Pimp that ride

I basically abandoned my "Fuji" bike in favor of the Panasonic. Rear wheel on Fuji popped again (that's 3 tubes I wasted on this bike) and still didn't get new tube. I think it's the rim or rim tape (too wide). At this point I just want to make it rideable and sell it on craigslist.
Panasonic is another story. I decided to add some "functional" upgrades to it. Got regular bolt on skewers to replace quick release once for added security and SKS 35mm fenders (for riding in the wet weather.

Those fenders look real nice on the bike. I'm thinking about changing saddle (super uncomfortable) and adding some padded bar tape in the future.

Getting back in shape

Getting back in shape is tough after not riding for over a month. Daily commute to the train station helps a little. I just repeated Suffern-Ridgewood 22 mile loop last night after work. It seemed much easier than the first time I did it. Still took me 1.5 hours to complete tho... This time traffic was much lower (maybe because I started at 7:15 PM). I got a little wet in the rain on the way back, and it was getting pretty dark. Recently purchased PB Super Flash came in real handy for letting drivers behind me that I was there. I do need to get a good headlight too, because cars that enter the road or make right turn from the opposite lane hardly see me in the dark :(

Fixed gear bike tricks

Fixed gears? Single gear? Fixies? I'm so behind all these "new" trends :)
Seems it's hot new trend in biking, to convert standard multi-speed bikes into a single or fixed gear bikes. I won't get into too much details, except that two are not the same. In fixed gear, your pedals always spinning with the wheel (kind of like on little kid's bikes). What I didn't know is that you can do some pretty cool tricks on a fixed gear bikes (fixies). You can bounce, stay in one spot or ride backwards. Check out this video I found on bikeblog...

Unfinished from Tony West on Vimeo.

Panasonic Sport Deluxe

And here it is finally!


I took a few quick shots before riding it to the station this morning. Bike rides great!
Quick release skewers gotta go (wheels can be easily stolen). I ordered more secure skewers from Nashbar yesterday.


I wonder that this seal "Sakae Custom" means:


Here's stamp from another side:


Gotta read more about this allow on Wiki, but this steel is very light!


12-speed, hehe:


This is the only "big" issue I found with this bike. Left front brake seems to be bent, it's not parallel to the rim. I'm not yet sure how to fix it, or if I even should touch it. It brakes fine...

Another bike for my collection

Went over to a garage sale yesterday hoping to find some furniture for bedroom. Instead got me another road bike :) This one is real beauty: 12 speed Panasonic Sport Deluxe in MINT condition, and just for $40!!! Made in Japan too... I couldn't resist. I'm sure it's over 20 years old but it looks almost brand new. Even original tires look like this bike wasn't ridden for more than 10 miles. It even shifts better than my brand new Trek 1200. Very light too, weights like it's made from aluminum while actually it's molybdenum steel... Bike is a bit tall for me, but I think I can handle it. I took it home, washed it and lubricated the chain. That's pretty much all the maintenance it needs. Pictures are coming soon!

Fuji overhaul

Last week was pretty bad. I was on vacation at Maine (Acadia Park), then I got really sick and had to drive back 10 hours. So I pretty much spent my whole vacation sneezing and coughing... But I did get to *almost* finish overhauling my Fuji bike. It was very interesting working on the bike. I really took it slow. Here's the list of things that were done:
- Replaced Shifter and Brake cables
- Took apart cleaned and greased bearings in both wheels and crank
- Replaced pedals
- Raised handlebar
- Changed Tires and tubes

Cables

I was really surprised to find a decent $4 shifter/brake cables set at my local Walmart. Instructions where not very clear, but it was actually an easy job. They recommended measuring and cutting cables to right length, but I found it's much simpler just to thread cables all the way and then cut extra. Cable housing had to be measured and cut in advance of course. Old cables were horribly rusty. I couldn't even slide them out of the cable housing! That might explain why shifting didn't work.
I should also mention the tool, as it's very important. I wanted to get a standard Park Cable Cutter, but local bike shop didn't have any. They told me they've been using generic cable cutters without any issues, so I got a $11 tool at Home Depot. It works great, cuts both inner cable and cable housing (although housing is a bit too thick for it). One tool that's still on my wish list is a cable puller or 3rd hand tool. But it's possible to do job without it.
Because of the bike condition (rust) metal brackets that held break cables to the top tube, had to be sawed off by the Dremel tool, I just couldn't unscrew them. I replaced them by simple plastic cable ties :)

