Hiatus

It wasn't my intention to take an almost 3 month break from posting.  It's not that I haven't been out riding, or had anything to write about, but after a few weeks of missing out on writing about a topic, I felt like I was behind, and it snowballed from there.

AOTC 2014 did not disappoint

So, in my worst announcer type voice, here is the short-short version of the past 3 months:  I've gone through several highs and lows and completed the Assault on the Carolinas, which was once again a fantastic ride.  I've dealt with another wave of mechanical issues on the bike, including being managing to taco my small chainring, and had to make the decision to drop from riding in the inaugural Beech Mountain Metric.

Even my Garmin had a mechanical...	Taco... small ring.

At this point I've set my sights, training, and fundraising on the Ride to Remember this July.  It'll be the first 3-day event that I have ever attempted, and it encompasses over 240mi of riding.  The fundraising benefits the Alzheimer's Association, where the funds raised are used to help Alzheimer's research, care, and support of the over 5 million Americans suffering from Alzheimer's currently.

Personal life also required more attention during the past few months, and I've had several lower than average volume weeks as a result.  With only 9 weeks left until the Ride to Remember, though, I feel like I'm on track.  In fact, I'm looking forward to giving a recap of the Skratch Labs Stage Race Challenge on Strava which I'm using as a dry run of what to expect in July.  With only 6 hours of riding left to complete the challenge, I feel like it is really putting me to the test.

Broken Spokes

August seemed to be the month where I had to deal with bike issues.  It's the first time that I've had to deal with a broken spoke, and before the month was out I'd have to deal with 2.  Of all of the things I've had happen to me to prematurely end a ride, I have to say that a broken spoke has to be the most disheartening.  Both times I've had it happen when I was in a groove, and feeling like I could put out a really good effort, just to hear a strange metallic "ping", and the feeling that something was off.  Unlike a puncture or some other mechanical issues, there really isn't anything you can do to fix a broken spoke, either. That said, these experiences have given me a chance to review a few things on my own form as well as reaffirm my decision to get Boyd wheels instead of a high end warehouse brand.  

Broken at the J bend

Not a sight you want to see

There's your problem, right there...

From a personal performance point of view, I have to re-evaluate how I ride.  One of the big stressors on wheels is compression, specifically from hitting pot holes and other road hazards.  Because of my larger size, I put a lot of instant stress on my wheels when I go over these hazards at speed than a typical ~150lb rider.  In general I have taken the attitude of being more willing to "eat" a pothole in order to stay stable and not wreck than to attempt to avoid hazards at the last moment.  I need to adjust this and pay better attention to road conditions.  On routes that I know fairly well, I know where to look for these hazards and make sure I'm in a proper place to avoid them.  Beyond that I need to make sure I'm looking far enough ahead to avoid issues when at all possible as well.  Swerving at the last minute isn't an issue, but I shouldn't need to swerve to avoid road hazards as much as just make sure I'm looking for them.

In the cases where I cannot avoid a hazard, I need to make sure I'm not sitting with the majority of my weight on my back wheel.  This put a lot of unneeded sharp stress on those spokes, which can in turn cause weak spots to form.  Ideally I should get out of the saddle to handle the hazard, but just evening out my weight should go a long way to helping relieve just a little of that pressure.  

I also need to start making a much more concerted effort to document when I've had hazard hits and verifying that the wheels stay true and inspect the spokes.  If I can determine that a spoke has formed a weak spot before it breaks, it should mean less time hobbling back to get my wheel fixed.  I'm already working on spending more time doing general bike maintenance, and I'm going to be making an effort to start having a regular monthly deep clean and review of the bike to look for issues.  I can definitely add a more thorough wheel review as needed.  Something as small as making sure that the rear derailuer is working properly, and isn't throwing the chain into the spokes at all could mean the difference between no issues and almost constant repair.  I can definitely improve in this area.

Shortly after having the second spoke break in the month, I started getting down about my wheel decision.  I had gone through a lot of research when picking out these wheels, and I felt that I had make a good decision when I picked up these wheels.  With 2 breakdowns so close together, I had started second guessing if I had made a good decision.  Personally I put a lot of stock in dependability and confidence, especially on my bike.  After I have any sort of breakdown or change it takes me several rides to get confidence back that I'm not going to have another issue that could cause me to damage myself or the bike.  Not having confidence in the machine that I am using definitely puts a major crimp in what I feel willing to do.  I start having doubts about longer rides.  I don't want to get stranded.  After reviewing how I can take better care of my ride, I think I have places where I can improve and see improvements on the longevity of my investment, both in myself and my bike.  It's just going to take a few good rides to get the confidence level back up.

