First Ride: From South Perth to Bassendean

[Pivot]

This is my Quest, "Don Quixote" with a Topeak MTX Expandable Pannier Bag. The Topeak rack allows it to slide in and out.
Having covered about 500 km since February, I'm finally really finding it a delight to ride. I'm using it mainly for recreation but hope to do a 15 km (one way) commute in the warmer months.

 

[crazy_ebot]

Hey Pivot - you'll cover the 15km very easily (and enjoyably) if your experience is like mine. I considered the mountain bike rack style, but I thought at the time I'd need twin saddle bags for my work clothes, and I thought the rack might collide with the rear suspension on a bad hole or curb.

After some clothes rationalising, it turned out that all I needed was a single rear bag as per my later photos. Meh. : }

Still, it feels nice having the extra support bar where it is - y'know, just in case.

My first child is shortly going to be celebrating her first month on this planet. I'm already doing the odd spot of research on how to best carry her around on my Quest, which has no name, but may get one (as you've named yours. : )

 

[crazy_ebot]

The Bassendean railway sleeper-bike massacre

Wednesday morning, running late, it's wet on the road.

There's an old railway museum alongside one of the few streets I have to ride on my way to work (the journey is 80% bike path) - on the other side, a railway line. Every day I cross over a diagonal(ish) curved set of sunken railway sleepers that connects the line to the museum.

I'm cautious about these bastards. My girlfriend (pre-pregnancy) slipped on them once with her Trek road bike; I had to do my best ambulance/towtruck impression and pick up the pieces.

Caution didn't help in this case - one minute I'm cycling, the next I'm cheese on a cheesegrater. I'd forgotten how much grinding arms and legs on a road hurts (after I came to a complete stop).

My elbows, and the chunky bit of the forearm next to elbows took the worst of it, along with my left shin. I also managed to wrench my left shoulder and bruise my right buttock.

The injuries are a little puzzling. I thought I'd only fallen over onto my right side. I figure I may have started on my right, but somehow rolled over to my left.

More interesting was the damage to the bike. The front large chain ring was a write off; a third of the ring was bent inwards, over the smaller rings. the outer frame of my right-foot clip-pedal was ground into the shape of a pretty fairy wing. The frame sustained the same kind of intense gravel rash as I did, but only along the handlebars and seat post.

After dropping it at the shop where two days earlier I had it serviced (sigh), I'm happy to learn that the only part that needed replacement in order for the bike to function is the bent chainring. At about (AU) $70 for a 'lightly-used' secondhand ring, I consider myself pretty lucky. Lucky there wasn't a car driving behind me. Also lucky I wasn't on an upright bike where I had further to fall.

Anyway, food for thought. I think I'm going to send a letter to the Bassendean town council. I'm not sure what the solution is; if they eventually extend the bike path alongside that stretch of road I'm likely still going to have to contend with the sleepers across the bike path. Perhaps they could build the path on the guildford road side of the railway line... Hmm.

 

[John Tolhurst]

Oh crap - I know those rail lines and you are a long way from being the first to come a cropper there. The lines cross at a rather oblique angle. It is a known danger spot, perhaps you could contact BTA, I think they keep track of these issues and run a council score card - they are best placed to complain and lobby. http://btawa.org.au/

 

[crazy_ebot]

Well, I had the bike up and running by the weekend... However, 4 weeks on I'm still scared of the railway tracks.

I also think the crash had some delayed damage - my bike chain snapped this morning. The last time a bike chain broke on me I was 10 years old. I didn't notice anything at the time of the crash, but the gears were changing poorly over the last couple of days, so I guess I should have taken it as a warning.

Incidentally, 'ran into a Sigma rider on my way home last week. Had a nice chat. He'd added a partial chassis to the front... man that bike looks cool on the road.

 

[crazy_ebot]

Is it possible for a chain to be severely damaged and yet keep working... For a while?

Just under 4 weeks after bike slipped on the railway tracks, my chain broke on the way into work. With some help from a friend, I managed to get a replacement pin and a chain tool. I repaired the chain, attached it to the bike, started to ride and...

