Tuesday, May 15, 2007

This is the 3-Speed Blog

Sometimes I forget the name of this blog.

Last night, on the way home, I felt a lumpy sensation in my rear wheel when I used the brakes. I figured I'd worn the brake pads down to metal. When I got home, I checked out the brake pads and found they were still adequate. Then I noticed a strange pattern on the rim. It had a crack in it along the braking surface. The sidewall was worn out. I've never done that before. I built these wheels in 1993 or so and commuted on them most of the time since.

I decided to pull the freewheel off to install it on a backup wheel. As I removed the freewheel, part of the axle assembly feel into my hand. The axle was broken. The backup wheel is spaced incorrectly (it's 135mm and I need 125 or so). Crap.

Time to order parts: rim, axle, new fork for mountain bike (this is unrelated, I know), etc.

"Which bike should I ride to work tomorrow," I thought. How about a 3-speed? So there it is.



It's ready for the Lake Pepin Three-Speed Tour this weekend. I installed drop bars to allow me to use my handlebar bag. The bag will contain my big camera. I rebuilt the wheels with alloy rims to improve braking. It's unusual in that it has 27" tires (630 bsd) instead of the usual 26" (650A or 590 bsd). Oh, I almost forgot, it has a bell on the stem. Ringggggggggggggg.

4 comments:

Frostbike said...

Wow, total wheel failure Batman.

Jerome said...

Nice looking bike!!

Jackrabbit Slim said...

Is this photo at an angle, or is the rear tire bigger than the front?

rigtenzin said...

Jackrabbit: You shouldn't drink so much cough syrup

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