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torquillI rode my recumbent bicycle (Lunokhod) to work the other week, and while it worked okay, I could feel some sort of grinding in the back axle again. Not the first time; I've taken that axle apart to clean and lube it several times now, to good effect, and it's quite possible it had gotten enough mileage on gritty muddy roads to need it again. So I sighed and set some time aside to do a hub job.
When I sat down to take it apart, however, I unthreaded the quick-release skewer, tried to pull it through... and the right end of the axle came with it, leaving the left end in place. Whee, broken axle. I cringed, remembering that when I had tried to get new cones for that bike a couple of years ago, Aaron at Apex Cycles had told me that those hubs are no longer made. Now, I still might be able to get an axle for it, but it was just as possible that the cones wouldn't fit, and I'd be looking at a new wheel. That could run me over $100 if I was unlucky.
I took the whole wheel to Encina, my local shop, thinking about how much trouble it's been to keep Lunokhod running: three tires and several tubes, a broken back brake cable, jerry-rigging an anchor for the luggage rack, brake pads that keep glazing, having to rebuild the shifters, a front cone that's ragged and hard to replace, that back hub getting grit in it, now a broken axle... all in the two and a half years I've owned it. It's definitely high-maintenance -- thankfully not in an expensive way, but it costs me time and hassle to get parts. I keep it because I love the bike, but I'd love it more if it would just run for a while, you know?
It turned out that Encina had an axle that would fit -- the guy there even took the hub apart enough to test the cones on the new axle, and they threaded on just fine. It was (wait for it) $10. I joked that maybe I should buy a couple... the curse of quick-release wheels, though they allow me to fit the bike in my car, is that the hollow axles do break from time to time. Another relief was that he mentioned a new wheel would run me $50 with a solid axle, and "a little more" for quick-release. If I ever do have to replace this one, then, it shouldn't break the bank.
I took it all home, put the new axle in, and it was too long to fit on the bike. *sigh*
I got it ground down to the length of the old one, though it turned into a comedy of errors involving loose bearings, gobs of grease, dropped tools, more loose bearings, running out of light, and burning my finger on the axle as it came off the grinder. I put it all together around dinnertime, and figured it would get test-driven some other time.
I took that test drive this afternoon, running it down the street and back. It feels a little noisy to me, but the axle is greased and properly tightened: no wobble and it still spins freely. I suspect it's just that my head is so close to it while riding that I can hear the usual bearing noise, a sort of low hiss. I brought it back to tighten the rattling cupholder (been meaning to do that for years) and took it out one more time. Just after acknowledging a neighbor's compliment about the bike, I turned into my driveway -- and skidded out on the loose gravel at about 12mph.
That's the first time I've gone down on that bike. On Opportunity, a skid like that would have thrown me onto my hands and knees -- twice I've wiped out my right knee such that it needed ice packs, and one other time it dislocated badly enough to send me to the ER. Plus assorted road rash, stunned wrists, tweaked handlebars, etc. etc. After a moment, I found myself half-sitting, half-squatting, my hands still on the handlebars, with all my weight on my right foot; the bike was laid sideways under me. I picked us up, walked Lunokhod a few steps to make sure we were both okay, and rode it the rest of the way down the driveway. Net result: the chain had displaced on the back gearset (it shifted several times in the first few feet) and my right knee was a little unhappy because I hadn't put force on it squarely. It's been inflamed for weeks, though -- it's worse than that when I first get up in the morning. I reset it and it feels fine now.
I bought this bike largely because I had trouble flexing my knee after the last injury, and it was much easier to ride while recovering. I kept it for several reasons, among them the comfort while riding and the easy speed. I also like the perceived safety of sitting so close to the ground, after tumbling off of uprights for years. There have been discussions of whether it actually is safer or not, but I'm sold now -- I know exactly what injuries I'd be nursing if I had been sitting a yard higher, and to come out if it unscathed is astonishing.
Next time I have to fix Lunokhod I'll think about today, rather than grumbling about high-maintenance bikes. :)
When I sat down to take it apart, however, I unthreaded the quick-release skewer, tried to pull it through... and the right end of the axle came with it, leaving the left end in place. Whee, broken axle. I cringed, remembering that when I had tried to get new cones for that bike a couple of years ago, Aaron at Apex Cycles had told me that those hubs are no longer made. Now, I still might be able to get an axle for it, but it was just as possible that the cones wouldn't fit, and I'd be looking at a new wheel. That could run me over $100 if I was unlucky.
I took the whole wheel to Encina, my local shop, thinking about how much trouble it's been to keep Lunokhod running: three tires and several tubes, a broken back brake cable, jerry-rigging an anchor for the luggage rack, brake pads that keep glazing, having to rebuild the shifters, a front cone that's ragged and hard to replace, that back hub getting grit in it, now a broken axle... all in the two and a half years I've owned it. It's definitely high-maintenance -- thankfully not in an expensive way, but it costs me time and hassle to get parts. I keep it because I love the bike, but I'd love it more if it would just run for a while, you know?
It turned out that Encina had an axle that would fit -- the guy there even took the hub apart enough to test the cones on the new axle, and they threaded on just fine. It was (wait for it) $10. I joked that maybe I should buy a couple... the curse of quick-release wheels, though they allow me to fit the bike in my car, is that the hollow axles do break from time to time. Another relief was that he mentioned a new wheel would run me $50 with a solid axle, and "a little more" for quick-release. If I ever do have to replace this one, then, it shouldn't break the bank.
I took it all home, put the new axle in, and it was too long to fit on the bike. *sigh*
I got it ground down to the length of the old one, though it turned into a comedy of errors involving loose bearings, gobs of grease, dropped tools, more loose bearings, running out of light, and burning my finger on the axle as it came off the grinder. I put it all together around dinnertime, and figured it would get test-driven some other time.
I took that test drive this afternoon, running it down the street and back. It feels a little noisy to me, but the axle is greased and properly tightened: no wobble and it still spins freely. I suspect it's just that my head is so close to it while riding that I can hear the usual bearing noise, a sort of low hiss. I brought it back to tighten the rattling cupholder (been meaning to do that for years) and took it out one more time. Just after acknowledging a neighbor's compliment about the bike, I turned into my driveway -- and skidded out on the loose gravel at about 12mph.
That's the first time I've gone down on that bike. On Opportunity, a skid like that would have thrown me onto my hands and knees -- twice I've wiped out my right knee such that it needed ice packs, and one other time it dislocated badly enough to send me to the ER. Plus assorted road rash, stunned wrists, tweaked handlebars, etc. etc. After a moment, I found myself half-sitting, half-squatting, my hands still on the handlebars, with all my weight on my right foot; the bike was laid sideways under me. I picked us up, walked Lunokhod a few steps to make sure we were both okay, and rode it the rest of the way down the driveway. Net result: the chain had displaced on the back gearset (it shifted several times in the first few feet) and my right knee was a little unhappy because I hadn't put force on it squarely. It's been inflamed for weeks, though -- it's worse than that when I first get up in the morning. I reset it and it feels fine now.
I bought this bike largely because I had trouble flexing my knee after the last injury, and it was much easier to ride while recovering. I kept it for several reasons, among them the comfort while riding and the easy speed. I also like the perceived safety of sitting so close to the ground, after tumbling off of uprights for years. There have been discussions of whether it actually is safer or not, but I'm sold now -- I know exactly what injuries I'd be nursing if I had been sitting a yard higher, and to come out if it unscathed is astonishing.
Next time I have to fix Lunokhod I'll think about today, rather than grumbling about high-maintenance bikes. :)