Bearings

I started with a front wheel. Taking hub apart was simple with regular wrenches. I soaked nuts and bearing balls in the Orange degreaser for a few minutes and then wiped everything clean with old rugs. Then I applied ALOT of white lithium grease to the bearings and put everything back. By the time I go to the bottom bracket I bought real (red) bearings grease. Inside bottom bracket I found pile of rust! Bearings were completely dry too... I wasn't able to get left part of the bottom bracket off (didn't have right tool) so I just reached from the right side and cleaned everything from there. Again I greased bearing balls and cones and put everything back. Except for old rusty metal pedals.
Rear Wheel. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get freewheel off. It got rusted in pretty good. So I did the best I could, greased bearing balls inside the rear wheel hub without thoroughly cleaning bearing cones.

Pedals

Obviously this was super easy part. I installed cheap plastic pedals from Walmart.

Handlebars

Unscrew top nut, hammer it down a bit and remove handle bar from the tube. Cleaned everything, lubricated with white grease and adjusted height. Very simple job.

Tires and Tubes

I did front wheel earlier, second tube seem to be holding without blowing up. I only pumped it to 60 PSI just in case. Rear wheel was a bit tricky. Rim tape was damaged so I had to buy new one. Only one I found was Pedro yellow sticky rim tape at local EMS store. It was a bit too short and too wide, but I managed to put it on. I had a little trouble with getting schrader valve thru the hole in the rim tape. While I was pushing it thru I think I might have weakened the tube. That's probably why it BLEW UP on me few minutes after I was done with the wheel. Yes another one blew up :( So wheel is still off the bike until tonight. I already got new tube from LBS in the city.

And big update, I got (yet another) road bike :)

Tire buster

I AM THE ULTIMATE TIRE DESTROYER, muahaha...
I can't freaking believe it, I bought new tires, new tubes, replaced busted tire and tube with brand new ones, pumped it to 80 PSI, checked everyone was ok. Left it alone and went out shopping for a while. I come back, wheel on the floor, deflated, tires is off, tube is ripped again in one spot... WTF is happening? I checked the rim again, no spokes protrude, no sign of anything that might have caused this blowout. I'm scratching my head. Just replaced it again (I'm out of tubes now). It's been few hours, I'm afraid to go to the basement to check :) I pumped it to just 60 PSI this time...

Tire autopsy

I removed bad tire and took a closer look at it. Tube definitely blew up, and looks like at the same spot where tire broke. I'm not sure how I made it to the station, but I didn't notice anything wrong...
Both tire and tube are very old. I don't think they are original, but it has been on the bike for a while. In some spots rubber got glued to the metal rim. I was worrying about spokes poking thru the tape, but looks like that's still holding up.
I took some pictures of the "autopsy".

Here you can see place where tire ripped


This is what inner tube looked like. Try patching that! :)


Marking are still visible. It reads "Specialized Tri-Sport 27x1 1/4 100 PSI 7.9 BAR"

Tire blew

I was pretty excited about riding my vintage Fuji bike tonight back home, but instead I had to call my wife to pick me and bike up :(
I put all the gear up (helmet, leg tie, glasses), unlocked the bike, jumped in the saddle, and *SMACK!* front tire jumped off the rim and ripped. Crap, it was perfectly fine this morning... I guess is has something to do with pumping tires to 100 psi this morning. I just did a little research about my tire size (27x1-1/4) and looks like you shouldn't inflate them to their recommended max PSI, because they won't stay on the rim (old bikes don't have some kind of hooked walls on it or something like that). People on bikeforums recommend inflating to around 80-90 psi. Wish I knew this before... Tire is beyond repair, metal strands are sticking out of the walls... Looks like it's back to riding mnt bike until I can replace tires (I might as well do both)

