Extending the Life of your Drivetrain Part 1: Lubing your Chain   11/9/09

One question I don't get asked very often but should is "how do I lube my chain?". A properly lubed chain will provide better shift performance, longer life and a quieter ride. Lubing a chain is very easy and only requires a small amount of time. All chains do need to be replaced at some point but if you read and follow the procedure below for lubing your chain, you shouldn't have to replace your chain as frequently.

To properly lube a chain you need a dry chain, quality lube and clean rags. If you have a work stand, great, but it is not necessary.

It is also important to choose the correct lube. In our area, an all-around type of lube, like Rock and Roll Gold or Prolink, works well. We don't get enough rain to require an oil based lube. If you do ride a lot in wet weather, oil based lubes, like Pedro's Syn work well because they resist water better. I don't like aerosol applicators because lube ends up going everywhere. This is especially important if your bike has disc brakes. Do not let lube get onto the brake rotors. Getting lube on your brake rotors is bad because the brake pads are porous and will absorb the lube rendering them useless. If you do get lube on your rotors then wash them off with rubbing alcohol immediately before the lube gets a chance to get on your brake pads.

The first step to lubing your chain is to shift into the large chainring and smallest rear cog. Then drip lube onto the chain while pedaling. Apply enough lube so the chain is wet but not dripping wet. You need to let the lube soak in so go grab a beer, glass of wine or a snack. Once the lube has had time to soak in, get your rags and wipe off all of the excess lube until the chain looks new. If you have taken the time to do this properly, your rag should be very dirty and your chain should be nice and shiny. This step is the part that is most often overlooked. This may sound counter intuitive, but it is very important. When you do this step all lubes become "self cleaning". The only good thing that excess lube is for is collecting more dirt. We all know the less dirt on the chain the better. If you used a dry lube, such as Rock and Roll, there will be a thin film of lube to protect the chain from moisture and it is less likely to attract dirt. Wiping off the excess oil is crucial though. Oil will attract dirt faster than you can say dang my chain is dirty.

One other local tip, if you ride in Umstead Park, then you should lube your chain often. The new surface is great to ride on but wears chains out faster than you can say dang my chain is worn out.

If you have questions please feel free to contact me and I will answer them.

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Who says what happens in Vegas has to stay in Vegas?   9/25/09

I just got back from Interbike, the annual bicycle trade show in Las Vegas. I had the opportunity to see a lot of the new products as well as some existing products that make our sport fun. It was a great opportunity for me to get the most up to date industry information and to make connections with various vendors. You may have seen several of these products already, but I hope you enjoy hearing and seeing what I thought was interesting.

The first day was the Dirt demo. At Dirt demo I had an opportunity to ride bikes on a local trail. I had the good fortune to ride a Pivot Mach 5, Trek Top Fuel, Santa Cruz Tallboy, Blur LT2 Carbon, and a Blur XC Carbon. These were all incredible bikes. I most liked the Carbon Blurs. My personal style favored the XC model, but the LT2 was awesome. I was impressed with how much confidence the LT2 could give the rider and how bottomless the suspension felt. The XC was just fast and agile. The one I rode had a shorter travel fork. I think that by putting a longer travel fork, 120mm, the Blur XC would be a great all around trail bike with slightly shorter travel than the LT2. The guys at Santa Cruz confirmed my thoughts saying that it is a blast when set up like that. The Tallboy, a new model not released yet, is a 29" Blur. It was a very cool bike. If you are in the market for a 29" full suspension bike, this should be on your list to check out.

Chris King had a booth with a lot of eye candy. They have a new road hub set that will be released next year. They were very light with new bearings that feature lower resistance seals and redesigned internals. They also had a display of heasets and hubs with all the available colors.

The next day was the first of the indoor show. A stop at the Shimano booth revealed Yumaya accessories for their top of the line groups. The XTR Yumeya kit has been out for a while but is not well known. Check it out here http://www.shimano-yumeya.com/. The new Dura Ace kit certainly adds some style to an already great looking kit.

Another interesting product line that I saw was from a company called Lezyne. They offer a line of accessories that range from pumps, mini tools to hydration packs. The parts that impressed me were their pumps. Their floor pumps look like they are built to last with a lot of style. They also offer a shock pump that is very compact with a built in gauge that doesn't resemble others on the market.

Speedplay has a new mountain bike pedal called the Syzr. It is not due to be released until next spring. It looks very promising.

Moulton had an interesting bike made of small diameter stainless steel tubing.

The Serotta booth had some gorgeous bikes on display. Also one of them had some interesting brakes. Looks like Ciamillo (makers of the Zero G brake) is making a carbon fiber brake set. You can even customize the colors.

When these brakes are attached to a MeiVici, it makes for an incredible bike.

Other products I saw that I thought to be very interesting were Kuat racks. They are made of aluminum rather than steel. This makes them substantially lighter than regular racks. They make racks to fit up to four bikes. They even make an attachment that turns the rack into a work stand.

I also had to pay a visit to the Hope Disc brake booth. I really like the Hope brakes and found their reps to be very knowledgeable and helpful. They had their new Tech 2 lever cut open so the internals were visible.

