2016 POTD Thread Archive

[great white]

I mean, for cripes sake. You don't even need any tools to change a tire! I do have a set of bicycle tire irons, but I worked the back tire off the rim by using nothing more than a section of 1/4" wooden dowel. I did get my tire irons out to do the front tire, just because I could find them.
My make shift bike gantry stand.

Actually, depending on the rim/tire, some of the newer road bikes don't come apart so easily as the "old" style tires.

Not saying you can't do them at home, but it's not like when I was a little spud.

My Giant Seek 2 road bike has thin high pressure tires that have what seems like a death grip on the rims and that's not even a high end bike.

Heck, even a plain old tire pump doesn't fit my Seek2 tire valves. Needs an adapter or a special chuck on the pump. They're called Presda valves IIRC...

They even have tubeless tire now too.


Some bikes have very fragile rims (IE: built to be strong and light, but do not tolerate damage well). I can easily see someone taking something like a newer bike to a shop so as not to damage/bend the rim....or they are responsible for that expensive rim if they damage it.

All comes down to how much you spent on the bike in the first place I'm guessing. Very expensive bikes may be light and strong, but usually easily damaged. I'd want someone else responsible for that damage on a tire replacement.

Of course, if you've spent mega bucks on a bicycle, you probably aren't going to sweat paying someone else to work on it either....

 

[Ripthorn]

The top lamination is very thin and quarter sawn, so there shouldn't be a problem. Also, in solid body guitars, differential expansion is kind of ignored. As long as the wood is well seasoned and flattened prior to work, and then well finished afterwards, it is rarely a problem. On acoustics it is much more of an issue, but with the thicknesses of electrics, it's not really an issue. People have been pairing maple with mahogany for over half a century and they certainly didn't do any studies on differential expansion/contraction. It's worked well, I would say

 

[Franko]

Actually, depending on the rim/tire, some of the newer road bikes don't come apart so easily as the "old" style tires.
Not saying you can't do them at home, but it's not like when I was a little spud.
My Giant Seek 2 road bike has thin high pressure tires that have what seems like a death grip on the rims and that's not even a high end bike.
Heck, even a plain old tire pump doesn't fit my Seek2 tire valves. Needs an adapter or a special chuck on the pump. They're called Presda valves IIRC...
They even have tubeless tire now too.
Some bikes have very fragile rims (IE: built to be strong and light, but do not tolerate damage well). I can easily see someone taking something like a newer bike to a shop so as not to damage/bend the rim....or they are responsible for that expensive rim if they damage it.
...

That all might be true if you have one of those $18K carbon fiber racing bikes, but that's not what I was seeing at the shop. The guy put the tires on the same way I did, with his hands.

I also have a Giant bicycle. It is a Sedona with medium rims, front suspension and seat post shock, a hybrid. I call it a city bike. At the time I bought it, it was the only affordable bike I found with disk brakes.

I have no use for a thin tired racing bike. They are pretty uncomfortable on city streets with cracks and potholes. And, I prefer sitting up. My neck gets sore with me bent over the handle bars and having to look up to see.

Franco, you need to build a recumbent if you are still riding.
Way better than sitting on a sharp razor blade.

I prefer to be up higher so I can be seen and see better, Saverin. I ride a lot on the street.

Franko. did you buy a new seat or is that how you tough Texans ride to prevent falling off?.
John.

You may have noticed that I don't use handlebars, either, John.
I have a comfy oversized gel padded seat. I've always sat on the seat and pedaled.

Try a solid bike stand. It's nice.

I got one when I got this bike, Casco. It didn't work. The top bar on my bike is kinda fat and triangular and the clamp wouldn't hold. I took it back. It isn't something I do often enough to justify having one. It would stored 99.9% of the time. Most work can be done by turning the bike upside down, resting on the seat and handlebars. I normally don't completely disassemble my bike. In this case, the gantry worked good enough.

