Bikes 11 Jun 2006 12:08 am
Bike fixery day
Today I watched Josh — and helped a little — as he stripped down my old Marin in preparation for putting an Xtracycle hitchless trailer on it. (I got the Marin in trade for something-or-other, years ago, but getting smacked out of a crosswalk put a dent in my riding plans for a few years. Put some dents in me, too.) There was a lot of unscrewing this stuck bit out of that, and spraying whatsits with WD-40, and gleefully exclaiming, “Ewww!” at particularly good bits of corrosion and nasty old grease. The bottom bracket was a total mess. I was semi-useful as a spare pair of hands, I think, and I had a great time.
When it comes to bike anatomy, I’m starting from near-zero here, confirming basic information and asking basic questions. “Okay, that is the top tube and that is the head tube — and is this whole thing the stem, or just this bit? And what’s this thing that looks like a spider?” (Answer: it’s called a “spider”.) Josh answered all of my questions with tremendous patience. I did get to learn about some mildly oddball stuff today: the Marin came with Biopace chainwheels, weird-looking off-round critters. They’re not widely loved, these things, but having read Sheldon Brown’s defense of Biopace, we’re going to give them a shot.
I’m not a mechanic or even really a bicyclist, yet, but I could see getting hooked. It’s mighty cool that a home mechanic can do so much on his or her machine, and I loved seeing how it all comes apart and goes together. (It’s a little like animal dissection, but the thing works when you’re done with it.) But to tell you the truth, it’s the smell that hooked me. All that solvent made the bike smell kind of like a letterpress shop, and to me, that’s the most nostalgic smell in the world. Carcinogenic? Oh, probably, but absolutely marvelous. That smell makes me want to sit out back and mess with bike parts all summer long.
on 11 Jun 2006 at 12:14 am 1.tamiam said …
I heart bikes. I like to work on them a little, but know zilch, really. I have two new tires and inner tubes sitting waiting for me to feel brave enough to take the back tire off and change both the tires. But maybe I’ll take it into one of those places that helps you work on them yourself. It would be a little like you learning from Josh, perhaps. Last year I got a blue helmet that matches my blue bike.
on 11 Jun 2006 at 12:43 am 2.Josh said …
I’m not sure the Marin’s going to work for me with the xtracycle; the frame’s pretty small. But it might, we’ll see. It’d be a good frame, if it fits.
Thanks for the help, Cam! Having the extra pair of hands was definitely helpful in a few cases where the repair stand wasn’t giving me enough leverage. And you found the rubber mallet, without which I’d never have been able to get the cranks off, or the bottom bracket out.
And, Tami, if you ever want to come over and use my repair stand and tools (and books), you’re welcome to. I don’t have the full range of tools a shop would, but I’ve got enough for most jobs.
on 11 Jun 2006 at 5:00 pm 3.Brandon said …
Oh lord! Don’t hit the cranks off with a rubber mallet! It’ll screw up the square taper. I assume. There’s a crank remover tool.
on 11 Jun 2006 at 7:21 pm 4.Josh said …
Heh! No, I wasn’t pounding the cranks off with the mallet. I was pounding on the crank remover tool, because the cranks had welded themselves to the spindle, and I couldn’t get enough leverage with the crank puller to get them off. So I was applying pounding force to the end of the wrench, not directly to the cranks. And then later I was pounding on the bottom bracket wrench, because that had welded itself firmly to the bottom bracket shell, and just wasn’t coming out. I’ll take a photo of its corroded surface tonight; I think it’s impressive.
on 12 Jun 2006 at 7:21 pm 5.Wim L said …
Ah, smell. Isn’t there some language in which the word for nostalgia is (etymologically) about smell?
I remember reading a long discussion on Usenet some time ago in which old telephone wonks were trying to figure out how to recreate the smell of a working Strowger exchange. A certain brand of oil; a certain fiber bushing, heated; a pinch of ozone…
on 12 Jun 2006 at 11:21 pm 6.tamiam said …
Hey, Josh, I will take you up on that sometime. Maybe not this month as there is big stuff every weekend, but that would be perfect. I haven’t worked on my bike since I was a kid, and have a few tools that came in the bike bag. I can change a car tire, but haven’t tried a bike tire. Thanks!