I know i know… the seat needs to be flipped… and that the picture should of been taken from the other side… but that ones just to present the bike in question
Now… heres the deal: you see the little bolt head that tightens the front derailleur onto the shifter?
well… it broke off (stripped) while tightening it back on after cleaning and polishing it. so… basically, the screw inside is tightened pretty solid. The real problem is that i didnt really allight the FD before screwing it on… and now its too late… i can’t get the chain to hop into the big ring. IT SUCKS!
does anyone have a clue how i can perhaps loosen it? so the the FD can be “shifted” more towards the outside form the shifter?
Lets see if anyone can come up with something ingenious…
this bike was seriously up and running (except for the high gears, obviously) but then i ran into another problem.
I got a flar in the read tire. So like a noob i removed the tire from the steel rims…and then i realized that the inside of the rim… underneath the rim tape… the whole thing was rusted mad, and then eventually one of the pit corosion holes i think is what blew the tire. So i sanded the crap down… and then moved on to installing the wheel back but i noticed it was really out of true.
I bought a little spoke tool (Mat B. was there)… but in my inexperiance, i forced it a little too much and in the process one spoke broke.
So i since then have found a matching soke from a far too gone rim… BUT
BUT i need to remove the cassette, and to be it seem that it needs a special tool. Is it a generic too? or are there various sizes? does anyone have that tool i am speaking of? The following pic kinda shows the cassette (like a quater of it).
Not sure where to get a FD that is compatible with those older bikes, but I’m sure if you bring it in a non-pretentious shop (like CGR) they will help you out.
For the cassette: You can get a tool for less than $20 if you already have a big wrench, or a fancier one that includes the wrench for a fair bit more. You will also need something called a chain whip, which is not an SandM device but to keep the cassette from turning while you unscrew it.
I have both a cassette tool and a chain whip. If you don’t want to buy the tools i’m located at the corner of Deluth and St. Hubert if you want to come by and try and get that cassette off.
I’m not sure from the photo, but given the age of the bike it’s probably not a cassette but a free wheel. The tool for removing those is a bit different. I suggest you go to the FLAT, a McGill SSMU club which has tools and volunteers to help you do it. And perhaps some spare parts too.
see http://theflat.wordpress.com/about-2/
Please join us at the Flat sometime. I work Mondays (usually) and Thursdays.
Though I can’t make our much from the pictures, that appears to be a weird old Simplex design where there was no exposed parallelogram like on most front derailleurs, and instead a little push-rod that swings out the derailleur cage.
As far as replacement goes, any front derailleur will work (they are very simple contraptions,) though you will likely get best results from one that is not “shaped” like most are today - that is, one with a generally flat cage like yours. We have plenty of them at the collective. That looks like a Sachs freewheel to me, and I believe we have the tool as well.
I did in fact get confused with the whole cassette and freewheel thing.
cassettes are what we find in mordern bikes… and the freewheel… well thats the old stuff…
so yea… a freewheel tools is what id need.
As for the collective… im really interested in that.
maybe you can tell me a bit more about it. -ill check the site rifht after this msg. As for bringing the bike here… forget about it… i live too far… and with the train its now ideal
We aren’t a store, rather a service to the greater McGill community. So we do prefer that you fix your bike at the collective, rather than just buying the parts to fix your bike at home. Of course we also encourage donations of parts, money, and volunteering time as well.
The collective is open 4:30 to 9 on Mondays, and 4:30 to 7:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though we may be changing our hours soon in anticipation of the cold, white winter. We are located in the basement of the SSMU “Shatner” Building, room B02, I think. But we’re right outside Gert’s - you can’t miss us.
I would definitely like to come by. Perhaps i can make it this thrusday and check it out.
I’ve started my own little “workshop” at home this summer. I bought a tool case (generic tools) and a few more items such as a chain tool, a pedal wrench, a sweet bike stand, lots of lubricants and degreasers, polishers, ahah the spoke tool… oh whatever… it doesnt really matter what i have…
The thing is … i dont have all the best tools… so the FLAT seems like a very cool place. (just that i live in the West Island… so bringing a bike in is difficult during rush hour…)
I’ve become super interested in the mechanical aspect of the bikes since i couldnt ride anymore after surgery. I’ve sucessfully flipped two bikes see pics below and want to get that yellow one going too.
they look like those before and after pictures you see on infomercials- the before is poorly lit, dark corner, and the after is in the sunshine, with shiny reflections on the metal parts… but still, very nice bikes! be careful when riding the second one though, you don’t want to blind anyone.
Like you said jason, the rust was removed using VIM (1$ a bottle at the dollar store) and polished using a metal polish… easy… and worked great. Sure the before pic was done on a cloudy day too… but the flash really did reflect well off the fenders…so it look so “staged”
Unfortunately the red one is my downtown commuter… (Hence the HUGE lock and lights…). It really works well and i really like it too.
The white one was done for my gf birthday… -took a new rear wheel with sprokets (weinmann - 55$), changed the old Positron RD with shimano touney RD and SIS shifter (15$) and a new chain 9bucks.
it was super worth it too… and fun.
