Ridin' a Bronco

"Hey Dad, did you know there is a Bronco bicycle!?!?" my son informed me recently. For most people this statement would probably get a response of "so what?" or  "huh?" But because I am co-owner of Bronco Driver Magazine, hearing that there is a Bronco bicycle is much more interesting. Heck, it might even lead to a story somehow.

So, after a little Googling we find out that the Bronco is a model made by SE Bikes. It is a budget BMX model that might be fun to play on, or even ride around at our truck shows.

Ten days later, a big box showed up on our front doorstep. Knowing my son would never get his homework done knowing it was in the garage, I hid the box and assembled it the next day during lunch hour. 

When he got home the next day, a Friday afternoon, the garage door opened revealing the shiny, Ford-engine-block-blue Freestyle Bronco. He of course went crazy with excitement. 

It is a very nice bike. Although it has budget components, it does feel strong and safe... something very important to me (he had just flattened the front of his helmet crashing his junker BMX a few days earlier). It does have very different feel than the mountain bikes we normally ride. But this probably makes us better bikers. Big fun! 

So now he is learning tricks, watching Danny MacAskill YouTube videos, and playing in the driveway with his very own SE bucking Bronco!

Good Brakes - Not Just for Adults

Ever since my children showed an interest in biking, I have been learning all I could about transitioning them to my favorite form of wheeled travel.

One aspect that have been discussed online and in books is the kind of brakes on kids bikes. The overwhelming consensus is that coaster brakes are NOT a good choice for children... at least when learning to ride. The thinking is that when a child wants to stop, especially when panicked, coaster brakes are a slow and un-natural process. The time required to stop forward pedaling, then pedal backward is much slower and confusing than squeezing one's fist. They say to either choose bikes that have hand brakes, or install them yourself.

But as I looked at bikes with this better braking option, I have noticed many are not properly setup for young hands. Many bike assemblers never take in account that kids' reach is much shorter than adults'. It seem obvious when you think about it but I believe we forget about this when adjusting their brakes because hey, they feel natural to us.

So here is a quick how-to for making their brakes more comfortable and functional for your new riders.

Many brakes have either this big screw sticking out...

... or a tiny "grub" screw in the handle.

Before starting you will more than likely need to loosen the brake cable.

Now tighten the screw clockwise. The screw will push the lever toward the grip.

The before.

The after.

The "after" shows the brake lever much closer to the grip. It is now easily reachable by smaller hands, and reachable means your little rider will be just a little more comfortable and confident.

First Bike Race

A friend of the family recently sent me an email about the upcoming Knoxicross. He said he was thinking of entering his two sons and that I should do the same. I had never heard of a Knoxicross so I did some Googleling to learn more. Turns out it was a unique bike race that goes both on pavement and off road. Looked like big fun but was a little too serious for someone with knees as bad as mine. But the youngest-kids-class was a perfect fit for my son and our friends' boys.

Knowing he had never competed before, the odds for winning would be slim. So I told him over and over how proud I was of him for trying something like this and that just finishing was "his prize."

When we arrived there weren't enough kids to competed in two separate races, so both the under 10 and the 10-14 classes were lumped together. There were five boys competing, and the four in his class were younger. BUT I made sure to keep giving my speech about winning not being the goal because he was talking about the possibility of winning the race... by this point the speech was as much for me as him at this point.

The horn sounded and they were off! He took off in second place to the older boy as they rounded the first corner and went into the woods. The next time they came into view he was in fourth with only one behind him. "Just finish, please don't quit" I kept repeating to myself. Had to walk the steepest hill but he never quit.

First place was easily taken by the older boy. Second/third was an exciting photo finish between his bike-friend and the friend's soccer teammate. My son was clearly very disappointed coming in fourth, beating only the first grader.

The boys grouped together excitedly discussing the race... the hard parts, the fast parts, the photo finish. My son with his tail between his legs, was quietly listening to how much fun they had (and trying to decide what he could have done to change his outcome) when one of the other boys noticed he was track-standing while listening. The conversation quickly changed to bike control rather than bike speed. Before I knew it he was giving them lessons in doing wheelies, on both the front and rear tire.

