Bike questions
OK, not to keep harping endless on the new bike, but since it's been raining for most of the day, the only thing I can really do with it right now is attach the various accessories I got for it. Thus far, bell and lights have been successfully attached, though in the case of the rear light it was a little tricky as they tell you not to remove the original reflectors, and with the reflector on there there was not much room for the light, but I managed to squeeze it in.
However, I have been defeated by the hardware for the U-bar lock, or more specifically the bracket thingie with which one is supposed to attach it to the bike. Also the complete lack of instructions it came with. I was initially pleased to see a little folded up piece of paper wedged inside the bracket, but when I unfolded it, it was just the warranty, plus instructions on how to lock your bike -- uh, I think I knew that part, thanks.
Here is what it came with:
BTW, googling "attaching bracket for U-bar bike lock" turns up one set of detailed instructions for a completely different sort of bracket with no parts in common with this one, and a bunch of irrelevant stuff having to do with car racks, motorcycles and wheelchairs. Googling "attaching bracket for SuperCycle U-bar bike lock" in hopes of getting more specific results turns up... absolutely nothing.
I also have a rear carrier to attach, but given that it comes with even more hardware (specifically, two short bolts, one medium one, one long one, a whole bunch of nuts and washers, two flexible clear plastic bits, and three unidentifiable metal things of various random shapes and numbers of holes), and likewise no instructions, I'm thinking I may need to enlist an expert on that one. Anyone feel like an expert?
Oh, one more question: apparently one is supposed to register one's bike with the police in order to enhance the near-zero chances of recovering it if it's stolen to something a little less near zero. This entails finding a serial number on it somewhere. The web page for this helpfully says that it should be "somewhere on the frame". Anyone have any more specific info than that on where I might find this number?
Really wondering why bikes don't come with instruction manuals...
Also, note to Claribell: STOP HELPING!
Imagined rejoinder from Claribell: "Oh, don't be silly. It's not like you're managing well on your own, and I keep trying to show you that the correct place for all those little bits of hardware is all over the floor under various pieces furniture, or possibly in my mouth, but you're just not paying attention. No wonder you humans get so frustrated with this stuff. You're just not smart enough to throw it all on the floor and bat it around randomly like we cats are, are you?"
However, I have been defeated by the hardware for the U-bar lock, or more specifically the bracket thingie with which one is supposed to attach it to the bike. Also the complete lack of instructions it came with. I was initially pleased to see a little folded up piece of paper wedged inside the bracket, but when I unfolded it, it was just the warranty, plus instructions on how to lock your bike -- uh, I think I knew that part, thanks.
Here is what it came with:
- The main bracket thingie. I think I can tell which side is supposed to go on the bike and which on the lock, because one of them has little rubber things inside it to adjust for different frame sizes and the other does not.
- Two nut-and-bolt combos. I think these are supposed to go on what I think is probably the lock side of the bracket, as it has two holes in it. Of course, it may be that that is actually the bike side and I was supposed to put the little rubber things in there, even though they were initially in the other one.
- Two little washers. Since there are two, I am guessing they probably go somewhere in with the nuts and bolts, but I don't know exactly where. On the nut side? The bolt side? In the middle?
- A little square piece of metal with a round hole in it.
- A strange contraption I can't make head nor tail of, which has a sort of nut and bolt arrangement with a pin through the head of the bolt attaching it to a sort of rectangular thing that wraps around it and has a round bit on the end. I assume this goes with what is probably the bike side, i.e. the side that has not got two holes in it. That side has one hole, and then below the hole it sort of flares out a bit for no apparent reason that I can tell.
BTW, googling "attaching bracket for U-bar bike lock" turns up one set of detailed instructions for a completely different sort of bracket with no parts in common with this one, and a bunch of irrelevant stuff having to do with car racks, motorcycles and wheelchairs. Googling "attaching bracket for SuperCycle U-bar bike lock" in hopes of getting more specific results turns up... absolutely nothing.
I also have a rear carrier to attach, but given that it comes with even more hardware (specifically, two short bolts, one medium one, one long one, a whole bunch of nuts and washers, two flexible clear plastic bits, and three unidentifiable metal things of various random shapes and numbers of holes), and likewise no instructions, I'm thinking I may need to enlist an expert on that one. Anyone feel like an expert?
Oh, one more question: apparently one is supposed to register one's bike with the police in order to enhance the near-zero chances of recovering it if it's stolen to something a little less near zero. This entails finding a serial number on it somewhere. The web page for this helpfully says that it should be "somewhere on the frame". Anyone have any more specific info than that on where I might find this number?
Really wondering why bikes don't come with instruction manuals...
Also, note to Claribell: STOP HELPING!
Imagined rejoinder from Claribell: "Oh, don't be silly. It's not like you're managing well on your own, and I keep trying to show you that the correct place for all those little bits of hardware is all over the floor under various pieces furniture, or possibly in my mouth, but you're just not paying attention. No wonder you humans get so frustrated with this stuff. You're just not smart enough to throw it all on the floor and bat it around randomly like we cats are, are you?"