bike stuff
Fri Sep 21 14:45:54 EDT 2018
The bike has had a busy week. The jockey wheels on the rear derailleur have needed replacing for some time.
August 17 I stopped at Big Wheel Bikes hoping to just pick up the parts, but this turns out to be something with a lot of variety, and they didn't have anything that fit. They ordered a pair, but I never heard back from them about the parts coming in.
When I took the old (Black & Decker) mower to Largo, MD Sept 6 for the no-longer-available warranty repair, I stopped at Big Wheel on the way back; the parts had apparently just come in the day before. The guy at the desk (not the guy who'd worked on the bike and ordered the parts) looked at a couple of packages, and handed me one. It was a wet weekend, and I didn't get around to trying to install them until Sept 13; they were not the right parts.
We've been having lots of rain the past month, so I've been staying off the unpaved C&O Canal towpath. I'm coming home across the Roosevelt Memorial Bridge on a sidewalk which connects to a trail with a steep downhill to a boardwalk (where I rescued a lost, clueless driver 3 weeks ago). We had more rain Monday afternoon, and there must have been some wind, because there was a low-hanging branch over the boardwalk. Unaware of the earlier weather, I was coming through there too fast. A wet boardwalk is like ice. Steering and stopping are not options. Falling greatly increases your contact surface, and is far more effective that brakes. I wasn't hurt (again, that recumbent advantage of being closer to the ground), but the barrel adjuster for the front brake was broken.
I also broke one of these on the first Grasshopper on its 2nd fall, on black ice. (First Grasshopper's first fall was on another boardwalk (over a C&O spillway), but no damage.) That one didn't keep the brake from working, but I got some extras when I replaced it, since it seemed a likely thing to break. But I can't find them. So on the way to work Tuesday I stopped at Big Wheel again - to return the useless jockey wheels and buy a barrel adjuster (which I would install later).
There were only 2 people in that day, the (I assume) owner, and a mechanic who speaks no English. The owner didn't place the parts order, and I didn't know the name of the guy who did, and he said he couldn't look it up. I don't know whether this was because he didn't know how to use the system (?!) or because of the holiday (Yom Kippur). He asked me to come back Thursday, when the guy who placed the order would be working.
Then I tried to convey to the mechanic that I wanted to buy a barrel adjuster. His first response was that he couldn't work on recumbents. I get really annoyed at that attitude. Yes, the frame and the seat, and perhaps the handlebars and steering, are completely different. But all the rest is industry-standard - shifters, brakes, wheels, tires. Maintenance and repairs on a recumbent (or a tandem or a trike) is mostly not any different. When I got him to look at the brake lever and see that it was just like the brake levers on 2/3 of the bikes they sell (and repair), he could see how it was broken, and yes, that is a part in his bin. All I wanted to do was buy the little part, but then he was taking things apart and doing the repair, replacing the cable as well. When he was done, I asked the owner what I owed, and he said no charge. Some recompense for my inconvenience of making multiple visits for parts I can't use? (Not wanting to work the register on the holiday?) It was good to have both brakes again.
I went back Thursday, and I didn't see the mechanic who ordered the parts, but the guy who gave me the wrong parts was there. And he said there were 2 different things ordered, hoping that one of them would be the right ones. Too bad he hadn't let me see them both on my first trip. When I picked up the "wrong" parts I could see that they were different from what was on the bike, but I didn't know that they didn't work until I installed them. And they were obviously much cheaper parts than the originals. The correct parts have (very nice) bearings in them. I'm wondering how the others were supposed to work - they might hold up on cheaper bikes that don't get much use, and might never even need replacing on bikes that aren't ridden far. (I'm riding more than 4,000mi (6,500km)/year.)
So I left the shop Tuesday feeling like I'd gotten something for free, and thinking they really did want my business after all. And Thursday I left feeling like I'd been cheated with someone trying to slip me parts that weren't worth what I'd been charged, and the free brake-fix Tuesday sort of making it even.
Sunday 01:10
That bike flasher I really love is having problems. Twice the week before last it was dead when I left work. I thought maybe one of my co-workers was interested in it and turned it on, and couldn't figure out how to turn it off, and it ran down. But last week I checked it leaving home; it was dead, so it was already dead when I got to work those 2 days the previous week. I now have to charge it every afternoon. And it's working fine for my rides home, but it's dead the next day.
