bike problems
ugh. crazy bike madness last night. I was just leaving a meeting of the fundraising committee for Vancouver Rape Relief, riding alongside my friend Grant, when suddenly there were horrible clanking noises from the back of my bike, and my pedals stopped moving. I ride a fixed-gear bike…there’s no coasting, and the pedals should never stop moving while the bike is in motion…but here i was with no pedal movement.
after quickly stopping to take a look, i realized with alarm that the sprocket on the back wheel had come completely off of the hub. I thought this was near-impossible, because it was held on by a reverse-threaded lock-ring. The direction for loosening the sprocket is the direction for tightening the lock-ring, so it shouldn’t be able to work itself free.
Attempt #2: i flipped my wheel around and used the spare sprocket that was attached to the other side…this one is slightly smaller than the first, making it a harder gear, but i just wanted to start riding again. so i put the chain on, and pulled the wheel to make the chain tight, and started riding. *CLUNK*…within about 10 feet, the chain comes off. This also shouldn’t have happened, since i had it pretty tight, but maybe the chain alignment is off or something. Attempt #3: I put the chain back on and tried again, but got the same result after about 50 feet, and this time the chain was quite jammed between the sprocket and the wheel. So, since Grant and i were heading to meet friends at a restaurant a few blocks away and we were getting pretty late, i ended up just picking my bike up and jogging the rest of the way there.
later that night, i got a ride home from a friend who had his truck there (since none of the buses on cambie street have bike racks), and just went to sleep when i got home. it was too dark outside to inspect the hub and see if it was stripped, and i didn’t feel like doing bike repairs at 12:30am when i had to work the next day. blah…i’ll have to check it out tonight and see if it’s totally hooped or not.
Ride hard, ride free