Never Easy
I needed to replace the rear tire on the tandem; you could see where the sidewall was fraying, and one thing that really sucks is to have a blowout as you fly downhill paired up on such a big bike; that’s not just a single broken collarbone, it’s two, at least.
So…
I put the beast up on the repair stand to remove its rear wheel; doing so is a bit tricky since it’s secured with 15mm bolts rather than a quick-release, but eventually, I wrangled it out, even though I did that stupid thing where you forget to unhook the cantilever brake straddle wire and the tire falls onto the pads and gets stuck, so you have to shove the axle back into the dropouts then hold it there with your knee while you struggle to get the wire free.
The tire itself was relatively easy to change, but I guess I pinched the tube getting the new bead on, so I had to pull it out, patch it, and pump it back up, but, of course, the tube of vulcanizing fluid in my saddlebag is all dried up so I’ve got to poke around to finally find a good one tucked behind my toolbox in the basement.
Then, when I get the wheel back on, the brake pads are rubbing, and I have to face facts that the wheel’s out of true. So off it comes from the bike and on it goes to the truing stand; once that’s done, there’s no denying that, part of the problem is that, in fact, the brake pads are shot.
Fortunately, I’ve got a nice pair stashed away and it only take 15 minutes to find them and another half hour to set them up, but they work well, skidding the wheel without any squealing.
A good hour and a half to do a ten minute job; I’m glad it was bike-related or I’d have been really annoyed.
So…
I put the beast up on the repair stand to remove its rear wheel; doing so is a bit tricky since it’s secured with 15mm bolts rather than a quick-release, but eventually, I wrangled it out, even though I did that stupid thing where you forget to unhook the cantilever brake straddle wire and the tire falls onto the pads and gets stuck, so you have to shove the axle back into the dropouts then hold it there with your knee while you struggle to get the wire free.
The tire itself was relatively easy to change, but I guess I pinched the tube getting the new bead on, so I had to pull it out, patch it, and pump it back up, but, of course, the tube of vulcanizing fluid in my saddlebag is all dried up so I’ve got to poke around to finally find a good one tucked behind my toolbox in the basement.
Then, when I get the wheel back on, the brake pads are rubbing, and I have to face facts that the wheel’s out of true. So off it comes from the bike and on it goes to the truing stand; once that’s done, there’s no denying that, part of the problem is that, in fact, the brake pads are shot.
Fortunately, I’ve got a nice pair stashed away and it only take 15 minutes to find them and another half hour to set them up, but they work well, skidding the wheel without any squealing.
A good hour and a half to do a ten minute job; I’m glad it was bike-related or I’d have been really annoyed.
posted by Professor Dave at 6:00 PM
1 Comments:
For future such incidents, the vulcanizing fluid in patch kits is actually the same thing as rubber cement, which makes sense, since you're cementing rubber. So if your patch kit is dry, check the craft drawer. That is, if you're at home. If you're on a ride, I doubt you'd have a jar of rubber cement on you, because that would be just weird.
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