My new old bike Fuji Special Tourer

As I mentioned in my previous post, I got a second road bike. Commuting to the train station on my mountain full suspension bike was not fun. First of all I had concerns about it being stolen completely or by parts even tho, it's a pretty safe area. Cable lock that I used is a piece of ... well let's just say it's not much of a challenge to anyone with simple wire cutters. And it's pretty hard to lock both wheels, sit post and the bike all the same time. It's a cheap-o "walmart variety" bike, but still I'd be upset if someone takes it. So at first I looked at the better locks a-la "cryptonite" at the bike shop in downtown area. Holy cow, those are expensive! Some go as high as $120... It would be much cheaper to just replace a bike if it gets stolen. But that wasn't the only reason I bought another bike. My mountain bike is no fun to ride. At least not after you try road bike. Wide noisy knobby tiers, full suspension that is useless on the decent pavement and super heavy weight. Riding that thing is like trying to ski with no snow. I needed fast but ugly bike, something that nobody will want to bother to steal...
Craig's list to the rescue! There were quite a few listing there. Most road bikes were in $100 rage, so I hesitated a bit. But then I found it. Fuji Special Tourer "for a tall rider" whatever that meant. Ad mentioned that chain needs to be replaced, bike has some rust, but otherwise in working condition. And price wasn't too bad - $65. But best thing of all, seller lived very close to my town. I asked if bike was still available and then negotiated price down to $50. I picked it up the same night.
Well, bike was in a much worse condition than described. Dérailleurs were a mess, rust was all over (except for frame), and rear wheel was way off practically stuck against brakes. Most of this I noticed only after I got bike home. Bike was pretty heavy too. If I have to guess, about 30-35 lb. Oh yeah did I mention the color? Super ugly purple! LOL, probably was a "hot color" back in the 1970s... Still I wasn't upset, I like the challenge every now and then. I was already fantasizing how I would take it apart, replace some part and build me a mean beast :)
Here's a pic I took this morning :

(pay no attention to quality or guinea pigs in the background :), I did this in a hurry with P&S camera just as I was running out to work)

Inspection



The very next day I put bike on the stand, and inspected it closer. Yes I do have a bike stand, and no I don't know that much about bike mechanics. I picked up few things here and there, mostly from bikeforums.net and from the bike book I got... And when I was a kid I had to repair my bikes, but those were mostly single speed bikes...

Anyway as I mentioned biggest issue seemed to be with the rear wheel, it was out of alignment and getting stuck when turning. There was rust on most chrome parts, pedals, front wheel rim, chain, gears, stem and steel cables for shifters and brakes...



Frame looked very good, I didn't notice anything wrong it. Most of the original ugly purple color was there. I started off spraying rusty parts with some WD-40. At first I wanted to fix the rear wheel, but I wasn't sure how to do truing (thats the name of the process to straightening the rim) so I started to work on chain and rear dérailleur. Still not quite sure why seller mentioned that chain needs to be replaced, it looked OK to me. A bit rusty but OK.

Repairs

First thing I did was hooked up "Pedro's Chain Machine" chain cleaning device, added some bio-degreaser and quickly run thru the chain cleaning process.

Then I applied a lot of chain lube to both chain and rear cogs.

I disconnected inner wire from rear dérailleur, applied some of the chain lube (hey oil is oil) to it, and moved it back and forth inside plastic tubes in hopes to remove some rust and increase friction. I think I'm going to replace shifter cables pretty soon anyway. I also tried adjusting front dérailleur but that thing is in pretty bad shape :( I don't know if it's bent, or just need more adjustment so I pretty much made sure it shifts more or less and left it alone.

On the next day, I read some more about wheel truing on Park Tool site. Funny, the process was just as I imagined it! It's all pretty much common sense. Rotate the wheel, find place where it gets closest to the brake, and adjust spoke tention. If wheel is bent to the left, tighten spoke that pulls it to the right or relax one that pulls it to the left, and so on. I fixed the wheel very quickly, but it was a sloppy job :( Wheel almost doesn't rub now, but it's it wobbles in many places... I just didn't have patience for a jewelry job, and was turning spokes too much or too soon. It's ok, tho as long as it works :) I tightened the brake cables and bike was pretty much ready for the first ride...

