Early Spring Ride

We have watching and waiting for a while now. The weather app on my phone goes into overdrive about this time of year looking for warm and dry on a weekend. This Saturday was a little of both, meaning time to load up the bikes for the first Spring ride.

This time we picked an old familiar favorite: The Third Creek Greenway, a great one to take for kids and new-to-biking friends. And we had both. The chilly, damp morning was full of landmarks like the tunnel, a couple bridges, and even early spring flowers made the trip a good one for groups that stop and rest often, which we did.

As usual, the boys left us.

Our Beatle's Abbey Road album cover photo

Trilliums about to bloom

I have always heard this being called dogtooth violet, but Google says it is a Trout Lily

Mid-ride lunch at Subway

Two hours and six miles later, we finished where we started. Before heading home we noticed a new bike shop in the shopping complex. Bearden Bike & Trail opened that very morning and we had to see. A very nice store and staff with a real finger on the needs of the people using the greenway. They have racks out front, offer water for riders, and will even have remote repair services soon. If your bike breaks out on the greenway, they will come fix it for you! Cool! Though we were in a bit of hurry that morning, we will spend much more time checking out all the shiny bikes at the end of our next greenway trip.

Who Knew Bikes Were for Pavement Too? (Trek 1000SL)

Last year around Thanksgiving my son announced he "needed" a racing bike. After years of mountain biking, I knew better. Hours of nothing but cranking the pedals has never appealed to me, and I believe he is the same. He loves the thrill of jumping, skidding, and playing. Rather than tell him he is wrong, I suggest that he try a road bike before we commit the money involved. If one came up for sale at the right price (cheap of course), I might get it knowing I could resell it as soon as he realizes it was not for him.

Recently a small adult racing bike showed up on Craigslist at a surprisingly low price. The ad's photo showed a small framed UT orange Trek 1000SL that "desperately needed a tune up and has flat tires." Being Craigslist fanatic, I knew there is two main reasons for a price like this: an owner that has no idea what to sell the bike for and guessed at a price, or a bike so trashed that the owner is looking for an alternative to throwing it away. Guessing the latter, I woundn't be out much if I was lucky enough to be the one to get it.

I contacted the owner explaining that I thought the bike might actually fit my son and that we would like to take a look at it. 

Hours passed with no answer. Oh well, it must have sold. It wouldn't be the first time I missed a cheap Craigslist bike.

Later that day thought I would email the person again. (My hope was that the first person in line saw the bike and changed his mind.) Soon after I received an email back. The owner explained that she was surprised the I actually wanted the bike to ride, not just resale it for a profit... and she wanted us to have it.

The next day we met at a local McDonald's for the exchange. Julie explained to me that she had used the bike for exercise a few years back. But she was now simplifying her life and was getting rid of everything that did not have great importance in her life, the bike included. She said she knew that the bike was worth more than she was selling it for but she wanted it go to someone that would receive enjoyment and exercise from it.

After getting it home we realized I was wrong about the bike, neither ignorant owner or trashed. About 21 pounds, the bike had almost no deep scratches, something that we never find on the used mountain bikes we buy. It has a carbon fork and seat post. Sure it needed a tune up but all it really needed was air for the tires and a good cleaning.

Before his first test ride I made him ride his mountain bike first for reference. I wanted him to understand that the two bikes have VERY different jobs. No hopping curbs on this thing. If he wants to do that, grab the other bike. But if he wants to ride fast this bike should be the choice. And this thing is scary fast. After he got the hang of the "brifters" I had real trouble keeping up with him on our short ride. I regularly had to use the highest gears of my bike, him smiling and making race car sounds as he easily left me behind.

Only time will tell if he will stick to this kind of riding. But if he continues having as much fun as he did on his first ride, he will be passing many more riders than just his dad soon.

Project Underdog - Junk Bike Refurb

Whether good or bad, I have always been the kind of person that roots for underdog. When watching any sporting event and a team starts doing badly, something in the back of my brain takes over and pushes me to cheer them on, sometimes even when they are competing against "my" team. Don't know why, it just happens.

I find that I do the same for bicycles. When I see an unloved bike I just can't stand to leave it by the road sending it to its grave. This bike, that I picked up on Craigslist is a prime example. A 20" Magna. Yes, I know...

Yes, crummy brand. There is a lot of (surface) rust, yes the cables all need replacing, yes the fork is seized up. But it is solid, the wheels are straight, and I figure by throwing on a few old cables, a 1/2 hour with steel wool, some black spray paint on the handlebars/cranks, and I will have a bike that we can use to teach the neighborhood kids how to use gears. And I won't be too upset if it is treated the way kids typically treat bikes...badly.

Stay tuned to see the "after" photos to this "before."

Chain "Stretch" - Part 2 (freewheel removal)

I recently did a post about measuring chain "stretch" and found my son's drivetrain was indeed worn. This Saturday I was finally was near a local bike shop during open hours to pick up the needed tools.

Because the part needing replacement is the freewheel I needed to get a special tool. When choosing the tool you will need to know the brand freewheel and the number of splines inside (grab a flashlight, look down into the slot, and count). In our case, the freewheel was made by Shimano and has 12 splines. So we picked up a FR-1 from Park Tools. If you are not sure which tool you need, go to this page on Sheldon's site or take your wheel to the bike shop and they will tell which you need.

