Waaaaaa! I broke my bike :(

Succorso said:

Ok, it was all my fault - and I deserve everything I get.

I did just over 8,000km on my Dawes Sonoran last year. But it wasn't
until I started noticing the odd chain skip that I thought I probably
ought to check the chain for wear. It should be noted here that all my
cycling is on dusty back lanes in Breckland, Norfolk (PSF Country)
where the soil is very sandy and abrasive.

Of course, the chain was HUGELY worn - it measured 12.5" on the
12-link measurement test. So I fitted a new one, and (as expected) it
skips ALL the time now because the cassette is equally knackered.

Now have a new cassette on order, but you can bet the Chainwheel is
probably knack'd too.

I must take more care of my bikes 🙁

That's caught me out too - on a weekend ride in Snowdonia, chain broke (U/S)
so fitted a spare.... and it was clunk, clunk, clink for the rest of the
ride!

On 28/2/05 2:21 pm, in article [email hidden],

Succorso said:

Ok, it was all my fault - and I deserve everything I get.

I did just over 8,000km on my Dawes Sonoran last year. But it wasn't
until I started noticing the odd chain skip that I thought I probably
ought to check the chain for wear. It should be noted here that all my
cycling is on dusty back lanes in Breckland, Norfolk (PSF Country) where
the soil is very sandy and abrasive.

Of course, the chain was HUGELY worn - it measured 12.5" on the 12-link
measurement test. So I fitted a new one, and (as expected) it skips ALL
the time now because the cassette is equally knackered.

Now have a new cassette on order, but you can bet the Chainwheel is
probably knack'd too.

You might get away with the chainset, but obviously not with the cassette.
In the mean time, try a different gear, or, for the really mean, take the
cassette apart and turn all the sprockets round. The shifting won't be as
good but the chain won't skip (except on the bottom one or two which cannot
be turned round.)

...d

--

"Instead of wasting hundreds of millions of pounds on compulsory ID cards as
the Tory Right demand, let that money provide thousands more police officers
on the beat in our local communities" Tony Blair 1995

"The liberty of the subject should be taken away, not by the act of a
politician but by a court of law." Tony Blair 1994

"Succorso" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ok, it was all my fault - and I deserve everything I get.

I did just over 8,000km on my Dawes Sonoran last year. But it wasn't until
I started noticing the odd chain skip that I thought I probably ought to
check the chain for wear. It should be noted here that all my cycling is
on dusty back lanes in Breckland, Norfolk (PSF Country) where the soil is
very sandy and abrasive.

This is why I have a personal bike mechanic, known as Vernon. He looks after
the Unfit Family steeds very well indeed. In his rides to college & back,
even a week can thoroughly knacker the chain on Nathan's Nigel Dean. Vernon
has to check it and clean it weekly, and in the winter more often to keep
all in good working order.And the amount of salt on the roads is
astonishing - it's Corrosionville out there.

Quoted message said:

Of course, the chain was HUGELY worn - it measured 12.5" on the 12-link
measurement test. So I fitted a new one, and (as expected) it skips ALL
the time now because the cassette is equally knackered.

Now have a new cassette on order, but you can bet the Chainwheel is
probably knack'd too.

I must take more care of my bikes 🙁

Commisserations. I fyou need any tools - Vernon has loads - so get in touch
if you need anything.

Cheers, helen s

Quoted message said:

--
Chris

wafflycat said:

I fyou need any tools - Vernon has loads - so get in
touch if you need anything.

I feel a divorce in the air. There is no transgression more heinous
than offering to lend someone else's tools, especially bicycle tools.

Tony ;-)

Quoted message said:

I feel a divorce in the air

Ohhhh I will marry Helen, then I can get all my bikes serviced, AND
have lots of lovely tools, bliss ;-)

Jack Ouzzi said:

Quoted message said:

I feel a divorce in the air

Ohhhh I will marry Helen, then I can get all my bikes serviced, AND
have lots of lovely tools, bliss ;-)

You misunderstand. If a divorce occurs, Vernon will probably not be
interested in servicing the family bikes any more...

--
Mark.
http://tranchant.plus.com/

On 28/2/05 4:11 pm, in article [email hidden], "wafflycat"

wafflesATv21netDOTcoDOTuk said:

"Succorso" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ok, it was all my fault - and I deserve everything I get.

I did just over 8,000km on my Dawes Sonoran last year. But it wasn't until
I started noticing the odd chain skip that I thought I probably ought to
check the chain for wear. It should be noted here that all my cycling is
on dusty back lanes in Breckland, Norfolk (PSF Country) where the soil is
very sandy and abrasive.