Bang, the chain snapped again. Different spot, neither break was the 'smart link'. In the end I had to walk the bike to a shop and pay $40 for a replacement (not so smart) chain.

Now I have a problem where the chain seems to be slipping randomly on the higher gears. I'd almost say its whenever its not under heavy load...

 

[crazy_ebot]

Woo! 'Followed the advice of others, and now have a much improved cycle mirror attachment! : )

 

[crazy_ebot]

Mirror modified, brakes fixed, gears changing smoothly. I love riding this bike. : )

As an added plus, I've learnt tonnes on bike maintenance this last week. Such as: No more WD 40 and/or over-lubrication of chains from here on in... : }

 

[Pivot]

Just a really quick comment / story on the gear that can be fitted to a 559 Quest ..... tyres in particular.

A few weeks ago I started having a series of flat tyres (maybe from glass embedded in the the rear tyre). I should mention that the tyre originally fitted, the Primo Racer 26" x1" had been exchanged by my local bike shop for a Vee Rubber "All Pro" 26" x 1.25 inch. The Primo Racer had a really severe slash across the road surface of the tyre, once again caused by broken glass. I hung it in my garage as a "desperation" spare.

The Vee Rubber "All Pro" 26" x 1.25" was a good tyre for the back wheel but I had misgivings about how quickly it was wearing. As well as that it seemed to puncture very easily. Oh by the way it ran at 95 psi.
Anyway, to get back to the story, this was the tyre that kept getting the puncture - 6 in four weeks - not happy!!!!

In utter frustration I went to another bike shop looking for a replacement tyre for the "All Pro". They offered me a Maxxis "Detonator" 25-559 or 26" x 1". I bought two wanting the bike to look like they were meant to be part and parcel of same.

Check them out at
http://www.maxxis.com/Bicycle/Hybrid/Detonator.aspx
The part number for the ones that I fitted was TB51903000 with wired rims.

I also fitted two 559 Vrederstein Butyl Seamless "Race" Tubes with Presta valves which so far seem fine with their screw down tapered ferrule seating the valve from the exterior into the rim and providing a semi-seal to keep dirt out of the rim's interior. For inflation, so far I have resorted to a Schrader valve converter inflating the new tyres to the recommended 100 psi.

My main misgiving in this whole modification process was that the front fork clearance may not allow any tyre larger than the original 20-559 or 26" x1"

I can now happily report that there are no clearance issues with this size.

The Maxxis "Detonator" tyres run very smoothly, are best on sealed surfaces and best of all are so far puncture free after a couple of weeks of on road riding.

Roll on Spring weather!

 

[John Tolhurst]

Excellent reporting and intelligence, Pivot!

Pivot wrote: ...I can now happily report that there are no clearance issues with this size.
...

Just adding the necessary cautions, this information needs to be taken on a tire by tire basis, not all 26 x 1.25 can be assumed to fit such is the limited tire clearance, made so to meet the objective of the 451 going fully into a suitcase.

And I have noticed there is a very small variation, just +/- 1mm on the fork length, so with tight tire clearance, we have to take it on a bike by bike basis only.

Probably most will have success with 26 x 1.25, but it needs confirmation on a tire by tire and bike by bike basis.

 

[Pivot]

Hi John! Thanks for your comments on my last re "tyres for Quest 559".

I write, in response, just to make the clarification that the Maxxis "Detonator" tyres fitted were size 25-559 - slightly larger than the original 20-559. As mentioned, this tyre gave sufficient clearance to run quite freely (on my "Don Quixote" Quest 559) in the top arc of the front fork.

Like you, I think fitting a 1.25" size front tyre may be tempting fate (although as mentioned in the previous, there were no issues at all in fitting this size to the rear wheel.

Roll on spring weather!

 

[crazy_ebot]

Score update:

Old Entertainment street Bridge - 80
Me - 1

Today I managed to make it all the way across the bridge without stopping, including that hairpin, u-turn corner on the north side.

I rock. ; )

 

[kling]

Tobes,

Well done. It's a good accomplishment. I too used to watch John negotiate the bridge whilst I walked my Silvio....

Kendrick