 

[RJSakowski]

I have to say I was slightly amused at what I saw at the bike shop. Grown men were bringing their wheels in to have the shop install new tires and tubes. Grown men. Good grief. When I was a kid, 8 years old, my best friend and I used to completely dissemble our bikes, including the coaster brakes, wheel and stem bearings and 3-speed hubs to clean them (with gasoline) and lubricate them — for fun. We didn't have computer games.

I mean, for cripes sake. You don't even need any tools to change a tire! I do have a set of bicycle tire irons, but I worked the back tire off the rim by using nothing more than a section of 1/4" wooden dowel. I did get my tire irons out to do the front tire, just because I could find them.
My make shift bike gantry stand.

View attachment 119254

For many of us, I expect, a bike was our first experience at working on things mechanical. I too had completely taken apart my bike for cleaning, tuning, and just to see how it worked. The bike was our freedom to get around. No such thing as being chauffeured by parents in those days. We took pride in keeping it in the best possible condition.

 

[kvt]

I use to take all the parts from old bikes that people had trashed and make me one good bike, That I could abuse and rebuild. It was nothing to take a bike ride of a few miles just to go do something. But now some think you are being mean if you make a kid walk a block or two to go to the store for something. They want to be driven. Try giving most of them a couple of wrenches and tell them to fix it, and they would toss it in the trash and want you to buy them a new one. Grand kids tried that but found it did not work with me.

 

[Franko]

I've done that too, Ken. I may have made the first BMX bicycle in the 50s, when I took the big seat, pedals and handlebars off one of my big bikes and put it on my first small bike. It was a blast to ride.

When I was a kid, I rode thousands of miles on my bikes. I wanted a Cushman scooter so bad it hurt, but my mother wouldn't have it and kept getting me more bicycles for Christmas. She got me some nice bikes, but they weren't the Cushman Eagle I wanted.

But, I did get the famous Schwinn Phantom, with a springer front end, whitewall tires and chrome fenders!

 

[great white]

That all might be true if you have one of those $18K carbon fiber racing bikes, but that's not what I was seeing at the shop. The guy put the tires on the same way I did, with his hands.

I also have a Giant bicycle. It is a Sedona with medium rims, front suspension and seat post shock, a hybrid. I call it a city bike. At the time I bought it, it was the only affordable bike I found with disk brakes.

I have no use for a thin tired racing bike. They are pretty uncomfortable on city streets with cracks and potholes. And, I prefer sitting up. My neck gets sore with me bent over the handle bars and having to look up to see...

Pretty much the same here too.

The Seek 2 is a city bike IMHO. Flat bars, sit up stright pretty much. Thin, but not too thin rires. Just enough to keep rolling resistance down.

The Seek 2 has a few little gew-jaws like hydralic brakes and such. I got it when I was on teh west coast as i rode in teh rain a lot and disc brakes handle wet better.

I added some bar end handles, lighting, couple tools, soft bags and full length fenders.

All told, probably around 1500 bucks into it as it rolls. That's with teh helmet and bike shorts (yes, i wear 'em. great for avoiding "butt burn").

This isn't my bike, but pretty much identical down to the type of bags:



Mine is transportation, not much else. My back won't tolerate the "road race" style bikes neither will it deal with the jambing around in offroad. Pretty much smooth pavement or I'll walking/driving.....

 

[great white]

For many of us, I expect, a bike was our first experience at working on things mechanical. I too had completely taken apart my bike for cleaning, tuning, and just to see how it worked. The bike was our freedom to get around. No such thing as being chauffeured by parents in those days. We took pride in keeping it in the best possible condition.

we used to chop 'em!

everything from stripped down to nothing to double over extended forks.

Customising started early for me and my kind.

Big thing for use was jumping. Used to set up pallets on standing 45 gallon drums and shoot off the top.

I don't know how we didnt break more bones than we did.....

 

[chevydyl]

Franko are you the guy riding on the street with the cars stopping at stop lights lol

I used to jump my bike into the lake, the only way you could get crazy and not get hurt

 

[Franko]

Chevy, I don't ride on streets big enough to need stoplights.