Through all of this, the most phenomenal thing for me has been the service that I've gotten from Boyd's.  I've heard horror stories of people having to ship their wheels back to the manufacturer to have warranty work done on them, and having to deal with loaner wheels or even worse being unable to ride for weeks at a time.  Since I live in Greenville, where Boyd's puts together every wheel by hand, I have to luxury of bringing the wheel back and having them take a look at it easily.  Beyond that, the courteous nature of the staff and the confidence that I have when I get the wheel back that everything is okay is exceptional.  Instead of just repairing the broken spoke, they took the time to inspect the wheel and even replaced a few that I had somehow damaged without noticing it (more than likely from chain issues).  They also take the time to make sure to build it back up, instead of just putting in the new spoke.  In the end this gives me confidence that when I get the wheel back I'm not having continued issues, but I should have a wheel I can rely on.  

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Boyd wheels to anyone, even with the recent issues.  My current wheels should last well beyond the life of my bicycle, and serve me well.  If they do happen to have any more issues, I also have the confidence that I can get them taken care of properly and professional, by folks that know not just how to repair a simple issue, but know how to build a wheel the right way.

DiamondBack Sorrento: Clean-up and new tubes

After getting the shifters working, I was very excited to give the bike a good test ride to see how things felt.  I went over to Lucky Bike and picked up some new tubes as well as some rim straps to get the wheels fixed up, and figured I could spend the evening cleaning up the bike and installing the new tubes.  I got home and removed the wheels from the bike to haul it over for a washing.  Using some dish liquid to remove some of the greasy mess that was all over the bike, I set to work with a couple of good sponges and a toothbrush.  My youngest helped me out, and I think we got an okay first pass done on the bike.  

Time for a wash!

It'll need a another pass for cleaning for sure, and I found some more surface rust on a few places. The chain  cleaned up pretty well, and we seemed to get the majority of the gunk out of the chainrings and deraileur.  One thing of concern that I found was some damage to a cog in the rear deraileur.  I'm pretty sure there isn't anything I can do to fix it, so the question will become if it's something that will require a new part or not.  Only a few good test rides will determine that in the short term.

Something seems to be missing...

I let the bike start to dry off, and turned my attention to the wheels.  I hadn't really taken much time to review the tubes that were in the bike, as I had thought there was one missing, and the condition of the bike would mean more than likely the other one would have a hole or two.  To my surprise both tubes seemed to be holding a small amount of air, but since I bought new tubes I didn't spend a lot of time evaluating the tubes the bike already had.  The rims themselves definitely needed a cleaning.  They had a few cobwebs in them, and the cassette definitely needed to be cleaned.  Again I found some surface rust, but overall things looked to be in okay shape.  

Just add air (and maybe tubes + tire?)

For a test ride I decided that some good old fashioned duct tape would suffice on the seat, at least until I could source a decent replacement.  My youngest had a blast helping me cover the seat up and inflating the tires.  At this point things were definitely looking good for a quick test ride.

it's not pretty, but at least it's waterproof.

We took a few turns riding the bike up and down the block to see how it worked, but in general as well as being a good fit for my daughters.  The seat adjustment was easy to work with, and the bike seemed to shift into all of the gears without any major issues.  As one of my daughters was taking her turn, she mentioned that she was hearing a strange squealing noise while she was riding.  I took another turn and I also heard it.  Upon investigation it looks like we may have at worst a bad bearing on the rear wheel.  I'll need to spend more time with the rear wheel to be sure of the cost to repair these wheels (either by myself or by a professional) versus some new inexpensive wheels.

Purchase of the bike:	$20
New saddle:	$25
New Tubes:	$12
New rim tape:	$  4
Shifters:	$  1.80
Grand Total:	$62.80

So far my expected costs are looking pretty good.  We're still well under the $100 total for the bike, and it's now to the point where we can make decisions based on upgrades instead of repairs.  I'll have to evaluate the rear axle and see if it truly is a bent axle or if it's something as simple as some grease so it turns freely.

DiamondBack Sorrento: Shifters

Previously I posted about my wife finding a mid-90's DiamondBack Sorrento at a local charity thrift store for $20.  With some elbow grease I feel like this could be an excellent bike for the kids to ride, as well as a great learning project for me.  

At this point I'm working on the shifters.  During the original examination of the bike it appeared like they were broken, as shifting wasn't possible.

The first challenge would be in getting the shifters off of the handlebars.  It seems like someone had already attempted to get the right shifter removed, and had ended up stripping the hex head out.  I carefully removed the bolt from the left shifter, and measured the shaft.  I picked a drill bit that was slightly smaller than the shaft of the bolt, and started the work of drilling out the screw.  To my surprise, and luck, the bolt broke relatively early in the process, allowing me to get the shifter off of the handlebar.  With a little work I removed the nut that secures the shifter in place, and put it aside for my eventual trip to the Hardware Store.

After removing the cover, I thought I understood the issue pretty well:  The part of the pawls that keeps the tension on the shifter (and makes the "click" noise), wasn't locking into place.  My initial assessment was that there was a spring that had lost tension, and it really wasn't going to be worth attempting to repair it.  I had already sourced out replacement shifters online, and I didn't think that the $30 was worth attempting to fix the existing hardware.  I wanted to take a trip to Lucky Bike to see if they had them locally, but I didn't plan to trek out there until later in the week.

