Bike Repair

I started this project several weeks ago, after my chain snapped whilst out cycling in the park. I went out and bought a brand new chain, only to find that all I needed was a new link bit because conveniently it was the special attachy-linky bit that broke. Apologies for the lack of technical terms but I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to bikes - something that will become very apparent later on. I decided to replace the chain anyway, seeing as I had got the new one anyway but after about 45 minutes of getting my hand caked in oil and grease, I realised that the new chain was about six links too long. A quick check on the internet informed me that I'd need a special chain tool in order to remove the excess links and so I gave up. One day I might get round to going to Halfords and begging them to do it for me (for free hopefully). It then took me a further two hours to fit the special attachy-linky thing onto the old chain and finally it was working again.

It was at this point that the horrible part of my brain popped its little head out and suggested that whilst I'm playing with bikes, I should clean it. See where I'm headed? Well out came the tools and I started to disassemble and clean the pieces. It all looked very shiny and I sprayed the chain and gears with oil again before giving it a quick test and prepared to put it away. But no, it's never that simple is it? The back wheel wasn't spinning properly and was making a horrible grating sound. I decided that I must have got some grit in the bearings whilst cleaning it but it was starting to rain so I packed up.

So, today was the conclusion of the project and (I thought) I knew where the problem was. I wanted to take the sprocket cassette off and clean behind it, that's where the noise was coming from so it seemed like a logical choice. I unscrewed everything again and managed to spill the bearings from the freewheel everywhere in the process, something I later found out should be kept as a sealed unit. Oops. So I then convinced myself that if I could remove the spokes on the wheel, perhaps there was a release mechanism on the rear. I could have seen this part coming, and regretting starting it as soon as I had gone too far. I have an inability to replace the inner-tube without pinching it when re attaching the wheel. This lead to two punctures on this occasion before I managed to get it back on. A quick look on the net revealed that I needed yet another 'special tool' to remove the cassette. Damn. So I attacked it with a hose.

Guess what? That solved the problem, no more grating noise. But by this time, it was too late and I had already taken it to bits and got the chain twisted (I hadn't bothered to detach it before taking bits apart) so I spent the next 35 minutes prizing the magic clip off to get the chain in a state that would let me put it back correctly. At this stage I am well and truly fed up. Everything has gone disastrously and I haven't mentioned the gaffa tape and super glue bits yet! To cut a long story short, the next two hours were spent trying to realign the gears and I'm still not sure I've got it right.

The first gaffa tape usage was fairly successful (surprisingly) and worked a treat. The second usage was a bit less conventional and with the super glue makes me fairly sure I should never be allowed near a bike again.

Off to watch Sunshine now, I spotted it yesterday in HMV and thought I should see it so I will.