This is why I have a personal bike mechanic, known as Vernon. He looks after
the Unfit Family steeds very well indeed. In his rides to college & back,
even a week can thoroughly knacker the chain on Nathan's Nigel Dean. Vernon
has to check it and clean it weekly, and in the winter more often to keep
all in good working order.And the amount of salt on the roads is
astonishing - it's Corrosionville out there.

My father is an engineer and would bring back anti-corrosion stuff for
testing. Horribly expensive sprays [1] that are designed for the splash zone
on North Sea oil rigs work a treat for corrosion resistance.

I was, however, left to do most of the bike maintenance myself.

...d

wafflycat said:

This is why I have a personal bike mechanic, known as Vernon. He

looks after

Quoted message said:

the Unfit Family steeds very well indeed. In his rides to college &

back,

Quoted message said:

even a week can thoroughly knacker the chain on Nathan's Nigel Dean.

Vernon

Quoted message said:

has to check it and clean it weekly, and in the winter more often to

keep

Quoted message said:

all in good working order.And the amount of salt on the roads is
astonishing - it's Corrosionville out there.

Nathan sure has you two well trained. Bought him a new trike and doing
all his maintenance for him too. Now that deserves a gold star.

Quoted message said:

Commisserations. I fyou need any tools - Vernon has loads - so get in

touch

Quoted message said:

if you need anything.

Oooooh, below the belt, offering to lend out someone else's tools!

Quoted message said:

Cheers, helen s

wafflycat said:

Commisserations. I fyou need any tools - Vernon has loads - so get in
touch if you need anything.

Cheers, helen s

Awww, thanks Helen. I should be ok - I'll keep you posted 🙂

--
Chris

wafflycat said:

In his rides to college & back, even a week can thoroughly knacker
the chain on Nathan's Nigel Dean. Vernon has to check it and clean
it weekly, and in the winter more often to keep all in good working
order.And the amount of salt on the roads is astonishing - it's
Corrosionville out there.

Doing mine daily at the moment. I'm on my second new chain of the year
already.

--
Dave...

dkahn400 said:

wafflycat said:

In his rides to college & back, even a week can thoroughly knacker
the chain on Nathan's Nigel Dean. Vernon has to check it and clean
it weekly, and in the winter more often to keep all in good working
order.And the amount of salt on the roads is astonishing - it's
Corrosionville out there.

Doing mine daily at the moment. I'm on my second new chain of the year
already.

What does daily chain cleaning entail? Surely not full removal and
immersion? As a self confessed, inexperienced bike maintainer - I have
no idea what is "sufficient" or "reasonable".

--
Chris

Succorso said:

What does daily chain cleaning entail? Surely not full removal and
immersion? As a self confessed, inexperienced bike maintainer - I

have

Quoted message said:

no idea what is "sufficient" or "reasonable".

--
Chris

I think everyone has their own routine. I guess maintenance as often
as that would be only a wipedown to remove most of the crud and a
relubrication? Certainly that's all I'm doing.

About once a week or fortnight I'll run the chain through one of those
chain cleaning machines and then re-lube it for a more complete clean.

Succorso <[email hidden]> wrote:

: What does daily chain cleaning entail? Surely not full removal and
: immersion? As a self confessed, inexperienced bike maintainer - I have
: no idea what is "sufficient" or "reasonable".

For me, it very much depends. On my commuter bike, I frequently just dump
more oil on top of the mess. Ride to work in salt and slush, leave bike
in warm hallway for the day, ride home and find chain is completely dry
and covered with salt. Wack some more oil on so that I can ride to the
pub.

This isn't recommended but it does keep stuff running.

A better plan (but still minimal) is to buy some spray degreaser and a big box
of latex gloves. Pop on a pair of gloves, spray degreaser on a rag, wipe the
chain clean. Then use a dry portion of the rag to wipe the degreaser off
and apply more oil.

I wouldn't just do this to anything except my commuting bike, but that one
needs to keep running.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness

Succorso said:

dkahn400 said:

wafflycat said:

In his rides to college & back, even a week can thoroughly knacker
the chain on Nathan's Nigel Dean. Vernon has to check it and clean
it weekly, and in the winter more often to keep all in good working
order.And the amount of salt on the roads is astonishing - it's
Corrosionville out there.

Doing mine daily at the moment. I'm on my second new chain of the year
already.

What does daily chain cleaning entail? Surely not full removal and
immersion? As a self confessed, inexperienced bike maintainer - I have
no idea what is "sufficient" or "reasonable".

Ours gets done about once a year whether it needs it or not.

Admittedly, it is a lot drier here in Japan. But also a lot wetter too!

