Broken Bike and Sore Arse!
Well, talk about running before you can walk....! I love my bike, but I can't help noticing that it seems to be more uncomfortable (well, in truth, probably quite painful) on the butt area than I remember. Even when I lift off the saddle over the bumps.
Having read an article about "fitting" your bike to your size to make position and seat ect more comfy, I decided to give it a go. I ferreted out the rubbish instructions leaflet which came with the bike and together, Ian and I read them confidently. It only served to confuse us, and we ended up undoing the wrong bits, and were not able to put them back together so that the handlebars were secure and would not twist. Result = 1 unridable bike.
Can you imagine the almighty tantrum I threw??! There were tears, gulping, recriminations, hasty decisions about the bike needing to go back in the garage so I wouldn't keep seeing it and wanting to ride when I couldn't.... it was a fearful sight. This was all because I can't afford to actually spend anything on the bike until my overdraft gets sorted out, and of course, I've just started to really enjoy it.... you can see where my train of thought was going.
Ian (who is, incidentally, the only person living in our house with anything resembling sanity or common sense) figured it would be a good idea to call Neil, the rodeo-canoeist, world-class plumber and avid mountain biker (I've yet to find an extreme sport that he hasn't done, and to hear the stories he tells, I now believe that plumbing is also an extreme sport) and see if any assistance could be forthcoming to prevent him having to strangle me in order to get a bit of peace and quiet.
Jan and Neil turned up trumps with a big box of tools. I was diverted with interesting and chirpy chat from Jan whilst Neil set to. A few minutes later I turned to watch; Neil already had the handlebars off and was working with nonchalant ease. I sighed with relief and relaxed - there was tea and strawberries-and-cream to organise.
To cut a long story short, my bike ended up functional and tuned, the instructions we were trying to work from truly are rubbish, we know where we went wrong and how to do it in future, and the rule now is: Allen Key and Screwdriver I can do myself, anything requiring a Spanner - call Neil!
I need to get a spoke key as I need to learn to spoke tune as I'm going off-road, and Neil has offered to take me through everything on the bike and has sternly ordered me to lube - visit to Beyond Mountain Bikes pending for plastic tyre irons, spoke key and spray-lube.
I think Ian's forgiven me - I gave him my wireless mouse, just to be sure....
Having read an article about "fitting" your bike to your size to make position and seat ect more comfy, I decided to give it a go. I ferreted out the rubbish instructions leaflet which came with the bike and together, Ian and I read them confidently. It only served to confuse us, and we ended up undoing the wrong bits, and were not able to put them back together so that the handlebars were secure and would not twist. Result = 1 unridable bike.
Can you imagine the almighty tantrum I threw??! There were tears, gulping, recriminations, hasty decisions about the bike needing to go back in the garage so I wouldn't keep seeing it and wanting to ride when I couldn't.... it was a fearful sight. This was all because I can't afford to actually spend anything on the bike until my overdraft gets sorted out, and of course, I've just started to really enjoy it.... you can see where my train of thought was going.
Ian (who is, incidentally, the only person living in our house with anything resembling sanity or common sense) figured it would be a good idea to call Neil, the rodeo-canoeist, world-class plumber and avid mountain biker (I've yet to find an extreme sport that he hasn't done, and to hear the stories he tells, I now believe that plumbing is also an extreme sport) and see if any assistance could be forthcoming to prevent him having to strangle me in order to get a bit of peace and quiet.
Jan and Neil turned up trumps with a big box of tools. I was diverted with interesting and chirpy chat from Jan whilst Neil set to. A few minutes later I turned to watch; Neil already had the handlebars off and was working with nonchalant ease. I sighed with relief and relaxed - there was tea and strawberries-and-cream to organise.
To cut a long story short, my bike ended up functional and tuned, the instructions we were trying to work from truly are rubbish, we know where we went wrong and how to do it in future, and the rule now is: Allen Key and Screwdriver I can do myself, anything requiring a Spanner - call Neil!
I need to get a spoke key as I need to learn to spoke tune as I'm going off-road, and Neil has offered to take me through everything on the bike and has sternly ordered me to lube - visit to Beyond Mountain Bikes pending for plastic tyre irons, spoke key and spray-lube.
I think Ian's forgiven me - I gave him my wireless mouse, just to be sure....
posted by Catherine at 23:54
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