![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(Re)Building the Bike
Aug. 1st, 2020 01:14 pmFor over a week, I've been effin' around with the rear-mount kickstand that I bought, off-shore, for my Jamis A3 fitness bike.
As expected, this bike-shop bicycle didn't come with a kickstand and I hadn't actually bothered to put one on the last two that I owned. Just, you know, leaned them against the wall of the shop when I got to work in the morning and against the wall of the basement when I got home at night.
Later on, when I owned the Cannondale, I bought two of the floor stands that you slide one of the crank arms into to hold the bike up, one for at home and one for at work. Can't just lean a $1500 C'Dale against a wall, lol.
Anyway, my off-shore kickstand seemed OK at first. I'd read a couple of complaints online about it, but it didn't sound like anything I couldn't handle with duct tape and a drill press. The two complaints were that the adjustable leg wouldn't hold at the right length afterwhile, allowing the bike to fall down, and that the whole kickstand would turn on its mounting and yup, same thing, would allow the bike to fall down.
My own troubles with this started when I changed the mounting point on the chainstay from halfway between the crank and the rear axle to just ahead of the axle. Which is where it's actually supposed to be, so that there's no chance of hitting it with your heel as you're peddling the bike.
The problem was that, from the midpoint forward, the tubing of the chainstay is elliptical in cross section but becomes almost circular towards the rear. Meaning that, unless I tightened the mounting enough to deform or crush the tubing, it was now going to gradually slip and allow the bike to lean farther and farther until... well, until I found it lying on its side on my dining room floor.
At the same time, the length adjustment on the leg started slipping which would've had the same result. That, I was able to fix by simply drilling through both the sliding and fixed part of the leg, throwing in a bolt, and vowing to believe the next disgruntled consumer who took the time to warn me of a problem.
Actually, my fix with the bolt worked but although I tried several different strategies to solve the mounting problem, none of them did.
So the answer to my problem was to go back to my local bike shop this morning, as I should've done in the first place, and picked up a genuine... wait for it... Made in 'Merica kickstand which fit perfectly, installed easily, and seems, since I've been using it, much more functional and durable.
As for the rest, replaced crappy neoprene pedals with MKS Touring, the seat with Bontrager Commuter Comp, and added Satori suspension seat post and Bontrager rear rack with bag. Still to go, my 12v/6w against-the-wheel generator with 3-LED headlight which should be arriving this week.
Anyway, it's not the best bike I've ever owned but with maintenance and a few upgrades--like Shimano Rapid Fire shifters, etc--when things wear out, it should be fine. Although, I have to admit, my Plan B is to one day own a trike if I live and ride long enough for balance to become an issue.
Hope to see you on the road. Just wave so I'll know it's you, lol...
LPK
Dreamwidth
8.1.2020
As expected, this bike-shop bicycle didn't come with a kickstand and I hadn't actually bothered to put one on the last two that I owned. Just, you know, leaned them against the wall of the shop when I got to work in the morning and against the wall of the basement when I got home at night.
Later on, when I owned the Cannondale, I bought two of the floor stands that you slide one of the crank arms into to hold the bike up, one for at home and one for at work. Can't just lean a $1500 C'Dale against a wall, lol.
Anyway, my off-shore kickstand seemed OK at first. I'd read a couple of complaints online about it, but it didn't sound like anything I couldn't handle with duct tape and a drill press. The two complaints were that the adjustable leg wouldn't hold at the right length afterwhile, allowing the bike to fall down, and that the whole kickstand would turn on its mounting and yup, same thing, would allow the bike to fall down.
My own troubles with this started when I changed the mounting point on the chainstay from halfway between the crank and the rear axle to just ahead of the axle. Which is where it's actually supposed to be, so that there's no chance of hitting it with your heel as you're peddling the bike.
The problem was that, from the midpoint forward, the tubing of the chainstay is elliptical in cross section but becomes almost circular towards the rear. Meaning that, unless I tightened the mounting enough to deform or crush the tubing, it was now going to gradually slip and allow the bike to lean farther and farther until... well, until I found it lying on its side on my dining room floor.
At the same time, the length adjustment on the leg started slipping which would've had the same result. That, I was able to fix by simply drilling through both the sliding and fixed part of the leg, throwing in a bolt, and vowing to believe the next disgruntled consumer who took the time to warn me of a problem.
Actually, my fix with the bolt worked but although I tried several different strategies to solve the mounting problem, none of them did.
So the answer to my problem was to go back to my local bike shop this morning, as I should've done in the first place, and picked up a genuine... wait for it... Made in 'Merica kickstand which fit perfectly, installed easily, and seems, since I've been using it, much more functional and durable.
As for the rest, replaced crappy neoprene pedals with MKS Touring, the seat with Bontrager Commuter Comp, and added Satori suspension seat post and Bontrager rear rack with bag. Still to go, my 12v/6w against-the-wheel generator with 3-LED headlight which should be arriving this week.
Anyway, it's not the best bike I've ever owned but with maintenance and a few upgrades--like Shimano Rapid Fire shifters, etc--when things wear out, it should be fine. Although, I have to admit, my Plan B is to one day own a trike if I live and ride long enough for balance to become an issue.
Hope to see you on the road. Just wave so I'll know it's you, lol...
LPK
Dreamwidth
8.1.2020
