Fried Green Tomatoes at the Mello Velo Bicycle Shop and Cafe

[thisnewday]

Finally took the bike into the Mello Velo bike shop today. I say "finally" because there's been a noise/vibration that's grown in volume and duration over the past several weeks to the point where I could no longer ignore it.

I'd had something similar, the winter before this one, and couldn't remember what we'd finally decided was the source of it. What I DID remember was finding out that I had bad wheel bearings in the rear and being told that THAT could be due to locking the rear axle into the training stand too tightly.

So I was preparing myself for the worst, even though I was very sure that THIS winter I'd been super careful when I locked the bike into the trainer.

The shop was hella busy when I got there around noon--dude told me they had 40-50 bikes waiting for service--but he wheeled it into the shop area and put it up on a repair stand.

Before that, he'd spun the wheel and turned the crank a couple of times and said he didn't hear any bearing noise or feel any looseness in the crank. I hadn't either, but I've learned not to take any comfort until I have a definative answer.

He turned the crank a few times while it was in the stand and then motioned me back behind the counter. Had me put my hand on the bare part of the handle bar, while he continued to turn the crank, and asked if that was what I'd been feeling.

I said it was. (Back when this problem first started, it was just a little vibration in the pedals--now you can feel it in the handle bars. Which just proves the old mechanic's adage that shit never fixes itself, it just gets worse.)

Then he pulls out a weird-looking gauge, that I'd never seen before, and does something with the chain. Finally he says, look at this.

When a chain is new, there's this much distance between the link pins. When it's pretty well broken in, there's this much. When it's worn out, there's this much. Yours is beyond that.

So, not bragging, but in less that a year's time I had worn out the brand new chain that had been installed the previous spring. Along with the $40 rear tire that I'd gotten at about the same time.

But, with 40-50 customers in line ahead of me, I made an appointment--or, rather, got my name in the queue for an appointment--and took the bike home.

I did buy the tire because it's a French import, that they don't have many of in stock, and he was afraid that if they just put it aside it might not be there by the time I came in for my appointment. (Plus, I suspect, he needed something in the cash register to show for the time he'd taken from the work at hand to talk with me.)

So tire, chain, and possibly rear cassette--which was new when the chain was--as well as a possible front chain ring. That, plus my twice-yearly tuneup. Guess I may hold off on the Rock Shox suspension fork I was thinking about getting this year.

But at least I can tell my grandson that he doesn't need to worry when I borrow his bike, to ride while mine is in the shop.

Because locking it into the trainer won't cause any problems. And outdoor riding will have long-since started by the the time I finally need to borrow his...

LPK
Dreamwidth
3.21.2022

Comments

[gracegiver]

You sound like a bike-rider who is certainly driven. No pun intended. What sort of miles do you ride in a day? And is it your single source of transportation?

[thisnewday]

Back when I was working, I was a bicycle commuter and that was 20 miles round trip per day, 5 days per week. And I would ride from when the last of the calcium chloride (road salt) was washed off the roads in the spring until the first snowfall or freezing rain in the late fall/early winter.

Now, during the winter, I ride 30 minutes per day with the bike locked onto a magnetic resistance trainer, not sure how many miles, and 2 15-minute rides per day outdoors in the summer which is a little over 6 miles per day total.

(My bike computer has its wireless sensor on the front wheel which doesn't move when the bike is in the trainer, therefore no accounting for miles "ridden," elapsed time, average speed, etc. when riding indoors. I am thinking about getting one that has its sensor mounted at the back wheel with a hard-wire connection to the computer which is up front on the handle bar.)

I have a Subaru SUV which is my year-round transportation. Whereas I used to be an all-weather--except for winter--commuter, I don't venture out now when the pavement is wet because the body just doesn't heal as quickly at my age, lol...

[halfmoon_mollie1]

good you have a grandson from whom to borrow.

[thisnewday]

Yes, all those years of selfless devotion finally paying off, lol...

[mallorys_camera]

I admire you for your bike rides.

Once upon a time, I was a demon bike rider.

These days, though, I am haunted by thoughts of what might happen if I had even a small accident riding a bike. I live on a twisty country road that mad drivers use as a shortcut between two routes with numbers. Not much visibility. So, even with a neon safety vest, I worry about getting hit. And I'm wayyyy too lazy to load the bike into the car and drive to a safer riding place.

[thisnewday]

"I am haunted by thoughts of what might happen if..."

Yes, THIS, exactly. The slight tumble I took, in a moment of carelessness last year, and the damage it did started me thinking about the possible consequences of a fall at, say, 26 MPH on a downhill run or, God forbid, a collision with a car.

I do have a lot of options in choosing my routes here, but it's not like I live in a retirement community with dedicated bike lanes/paths. And, even if there were, there are still dangers inherent in the activity.

Of course, I NEVER rode with the ferocity that I suspect you did, lol, so I totally respect your assessment of where you are now.

Hope you have a good day...

[bluecatartist]

I am impressed w. the bike riding you do, and more than a bit envious at your abilities.

You have a while before you can ride outside again, correct? We are having Spring here outside Huntsville, and it is lovely when there are not tornadoes. Which, lately, has been a lot. The brisk wind has kept me from walking most days but I tottered about the cul-de-sac about 10 min yesterday and called it a win.

[thisnewday]

Today is actually the 7th day that I've ridden outside. I think I missed one day in between when I was unable to get a ride in between intermittent rain showers.

The outdoor temps have been up and down, ranging from 34 to 70, during that time and occasionally windy. I don't really mind the colder temps because I used to be an all-weather rider and still have the gear, still know how to layer my clothing for that.

I did have some misgivings about safety issues, especially after the two falls I took late in the season last year. While only one of them was bike-related--and it was low-speed, low-impact, and the result of my own inattentiveness--it showed how consequential even a minor accident can be at my age.

But, you know, age and experience don't necessarily impart wisdom, lol, and the physical and emotional highs I've experienced from even these early rides have made me once again willing to risk whatever is around the next corner to have that in my daily life.

Hoping that you and your family are able to stay safe and to enjoy nature's reawakening again this year...