I finally came to understand the ideas behind bikes at the co-op. It is a lot like the pound, or animal shelter. It exist in a way that compares to a bike shop like the shelter relates to a pet store. The bike there have various issues. Some are diamonds in the rough, and some are too far gone to be saved. Although not overrun, kids bikes are like puppies and kittens, everyone loves them. Older bikes, adult bikes, they don't move as quickly. Even fixed up, some may not be the same as when they were younger. The idea isn't to fix them up the same as new, but to make them as good as they can reasonably be. And while I have been somewhat spoiled growing up and having access to good bike shop bikes, (pedigrees in the analogy) there are many who don't care if the pedals are not quite right, or the brake cable housing doesn't match, if the levers are not a real pair, etc. They don't care if the bike has Shimano or Sram, if the bike came from Walmart or a Bike Shop. They care that they can hop on it and ride from point a to point b.
One bike I worked on at the Co-op was converted to a single speed, removing the gear shifters and the cables, while using the RD to hold the chain on a certain gear and add tension. The person getting the bike will be thrilled with it like that. I actually think they will like it. I found some longer BMX grips that matched the bike really well in the back parts area, and the bike rode well enough. (I don't think anyone got a pic of me riding it, I think it was a 20", maybe a 24". Small either way.)
It is true that I prefer new bikes over used. My current stable contains two bikes I bought new (one I assembled myself) and two older bikes. One I did some work on and a LBS did a lot of work on, and that was from 1974. The other is the Mongoose frame that I built up, and it is one of my favourite bikes in memory. And while I plan on trading in the vintage and the current road bike (2011) for something a bit more in line with how I prefer to ride, my Mongoose isn't going anywhere. I know every part on that bike, and I can fix just about anything that could go wrong on it. (I can't do anything about the frame if that goes though.)
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Friday, November 7, 2014
Finished, minor sacrifce
The bike is done. Maybe a little fine tuning, and need to do a final test ride tomorrow, but it is done. Picked up a used FD, added a shim, realigned it when I realized it was too close to the wheel, and swapped out the twist shifters for trigger shifters. (They were on sale for $25 or so when I stopped by Performance Bike last weekend, and I like them better.)
Getting the FD to shift correctly was a real headache. The RD shifted almost perfectly from the start, and took a mere 30 seconds to have set up. Since the trigger shifts have the brake levers as well, it did take a little bit to set up. I might still need to adjust the brakes after I try them out on the road though.
Of course, it is not stock. (The shifters are closer to stock, might even be better than stock) One key difference is the crankset. I am using a 48t big ring, where the original only used a 42t. Now, I like this, because (while I forgot the specs on the rear freewheel) it gives a performance boost. Assuming from the spec list from the Mongoose that it has a 14-28t freewheel, the stock ratios would be 1.5x~3x and the 48 gives me 1.7x~3.4x or about 13% more distance per pedal rotation. (Considering the top gear before I got the FD installed was a 38, I had a 10% drop from stock when in the middle gear vs the original top gear, and about a 26% increase with the large ring compared to the middle.)
Not accounting for wind and rolling resistance, the bike still won't have quite the speed of my road bike (4.3x ratio, and 700c wheels instead of 26") but should be on par with my fixie, which runs a 3.14 ratio at the moment.
Now, moving from a 42t to 48t did have one issue. Because of the larger chainring, the FD had to be moved higher. In doing so, the second bottle cage can not be mounted. (Well, it can, but it blocks the FD from the lowest gear.) I still have one bottle cage mounted, and it really shouldn't be an issue for most rides. The sacrifice of a second cage against the gear increase is worth it to me.
I plan to put the bike though its paces again tomorrow, before it gets much colder. Being Ohio though, the cold is coming either way.
Getting the FD to shift correctly was a real headache. The RD shifted almost perfectly from the start, and took a mere 30 seconds to have set up. Since the trigger shifts have the brake levers as well, it did take a little bit to set up. I might still need to adjust the brakes after I try them out on the road though.
Of course, it is not stock. (The shifters are closer to stock, might even be better than stock) One key difference is the crankset. I am using a 48t big ring, where the original only used a 42t. Now, I like this, because (while I forgot the specs on the rear freewheel) it gives a performance boost. Assuming from the spec list from the Mongoose that it has a 14-28t freewheel, the stock ratios would be 1.5x~3x and the 48 gives me 1.7x~3.4x or about 13% more distance per pedal rotation. (Considering the top gear before I got the FD installed was a 38, I had a 10% drop from stock when in the middle gear vs the original top gear, and about a 26% increase with the large ring compared to the middle.)
Not accounting for wind and rolling resistance, the bike still won't have quite the speed of my road bike (4.3x ratio, and 700c wheels instead of 26") but should be on par with my fixie, which runs a 3.14 ratio at the moment.
Now, moving from a 42t to 48t did have one issue. Because of the larger chainring, the FD had to be moved higher. In doing so, the second bottle cage can not be mounted. (Well, it can, but it blocks the FD from the lowest gear.) I still have one bottle cage mounted, and it really shouldn't be an issue for most rides. The sacrifice of a second cage against the gear increase is worth it to me.
I plan to put the bike though its paces again tomorrow, before it gets much colder. Being Ohio though, the cold is coming either way.
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