The Spokemaster
Finally riding a big boys bike
The spokes are NOT stainless
They are UPC finished steel = brite finish / plain steel = cheap
They are UPC finished steel = brite finish / plain steel = cheap
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The Spokemaster
Finally riding a big boys bike
Inexpensive KMC chain on your bicycle = Kuei Meng
At one time they were the largest manufacturer of bicycle chains in the world -may still be
They make many different types of chains from cheap to very expensive
At one time they were the largest manufacturer of bicycle chains in the world -may still be
They make many different types of chains from cheap to very expensive
Hey @The Spokemaster , you're a mile ahead of me.
I had to google that. Unpoloshed chrome? I had figured out that they weren't stainless, but was just about to post and ask what they are!I bought a whole set of 72 brass nipples because the ones on the front wheel were rusty, and I decided to change them all and not fight it. While I was at the LBS, I bought 10 stainless spokes so I would have enough to finish. There were still 10 nipples extremely stuck at that time, despite being oiled up and sitting by a heater for a few days. In the end only one spoke broke, and that was on the back wheel, which wasn't rusty. Go figure.
When I got home with the stainless spokes they had the typical stainless color, and laying next to a wheel they were obviously not the same. I had no idea what the ones in the wheel were though. I figured they couldn't be galvanized because those turn dull in the car on the way home, and this bike is from 2007. As far as I know, nobody does cad anymore.
For what its worth, those UPC spokes did not rust, not even in the nipples that had scaly rust on the heads. The very tips of the threads turned dark gray, but that was all.
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GTs58
I'm the Wiz, and nobody beats me!
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Knowing the difference between KMC vs Shimano chain is crucial if you are a bike enthusiast. They are both excellent bike chains that offer various upsides and downsides. Knowing the difference in features of these two brands is essential in looking for the chain for your bike.
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KMC Chain Industrial Co., Ltd. is a roller chain manufacturer headquartered in Taiwan, R.O.C. with corporate entities in the US, Continental Chain Company, and Europe, KMC Chain Europe BV.[2] They make cam driving chains, balance driving chains, oil pump chains, motorcycle chains, and industrial chains.[3] They manufacture and market bicycle chains and master links under their own KMC brand and supply them to others, including Shimano.[4] KMC chains are used in the Tour de France by riders such as Gustav Larsson, Swedish time trial champion.[5] KMC was founded by Charles Wu in 1977,[1] and was the largest bicycle chain manufacturer in the world in 2011.
Knowing the difference between KMC vs Shimano chain is crucial if you are a bike enthusiast. They are both excellent bike chains that offer various upsides and downsides. Knowing the difference in features of these two brands is essential in looking for the chain for your bike.
Quote:
KMC Chain Industrial Co., Ltd. is a roller chain manufacturer headquartered in Taiwan, R.O.C. with corporate entities in the US, Continental Chain Company, and Europe, KMC Chain Europe BV.[2] They make cam driving chains, balance driving chains, oil pump chains, motorcycle chains, and industrial chains.[3] They manufacture and market bicycle chains and master links under their own KMC brand and supply them to others, including Shimano.[4] KMC chains are used in the Tour de France by riders such as Gustav Larsson, Swedish time trial champion.[5] KMC was founded by Charles Wu in 1977,[1] and was the largest bicycle chain manufacturer in the world in 2011.
Remember that rear hub I said I liked? Not so great after all. The axle was bent, no big deal. I was toying with the idea of ordering a chrome moly axle because they hang out a mile and get bent on freewheel bikes. I decided to try and straighten it first. It was really hard to bend. Maybe it is chrome moly. When I put it back in the hub it was still bent. So, I tried again. Still off center on the freewheel side. WTF? Two or three more straightening attempts later, on bends so small I had to use feeler gauges because I couldn't see the bend, it was... still bent. Bah.
I have never had so much trouble straightening an axle. On close inspection I realized it really couldn't be the axle. After some wheel spinning while feeling the edge of the cones, I had about convinced myself the cones were machined wrong. I tried the ones from the front wheel because they are identical. No improvement. WTF? After spinning the wheel a little more with my finger against an unlocked cone I realized the bearing cups were not parallel. The are the pressed in replaceable type, so I put a punch through the back and tapped on the lowest spot. Massive improvement. I dribbled in some wicking loctite from the back side. I wonder if the freewheel threads will be straight?
