Bikes
Accessories
Tips
Trips
Links
Philosophy
FAQ
Media
Patrons
Gallery
Reviews
|
BikeE Tips & Tricks
Keep your BikeE performing at it's best
with these useful tips submitted by BikeE owners
Please consider your technical abilities when attempting to
perform any of these tips and have a qualified bike mechanic complete the work
you are not comfortable with doing yourself.
| BAG
Don't own a BikeE bag? No problem.
Just tie the straps of a small back pack around the cross-bar on the
seat back. Submitted by Philip
O'Leary
A
Dry Bag Works Too Submitted
by Larry Hager
|
| COMPUTER
If the lead on your computer is too short to
reach the handlebars, it can be attached to the stem using a minoura
space bar or zip ties. Submitted by
Bob Colover and Philip O'Leary Click here
to see photos
|
| GEARING
Just some notes on the frustrating business of
derailer compatibilities:
1. Shifter/derailer: ESP and Shimano are two fundamentally different
designs. Both shifter and derailer must be ESP or non-ESP. Notably, ESP
shifters pull about twice as much cable per "click." I prefer
ESP's for long cable runs for this reason, as any tendency for the cable
to hang up along
the way is overcome by the larger amount of cable movement. Since the
BikeE comes with an ESP shifter and derailer, you cannot just install an
XTR
derailer without replacing the shifter as well.
2. Derailer/chain: Derailers specified as 9-speed might not work as well
with 7 or 8 speed systems because 9 speed chain is thinner. The wider
chain
might rub against the pulley cage unless the manufacturer designed for
variability. According to SRAM's tech manual, the 9.0 will work with
8-speed chain, so a swap is no problem (as some posts have indicated).
3. Shifter/cassette: Naturally the number of gears indicated on the
shifter should match the number on the cassette. However, spacing
between the cogs on 7 and 8 speed systems is close enough that you can
mix these items without big problems, other than a redundant position on
the shifter or an
inaccessible cog. 9 speed shifters must be used with 9 speed cassettes.
Don't ask me about Campy 10 speed systems, as I've never twiddled
one.
4. Derailer/cassette: 8 and 9 speed systems require a greater amount of
side-to-side movement than 7 speed set ups. 8/9 speed derailers will
work on
7 speed cassette by simply limiting their range using the limit screws,
but the reverse is not true. Submitted by Mike
Librik
|
| SEAT
Sliding Seat? After sanding the inside of the rail
grabbers, I add a thin layer of outdoors "Goop" and let it dry
thoroughly. The grabbers grab well without over tightening the bolts, but
the quick release still works. Submitted by T. Barnum
Modify your Comfort
Seat for a more comfortable ride. Submitted
by John Huddleson
The
seats will have more grab at any level of tightness on the Q-R’s if
you turn it upside down, use a round pencil or similar wrapped in fine
sandpaper to sand the inside surfaces of the 4 concave clamping grooves
in the black discs that grab the rail. You remove the
surface sheen and the color becomes a little lighter gray vs. the jet
black. Submitted by Thomas W. Abbott
Seat
Slider Replacement
Submitted
by John Fleming
BikeE Seat
Types
Submitted by Philip
O'Leary
Problem with Seat Creep
For the 4 years I've had my AT, seat creep has been a
constant problem, as it has been for many. Within the first month of
owning it, I tightened the rear skewer too much and snapped the stay.
BikeE replaced it through my LBS under warranty and I was always afraid of
it happening again. When they added the rings to the sliders there was a
slight improvement, but it was
still a major annoyance. I tried all the suggested fixes like sanding,
etc., but I think there is always some give due to the spring and the
stresses we put on the seat in starting, climbing and just looking for
that little extra oomph make creep inevitable. Maybe a lightweight person
doesn't have as much of a problem.
Any way, when I was getting ready to ride to a meeting I was adjusting my
seat position for about the zillionth time and over tightened the front
skewer. The spring sort of popped and I couldn't get the front tightened
down. I looked at the skewer and the threads were somewhat stripped right
where the nut should tighten.
I rode gingerly towards my meeting, knowing there was a hardware store on
the way. Riding with only the rear working makes for an interesting ride.
If you aren't absolutely smooth and centered, you will get some scary
wobble of the seat. I figured I could get some threaded rod and replace
the skewer, but it is apparently metric and they only had standard. The
quick release
and nut wouldn't fit, so I landed up just buying a bolt and nut and got a
bonus - no seat creep.
I don't share my bike, so being able to change positions quickly is not a
real issue. I rarely carry the bike by car and if I'm working on my bike I
take the seat off and have tools handy. It takes a few seconds more to
loosen the nut than it does with the QR. Now I'm thinking of replacing the
rear QR for even greater staying power.