James

Succorso said:

dkahn400 wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Doing mine daily at the moment. I'm on my second new chain of
the year already.

What does daily chain cleaning entail? Surely not full removal and
immersion? As a self confessed, inexperienced bike maintainer - I
have no idea what is "sufficient" or "reasonable".

No, not the whole megillah. I get a paper towel in the palm of my hand
and pour some degreaser onto it. Then hold it round the bottom run of
the chain while turning the pedals backwards a few times. Any really
cacky bits get a few drops of degreaser directly on them and another
swoosh through the paper towel, which is then wiped over the
derailleurs, the chain stay, the chainwheel, and the derailleur jockey
wheels. Note this is a relatively gentle degreaser - not white spirit
or citrus degreaser which you wouldn't want to put neat on your
paintwork.

I then take a clean wad of paper towel and run the chain through it
until it comes off clean and dry. After that I drip chain saw oil onto
the top of the bottom run of the chain as I turn the pedals slowly
backwards, getting at least a drop on every roller. I keep turning the
pedals to work the oil in then run the chain through my fingers a
couple of times to make sure there is a thin film of oil over the
entire surface including the side plates. I then leave it overnight and
run the chain through yet another wad of paper towel the next morning,
removing as much of the oil as I can; the oil I want to leave should
now be inside the rollers plus the very thin film that remains on the
surface.

The whole job takes about 5 minutes, not including the overnight wait.

Quoted message said:

From time to time (every 2 or 3 weeks) I do also take break the chain,

shake and soak it in white spirit, put it in an ultrasonic cleaner (not
sure how useful this step is but you'd be amazed how much gunk comes
out of an apparently perfectly clean and shiny chain), put it back on
the bike and re-oil it. I'm not sure how much difference any of this
makes really; I think it has a touch of the magic ritual about it. It
does make the chain look very clean if that's important to you, but
it's too much to do every day.

--
Dave...

Jack Ouzzi said:

Quoted message said:

I feel a divorce in the air

Ohhhh I will marry Helen, then I can get all my bikes serviced,

Surely you would need to marry Vernon for that, not Helen?

Succorso said:

What does daily chain cleaning entail? Surely not full removal and
immersion? As a self confessed, inexperienced bike maintainer - I have
no idea what is "sufficient" or "reasonable".

Look at it this way. How much does a new chain cost? How much do you
spend on fancy oils and cleaners not to say your time to extend its life
just a bit. As long as you change it before its elongated too much and
starting to wear the cassette and chainwheels, you a far better off
doing minimal maintenance with cheap lubricants and change the chain
more often. YMMV

Tony

Tony Raven said:

Succorso said:

What does daily chain cleaning entail? Surely not full removal and
immersion? As a self confessed, inexperienced bike maintainer - I have
no idea what is "sufficient" or "reasonable".

Look at it this way. How much does a new chain cost? How much do you
spend on fancy oils and cleaners not to say your time to extend its life
just a bit. As long as you change it before its elongated too much and
starting to wear the cassette and chainwheels, you a far better off
doing minimal maintenance with cheap lubricants and change the chain
more often. YMMV

Tony

You may be right - one could go mad with this!

I've fitted the new cassette and chain (all OK now, apart from a few
skips on the middle chainwheel under heavy load in bottom gear - I can
live with that) and all is right with the world again. But just fiddling
up and down the lane here, doing some testing, and the new chain is
already "gritty", so the erosion process has already started.

Like you say - 15 notes for a new chain isn't much - I just need to
monitor it this time (like I didn't last year!).

Cheers for all the info/help everyone!

--
Chris

in message <[email hidden]>, Tony Raven

(') said:

Succorso said:

What does daily chain cleaning entail? Surely not full removal and
immersion? As a self confessed, inexperienced bike maintainer - I
have no idea what is "sufficient" or "reasonable".

Look at it this way. How much does a new chain cost?

About twenty five squids if it's Campag ten speed, or about twenty three
squids if it's el-cheapo non-Campag-but-Campag-compatible ten speed
chain.

Quoted message said:

How much do you
spend on fancy oils and cleaners not to say your time to extend its
life just a bit

Quite a bit, frankly.

With my non-Campag chains I regularly take 'em off the bike and shake
'em up in a bottle of white spirit. The Campag chain, however, is a
total pain to get on and off the bike so I use one of these inline
scrubbing baths for it. When it needs to be replaced I'll get a
compatible chain with some sort of a power link...

Of course Campag recommend _never_ cleaning or relubing a chain, but
then I expect they intend you to replace them more often than I do.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us
;; many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets.
;; Imagination without skill gives us modern art.
;; Tom Stoppard, Artist Descending A Staircase