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Riding a real bike
Bicycle aficionados, or cyclists, as they may think of themselves, can be a pretentious lot, much like the people who use words like aficionado. While I like people on bikes, I've chastised cyclist for asking questions like, "Were they real bikes?" when by real bikes, they mean esoteric, expensive, and able to be lifted with one pinky. "No," I counter, "we're on the fake, imaginary bikes made out of rare unobtainium. Real bikes are owned by real people and often came from a department store."
Today I went mountain biking on the Huffy that followed me home earlier this week. First, however, I trued the wheels so they fit through the bakes without contacting the pads multiple times through a revolution. With the tires off to do that, I did add two parts that didn't come with it, stretching 26" tubes into the 29" tires, which is easier to do at home and let me save the big tubes for easier trailside repairs when needed. And with a more consistent braking surfaces, I also adjusted the pads' grab points so they actually were, well, brakes! Oh yes, I also wrapped some strips of old, used duct tape around the bars so the grips didn't spin so freely.
With a hip pack full of multi-tool, 14mm socket wrench for the reinstalled cranks I didn't trust, water bottle for hydrating on a bike without cage mounts, and an adjustable wrench to remove the nutted wheels in case I needed the pump and now spare tube, I left home for the first time on this bike. Well, I left after really cranking down on the seatpost bolts that let the saddle angle slip half way down my seldom driven way.
I headed up Harris Street to a trailhead and was pleased to find the shifting, which I never adjusted, was nearly spot on. I only trimmed one limit screw after an overshift make use of the spoke protector when I grabbed the lowest gear. Pleased, but not shocked, I know ultra cheap Shimano derailleurs tend to be impressively good, possibly better than the old XTR I was riding yesterday. Although, to be fair, any laggy shifts there were likely caused by laggy cable maintenance.
How was it on the trail? Well, I'd already figured out riding up the pavement, I'd be shifting to the small chainring for the trail. Those rings are big! The smallest is on par with most traditional middles, the middle suited to road transits, and the biggest might just be there so the sticker on tbe seatstay can proclaim, "18 Speeds". The combination of heavy bike and tall gearing may in fact be a design feature, to remind you when pushing up hills that even a Huffy is often faster than walking.
So, again, how was it? It was like mountain biking, and that can't be a bad thing. Granted, for years I've acknowledged that I have the luxury of not needing a fantastic bike, and yes, I do like the ride qualities of any of my other bikes better, but it still felt fun like mountain biking, was faster than walking, and when I saw my friend Bonnie running on the trail, it was even faster than that, and Bonnie's really fast! Granted, at that point, I was on a downhill while she was climbing. Either way, how it was was fun!
Remember that 14mm socket? I'm glad I did. After a few uphills that weren't so steep to have me hoofing it, I checked and the left crank was wobbling again. The previous owner rode it too long lose and damaged the square taper enough that I tightened it another three times through the ride, but before I swap out the arm, I will see if I can repair the taper enough with a file, maybe even some aluminum can shims. If I get it to work well enough, I might even grow strong enough to use that third chainring!
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