[bike] Odd failure yesterday
Jul. 23rd, 2007 01:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmazeOh right, yesterday's ride had more than its share of bike failures. We lost a tire in outer Carlisle, and the tandem's rear chain needed to be reseated several miles later.
Ever since I've had it, the new bike's front derailleur has acted a little funny. It feels like the shifter has four positions, but there are only three chainrings, and getting it to act consistently takes a little effort. Somewhere in outer Acton, the shifting started to get really bad, and then the chain fell off the inner chainring. In the process of reseating it, I discovered that the entire pedal assembly shifted about a half inch side-to-side, which explained the current exceptional badness. On further examination, it seemed like the left-side crank was half an inch too far out, which is odd because repairing it required first moving the crank inwards and then screwing in a piece on the outside.
Question the first: is this something that could Just Happen? Or is it a possible problem when the bike was initially put together that I just haven't noticed, or something Wheelworks might have touched in the "30-day checkup" (a good 100 miles before this)?
Question the second: the screws that hold the crank on had strange blue stuff on them, and several of the parts around there have specific torques printed on them. Should I take the bike somewhere to have the crank taken off and put on again, or is what I'm able to accomplish with hand tools in my backpack good enough?
Ever since I've had it, the new bike's front derailleur has acted a little funny. It feels like the shifter has four positions, but there are only three chainrings, and getting it to act consistently takes a little effort. Somewhere in outer Acton, the shifting started to get really bad, and then the chain fell off the inner chainring. In the process of reseating it, I discovered that the entire pedal assembly shifted about a half inch side-to-side, which explained the current exceptional badness. On further examination, it seemed like the left-side crank was half an inch too far out, which is odd because repairing it required first moving the crank inwards and then screwing in a piece on the outside.
Question the first: is this something that could Just Happen? Or is it a possible problem when the bike was initially put together that I just haven't noticed, or something Wheelworks might have touched in the "30-day checkup" (a good 100 miles before this)?
Question the second: the screws that hold the crank on had strange blue stuff on them, and several of the parts around there have specific torques printed on them. Should I take the bike somewhere to have the crank taken off and put on again, or is what I'm able to accomplish with hand tools in my backpack good enough?