The day was a strange, bittersweet one for him. How could be be so out of his element on a bike one minute and so in his element on a bike the next? How could he be so disappointed then be so excited about sharing his knowledge? I believe he learned a little about a different aspect of riding and lot about life. A bike is after all, a simple machine driven by a very complicated one.

Two Bikes Forward, One Bike Back

There are many milestones for families with kids that just make like simpler: not having to bring diapers, not having to bring "baby" food, the Saturday morning that the kid will let you sleep late (make their own breakfast), or no car seat. But one that I have be actively working toward lately is no more training wheels.

My son took to two wheels very quickly and have never looked back. My daughter, on the other hand, has been more of a challenge. This spring all the neighborhood kids started meeting in the street riding and playing. The training wheels on her Princess bike were clearly slowing her down. They were even causing her to crash every now and then. But being out with the "big kids" was worth it the risk.


About this time my son and I started riding much more, at least three times a week. I really wanted to include the whole family with this hobby. So, I picked up an Adams Trail-A-Bike and plopped her on. The first trip or two through the neighborhood was white knuckled for her but she quickly got used to leaning into turns rather than out like she would do on her bike. It quickly became a game - she would slalom us down the road simply by swapping her weight from side to side. Big fun as long as she didn't surprise me when I wasn't expecting her to do it.

But knowing how riding was SUPPOSED to feel riding quickly made the Princess bike obsolete.

We practiced a few minutes every night throughout summer on "The Green Bike" (a side-of-the-road found bike with cranks removed). As long ask she believed I had ahold of the seat she would ride up and down the street. But the second she found out that I was not actually holding her up, she would skid to a stop and hop off.

About half way through the summer I found a really neat (and her favorite color - purple) Trek at the local Goodwill. After a new set of tires, a seat, and a cute basket, she had a new bike that she really loved. I would bring it out in the driveway each night along with the Green Bike and her old Princess bike for her to pick her ride du Jour.

One day I looked out and she had jumped onto the Trek and pedaled down the driveway! She had cruised past a milestone! Wobbly but past it. By Christmas she was doing great!

Our next milestone was getting her able to do more than just ride in front of the house and join in on real trips. Of course Santa agreed she needed gears and hand brakes, and delivered a neat chrome Pacific with purple and pink accents. A little cleaning and lubing and it looked brand new. (Yes, a cheap-o brand but as an avid Craigslist fanatic, I know there are tons of girls bikes there for a reason... girls just don't stick with riding. If she ends up loving to ride like her father and brother, only then will I spring for a better bike.)

You might remember the title of this story is "Two Bikes Forward, One Bike Back". Tonight she announced (after a month) of riding her Pacific she liked her purple bike better. She stated she felt the new bike is just too complicated. Seven gears, two hand brakes, the taller fit, all take her out of her comfort zone. She just wants to ride, not think about "stuff."

Yes, a little disappointing that we lost a milestone but then again, biking is supposed to be fun before anything. Thanks Beena for reminding me of this. We will give it another try this spring.

Poor Plastic Pedals

One of my main loves of biking is the simplicity. Two wheels, some rubber, a couple "simple machines" and you have a device that is fun, healthy, can actually take you places.  So when one of these machines has a problem, the fix is usually an easy one. At least most of the time.

One of these times was a simple pedal replacement. Plastic pedals don't last long with abuse. The bike I was working on had a pair that looks as if they had been run over by a truck! How long could it take to change them? 10? 15 minutes? Yea, right!

With my Park Tools 15mm pedal tool in hand, I went to work. It wasn't turning. Was I going the wrong direction? Nope. Light taps with a hammer? Wasn't budging. Big hits with a big hammer. Still nothing.