I replaced all those steel nipples, and one spoke that broke in the back wheel, greased up the bearings and trued the wheels. Things are finally looking up. I put the tires on and pumped them up. Remember, I removed over 50 goatheads from each one(!). The back one stayed up. The front didn't. I couldn't find the leak at first, after all it is full of green slime. It is split by the stem. No LBS today, it's Sunday, so I picked up the only thing I could get today, a slime tube from walmart.
I don't think that kevlar(?) thing was supposed to come off of the old tube, but I peeled it off anyway and put it back in.
And finally, I have wheels.
The dork disc didn't make it.
Unlike most bicycle fans I don't hate dork discs, at least the metal ones. The plastic ones are garbage. I couldn't find anything approptiate in my junk and IIRC all the ones at the LBS are plastic, so I guess it will have to do without.
The rims remind me of something even more than the Weinmann 519. Maybe some 1990s Araya? I think so. Anyhow they are "HJC". They seem slightly oversize, and are a little hard to slip the tires on.
I took the derailleurs apart and cleaned them up. On the front one I straightened half of the z-bend. That puts the bolt out at a goofy angle that looks about like the older model Falcon I posted earlier that had a built in cable stop. I think it will clear and work fine now.
On the rear derailleur the top pivot post was loose on the claw. A little 56% silver solder fixed that.
Ready to go back on the bike.
I'm not avoiding those grip shifters, I swear.
I have never had so much trouble straightening an axle. On close inspection I realized it really couldn't be the axle. After some wheel spinning while feeling the edge of the cones, I had about convinced myself the cones were machined wrong. I tried the ones from the front wheel because they are identical. No improvement. WTF? After spinning the wheel a little more with my finger against an unlocked cone I realized the bearing cups were not parallel. The are the pressed in replaceable type, so I put a punch through the back and tapped on the lowest spot. Massive improvement. I dribbled in some wicking loctite from the back side. I wonder if the freewheel threads will be straight?
I replaced all those steel nipples, and one spoke that broke in the back wheel, greased up the bearings and trued the wheels. Things are finally looking up. I put the tires on and pumped them up. Remember, I removed over 50 goatheads from each one(!). The back one stayed up. The front didn't. I couldn't find the leak at first, after all it is full of green slime. It is split by the stem. No LBS today, it's Sunday, so I picked up the only thing I could get today, a slime tube from walmart.
I don't think that kevlar(?) thing was supposed to come off of the old tube, but I peeled it off anyway and put it back in.
And finally, I have wheels.
The dork disc didn't make it.
Unlike most bicycle fans I don't hate dork discs, at least the metal ones. The plastic ones are garbage. I couldn't find anything approptiate in my junk and IIRC all the ones at the LBS are plastic, so I guess it will have to do without.
The rims remind me of something even more than the Weinmann 519. Maybe some 1990s Araya? I think so. Anyhow they are "HJC". They seem slightly oversize, and are a little hard to slip the tires on.
I took the derailleurs apart and cleaned them up. On the front one I straightened half of the z-bend. That puts the bolt out at a goofy angle that looks about like the older model Falcon I posted earlier that had a built in cable stop. I think it will clear and work fine now.
On the rear derailleur the top pivot post was loose on the claw. A little 56% silver solder fixed that.
Ready to go back on the bike.
I'm not avoiding those grip shifters, I swear.
I had a go at straightening the fork today. It was indeed bent. Heck it looked bent. The axle was about in line with the steerer. I don't know how far forward it should be but there is a bike like this on the local craigs. The pictures aren't good enough to really tell anything much about fork rake except that mine is definitely wrong. It has rubber boots on the fork, and mine doesn't look like it ever did. Maybe a slightly different fork? Craigslist bike as an example:
The fork is made by "SHIN FERNG CHERNG", and seems to be part number(?) Ø2111. Check out their logo, it's a little bicycle.
There is a bit of natural rake in the fork because the tubes are set forward of the steerer tube at the crown. You can kind of see what they did at the crown in this pic.
I might have a little more rake than just the crown offset now. Does anyone have one of these bikes laying around who could check if the fork tubes are parallel with the headtube or if they are raked forward a little?
Look at those cantilever bosses. I'll have to take another good look at the brakes that go on here but shouldn't these posts be parallel? They point inward.
And the ones on the swingarm point outward... WTF? Am I missing something here?
Meanwhile on the swingarm, the kickstand bracket is completely clobbered.
There is no kickstand. I would have guessed the kid pulled it off as soon as he got it home. That's what I would have done when I was a kid, but no. This bracket has had some trauma. Somebody has re-welded one side and patched it up with silver paint.
