Bike Errands / Bike Video

I found a cool mini clamp and ball head rig that is just right for attaching my Olympus Stylus camera to my bike handlebars. I did a test today and it worked great, taking a video of most of my trip to and from an errand this morning. I edited it down from 20 minutes. I’m glad that because it is far enough ahead of me you can’t hear me breathing, just road noise and wind from the bike moving.

Here it is:

This is a test of the bike mount I got for my Olympus Stylus camera. I edited it down from about 20 minutes. I was heading out to get some scissors sharpened.

Bike rehab project... finale, and next...

I’ve been doing rides and errands on the bike for the last couple of weeks and making minor adjustments. I got the derailleurs dialed in so that there is no skipping or slipping. The bike is great for errands, the cargo net that I got for the back rack works perfectly keeping even odd shaped things safely in place. After a series of rides last week I realized due to pain in my rear end that my old body needed a better seat than the stock Trek mountain bike seat. I got a Terry ( http://www.terrybicycles.com/Saddles ) gel saddle for men, the one made for recreational riding. If you ever need a bike saddle for either a woman or a man, Terry are the best. I just installed it today and the test ride was a huge improvement. Also reinstalling the seat gave me a chance to adjust it’s position front to back and that also helped, I had noticed that I was pushing way back on the seat while pedaling; now I can pedal comfortably in a normal seated position. In any case here is the today “final” picture:

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My wife likes what I’ve done with my bike and she’d like me to rehab her bike as well… so that is what is next. It “should” go quicker, I have ordered all of the parts at the same time and I already have the required tools. Her bike is a Specialized Rockhopper probably from around 1995 or so. It has slightly nicer drive components on it than mine but otherwise very similar. Here is the before picture:

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I’ll post about progress once all the parts get in.

Bike rehab project... shift and brake cables...

The new shift and brake cables and housings (along with the cutter/crimper tool for making cables and housings) finally arrived. I was able to build new cables to fit the position of the shifters/brake levers on the new handlebars. It went pretty smooth, I got to use my new bench vice at one point to hold the shifter assembly while I pushed on the cable with some vice grips to get it to come out of the shifter. Other than that everything came apart and went back together easily.

I may still have some fine adjustments to make to the brakes so that the front and rear engage at the same handle angle and the front derailleur may need tweaking. I raised the neck on the handlebars before I started to make the fit comfortable while I was sitting more upright. The test ride went well, shifting and braking work acceptably, the riding position is a lot better, no pressure on my hands and arms and my back is relaxed.

Here is the most recent picture:

Bike rehab project... contiued...

After a few rides to reacquaint my body with the bike I realized that for a utility bike I should convert the handlebars from straight bars to swept bars that would allow a more upright riding position. I ordered some bars and they arrived. I was hoping that the existing cables would have enough slack to used on the new bars, but no it was not to be. So now I await cable kits to build new brake and shift cables with the appropriate slack for the new bars. Should be here mid-week. Here’s a preview of the new bars below:

I also realized that I may need to raise the neck as well so I’ll fit the bars and the neck again before I build the cables…

Bike rehab project... Running driving bike...

Update below at 2:23 PM EST…

A flock of parts came in yesterday and so I made some rapid progress. The replacement hose and nozzle for my floor pump came in and after some violence I was able to remove the old hose and using a hose clamp fashion a replacement fitting and now I have a nice floor pump with a gauge and both presta and schrader fittings on the nozzle. My new bike lock came in and I installed the holder on the frame and programmed the new combination on it. The new tires ( very nice road/trail combination tread ) and tubes ( heavy duty puncture resistant ) came in so I was able to assemble the front and rear wheels. I managed to remember all the steps without resorting to youtube. I even replaced the rim tapes with very nice new ones, the old ones were dried out, rotten and crumpled up.

The front and rear fenders came in and fortunately since it is an old steel frame it has mounting points already on the frame for fenders and racks so it was pretty easy to get them on. I only had to modify the front one a tiny bit to make it sit high enough and still fit between the front forks and clear the tire. I was a little worried that they weren’t going to clear the tires since these are slightly larger than the original tires on the bike, 2.25 as opposed to 2.0, but not to worry they fit just fine. I had to adjust the front brake calipers so that they would clear the front tires and seat on the rim, but that was pretty simple.

I have a rack for the back of the bike but I may not get to that until later in the day or tomorrow. I took the bike out for a test run after modifying my bike helmet’s straps to fit my apparently fatter head. Apparently it is true that you don’t forget how to ride a bike, after a bit of panic when I was up high zooming down the hill it all came back to me. I will say that I am horribly out of shape and I’ll be working my way up to hill climbing bit by bit… whew.

Oh, I also got a set of rubber block pedals which work great, they’re easy to get on and off and they don’t have spikes on them that will claw you in the leg if you accidentally let a pedal whip around.

The drive train needs a good cleaning and lubrication, I have a cleaning and lube kit coming Tuesday.

Here’s a picture of the current state:

Afternoon update 2:23 PM:

I got the rack installed on the back of the bike this afternoon. As with many things labeled as “universal” there was some bodging to make it fit and I had to substitute some alternate fasteners, but in the end it is on and secure. Picture below:

Bike rehab project...

I’d like to get back to riding my bike as a form of local transportation for errands and also just for fun and exercise. I’ve got a couple of bikes from years ago when I was riding a lot so, I’m going to try getting them working before I get into buying a new bike. I’m starting with my Trek 930 from 1994, amazingly all the cables, brakes, and derailleurs seem to work fine ( delta some cleaning and lubrication ). It needs new tires and tubes, they’re pretty dried out and I wouldn’t trust them. The rear wheel seems a bit out of true, I’m going to try truing it up since the drive train on this bike is long discontinued and if I have to upgrade it I might as well buy a new bike. The bike needs a bath as well, I’ll probably do that later today. So here’s the before picture:

I also ordered some fenders, a chain guard, and a rear rack to make it more of a utility bike than a mountain bike. Once it is in riding condition I’ll see if I want to replace the handlebars.