux.
Maybe this year. But it will not be on the Hybrid!

On Sun, 26 Feb 2006 13:09:42 +1300, "Fred"
wrote:

Your first statement is ridiculous. He makes no mention of others his age or
older. Your second statement is simply an opinion, and a pretty dopey one at
that!

I think it simply has been a long Winter, everyone has been cooped up
too long, and soon, after a hundred miles, everyone will be fine.

Methusaleh wrote:
I think you are a fool, anyway.

Well, then THIS will really get you going:
I don't dress up specially when I ride, either.
In some circles, that's a real crime, and I meet them once in a while.


Join my circle and do centuries in Levi jeans.
Irritates some of these elite snobs to no end.
I am 57 and enjoy off roading and downhilling that scares the crap out
of my 13 year old grandson and his friends.
Welcome to the society of insanity.


There is some of it, but not all that much on the Trails.
I find the vast majority of people in the real world are gregarious
and good humoured. While I may get snarled at on here a couple of
times, generally the worst that happens on the trail is the kind of
look one would get for showing up wearing white shoes after Labour
Day, etc.
Now, there IS the occasional hard-core cultist that nearly gasps in
indignation if one is Out Of Costume, and it must be especially
grating when they are BEHIND you, watching the Levis disappear in the
distance.
Maybe we are supposed to just slink home and lay on the sofa getting
beer drunk because of our Crimes Against Fashion?
Though, this year I am going to buy some proper attire, for my own
comfort. After I change the oil and work in the garden in them long
enough, and they look as disreputable as possible, I will then enjoy
them for their actual function of riding cooler and more comfortably,
rather than to show the World how serious, ponderous, important
about-me fashion-conscious I am.
How's that for a compromise!? :-)
I do deeply respect anyone who completes a century, though, even if
they do a Lady Godiva, or wear a tux.
Maybe this year. But it will not be on the Hybrid!
I do them on my mountain bike since part of them is off road and I need
to carry lots of food and water. And they are not 4 hour centuries since
I take plenty of tome to stop and BS with people along the way. About 8
hours total for a mellow century in the summer.
Bill