The Ride and conclusion

I was a bit nervous riding this bike for the first time, mostly because I live on top of a steep hill... I didn't want to go fast, but had no choice :) It was an interesting feel. Bike's steering bars feels very small, even smaller than on my Trek's bike. It's also much lower. Because of the weight I can really feel the momentum of the bike as it accelerates. It's not easy to stop quickly. Brakes felt kind of soft, but I was not trying to press them very hard. Riding down the hill was simple, but climbing wasn't so easy. I tried switching to lower gear in the rear, and it somewhat worked. It didn't move all the way when I applied tension to the cable, and didn't move back right away when tension was removed... Front derauller was scraping chain constantly, but I could almost stop this from happeing by slightly adjusting lever. This was interesting, and it's something that you can't do with modern shifters, becuase they click to specific position. With older shifter levers like on this bike you have much more flexibility... I tried another climb, and this time I tried shifting front derauller while going up the hill. Not a good idea. Chain fell between two big gears and jammed, so I couldn't pedal. Took me a while to free it up and shift back with my hands. After I was done with the test ride, I noticed couple of things. One (obvious) is that I can use at most 2-3 speeds, and only with rear dérailleur. Sit needed to be adjusted (it was too low), and handlebar as well (not sure if it's possible tho). I unscrewed nut holding the sit post, but I couldn't move it much as it was stuck due to rust or some other reason...
Next morning before work, I took rubber hammer and was able to remove sit post and then adjust it to the correct height. Then I added some pressure to the tires (100psi), took few quick pictures (seen above) and rode to the train. No problems. Bike got me there in one piece. So whats next? I think I will try to replace shifter cables, take apart both wheels and lower bracket and inspect/clean/lubricate all bearings. I'll also try to re-adjust dérailleurs, and see if I can raise steering bar. I was thinking about changing tires, as they look very old and cracked, but I think I'll leave it for now... And I'm seriously considering if I should paint it over :)

Edit 05/15/2011:
To all who wants to buy it, I NO LONGER HAVE THIS BIKE, sorry.

After-vacation update

Long time no post...
So what happened after my last post... In short I did two big (at least for me) bike rides. First one was pretty hard. Spanning for only about 25-27 miles, this was an extreme ride for me because of a very mountainous terrain. I have mixed feelings about this one. At first I didn't enjoy it because it was very cold, and wind blew straight into my face, so I got mentally tired after only about 10 miles. But then sun came out, hills started to roll down, and my mood increased with every new mile. That is until I came to the steepest road I have ever biked on. I won't lie, I gave up. Grade was way too much for my strength so I had to get off the bike, and walk for 1-2 miles uphill. It was so steep that even walking wasn't easy (especially in the clipless shoes with carbon-fiber soles). I was wondering who the heck made this route, it seemed impossible to do for anyone... But then I go to the top, fun started all over again. I finally got home after about 2 hrs and 15 minutes of riding/walking. I'm sure I won't forget this one :)
Second ride was the best of all. I finally made it to the New York 5 Boro Bike Tour! There were lots of people and I had to walk from time to time, but those 42 miles seemed pretty easy too me. Most of it was downhill or on the flat terrain. Trickiest part was avoiding accidents with other bikers :) Weather was great, not hot and not too cold. Everyone was talking about how hard it will be going up the Verrazano Bridge, so I was conserving my strenght, but at the end bridge climb was so easy. So I'm not sure what is everyone complaining about...
After that I haven't touch my road bike in a little over a month :( I spent a week in California on vacation and just came back last week...
I finally started to ride my mountain bike to work. More precisely to the train station. It's a quick ride, and one way I ride downhill very fast, but when I return, I have to climb some pretty steep roads. It's so uncomfortable to ride mountain bike on those hills... So I decided to get another road bike. Some old but worthy bike that would be easy to ride, but nobody would want to steal. And I just got one yesterday! :) After searching thru craigslist I found what was looking like a decent roadie "Fuji Special Tourer", for just $50! More on that bike later...

