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Schwinn Hybrid - Day 1
Drove over and picked up a new inner tube for $6 and made my way back to install the critter. They didn't have the heavier puncture-proof variant so I went with the regular. I'm not so sure the new puncture-proofs are all that anyhow. I do worry about the non-deep mountain bike tire tread getting it like the street slicks I had on my CA mountain bike. Even with the Kevlar, those things were often nailed or otherwise deflated.
I very carefully inspected the tire and the rim to see if there were any objects or sharp edges that might have caused the earlier and very premature leak. As I rolled the wheel around I was shocked to see the sharp curl from a drill lodged in the hole where the tire stem goes through. I'm assuming this came from drilling out the hole and the sharp bit fell into the hollow space in the wheel rim. Rolling the wheel around a second time popped up yet another sharp chunk of metal. After that, no more was found.
After figuring out which way the tire was supposed to go on (given the tread direction and a big arrow on the side of the tire captioned "drive direction"), I finally inflated the tire and mounted it back on the bike. Of course this all meant that the rear brake had to be re-done and while it works it's not quite right and I'll probably have to fiddle with it a bit more. At this point all the basic stuff seemed to work and off for a test run I went.
First thing I noticed was that the handlebars were not set right and I couldn't see what gear I was in and the gear shifters were not set at the right angle on the handlebars. I brought along the tools and fixed that once I got to the Rolling Wok for a late lunch of cheap Chinese food. Today I went with the chicken chow mein special with soup and a small drink. That pretty much stuffed me more than I probably should have stuffed myself.
Fortunately, all my ills seem to go away after some exercise so I went to The Mill South which is pretty much a completely uphill run. There I found out that the low gear wouldn't engage on the front gear group and so I pulled off and adjusted the front dérailleur so it would drop into that. Then I had enough of a granny gear to plow up the steepest parts of those hills. Win! That was one of my main gripes with the old 10-speed unit. I would have to walk those hills with that unit. Also the upright mountain bike handlebars were a real success too.
Now to get fenders and a rack and I'll be open for business again. Looks like solar powered REI and/or do-gooder Bike Planet might get some business there.
I very carefully inspected the tire and the rim to see if there were any objects or sharp edges that might have caused the earlier and very premature leak. As I rolled the wheel around I was shocked to see the sharp curl from a drill lodged in the hole where the tire stem goes through. I'm assuming this came from drilling out the hole and the sharp bit fell into the hollow space in the wheel rim. Rolling the wheel around a second time popped up yet another sharp chunk of metal. After that, no more was found.
After figuring out which way the tire was supposed to go on (given the tread direction and a big arrow on the side of the tire captioned "drive direction"), I finally inflated the tire and mounted it back on the bike. Of course this all meant that the rear brake had to be re-done and while it works it's not quite right and I'll probably have to fiddle with it a bit more. At this point all the basic stuff seemed to work and off for a test run I went.
First thing I noticed was that the handlebars were not set right and I couldn't see what gear I was in and the gear shifters were not set at the right angle on the handlebars. I brought along the tools and fixed that once I got to the Rolling Wok for a late lunch of cheap Chinese food. Today I went with the chicken chow mein special with soup and a small drink. That pretty much stuffed me more than I probably should have stuffed myself.
Fortunately, all my ills seem to go away after some exercise so I went to The Mill South which is pretty much a completely uphill run. There I found out that the low gear wouldn't engage on the front gear group and so I pulled off and adjusted the front dérailleur so it would drop into that. Then I had enough of a granny gear to plow up the steepest parts of those hills. Win! That was one of my main gripes with the old 10-speed unit. I would have to walk those hills with that unit. Also the upright mountain bike handlebars were a real success too.
Now to get fenders and a rack and I'll be open for business again. Looks like solar powered REI and/or do-gooder Bike Planet might get some business there.