It's got this hellaciously-bright flashing mode that triggers with deceleration, and that could run the battery down in an hour - my commute. But my commute hasn't changed significantly, and this light used to manage 6-8 trips on a charge. My commute can't suddenly be using 6-8 times as much battery power. And consistently using an amount of power that leaves it functioning when I get home but self-discharged overnight? No, I think this flasher has gone defective. Possibly affected by the rains I've gotten caught in a few times lately? It's supposed to be waterproof....
Sunday 13:05
Magicshine emailed me a(nother) pre-paid shipping label. I'll print it at work and send the light back (again). Overnight I confirmed that it's not going dead from use - at 23:00 yesterday it was fully charged, and it's dead now. In those 14 hours it was turned on twice for about 5 seconds each just to confirm it wasn't dead. On the 3rd check it was unresponsive.
Sunday 17:54
The Magicshine was intended to be a redundant rear light. I've finally ordered the redundant front light. I ordered a bunch of other stuff for the bike too -
Sunday 22:55
Magicshine emailed asking what I thought of adding a switch to disable some of the light's functions. I've never needed to disable the main feature they asked about; when I don't want it, I don't really need the light at all, and I just turn it off. (Saves battery.) And the way the question was worded, it would be one switch affecting several functions together. User interfaces are always a challenge on small devices. I did suggest a feature I'd like, and that many lights have - remembering the previous flash/brightness mode when they're turned back on.
They emailed again picking up on the earlier mention of rain. The light is rated IPX6 and rain should not be a factor. (Most of their headlights are IPX4. (The new headlight is IPX8 - submersible to 2 meters for 30 minutes.))
Their support is good; they're aware this isn't my first return-worthy problem with their light, and from the questions they ask it's clear they're reading what I've sent them. And I don't know where their support staff are physically, but when I send email late at night I get responses fairly quickly.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1016644.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
The bike has had a busy week. The jockey wheels on the rear derailleur have needed replacing for some time.
August 17 I stopped at Big Wheel Bikes hoping to just pick up the parts, but this turns out to be something with a lot of variety, and they didn't have anything that fit. They ordered a pair, but I never heard back from them about the parts coming in.
When I took the old (Black & Decker) mower to Largo, MD Sept 6 for the no-longer-available warranty repair, I stopped at Big Wheel on the way back; the parts had apparently just come in the day before. The guy at the desk (not the guy who'd worked on the bike and ordered the parts) looked at a couple of packages, and handed me one. It was a wet weekend, and I didn't get around to trying to install them until Sept 13; they were not the right parts.
We've been having lots of rain the past month, so I've been staying off the unpaved C&O Canal towpath. I'm coming home across the Roosevelt Memorial Bridge on a sidewalk which connects to a trail with a steep downhill to a boardwalk (where I rescued a lost, clueless driver 3 weeks ago). We had more rain Monday afternoon, and there must have been some wind, because there was a low-hanging branch over the boardwalk. Unaware of the earlier weather, I was coming through there too fast. A wet boardwalk is like ice. Steering and stopping are not options. Falling greatly increases your contact surface, and is far more effective that brakes. I wasn't hurt (again, that recumbent advantage of being closer to the ground), but the barrel adjuster for the front brake was broken.
I also broke one of these on the first Grasshopper on its 2nd fall, on black ice. (First Grasshopper's first fall was on another boardwalk (over a C&O spillway), but no damage.) That one didn't keep the brake from working, but I got some extras when I replaced it, since it seemed a likely thing to break. But I can't find them. So on the way to work Tuesday I stopped at Big Wheel again - to return the useless jockey wheels and buy a barrel adjuster (which I would install later).
There were only 2 people in that day, the (I assume) owner, and a mechanic who speaks no English. The owner didn't place the parts order, and I didn't know the name of the guy who did, and he said he couldn't look it up. I don't know whether this was because he didn't know how to use the system (?!) or because of the holiday (Yom Kippur). He asked me to come back Thursday, when the guy who placed the order would be working.