This is only a small portion of what I saw at Interbike. If you have any questions about the products you see here, or are interested in ordering anything just let me know.

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Don’t get bent out of shape!   7/19/09

I repair a lot of bikes with rear shifting problems. In many cases the cause of the shifting problem is a bent derailleur hanger. The derailleur hanger is the small part of the frame that the rear derailleur bolts to. With the increasing number of gears on the rear wheel, shifting tolerances are becoming tighter and tighter, which requires high precision in all areas of the drive train. If you are having problems shifting it may be that your rear derailleur hanger is bent or broken. It is important that the hanger is straight and parallel to the cogs on the rear wheel. If it is not, then it won’t line up with the gears. If that is the case, then no matter what you do with the cable, you won’t achieve smooth shifting action.

When most bike frames were made of steel, there was no need for replaceable derailleur hangers. Steel can be bent safely many times before it breaks, so bent hangers could easily be bent back straight. When aluminum frames first became popular they did not have a replaceable hanger. This led to a problem because aluminum does not stand up well to being bent many times. With aluminum, even just one good bend will break it. Early aluminum frame owners were not happy when one bad crash would cause a broken hanger and they were left with scrap metal instead of a bike. Hence, the replaceable hanger was born. Now instead of scrapping the bike just the broken hanger can be replaced.

There are many ways a derailleur hanger can get bent. Crashing is the most obvious way. If you see any marks on the derailleur after a crash, that could be a sign that the derailleur hit the ground and possibly bent the hanger. Other less obvious ways a hanger could get bent are by laying the bike down on the drive train side or by loading the bike in the trunk of a car. If you don’t have a bike rack, be very careful when putting your bike in the trunk so as not to bend your hanger. Even if you have a brand new bike, don’t assume your hanger is straight. Having built thousands of bikes, I have seen plenty of hangers that are bent right out of the box.

If you have a bent hanger there are two ways the issue can be corrected. One being to bend the hanger back straight and the other is to replace the hanger. A Derailleur Alignment Gauge (DAG) can be used to bend the hanger back straight. This is a fairly straight forward procedure but best left to your mechanic. As I mentioned before, aluminum can’t always be bent back safely. If the hanger can not be bent back straight and you have a replaceable derailleur hanger (many modern bikes do) replacing it is your only option. Once you replace it, it is best to double check the new one to makesure it is straight also.

If you have questions please feel free to contact me and I will answer them.

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What to do if you break your chain?    5/27/09

What to do if you break your chain? Have you ever been on the trail having a great ride and then you try to shift and the chain breaks? This is what you need to do to keep the ride going and the mojo flowing. These methods also work if you are on a road bike so keep reading.

There are two major manufacturers (SRAM and Shimano) of chains in the biking world. Yes there are others, but I am going to concentrate on Shimano and SRAM. They are the most popular and chances are you have one or the other on your bike.

First, you have to know or figure out what kind of chain you have before you hit the trail. The name of the manufacturer should be on the chain. If you have a Shimano chain, you will need Shimano chain replacement pins. If you have a SRAM chain, you will need a SRAM Powerlink.  Unless you are riding a unicycle, you have a chain, so you should have a chain tool. You may already have one on the mini tool in your seat bag. Now that you know what kind of chain is on your bike, and have the appropriate tools and spare parts available you will be prepared to fix a broken chain while on the ride. Below are instructions for fixing the chain, as well as important information on what needs to be done afterwards:

Instructions for SRAM owners: The first step is to remove the broken links with a chain tool. You want to remove enough links to end up with the inner link exposed on both ends of the chain. Now install the Powerlink. Each half of the Powerlink will attach to the end of the chain. Then connect the two halves of the Powerlink to each other.

Instructions for Shimano owners: The first step is to remove the damaged links. Remove the links so there is an inner link on one end and an outer link on the other. Use the Shimano replacement link to join the two ends together. Insert the smooth end first. You will use the chain tool to push the pin through the hole in the links. As you push you will feel a series of tight and loose points. Watch as you push the pin so you don't push it too far. Once you have the chain joined, break off the back half of the pin.

No matter what chain you have, now that the chain is shorter there are two things you need to keep in mind. First, don't shift into the big ring/big cog combo. The chain will be too short to go into this gear. If you do this then there is a very high risk of damage to at least the derailleur. Second, go buy a new chain (hopefully from me) and trim it to the correct length.

If you have questions please feel free to contact me and I will answer them.

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what's a snake bite?    3/22/09

What is a snake bite in the cycling world? A snake bite is a type of hole in your tube caused by an impact with a stationary object (i.e. curb, pothole). The tube is pinched in between object and rim and results in two small holes in the tube that resemble a snake bite. The best/easiest way to address this issue while you are out on the ride is to replace the tube with a new one. You may not want to patch the tube on the ride because there might be a seam near the holes preventing a perfect seal with a patch. Once you get home, you can attempt to patch the snake bite with a large patch that covers both holes. Then, check to make sure the patch is airtight. You can do this by letting the glue of the patch cure, inflate the tube and submerge it underwater. Bubbling would indicate a leak and you should trash that tube.

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