What I did in the meantime was do a little more reading, and I found out that the spring was a known issue, but the bigger known issue was the lubricant in these shifters.  For whatever reason the grease they used when these were manufactured ends up causing the mechanism to seize up over time, and that a good dose of WD-40 (or similar) will clear it up.  I happened to have some cleaning+lubricating chain spray at the house, and I gave it a try.  Lo and behold the pawl start moving a little more freely.  I gave it some more lube and put the housing back together to work through the gears.  It took a little bit to work through the whole system, but I started having shifting on the rear deraileur!  

when good lubricant goes bad...

I moved over to the left shifter, and I found the same situation.  A good dosing of the spray lubricant and some time, and it started to act better.  It's taking some time to work them out, but they are definitely shifting better.  

A quick trip to the hardware store for some new bolts, and I should be good to go on the shifting front.  I decided to go ahead and replace both bolts with new 1" stainless cap heads, just to be safe.  This way I wasn't going to be searching for 2 different allen wrenches every time that I had to adjust the shifter position.

Originally I had put into the budget $30 to repair/replace the shifters.  The total cost for the repair ended up being $1.80.  

This makes the total estimated cost of the bike:

Purchase of the bike:	$20
New saddle:	$25
New Tubes:	$14
New rim tape:	$10
Shifters:	$  1.80
Grand Total:	$70.80

DiamondBack Sorrento: Evaluation

Over Memorial Day my wife ended up stumbling upon a mid-90's DiamondBack Sorrento, and sent me a few pictures from the store.  It looked very rough around the edges, but I figured it may be a good project bike.  The size looked good to be a transition bike for one of my younger kidlets, so that was a complete bonus, and the $20 price tag made it an inexpensive risk.

Once she got it home and I had to chance to go over it, I realized that this was going to be a great project bike.  I noticed that we were dealing with a pure "ChroMoly" frame, and it was originally sourced from a bike store (and not a big box store).  It was definitely rough around the edges, but I needed to size up exactly what it was that I needed to work on.  The first things I looked at was the seat and the wheels.

Saddle
The saddle is torn/cut, so the only real option there is replacement.  An inexpensive saddle can be sourced for around $20 to start with, so it's not a major concern for me.

Wheels
At first I was afraid that I'd have to figure out how to true up the rims.  Once wheel is missing rim tape, and the other is missing a tube.  So far, so good.  The tires are actually in pretty good shape, they look to be relatively new Kenda's (26x1.95's).  Rim tape is only about $5 a wheel, and I can get inexpensive tubes for about $5 each.  Another $20 to get the wheels up and running.

There is some surface rust on the spokes that will need some attention over time.  I didn't see any broken or bent spokes, though.  The chain guard on the rear wheel is in pretty bad shape, but I'll just remove it and it'll be fine. 

We don't need no stinkin' chainguard...

DriveTrain
This is the part that could be expensive.  I started by looking at the Cassette and the rear deraileur.  They are decent braned components, Shimano Alivio, and they looked to be in okay condition.  The huge question was if they actually worked.

I started by using the right shifter to change gears.  The first semi-bad news of the day, nothing happened when I attempted to change gears.  To get an idea of the shape of the deraileur I went ahead and just pulled on the cable, and I was able to shift gears.  So the good news in there was that the rear deraileur seems to work, although the shifters are in disrepair.  It also looked like at a basic level the cassette seems to work okay, as the chain didn't seem to slip in any of the gears.  I had similar results from the front deraileur:  The shifter worked from the small chainring to the middle one, but didn't work to the big chainring.  Manually pulling the cable forced the chain to the big ring okay.
  

These shifters have seen better days

The chain is dry as a bone, and it looks to have a fair amount of rust on it at this point.  The good news is that it's not seized up.  At some point I'll need to replace it, but it should work for now with just a little bit of lubricant.  

The Frame 
The frame looks to be in really fantastic shape overall, although it needs a thorough cleaning.  The stickers on the downtube are peeling off, but the paint underneath is fine.  There is no major rust showing on the bike, and only a few scratches/dings to deal with.  The handlebars need some cleaning and maybe some fresh paint on them at some point.

Cherry (um, Magenta?) paint job.

Overall
This was a fantastic pick up at $20.  I had already been pricing out similar bikes refurbished from Lucky Bike here locally, and the cost was going to be just under $200.   The one bummer is that the shifters are not working, but even then I think I can source new 3x7 shifters for around $30.  Thus my current known costs at this point:

Purchase of the bike:	$20
New saddle:	$25
New Tubes:	$14
New rim tape:	$10
New Shifters:	$30
Grand Total:	$95

I may be able to come in at under this total if I can get other parts working, but even then a mid-tier multi-speed bike for the girls at less than a cheap box store price is fantastic.  This bike has plenty of life left in it, and with just a little bit of work it should be serviceable and a lot of fun.

I have a feeling that I could make a habit out of this...