Archive for July, 2009

Walking, biking to work linked with better fitness

It obviously hasn’t changed many individual’s personal choice in transportation.

I’ve been using my Forte Single Speed Conversion Kit (www.performancebike.com) for about 9 months now. It is still in reasonably good shape and functions. I can’t say that I’m extremely satisfied with it though. Here are my reasons:

1. The tolerance between the bolt and and the tensioner arm is loose and doesn’t get better with use. Therefore the pulley sits on the chain at an odd angle.
2. There is a cage around the pulley to keep the chain from coming off of the pulley. The axle bolt for the pulley comes loose frequently and alloys the cage to rotate and hit the chain. You have to stop and tighten the axle bolt. Sucks!
3. I thought that since I was going single speed in the back there’s no use for a front derailleur so I removed mine — mistake. Without the front derailleur, curb hops and off-roading sometimes sends my chain to the bottom bracket or my pedal spindle.
4. If your hub body is anything other than steel, the kit is not a good idea. You only put one cog on the back and the cog’s interface with the hub body is very small. Thus, with my aluminum hub body, the cog ate half-way through the hub-body splines — not good if your attached to your hub (mine is 12 years old with roughly 10,000 miles on it). I had to put on an old cassette to spread the load.
5. The spring tension isn’t great or adjustable. So, if your chain happens to be a bit on the long side and taking one more link out makes it too short, your chain may just skip over your cog.

It’s great to be free of a derailleur and all of its problems but the conversion kit needs some design iterations.

Overall Rating: 2 Broken Down Cars

Please watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwNgNyiXPLk&feature=channel_page.

Remember, oil is in finite supply. I’d like to save some for food production. I’ll likely be hungry in the future.

After wrapping up a shop-lead ride, a badly needed commuter bike tire change and tube patch while watching the Tour de France, I realized that a floor pump serves nicely as an alternative hassock.  Just place the pump a couple of feet from your beer-stinking couch and rest your achilles tendon on the handle.  With beer in hand and legs raised, your leg metabolites will work their way to your organs and allow you to relax and watch others suffer while you recover.

My Miles (estimate):

1. To Work: 17mi/day*260days= 4420mi
2. Farmer’s Market: 13mi*20 = 260

3. Misc. rides to store:  52*10= 520

4. Critical Mass:  10*13= 130

Total Mileage:  5330

My Bikes:

1.  Circa 1997 Schwinn Homegrown converted to single speed with knobby street tires (work commuter)

2. 2005 Breezer Citizen 3-speed with trailer bike and child-car attachments (grocery getter)

Things I Bought for Biking (that I can remember)*:

2 pairs of shorts (baggies), Two poly shirts, 3 pairs of socks, 2 chains, 2 pairs of pedals, numerous tubes and patch kits, 1 pair cranks, 1 bottom bracket, one rigid fork (the suspension was warn out), 2 rear tires (my front tire is about 5 years old and has about 8000 miles), 1 saddle, 2 rear lights, 2 front lights, two boxes gauze pads, 2 boxes band aids, two rolls medical tape, 1 tube of triple antibiotic goo, 1 pump, 1 rear hub rebuild kit, 1 single speed conversion kit, 1 brake cable kit, 2 sets of brake pads, 1 set of brake levers, repair of internal hub (I messed it up trying to adjust it), one rear fender, reflective tape, 1 pair shoes (my others were 6 years old)

Keep in mind that this was not my first year of commuting.  Most of these purchases were required just to maintain the bikes.

* Does not include cash purchases

Total Cost:  $1358.49