Apparently over time there is a reaction that can happen between dissimilar metals. The steel (pedal shaft) and aluminum (crank arm) clearly had Galvanic corrosion. Searches on the Mountain Bike Forums suggested heat could crack the "welding" loose. So I took the pedal apart, removed the crank arm from the bike, and fired up the grill (I have been married long enough to know not to do this inside). Thirty seconds later I grabbed the arm with a pot holder and tried it. Crud! Back onto the grill. Two minutes and again no luck. Time for some thinking. Back onto the grill. This time pull it off the grill and dip the petal shaft into ice water. Surely the shock of heat-cycling would break the bonds.

Well, as I put the pieces of the old broken pedal back together, I sure hope the next owner of the bike has better luck than I getting it off.

Yet Another GT

I am not sure why but GTs seem to love me. Let me explain. This past weekend a bike came up on Craigslist. The listing said: "Timber Line" 26" wheels, $15. Was it a one of those Walmart junkers? I don't remember there being a Roadmaster Timber Line. Pacific Timber Line... hummm, sounds possible. For the fun of it I emailed the owner asking about it.

The email came back with a photo and it appeared to be a GT with a suspension fork. Knowing the brand of fork would tell me a lot. His next email said it was a Rock Shox fork and yes, it was $15 not $150. He said the rear brakes don't work. The gears don't work. The back tire is flat. But the "shocks are good." I figured for $15 I could sell the fork, throw away everything else, and not lose money.

Arriving at the owner's house the bike was in their tiny living room. The place reeked of cigarette smoke. The flip-flop wearing wife explained that they were going to use the cash to buy groceries. So I slipped her a $20 bill and left.

Once home I was able to breathe and assess. The bike is a '94 GT Timberline FS - a bike just above their botttom-of-the-range back then. Most issues appear to be minor. A healthy dose of chain lube in the brake cable housings and shifter housing did wonders to loosen things up. All bearings are pretty tight. The wheels are pretty straight. With a through cleaning this could be a nice bike.

The stats:
the steel frame is pretty big but not huge, a guess 18.5"
GT "bull" handlebars, period-correct but strange
Rock Shox Quadra 10
WTB tires
trigger shifters
21 speed
Shimano Alivio crankset
Shimano STX rear derailleur (amazingly straight!)

Check out this funky double kickstand:

Cool but not on a real mountain bike.

I now have the problem of having a bike that I hate to part out. This gets me to back to my original comment... GTs love me. Now I have two Timberlines that I really like.

Penny-pincher Pedal Upgrade

On a recent ride I noticed my son's feet slipping off his pedals. The plastic "spikes" were worn down from years of hand-me-down use. I suppose it is time to get new pedals.

But we really like the fact that his old pedals fold up. I makes garage storage and transport much easier. So before buying new ones I thought I would try to add new "spikes". Here is my tightwad-dad fix.

tools/parts needed:
drill
aluminum rivets
rivet installation tool
pliers/Vice Grips
a cutting devise (snips, dremel or file)
metal file

Before:

After:

How it was done...
First drill a hole in the corner of the petal roughly the same diameter as the rivet body:

Then insert the rivet. I found it easiest putting it into the gun first because the holes were sorta tight:

Here is the tricky part. When you squeeze the rivet, do not pull it enough to break it off or so it pulls through the hole, just enough to deform the rivet body. Now use a pliers to push the rivet shaft out of the rivet body and back down in to the pedal (the reason for this later). I used Vise Grips with a twisting motion.

Clip or file/break off the shaft about 1/8" from the pedal surface:

Now you can file the shaft making it shorter and less jaggy. Here is how it will look before filing:

Done!

Tips:
Don't clip off the rivet shaft before pushing it down into the pedal. My first try I clipped it off and when I put my foot on it, it popped down into the pedal leaving it flush. So the next attempt I pushed it in, before clipping it off:

Also, be sure not to drill holes in the center of the pedal or you might drill into the bearings.

We have not made time to try them but I am sure they will work, at least for a while. Will post back if more "spikes" are needed.

Being somewhat new to MTB I am sure someone has done this before so sorry if I accidentally stole your idea.