Stupid Cogs and Sprockets

Behold one of the world’s most difficult puzzles to solve:

I love tinkering with my bikes, but the perfectly tuned derailleur is the state of nirvana I have not been able to reach. Last it saw the bike shop, it shifted nicely. Unfortunately, I let it sit in the basement for the winter, and some of the spring it sat on the balcony.

After getting around to replacing the chain, degreasing everything, and brake adjustments, everything seemed okay. The only problem is the bottom sprocket on the cassette: the chain will occasionally jump, especially when I’m on a sprint and putting pressure on the cranks. One of these days I will lose my balance and wind up on the side of the road with my bike on top of me.

I don’t want to touch the high gear/low gear limit stops: Every time I do that, I make the problem 100x worse. After talking to an REI technician, he convinced me I should try the adjusting barrel. Turning the adjusting barrel counterclockwise tightens the shift cable. Shifting it too much will tighten the cable so that the chain can’t reach the bottom sprocket at all. Shifting clockwise gives the cable more slack; shifting it too much and the chain will jump. Which was my problem. So I shifted counterclockwise. A half-turn. A full turn plus one-half. Two full turns the plus one half. Up to four 360 degree turns. I returned it to the original position, and tried clockwise (even though my observation of the chain indicates there is too much slack). No dice.

So here’s where I need the help of any readers. Of which I don’t have many of. Taking this into the bike shop is the last option, so please don’t suggest that until we’ve tried everything else.

• CHAIN – could it be this? When I replaced the chain, I threw the old one away weeks previous. So I had to eyeball the new chain tension. One potential problem with the derailleur could be that it’s too loose? Is this the case?
• CABLE – Should I loosen the anchor bolt and tighten the cable? Should I replace the cable? And if I replace the cable, should I replace the housing as well?
• SOMETHING ELSE – Am I missing anything? I could easily replace my cassette, but really don’t want to have to replace the derailleur

Help me out here….

Charles River Bicycle Ride

Lately, I’ve been hooked on wide-angle panorama photos.

The Longfellow Bridge

Back Bay, Copley

Beacon Hill

Not every photograph needs to be a wide-angle panorama though. Unfortunately, the camera battery died halfway into the ride.

Just Plain Scary

This makes me sick.

But then again, it’s Mexico, where drunk driving commonplace. I doubt anything like this would happen to myself or someone I know, but it reminds me of the constant need for vigilance while cycling alongside cars. I really get peeved by the attitudes that car-based people take toward cyclists: “You don’t belong on the road, you slow us down, I can cut you off followed by an immediate right turn if I want to.”

Provincetown In A Day

Que Sheet

Cycle out, enjoy a good meal, and take the ferry back to Rowes wharf.

The ferry schedule for the return.

By word of mouth, I learned that Boston to Ptown is “somewhat” hilly. There are some hills in the South Shore area, but nothing excruciating. Unfortunately, the Truro hills are right at the end of the ride, and are challenging but still nothing like climbing hills on the Kacamagus Highway or in the Monadnock. One of my commenters (actually, my only commenter thus far) says there’s nothing on the cape that qualifies as a real hill.

Update: I never went on the 7th. I couldn’t rouse interest from others. By the time I woke Saturday, it was already 8am and I wouldn’t be able to get on the road until 10:00. Plus it was supposed to be 90+. So perhaps the 14th or the 21st.

The route:

Now according to Google Earth, it’s approximately 119 miles from my home in Somerville to Commercial Wharf in P-town. That’s 111,873 Smoots for those of you who were curious. It may be a little longer since I wasn’t 100% accurate following the road with the Google Earth Ruler. An unverified source told me that their GPS said 137 miles, but I doubt that since my meaurement coroborates with the Charles River Wheelmen que sheet.

Single Speed Bicycle Video

Link

Commuter Bicycle, Bicycle

I FINALLY finished my commuter bike. It sat chained to a fence for a full autumn, winter, and part of spring. It had been weathered by years of use and passers-by harvesting it’s removable parts.

It’s a single speed, and can handle most hills with the exception of Spring Hill, especially on Porter and Lowell Street; I’m forced to climb those every day. I could use Cedar Street to avoid the hill, but that requires going the wrong way down a one-way street. As tempting as it is, I don’t do bad bicycle etiquete.

Below shows the chain; I’m wondering about its tension. By looking at the position of the stabilizer arm, can anyone tell if it’s too tight? The chain needs replacing regardless, but I want to install the new chain at the right tension the first time.

On the rear, I installed a 20-tooth Surley cog; it’s diameter is approximately 3.25 inches. It has a tall tooth profile to prevent chain skip; I haven’t had a single chain skip since I installed it. I HATE chain skips.

The front isn’t worth photographing – it’s just a jerry-rigged chain ring. I couldn’t use the single-speed crankset I bought since I ruined the threads beyond repair. Until I get a better chainring, I broke down a three-ring cog that came with the bike. Can anyone recommend what size/brand chainring that would compliment the rear cog?

Lost

East Somerville Bicycle Ride

A tunnel somewhere in East Somerville.

Urban industrial landscaping.

Memorial Day 2008