Learn to repair or pay to repair

[mack_turtle]

I've told this story before, but when I was between fifth and sixth grade, my family moved and we stayed in a rented house for a few months during the transition. the renters had three bicycles in the garage, two of them BMX bikes, that they threw in the trash when they moved out. I retrieved them and built up a Schwinn Predator with Skyway mag wheels out of the remaining parts. I should have saved both bikes, but that was almost 30 years ago. thus began my life-long love affair with fixing up old bikes.

I find it soothing. watching Old Shovel on YouTube is better than anything Bob Ross ever filmed to me, and that's saying a lot. if someone brought me a fistful of spokes, a hub, and a rim every day, I'd build a wheel a day while watching a movie in the evening just for the experience of watching it come together in my hands.

basic bicycle maintenance is not hard, but you need discipline and patience to do it right. you also need the right tools. a torque wrench is a really good idea, and they're not expensive. The Pittsburg one I got from Harbor Freight does the job and I think it was $20.

Edited May 27, 2021 by mack_turtle

[AustinBike]

48 minutes ago, St.Bernardo said:

Also, a fix in the field can allow you to ride out instead of taking the walk of shame.

If you want to see the walk of shame you should have seen me at Bike Farm last night. Having to show them those bearings to get a replacement. I did not even bother to clean them up, I deserved that punishment.

[mack_turtle]

minor maintenance pays off. I worked on a neighbor's old road bike the other day:

• the bottom bracket (not a sealed cartridge unit) was loose, so I opened it up. the left side bearing race had basically melted. I removed the fragments and put the bearings back in loose. I told him the BB is on borrowed time.
• the headset basically only allows the bike to ride in a straight line because there is a profound notch in the center. hanging in the stand, the front wheel settles into the straight-ahead position with an audible thunk when the handlebar is gently turned to simulate steering.
• there was one broken spoke on the rear wheel, so i had to remove the cassette to replace it. the spoke was an oddball 1.8 spoke, so the 2.0 spoke of the same length required that I pull the rim tape and replace the nipple with the correct size one.
• when I put the cassette back on, a few slivers of metal cracked and fell off the freehub! I tightened the locknut down hard to make sure the whole thing would not fall apart mid-ride and it seems to be holding.

he says he's going to retire the bike after one triathlon. the bike was given to him, so he's not to blame for the state it was in, but I would have enjoyed doing a proper rebuild on it involving a new headset, BB, and rear wheel.

[Lacch]

I took another pass at tuning my shifter last night and went for a ride this morning to test it out.

For the most part the shifting is smooth again. Its hard for me to tell which symptoms are a side effect of poor tuning vs a cheap bike.

for example...

- the low gears are still quite loud. it doesn't sound like its catching on the next sprocket, but I'm honestly not sure. I tried to tune-out the noise, but couldn't.

- I still *POP* the chain when putting a lot of pressure on gear 8 (it only happens on my 8th gear), at the end of the ride I climb a really steep hill and the chain was popping every few pedal strokes. I looked for worn/broken teeth, but could find anything. This bike is only ~2mo old, but its cheap and I've been riding it pretty hard. Maybe did break something?? My next step is to clean the chain, cassette and try to tune again.

- After a jump, the chain popped out of gear then back in gear on my landing. This bike has a derailleur clutch, but maybe it sucks? maybe this can be solved with proper tuning?

Overall, the bike is ridable again. so that's good.

I'll spend some time cleaning/re-tuning to see if I can improve things... 

(hoping to meet up with mack_turtle this weekend and get some hands on advice, super excited for that!)

[mack_turtle]

a popping chain is usually indicative of a worn cog. it takes many, many miles to wear one out like that. 

which cogs with the eighth one? I don't know the total number of cogs on your drivetrain.

[Lacch]

I'm calling the 8th cog 2nd from the smallest (its a 1x9). Its the only one that pops.

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Lacch

[mack_turtle]

1 minute ago, Lacch said:

I'm calling the 8th cog 2nd from the smallest (its a 1x9). Its the only one that pops.

that tracks, but it's weird. if one cog skips, I would think that others would also be noisy. make sure the indexing is dead-on. "indexing" refers to how the derailer jumps from one cog to the next. if the cable is a little too tight or too loose, the dreailer will slightly under- or over-shoot the cog you're trying to reach, which could manifest as noise.

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/rear-derailleur-adjustment

If you can find a way to suspend your bike upright in the air while you make these adjustments, that will be much easier. most people end up buying a bike stand, but hanging the nose of your saddle from a horizontal tree branch is usually sufficient.

it's very likely that, when the bike was new, it shifted fine. but with time and use, the plastic caps on the ends of the shift housing (the metal and plastic sheath through which the shift housing moves) have bedded into the housing. so the housing has effectively gotten shorter than where it started. some will call this "cable stretch" but that is a misnomer because the cable itself doesn't really stretch, the housing system just compresses.  a good bike shop would prevent this effect by "pre-stressing" the cable and housing, but when it happens to most bikes, a few turns of that barrel adjuster at the shifter should take up the slack. so you were on the right track!

if the derailer has ever taken a hit, the hanger where the derailer bolts to the frame could be bent. that makes accurate adjustments difficult or impossible. hangers on most bikes can be bent back to some degree, or replaced when they get thrashed. however, even a new hanger needs to be checked for alignment. unfortunately, a hanger alignment tool is one of the few things I don't have in my arsenal, and I can't justify buying one because I don't own a bike with a derailer. with the number of bikes I've been servicing in the garage lately, though, maybe I should get one.