The FR-1 fits into the freewheel and using a big 1" wrench turn it counterclockwise. In theory. Because it is self tightening, it is very difficult to turn. The longer the wrench, the better the chances of getting it loose. Ours was not budging.

Just I was headed out to the garage to look for a "cheater bar" (another tool added to the end of the original wrench to lengthen it), I remembered another trick I had recently heard. If you mount the FR-1 into a vise, you can use the wheel itself to loosen it.

First step is drop in the tool. Then put the nut or quick-release back on the wheel. This holds the tool on for you (a good idea when using a wrench also).

 Next mount the tool in the vise TIGHTLY. Grab the wheel and twist counterclockwise. With enough struggle, it will come loose.

Once it was loosened, it easily came off with a lot of turning.

The install of the new freewheel is much easier. Simply spin it on finger tight. The pedaling motion will tighten it to the "correct" torque.

The old freewheel is clearly worn. Most areas between the teeth are no longer perfect half circles as a new one would. This is great time to replace the chain and front chainring also as they will also be worn too.

We will be paying more attention to keeping it lubricated and checking the chain in the future.

Take a Kid Mountain Biking - Spring Edition!

It finally happened! A spring Take a Kid Mountain Biking event! It has been the talk of the parents after every one. "We really need to go this again soon" but until recently it has only been talk.

I have always been saddened by the lack of biking activities for kids. And every (adult) event I politely (hopefully) express my concerns to the coordinator. But this year I decided rather than being a complainer, I would be a fixer. So I emailed the Bike Month coordinator asking if she knew of another dad that I might contact to partner up with to do a bike rodeo. She didn't. Not feeling confident that I could handle bunch of kids by myself I suggested we wait until next year while I found willing parents to help out.

But while talking, I remembered my talks with The Bike Zoo at the previous Take a Kid's. After a few quick emails, Steve agreed to host it.

So, it you have not been able to attend in the fall or haven't heard about it, this year's Spring TAKMB will be May 18, 2013 at 9:00. Meads Quarry (near Ijams in South Knoxville) is again the location because it is so user/kid-friendly. It will be tons of wild, dirty fun! And again, thank you The Bike Zoo for stepping up.

How to Measure a Bike Chain for "Stretch"

I always go over my son's bike after a long offroad rides, cleaning, looking for anything broken, etc. This time I realized I had never checked his chain for wear. So, out came my trusty ruler. I know the bike was not well taken care of before we purchased it so I was not too surprised with what we found: it was clearly "stretched." It is time for a new chain and more than likely a freewheel.

How did I know it was no longer good? Let's measure the "stretch." Using an inch ruler, put the "0" in the center of one of the chain pins and go down to the 12" mark. When the chain was new, the 12" would be exactly in the center of a chain pin.

In our case the chain pin center was more than 1/16" past the 12" line.

Stretched chain? Well, not really. What is happening is the tolerances between the parts are getting looser. More space, the longer or "stretched" the chain becomes.  With any wear item determining how much wear is too much is the difficult part. According to every biker's favorite info website (Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Tech Information Site):

• Less than 1/16" past the mark, all is well.
• If the rivet is 1/16" past the mark, replace the chain, but the freewheel/cassette sprockets are probably undamaged.
• If the rivet is 1/8" past the mark, you have left it too long, and the sprockets (at least the favorite ones) will be too badly worn. If you replace a chain at the 1/8" point, without replacing the sprockets, it may run OK and not skip, but the worn sprockets will cause the new chain to wear much faster than it should, until it catches up with the wear state of the sprockets.

Clearly we have waited too long. We plan to get a new chain. And though we might get away without changing anything else, we plan to use a "parts bin" freewheel I have.

Watch for an update soon, after I gather parts and tools, showing how to change the chain and freewheel.

Warm Winter Weekend Ride

This winter has had its share of temperature extremes. The typical winter weather for here in East Tennessee is either bitter cold or rainy. But this weekend we had record high temps with breaks between the rain clouds... on a Saturday! Of course, we were not going to waste it on the couch!

Again, we boys headed out on another Greenway that we had not tried. This time we chose the Third Creek Greenway. The thought was to start in Bearden and go until the young ones started looking tired. The hope was to at least make it to Knoxville Skateboard Park before heading back.

The "trailhead" started in the parking lot of Earth Fare in Bearden. Technically, the trail runs beside the parking lot so there is no real entrance, but we figured it out. We headed out with the many runners, walkers, and bikers taking advantage of the awesome weather.

Eventually we arrived at our target goal: the skatepark. Most people are surprised that such a nice facility is tucked under the interstate. Surprisingly, the kids were up for more riding. The goal changed to simply getting to the river. Still, they wanted more. The carp under Calhoun's was our next landmark. Yes, we made it but the kids were starting to grumble a little. They had just done 7.1 miles one way!

Nearing the basketball stadium at UT

One of the many tunnels along the way

Gay Street bridge being repaired

The great thing about this Greenway is that the scenery is so varied that one never knows how far one has ridden, especially for a first-timer. And if you stop often for short rests, the kids will get a second (and third and fourth) wind. Bridges criss-cross many creeks, there is a playground at Safety City, another playground at Tyson Park, a couple tunnels, the gardens at UT's Ag Campus, the mighty Tennessee river, going by both stadiums at UT, and of course the fish under the Calhoun's restaurant. There were hills but they did a good job of designing them to be bike-friendly.

This a great trip for kids. We did the 14.2 miles in 2.5 hours and that includes the many stops along the way. This have become a new family favorite!