Maintenance day
Feb. 4th, 2006 04:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnridleyThe winter really grinds up bike chains. The chain has been running totally clogged with sand pretty much all the time for the last 2 months; I clean it, and 4 miles later it's caked with sandy mud. I'd have to clean it twice a day to even pretend to keep it clean, so I pretty much gave up. 500 miles in the winter is probably equivalent to 1500 miles in the summer.
Today I was putting a new rear fender on (SKS ChromoPlastic, very nice) and I remembered that I hadn't checked the chain wear in a couple of months; turns out it was WAY past due for changing; there was a good 1/16" of gap to the max wear gauge. I'm at 4600 miles, I put this one on at 1800, so that's 2800 miles since the last new chain. I guess just planning to change it out at 2000 miles or so is probably a good idea.
I got a tip on BikeForums; Nashbar sells tandem/recumbent chains for $8 that are twice as long as a normal chain. Crack it in half and you get two chains for $8. That's about half price. I wish I could find a place that sells master links by the bag. It seems idiotic to pay $5 for a master link, when a double-long chain WITH a master link is $8. Not surprisingly, at the hardware store they're 99 cents. I wish cycling wasn't such a rich-boy toy sport.
I did find a really nice web bike shop. aebike.com is Alfred E Bike in Kalamazoo. It's a real LBS that has a web site. Their selection and prices are better than the big web-only shops, so I think I'll be using them in the future.
Today I was putting a new rear fender on (SKS ChromoPlastic, very nice) and I remembered that I hadn't checked the chain wear in a couple of months; turns out it was WAY past due for changing; there was a good 1/16" of gap to the max wear gauge. I'm at 4600 miles, I put this one on at 1800, so that's 2800 miles since the last new chain. I guess just planning to change it out at 2000 miles or so is probably a good idea.
I got a tip on BikeForums; Nashbar sells tandem/recumbent chains for $8 that are twice as long as a normal chain. Crack it in half and you get two chains for $8. That's about half price. I wish I could find a place that sells master links by the bag. It seems idiotic to pay $5 for a master link, when a double-long chain WITH a master link is $8. Not surprisingly, at the hardware store they're 99 cents. I wish cycling wasn't such a rich-boy toy sport.
I did find a really nice web bike shop. aebike.com is Alfred E Bike in Kalamazoo. It's a real LBS that has a web site. Their selection and prices are better than the big web-only shops, so I think I'll be using them in the future.