If you don't share the bike, this really is a good solution. After a
number of daily commutes, I have yet to experience any seat creep. Submitted
by Steve Boime
|
| TOOLS
When making up a tool kit, throw in a few small
zip ties and
a few of the heavier duty zip ties as well. They weigh
almost nothing and are very handy for emergency repairs. And of course, a few feet of duct tape. I also carry 1/8"
woven nylon rope and it's been handy on several occasions. Submitted by Bruce Layne
Tool
Lists Submitted
by members of the BikeE List
|
| TRANSPORT
Make
a Carrier for Your BikeE from PVC
Submitted
by Larry Hager
Modify
your rack to carry a BikeE
Submitted
by Larry Hager
Carrying a BikeE on a hitch carrier:
We found that last summer when we carried the ATs on
our hitch mounted Karacks carrier that the seat backs acted like sails,
especially in the eddies behind large tractor trailer rigs. The
eddies would make the rear of the car shift about. I believe
that this stressed the struts on my seat back and finished weakening the
poor welds on those struts. After repairing my seat struts,
we decided that we should remove the seats after loading the bikes on
the Karacks carrier. To make removal less stressful on the
sliders (which seems to be the weakest point in the seat system) I
removed the little retaining pin from the frame behind the seat and now
we just release the tension and slide the seats off the rear of the
frame. We do this while the ATs are securely held on the
carrier and they go on and off in less than 30 seconds and there is no
stress on the sliders. Submitted by Ken Kolk |
| WHEELS
My LBS showed me how to remove and replace the
rear wheel so I could repair a flat when I have one. You need to
set the left SRAM shifter to 3 and the right SRAM shifter to 7.
Then you put the chain on the smallest of the chainrings and insert the
wheel into the frame (note: you need to have the brakes open and out of
the way). You then use a 15mm open-end wrench to tighten the nuts,
making sure the retainers are in the slot correctly before tightening it
down fully. Now slip the little plastic pulley like thing on the
right side of the wheel with the chain and threaded end coming out of
the pulley. Hook up the shifter cable from the left shifter to the
threaded end. My connecter has a metal spring clip that you press
and simply insert the threaded rod. There should be just a slight
amount of slack in the cable. Now twist the left side shifter from
3 to 1 and back a couple of times to make sure that it shifts smoothly.
You may have to make a slight adjustment to the end on the threaded rod
to get it to work exactly right, but that is no big deal. Finally
with the rear wheel spinning move the right side shifter from 7 to 1 and
back a couple of times to make sure it is adjusted correctly. Now
reconnect the brake cable and you're done. Submitted
by Ken & Judy Kolk
You don't always have to remove
a wheel to fix a flat. It's a pain to remove the bolt-on back
wheel like that of many BikeEs. Here's how:
Without taking the wheel off the bike, use your tire irons to pull the
bead of the tire off the rim on one side. (The bead is the edge of the
tire.) Reach inside the tire and pull the innertube out all around,
except where the valve stem goes through the rim. Pump some air into the
tube and listen for the leak. You will probably hear it right away, but
if you don't, gently brush you fingers over the surface of the tube. The
leak will get louder when the little jet of air hits your finger. A
dollar bill or a piece of paper may work even better. You can even try
putting your face close to various parts of the tube and seeing if you
can feel the air on your cheek or eyelids. If none of this has worked,
pour some water on it and look for bubbles. If you don't have any water,
get creative. Don't get too creative.
Patch the leak as you normally would, but before you put the tube back
in the tire, explore the inside of the tire in the area where you found
the leak. Make sure that whatever punctured your tire is not still
there. Examine the outside of the tire for any little slices where a
tiny piece of glass might have worked its way in to the tire until it
punctured the tube. You will often find the glass still in the cut. Dig
it out.
Other flat-fixing tips:
If you can find the leak, using your eyes and ears, while the tube is
still in the tire, you only have to pull off the section of tire bead
where the leak is, instead of all the way around the tire.
Before stuffing the tube back into the tire, pump in just enough air
that it holds its shape. This will keep the tube from folding or
twisting as it is put back in. Once it is in place, though, let all the
air out; you'll find it easier to get the bead of the tire back on the
rim if the tube is completely deflated.
If you do need to replace a tube during a ride, and there isn't a nearby
bike shop, you can probably find 16" and 20" tubes at Target,
KMart, Walmart, Toys'R'us, or any other place that sells kids'
bikes. Submitted by Tom Sackett |
|
Please send in your tips to help other BikeE owners |
|
|