Suffern - Ridgwood loop (22mi)

I need to get ready for the 42 mile Five Boro Bike Tour which happens on May 4th. Last year, I bough a pass, but couldn't make because of the knee pain. I'm being careful this year, so hopefully I can take a part on this great ride. Already got my official vest and number :)
Yesterday I did my 4th and longest ride so far this year. I got this route from great biking site bikely.com. I think Suffern-Ridgwood loop is an official track of some Rockland Bike Club. I'm not very familiar with the area, but fortunately I can rely on my Garmin Edge 305 GPS where I loaded the course (I did had to convert .GPX file into a Garmin Course .CRS with a little help from GPSies.com online converter).
About the ride
Ride starts at the Airmont park. It's a pretty long ride for a beginner (took me just a little over 1.5 hrs to finish). You are sharing road with cars and even trucks, but most of the streets are not too busy at the time when I was riding it (6 pm). There are steep hills, and most the way to Ridgwood you get to ride downhill which is fun. Road conditions are fine, but I did hit a nasty pothole once and it got me scared that bike's wheel could bent.
In the very beginning you get to ride awesome decline. I reached around 33 mph on it without even pedaling . It was fun and scary at the same time.
East Saddle River road had most traffic, cars and trucks were gong pretty fast. Most unpleasant point was at the corssing of Route 17, but the rest of the ride was peaceful and pretty safe. I got to see some beautiful mansions (almost castles) and other interesting landmarks on the way. When road turned back I passed a cute little town on Sheridan Ave. Not sure which town it was, but I'll investigate later. Just a little bit before that road got really rough on Linwood Av. (if I'm not mistaken). There weren't any potholes but pavement was very old and super rough. Fortunately that stretch wasn't long and soon I was on the smooth asphalt. By the time I turned back, sun really got low and it was getting cold. I was worrying that I might have to go back in the dark. I checked my front light, but it didn't turn on (and it worked just 2 days ago). That light always gave me trouble, I need replace it ASAP.
Somewhere between Sheridan Av. and W. Saddle River Rd I got to see some great landscapes. There was a beautiful farm on my right with a large field in front of it. It looks absolutely fantastic and out of place among residential houses. I mentally applauded owner for keeping the farm and not turning it into more houses or just selling the land.
Since I didn't ride long distance for a while, I started to get tired around mile 9. Not physically, strangely I felt perfectly fine, not out of breath, my knees didn't hurt, although my back and shoulders felt a little cramped. It was a mental tiredness if there's such thing. I wanted ride to be over with, but I managed to pull myself together and continue, just didn't want to give up so soon. After all what's 22 miles? I have to make 42 in just couple of weeks...
Ride back was hard. Most of the roads led uphill and my speed dropped below 9 mph. Few hills at the very end were super steep, I had a really hard time climbing them, but I knew I was so close...
Finally I got home around 7:30 PM. Tired but happy. I definately need to repeat this ride at least one more time and then I want to do a 30 mile loop. Unfortunately it's difficult do this after work, since I get home around 7 PM and it gets dark around 7:30. I think I will rest today, and just use elliptical machine. Tomorrow I will do a 10 mile part, same as on Monday.

Resources:
Detailed Track Data for Suffern-Ridgewood Loop on GPSies
Suffern-Ridgewood Loop at bikely.com
My Modified 10 mile Loop
Cue Sheet:

Intro

Hi!

I always loved riding bicycles. It's fun and good exercise. I got my first bike on my 7th b-day. It was a little folding bike (similar to BMX). While it wasn't very fast, it was extremely easy and fun to ride on any terrain :) My parents had an old road bike in the shack. When I was about 12 years old, I dug it up from all the junk that accumulated over many many years and was able to fix it up and get it in working order. Unfortunately bike was too big for me, I could hardly reach pedals... I think I rode it for few days, and then decided that I don't like it. My next bike was a regular one speed with large wheels. If I had to classify it, I'd say it was something between cruiser and hybrid... It was always fun riding it with my friends or on my own in summer. When I moved to the US, I got me a mountain bike, but never really used it that much. I got my driver license and a car and bike was just collecting dust. It was not fun riding it on the busy streets of NY. Large knobby tires, and heavy weight made it hardly practical for the area where I lived... I thought to myself that one day I would buy a road bike. Finally after doing ton of reasearch online I did get one last spring! Found a great deal on brand new Trek 1200 at local bike shop for just $600! So what if it was 2005 model, it was brand new :) I also had to get shoes, since bike had only clipless pedals, and when it got warmer I hit the road. I immediately loved the new experience. You just can't compare it to the mountain bike... Road bike, just glides, fast and nearly effortless. You do feel every little bump on the road, but after a while you stop paying too much attention. I had alot to learn last summer, but this year I think I'm ready.