Tires and tubes and spokes and tape

My bicycle recently turned over 5500 miles. I am proud to claim responsibility for every single last one of those miles, up hills and down them, into the wind and with it. However, I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I haven't really kept up with all the routine maintenance like I should.

A few weeks ago my brother-in-law helped me with a few things. We (he) swapped out the chain and the cassette (that the set of gears on the back), repacked the bearings (there are all these little ball bearings in the center of the wheels that sometimes need to be removed, cleaned, put back, and loaded up with fresh grease), and adjusted the fit a little (my knees are pleased). He mentioned that I might want some new tires and new handlebar tape. I decided to wait until later.


Later is now. Last week I wore through the last little bit of cork tape south of the right hand brake hood and it began to unravel. And, Saturday, as I was checking my tire pressure, I noticed just how very worn my tires actually were. The unraveling tape looks shabby but isn't that big a deal. The state of the tires, on the other hand, had me worried. Worn tires lead to flat tires.

There are, in my estimation, four quick ways to ruin a fine day of riding:

1. Crash.
   
2. Get run off the road by an ignorant dillweed.
   
3. Encounter truly nasty weather.
4. Get a flat.

Number 4 is probably the most frequent, though the local population of ignorant dillweeds does seem to be on the rise. Seriously, though, getting a flat is a ride killer. A bicycle flat is almost as big a pain as an automobile flat. Smart cyclists carry at least one spare tube, tire levers, a frame pump or CO2 cartridge, and a dollar bill*. So it's all fixable, but changing a tube while sitting in a drainage ditch surrounded by a swarm of hungry mosquitoes has got to be the very definition of NO FUN.

Luckily, it's been a while since I've had to do that (knock on wood). I rode Saturday on the worn tires and probably could have gone another month without incident. But I wasn't going to take the risk. Before riding yesterday I ran to my LBS (that's "local bike shop" for you non-cyclists out there) and picked up some supplies.

Swapping out bike tires sounds easy, and the LBS guys make it look easy. But it's not. I've got the broken nails, gashed knuckles, and sore hands to prove it.

When I put the rear wheel back on the bike and gave it a spin, it wobbled. That's no good. It took me quite a while to figure out that the wheel was seated right and the wheel itself was out of true (meaning that it wasn't a nice flat circle like it should be). Eep! That's usually bad news! You need fancy tools and more know-how than I have to true a wheel.

I discovered a loose spoke and imagined the worst. But a quick IM chat with a far away biking buddy set my mind at ease. The nipple (that's the little thingy that connects the spoke to the wheel rim) is threaded all backwards. No wonder nothing was catching when I tried to tighten things up. Thank goodness for my far away biking buddy! I tightened up the spoke and tuned it like a guitar -- you can pluck the spokes and tighten or loosen them to make them all sound the same (another tip from the far away biking buddy). All fixed.

Somehow, when I was putting the back wheel back on I must have jostled the rear derailleur (would someone please tell me why we spell it like that?). The drive train is now skipping in one of the gears I use a lot. I'll have to get the bike back up on the work stand and see if I can fix that before I ride tomorrow.

The unraveling bar tape can wait. My brother-in-law said he'd help me with that later this week. I'm really lucky to have such helpful people around!

I've spent a fair amount of time and money tuning up my bicycle this summer. I generally prefer riding over wrenching but bicycles need regular maintenance. If I want a bike in good repair I either have to take a bit of time and do it myself between rides or I have to spend twice the money and leave the bike with my LBS for a week. With plenty of friendly help I'm discovering that I don't really mind the wrenching and doing it myself actually leaves me more time to ride. My LBS is offering free bicycle maintenance classes every other Wednesday evening this summer. I think I'm gonna sign up for one.

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* Note: A dollar bill won't buy much but it should be part of every cyclist's flat tire kit. Dollars are pretty durable little pieces of paper. If you happen to cut open your tire (popping the tube is much more common but big punctures and cuts do happen) you fold the dollar bill into fourths and put it between the new tube and the cut in the tire. This protects the tube from road grit and keeps it from ballooning out of the cut in your tire. You won't be able to inflate your tube to full pressure but you should be able to fill it enough that you can ride home. I've used this trick. It works.