And the other side is cracked.
It's being held on with a tack weld from the inside
I decided to pound it straight and if it breaks it breaks. There's no kickstand regardless. Looking better:
But, definitely cracked. I'm not sure if the crack is in the tube or just the weld. The right answer is to mig weld it like the other side, but I don't have a mig. Brazing it would burn off more paint than I would like. It probably doesn't matter. This swingarm feels really solid. It is sort of heavy. It might be thicker tubing than a normal department store frame. The area is blocked by the chainwheels, Maybe I could use my smallest tip and silver braze it without taking off too much paint. Hmmmm......
The fork is made by "SHIN FERNG CHERNG", and seems to be part number(?) Ø2111. Check out their logo, it's a little bicycle.
There is a bit of natural rake in the fork because the tubes are set forward of the steerer tube at the crown. You can kind of see what they did at the crown in this pic.
I might have a little more rake than just the crown offset now. Does anyone have one of these bikes laying around who could check if the fork tubes are parallel with the headtube or if they are raked forward a little?
Look at those cantilever bosses. I'll have to take another good look at the brakes that go on here but shouldn't these posts be parallel? They point inward.
And the ones on the swingarm point outward... WTF? Am I missing something here?
Meanwhile on the swingarm, the kickstand bracket is completely clobbered.
There is no kickstand. I would have guessed the kid pulled it off as soon as he got it home. That's what I would have done when I was a kid, but no. This bracket has had some trauma. Somebody has re-welded one side and patched it up with silver paint.
And the other side is cracked.
It's being held on with a tack weld from the inside
I decided to pound it straight and if it breaks it breaks. There's no kickstand regardless. Looking better:
But, definitely cracked. I'm not sure if the crack is in the tube or just the weld. The right answer is to mig weld it like the other side, but I don't have a mig. Brazing it would burn off more paint than I would like. It probably doesn't matter. This swingarm feels really solid. It is sort of heavy. It might be thicker tubing than a normal department store frame. The area is blocked by the chainwheels, Maybe I could use my smallest tip and silver braze it without taking off too much paint. Hmmmm......
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Yup, junky nonadjustable, pogo stick suspension fork. The tubes stanchions made offset forward of headtube. When daylight I can post example.
Jeff54
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
Good news! I was at Wally's today and its clearance time again. All the returned rusting Huffy's, Kent and a couple more I never heard of, are awaiting some lucky shoppers. The Huff's look pretty slick too: Some kind of mock multi-speed fancy trail bike Rusted scratches, chains and disk brakes, a bunch of cables and do-dads where, for half price, U might, maybe, with a hope and prayer, get enough parts to fix somebody's Huff clunker from last Xmas's sales.
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Thanks for posting those. The forks look like they could have easily came from the same source. In this one, it looks like the fork tubes are parallel to the steerer tube, and 100% of the fork rake is a result of the fork crown offset:
But, on this one it looks like the fork tubes are angled slightly forward (green line).
I am guessing the second one is camera distortion. Any thoughts on which way it really is?
When I straightened mine, It was tough because one side bends easier than the other, yet somehow the original damage was about symmetrical. It's close, but one side is slightly forward of the other. I'll probably start by working on the leg that is most wrong, whichever that is. First I need to verify that the steerer tube isn't bent. I don't think it is, but I couldn't find a top headset cone to check it. The one that goes with the bike has that silly dust cover on the outside, and it's bent. It isn't much of a measurement reference LOL. I guess I could take a bike apart to get one. I'll dig a little more tonight.
A quick check with Sheldon's strings suggests the frame alignment is decent side to side. I've not checked it for twist yet, but I suspect it is fine.
I'm off to dig for a top cone. More later.
But, on this one it looks like the fork tubes are angled slightly forward (green line).
I am guessing the second one is camera distortion. Any thoughts on which way it really is?
When I straightened mine, It was tough because one side bends easier than the other, yet somehow the original damage was about symmetrical. It's close, but one side is slightly forward of the other. I'll probably start by working on the leg that is most wrong, whichever that is. First I need to verify that the steerer tube isn't bent. I don't think it is, but I couldn't find a top headset cone to check it. The one that goes with the bike has that silly dust cover on the outside, and it's bent. It isn't much of a measurement reference LOL. I guess I could take a bike apart to get one. I'll dig a little more tonight.
A quick check with Sheldon's strings suggests the frame alignment is decent side to side. I've not checked it for twist yet, but I suspect it is fine.
I'm off to dig for a top cone. More later.
