in message <[email hidden]>, Paulo
Matos (') said:Hi all,
Last April I bought a ClaudeButler Classic 2006, and since then I've
been riding it every day, to/from work and shopping. About two months
ago a colleague that was riding next to me just crashed into my bike
and my gear changer (is this how it is called? the gear thingy on the
back?)
'derailleur' or 'rear mech'. The precise alignment of it is quite critical
to good gear shifting so if...
Quoted message said:went nuts. I went back to Active Bikes (where I bought it),
paid 10£ and the guy fixed the thing, which he said was not correctly
positioned due to the crash.
.... it's bent out of line you're quite likely to have persistent gear
changing problems. On most modern frames the derailleur is mounted on a
small sacrificial bracket called a 'mech hanger', which prevents the frame
from getting damaged when the derailleur is hit. These are normally not
expensive. I'm not certain that the Claud Butler Classic has one, but I'd
be surprised if it doesn't.
Quoted message said:Today, my chain broke. Now, I want to believe that this was not human
hand, so there are a couple of things I might imagine like never
having put any oil on it, and due to getting rain and dry throughout
these last months the chain got dry and broke. In fact, it was just
one of the chain links that opened up and the whole chain fell down.
Now, should I take it back to Active Bikes or can I just fix it
myself.
Right. If you've got a chain that's been in use and not maintained for a
year, it almost certainly needs to be replaced. The question is whether
the whole transmission needs to be replaced - hope not, because that gets
expensive.
I'd recommend getting a SRAM PC58 chain with a 'powerlink' magic connecting
link, as these are easier to fit and to maintain than generic or Shimano
chains. Tell the shop you want the powerlink - some shops sell SRAM chains
without, slightly cheaper; but the powerlink is a really good idea.
Quoted message said:By looking online (http://www.ehow.com/how_2099_replace-bike-
chain.html), it doesn't seem to be much effort to remove the chain
link and join the two ends together. (Can I do this?) But I'll
probably need a chain tool, to put the two chain links together. Where
can I buy one?
You can get a chaintool at any bike shop, and for seven and eight speed
chains they're not expensive. However, if you've been riding more than a
year without lubricating the chain, it is not worth repairing. Worn out
chains cause damage to the teeth of the cogs and chainwheels, and this can
get very expensive.
For instruction on how to maintain chains, see this page:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html
but the key think is that it is important only to lubricate a chain when it
is clean, as lubricating a dirty chain will help the dirt to get inside
the rollers where is can do damage. Lubricant on the outside of a chain
does no good - it only attracts dirt. So after you've lubricated it clean
all excess lubricant off the outside.
Finish Line Cross Country is a very effective all weather chain lubricant.
If your bike is only used in the dry White Lightning (wax emulsion) is
extremely effective and clean to use but it doesn't stand up to rain.
--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; Semper in faecibus sumus, sole profundum variat.
