Boomers on Bicycles

Tools just may come in handy out here!

It should be something that everyone takes on a ride with them: a tool kit of some kind.  At the very least you should have a tire patch kit, or spare tube, with you, and the tools it takes to patch or replace the tube.  Sounds simple.  Actually, it is.  What tools you take may depend on what kind of bike you are riding, and whether you are by yourself or with a group.  I have a zipped bag that clips under my saddle.  I have seen small bags that attach to the top tube right at the steering tube.  It doesn’t matter where it attaches, or whether you carry tools in your jersey or jacket.  In my bag (on my mountain  bike) I have a tire patch kit, and the tire tools, plus a compact tool that has several allen wrenches on it.  I have found those to be sufficient for most things that happen when I’m riding.  On my bike I carry a pump and it will pump either a schrader valve or a presta valve.  It is important to know what kind of valve your tire has, and that your pump will work on that valve.  Long ago I used screw drivers to remove the tire from my wheel when the tube went flat.  I think that I punctured as many tubes after patching them as not.  Of course, I was just a kid back then, and had no idea that any kind of actual bike tools even existed.  My friends didn’t either.  We just rode all over the place, oblivious to anything but riding.  Now, if you are just getting back into riding, you should review how you get a wheel off the bike and a tire off, and then back on, the rim.  Tire levers, two of them, work quite well getting the tire off and on the rim, but you can do it without them if you are strong enough or in a bind.  Do practice if you haven’t done this in a long time.  You need to know how to release the brakes from the wheel if your bike has cable activated brake pads.  You won’t get your wheel off unless you know how to do this.  If you have a bike with disc brakes, you must  be extremely careful taking the wheel off and putting it back on.  If you bend the rotor disc, it could be a long slow ride, or walk,  back home.  Most of the road bike riders I know simply carry a spare tube and a small cylinder of compressed air in their jerseys, along with tire levers.  I suppose if I get a road bike, I might do the same.  Where do you find these tools?  Bicycling magazine has online tech tips.  If you go to Versus on line and link to the bike pages, you’ll find help there also.  For actual tools, Park and REI are good places to look.  Your local bike shop has tools and advice for you as well.  It just makes good sense to know enough about your bike to fix simple things when you’re out and about.  Leave the screw drivers at home.

The rusty chain.

Old bikes have a  certain quality to them, one of them being design if they are old enough, and of course, weight.  I rescued two old road bikes from my neighbor down the street.  He and his wife used to ride quite a bit, but age and the territory around here caught up with them.  The bikes were in a discard pile in their yard and I simply asked about them and said I’d like to have them. They were delighted to give them to me and quite happy that the bikes would probably be ridden again.  They were rusty, lots of cobwebs, dirt, with tires that had seen better days.  The mens road bike wasn’t as rough as the ladies and I cleaned that one up first.  It took a few days, but with enough silicon spray lube, a few wrenches, and some emory cloth, plus a new chain, it was ready to go.  My daughter, working in San Francisco, was very taken with it, and is happily riding it to and from work.  The second bike, a ladies, is just about done.  I took emory cloth and 000 and 0000 steel wool to it, got most of the major rust off it, put some liquid wax on it to protect it from further harm, and am now left with the last bit: the rusty chain. I have put all kinds of rust looseners, removers, lubricants on it, wire brushed it, and, well, look at the picture at the top of this post.  Not so pretty.  There’s still a pretty bad piece on it.  Tomorrow, the chain tool comes out, the old rusty chain comes off, and a shiney new one goes on.  I have put new tubes and tires on it already (one wheel on this bike weighs as much as some of the bikes I’ve ridden!).  The chain  buisness seems simple enough.  It is, and it isn’t.  If you ever use a chain tool to remove a chain (master links are a thing of the long ago days of bike chains), this you must remember: push the pin out of the link only as far as you need to separate the links.  Pushing it out all the way, if you intend to use the chain again, will cause you to spend a frustrating hour attempting to reinsert it.  I own just a few real bike tools, the chain tool being one of them.  Bicycling magazine has links to Park tools, which is a great place to look for tools. After the new chain goes on, it’s test time, first on the stand, then on the road.  If the gears all run well, and I can stop the bike with out aid of a small tree or fence, it’s ready to go.  I have two more rescued bikes to refurbish.  I’ll give them away too.  I highly recommend that you find an old bike in need of some repair and care, fix it, and find someone who would really like to have a bike, but just can’t afford one, and give it to them, especially if it is for a child.  I also provide helmets to children around here who can’t afford them.  It is a way to give back.  In these hard and uncertain times, bringing a smile to someone is well worth the effort.  The local bike shop is very helpful, and I’m sure your local shop will be too.  The other great benefit of doing this is that you learn quite a bit about how bikes work.  Mostly I just ride them.  Knowing how to fix one when you’re out on the trail could mean the differenct between riding it back home or walking it.  I’ve done both.  Riding it is much better, and easier.