Then I tried to convey to the mechanic that I wanted to buy a barrel adjuster. His first response was that he couldn't work on recumbents. I get really annoyed at that attitude. Yes, the frame and the seat, and perhaps the handlebars and steering, are completely different. But all the rest is industry-standard - shifters, brakes, wheels, tires. Maintenance and repairs on a recumbent (or a tandem or a trike) is mostly not any different. When I got him to look at the brake lever and see that it was just like the brake levers on 2/3 of the bikes they sell (and repair), he could see how it was broken, and yes, that is a part in his bin. All I wanted to do was buy the little part, but then he was taking things apart and doing the repair, replacing the cable as well. When he was done, I asked the owner what I owed, and he said no charge. Some recompense for my inconvenience of making multiple visits for parts I can't use? (Not wanting to work the register on the holiday?) It was good to have both brakes again.
I went back Thursday, and I didn't see the mechanic who ordered the parts, but the guy who gave me the wrong parts was there. And he said there were 2 different things ordered, hoping that one of them would be the right ones. Too bad he hadn't let me see them both on my first trip. When I picked up the "wrong" parts I could see that they were different from what was on the bike, but I didn't know that they didn't work until I installed them. And they were obviously much cheaper parts than the originals. The correct parts have (very nice) bearings in them. I'm wondering how the others were supposed to work - they might hold up on cheaper bikes that don't get much use, and might never even need replacing on bikes that aren't ridden far. (I'm riding more than 4,000mi (6,500km)/year.)
So I left the shop Tuesday feeling like I'd gotten something for free, and thinking they really did want my business after all. And Thursday I left feeling like I'd been cheated with someone trying to slip me parts that weren't worth what I'd been charged, and the free brake-fix Tuesday sort of making it even.
Sunday 01:10
That bike flasher I really love is having problems. Twice the week before last it was dead when I left work. I thought maybe one of my co-workers was interested in it and turned it on, and couldn't figure out how to turn it off, and it ran down. But last week I checked it leaving home; it was dead, so it was already dead when I got to work those 2 days the previous week. I now have to charge it every afternoon. And it's working fine for my rides home, but it's dead the next day.
It's got this hellaciously-bright flashing mode that triggers with deceleration, and that could run the battery down in an hour - my commute. But my commute hasn't changed significantly, and this light used to manage 6-8 trips on a charge. My commute can't suddenly be using 6-8 times as much battery power. And consistently using an amount of power that leaves it functioning when I get home but self-discharged overnight? No, I think this flasher has gone defective. Possibly affected by the rains I've gotten caught in a few times lately? It's supposed to be waterproof....
Sunday 13:05
Magicshine emailed me a(nother) pre-paid shipping label. I'll print it at work and send the light back (again). Overnight I confirmed that it's not going dead from use - at 23:00 yesterday it was fully charged, and it's dead now. In those 14 hours it was turned on twice for about 5 seconds each just to confirm it wasn't dead. On the 3rd check it was unresponsive.
Sunday 17:54
The Magicshine was intended to be a redundant rear light. I've finally ordered the redundant front light. I ordered a bunch of other stuff for the bike too -
- pricey (but puncture-resistent) tires - at 4,000 mi (6,500 km)/yr tires wear out.
- 3 tires for anniemal's trike - No, I don't think she's going to ride it, but she won't have the flat-tires excuse.
- spokes - there's at least one broken on each wheel.
- brake cables and shifter cables - In my pre-recumbent days I bought front/rear pairs; I now have lots of "front" cables that are too short for my 'bents. (Free to good home....)
- "Loctite" thread locker - many critical bolts expect it (e.g. brake discs (which often have to come off to replace spokes ☹), jockey wheels).
- "dry" chain lube - I'm going to try Finish Line ceramic instead of White Lighting.
Sunday 22:55
Magicshine emailed asking what I thought of adding a switch to disable some of the light's functions. I've never needed to disable the main feature they asked about; when I don't want it, I don't really need the light at all, and I just turn it off. (Saves battery.) And the way the question was worded, it would be one switch affecting several functions together. User interfaces are always a challenge on small devices. I did suggest a feature I'd like, and that many lights have - remembering the previous flash/brightness mode when they're turned back on.
They emailed again picking up on the earlier mention of rain. The light is rated IPX6 and rain should not be a factor. (Most of their headlights are IPX4. (The new headlight is IPX8 - submersible to 2 meters for 30 minutes.))
Their support is good; they're aware this isn't my first return-worthy problem with their light, and from the questions they ask it's clear they're reading what I've sent them. And I don't know where their support staff are physically, but when I send email late at night I get responses fairly quickly.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/1016644.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]