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Thursday 28 June 2012

Fixing bikes

The bits and bobs that I ordered have arrived yesterday and today; isn't it wonderful to buy things this way, instead of having to visit umpteen bike shops, wait while one of them orders what you need because none of them have it in stock, go back to the bike shop to pick it up, and then find they sent the wrong thing?

So first, I looked at the back tire that had gone. When I took it off the bike, I saw that there was indeed a big hole in the outer, you could put your finger through it. All that had stopped the inner from bursting, was the gel insert. Bless you, Weldtite.

When I looked at the gel insert, it had reinvented itself as a long winding S-shape, so I decided to put in a new insert. And the inner tube was fine, but it was encrusted with bits of the outer tire; I'm guessing that the outer was the worst quality possible. I imagine that when they ship the bike from the factory, they use the cheapest possible tires. So, I put in a new inner tube. Technobike.1 is now ready for action.

Yesterday, I had taken technobike.2 out, and I found that the saddle was much too low, and couldn't be raised because the seat post was very short. I ordered a new seat post, and I installed that, and now the height is fine. I also installed a back carrier - needed to carry water, spare battery, repair tools and whatever else I need for a long circuit. That looks very nice now; possibly better than the one on technobike.1

Yesterday, I popped into Halfords to see if I could have bought any of this stuff there, and I wasn't surprised to find that I couldn't. While I was there, I saw a bike stand, and I had a good look at it, thinking maybe I need one with all the bike maintenance I'm doing. I decided not to, because I wanted to see what the internet had to offer.

Sure enough, I found one on Amazon that's a third the price of Halfords, and looks somewhat better, so I've treated myself to one. When it arrives, I'll use it to put the gel inserts and thorn-resistant inner tubes into technobike.2

Now what I need is for the pain in my hip (which I'm sure isn't the previous tendonitis) to go away . It feels kind of like I've sprained my right thigh, except I didn't. While it's like this, I can't go out - the pain gets so bad that even walking a few steps is too much.

Oh well. Lots more bike maintenance to do!

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