Bike Repairs

Sorry, I hope this post isn't too boring.  I just really wanted to post about my skills (and struggles).

So, remember that bike I bought last week?

I fell in love with it as soon as I first tried it because of how nice it rides.  The rack on the back was a big selling point as well.  I've also come to love the lightweight, male style bike frame.

But, there have been tons of problems, starting almost immediately after I rode off after buying it (for $70).

1.  The back break needed to be tightened.  Took it into the shop for that.  $10

2. The seat would twist and sink down when you rode, no matter how you tightened it.  Turns out that the seat post was just a bit too small.  I tried Googling some homemade solutions, and found one (slip aluminum from soda cans around the seat post to fill up the gap), but it didn't work at all.  So, I decided this one needed professional help, too, and I took it into the bike shop on campus to buy a new one.  That was $20.

3. Then the saddle I already had wasn't standard, so it didn't fit the post they had, which meant I needed to buy a saddle as well.  Thankfully the nice employee said that the saddles they sold weren't exactly the cheapest, and dug around in their spare parts bin to find one, and he sold it to me for $15 (versus the ones they were selling for $40).  It's a pretty awesome seat, too.  I love it!

4.  A couple of days later I was riding home, and I was going north between Helaman Halls and the Marriott Center, when my left pedal, which had been wobbling for a while, got really lose and when I stopped to check it out, the pedal pulled right off.  Lame!  Luckily I was close to University Parkway, so I just coasted all the way down the street.  :)

When I got home I pulled out the tool box and put the pedal back on, tested it out, and thought it was fixed.  Next morning I rode to campus and the pedal came lose again.  I figured I just hadn't tightened it enough, so I took it home and used my roommate's socket wrench this time to put it back on, much tighter.  The next day the same thing happened, so I rode the bike home wobbling and gave it up for a day.

I did a couple Google searches to find out what the problem was, and I found a blog where someone had posted about the exact same problem and it basically said the corners of the crank arm's socket were worn from being lose, and it would just keep wiggling off.  So, I just gave in and went to the bike store behind Glenwood and bought a new crank arm for $18, then took it home and put it the bike myself.  I rode it to campus today and it seems to be working just fine!

5.  Finally, my chain had been skipping and clicking every time I rode it, and it was getting pretty annoying.  I did some more Google searches and found a couple different things it could be, but finally figured it was probably a stiff link.  I had my bike upside down in the living room and watched the back derailleur until the stiff link came through.  Happily, it was just an easy matter of wiggling it back and forth until it popped lose again.

Things I learned from this experience:

• Don't buy a random bike off Craigslist unless you're willing to put some work into it.
• Google is your friend for do-it-yourself bike repairs.
• I like fixing bikes!

The last one's really true.  I found myself looking for more things I could fix on the bike because I just loved working with the mechanical structure of it all, and I even sort of enjoyed getting my hands all greasy.  I know, weird.  Mostly, though I just liked feeling like I had accomplished something useful (and saved money by not paying for someone else's labor).