[AustinBike]

One other consideration is the outside chance of a bent tooth on the 8th cog. It is unlikely but it happens. A flashlight and a tool that is approximately the width of the cog gap can help you diagnose this. Typically this comes from a rock being tossed up into the drive train or a crash  where your bike lands on the the sharp point of a rock . Rare, but it happens occasionally.

[AntonioGG]

Bent tooth is a possibility, but I've also had a cable crimp end get lodged between cogs and cause a similar problem.  I spent so much time adjusting things before I finally used a flashlight to look and there was the little piece of metal. 

A worn small cog is not out of the possibilities.

How is the chain length?

[mack_turtle]

one of my favorite games: diagnose the bicycle through the internet!

[AntonioGG]

9 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

one of my favorite games: diagnose the bicycle through the internet!

Makes me think of Car Talk with the callers and their noises.  🙂

[AustinBike]

Diagnosing creaks on the internet is the best!

[Lacch]

looking at the 2nd to smallest gear (the one that pops on me)

I see small variations in the alignment of the teeth, normal?

 

Video:

Edited May 28, 2021 by Lacch

[AustinBike]

I would take the cassette off and clean the crap out of it. Likewise on the chain.

Also because that cog is loose on the spider, take it off and stare at each of the teeth individually. If you lay it on a flat counter you can get a good look at each of the teeth and see what is up.

[Lacch]

I just ordered one of these.... Park Tool CG-2.4 Bicycle Chain and Drivetrain Cleaning Kit

is this decent enough to get the cassette/chain cleaned?

 

[mack_turtle]

That "comb" will be useful for getting grime out from between the cogs. I usually just use chain lube and a rag to clean chains.

[AustinBike]

11 hours ago, Lacch said:

I just ordered one of these.... Park Tool CG-2.4 Bicycle Chain and Drivetrain Cleaning Kit

is this decent enough to get the cassette/chain cleaned?

 

First, get an old bike water bottle and a big bottle of simple green. Fill the bottle up with about 4-6 ounces of simple green and insert the chain. Shake it. A lot. Dump the simple green. put a few more ounces in for good measure, lather, rinse, repeat.

Take the chain out and dry it off well. Let it sit for a while and then take an old t-shirt and really give it a good rubbing to take care of any last bits of debris. 

Next, for the cassette, get one of these:

https://www.parktool.com/product/gearclean-brush-gsc-1?category=Cleaning

Take your cassette off the bike (this is important, if you try to do this with the cassette on, you'll get stuff inside your freehub and create a new problem.

With the cassette off, use the brush to clean off as much as you can. Both ends, the brush on the cogs, the curved end between them.

Then put some simple green on the cassette and use an old t-shirt or rag to clean as much as you can.

Again, let it sit for a while once clean to ensure that everything is dry.

Once reassembled, make sure you oil it well with a good oil. I use Rock and Roll gold, but don't just use whatever is handy, make sure it is a bike oil because household oils tend to accumulate too much crap on the trails.

[Chief]

12 hours ago, Lacch said:

looking at the 2nd to smallest gear (the one that pops on me)

I see small variations in the alignment of the teeth, normal?

 

Video:

 

It looks like there may be a bent tooth at the 16 second mark in the video. It looks like one tooth is bent outboard. A bent tooth would definitely cause some shifting issues.

[Lacch]

Good news! I cleaned, degreased, lubed, re-tuned and it seemed to have fixed all my problems. All gears are quiet, no more POPs when on the 8th cog, shifting is smooth. Seems good all round. 

Bad news... I used spray lube and got it on my rear disk brake. (enough where it doesn't stop and squeals like crazy) ugh.

I don't have time to try and fix it now, but I will try later today. How bad of a problem is this? any tips/hacks on solving it?

Edited May 29, 2021 by Lacch

[Chongo Loco]

Good news! I cleaned, degreased, lubed, re-tuned and it seemed to have fixed all my problems. All gears are quiet, no more POPs when on the 8th cog, shifting is smooth. Seems good all round. 
Bad news... I used spray lube and got it on my rear disk brake. (enough where it doesn't stop and squeals like crazy) ugh.
I don't have time to try and fix it now, but I will try later today. How bad of a problem is this? any tips/hacks on solving it?

Get some spray brake cleaner, pull rotor and pads, spray and clean pads, reinstall rotor and pads when dry. Do not try to do it on bike. Brake Cleaner will FUBAR your paint job.


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[AustinBike]

18 hours ago, Lacch said:

Good news! I cleaned, degreased, lubed, re-tuned and it seemed to have fixed all my problems. All gears are quiet, no more POPs when on the 8th cog, shifting is smooth. Seems good all round. 

Bad news... I used spray lube and got it on my rear disk brake. (enough where it doesn't stop and squeals like crazy) ugh.

I don't have time to try and fix it now, but I will try later today. How bad of a problem is this? any tips/hacks on solving it?

There is a sure-fire way to use spray lube on your bike, follow this procedure carefully.

1. Pick up can and hold at a 45 degree angle.

2. Shake vigorously for 6-8 seconds

3. Throw the can in the garbage.

When it comes to anything on your bike, spraying will end up giving the results that you just experienced. Use a liquid lube in a bottle.

Chongo loco is right.

The other thing to add, if cleaning does not address the stopping/squealing, is that you can bake your pads and rotors in the oven. I don't remember the temp/time that I have used in the past because of a leaking brake line, but some googling gave a response of 475F for 30 minutes. Not a guarantee, and in the long run you may be replacing either the pads, the rotors or both.

I always opt for both because replacing one and not the other means that you are replacing a new component and having it come in contact with a potentially still contaminated product. If  both are contaminated, putting new pads on with contaminated rotors will simply contaminate those as well. 

Use this as a learning experience, replace both and move forward knowing that you will never have to do this again because now you know better.