Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Creaking folding latch

I noticed when climbing hills when I really put my weight into the bike there was a creaking noise.  When I got off the bike I held the seat pole with one hand and the handlebar stem with the other, pulled them apart and pushed them together, the groaning seemed to come from the folding mechanism.

I put WD-40 on the lever, axle, screw and nut and the surfaces of where things meet each other.  I did not put any on the hinge itself.  The creaking seems to have gone away now.

I have used the cyclocomputer on a particular hill, without any pedalling it rolled 800m in 83s and a second time in 84s.  On another bike the computer said the distance was 820 or 830m.  Without the computer I have timed between the same points and got 80s and ninety-something (I felt a headwind).  I know from a lot of other bikes I have rolled down this hill that low 80s are respectable.  The run is steep to begin with (max speed 52 and 53km/h today), then slightly up hill, then a long gentle downhill run.  Average speed of 34km/h is a good speed to consider wind resistance and rolling resistance.

I still feel some handlebars shaped more like BMX bars would be preferable for me.  I am a man about average adult height and weight, the seat could still go up a bit higher, but the handlebars are not the best pushed as far forward as I have them.

I tightened up a lot of the spokes on the rear wheel today, my spoke key was a bit too big, but it still worked.  The spokes on the front wheel seemed fine, but quite a few were very slack on the back wheel.

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