Ok, well I did. I think "They" said for me to get a bike because they knew that I never do things half way.
It's also possible after breaking my clavicles, both, and carrying titanium with me to my last breath, that "They" were trying to save my hide.
As best as I can figure, I have put 8100 miles on that bike. Going around in big lazy circles.
I tell myself that I am an intermediate cyclist. Elite inline skater, but intermediate cyclist. My "Base Workout" is a marathon. Literally I watch the cycle computer and make sure that it is at least 26.2 miles or 42 km per workout. Humble Brag aside, it's just that I'm trying to keep myself fit.
Resting heart rate in the low 50s, fit.
I have come to the conclusion that I have, indeed, worn out the bike. I have video proof.
On the handlebars of the bike I have a mount for what I call a Trail Camera. It is a little water proof box that records what is going on for later viewing. It tends to do strange things to the sound like muffle the microphone and transmit road noises to the recordings.
That's the thing that clued me in. I wanted to watch the video from the other day. It had the Goodyear Blimp in a shot and I thought it might be amusing to see. It wasn't all that exciting, I have seen the airship many times and it was only up in one corner of the video. Not worth sharing.
But as I was riding I noticed that there were some strange noises. The sides of the tires were rubbing against the frame of the bicycle. Why would that happen? If you are "under power" and your back wheel was rubbing during acceleration it means the wheel is being moved to the left. Chain drive on the right. How does that happen? The bearings in the rear wheel were worn.
I got up and pushed the wheel to the left and was able to get it to go all the way to the frame.
Not. Good. At. All.
Listening further to the video I heard the bearings. Literally heard the bearings. From what I can tell both wheels and the crankshaft need new bearings. Crankshaft is where you have the pedals.
I'm a big guy, powerful on the bike. I average 14 MPH plus for the first hour. I have ridden the mountain bike faster than 22 MPH up hill. I know many people have ridden faster, this is my statistic. I ride as an endurance sport. Get out and listen to a 2 hour DJ set and still have to find more music on the phone.
That sort of thing.
I started reviewing videos online for how to solve this thing. I came to the conclusion that I could do the repair, or I could take it to the shop. Taking it to the shop is about as much as I could find a middle of the road mountain bike - about $300 to $350. New wheelset, new bearings, brake discs, crankshaft bearings, labor, diagnosis charge, new chain...
Or I could buy the parts online. I did that. I enjoy repairing mechanical things. I drive a 24 year old Jeep Wrangler so I could do that.
The parts have cost me about $30. I could have tossed cash at a friend who has Amazon Prime and have the parts here "yesterday", but that is not my style. It wasn't an emergency.
The parts are on the slow boat from China. I know that they have been accepted through customs and are on their way here. I purposely bought too many bearings so as to make absolutely certain I could fix and or upgrade the bike.
Loose bearings for the Cup and Ball bearings. Caged Ball Bearings for a second "drop in" try at the wheels. 6000 type bearings if none of that worked.
I am loaded for bear.
When everything gets here, I will see how far I can go. I will need a specialized tool to remove the gear set on the back wheel. I did lean on someone to get them here faster. He has Prime. It will be here today or tomorrow.
Replace everything else and see where I am.
Once this is all said and done, I will basically have a new bike. This one fits me. I've used it for 4 years and it is comfortable now that I have set everything to my liking.
Going around in those circles, I have noticed that my speed has dropped on that same first hour to 12.5 MPH from my 14 to 14.5 MPH. That is the bearings being worn out. At least that is what I tell myself.
In the meanwhile, I have to watch these shipping sites. Shopper's OCD. Wait an hour and refresh the browser.
All my parts are in Miami now and out for delivery.
I could spend the ridiculous charge per year for Amazon Prime, as well as buy the parts there but Amazon is a middleman. I can't really afford having middlemen putting their hand in my pockets looking for loose change.
So, I will wait. Amazon makes me uncomfortable anyway and if you can find the vendor outside of that site, you may be able to find them cheaper.
In the interim, I'm going to do some more research. The loose bearings for the Cup and Ball bearings are sized differently for the rear wheel than the front. I just want to confirm what they are.
- 3.969 mm (5/32″) – steerer (fork) bearings and many pedals.
- 4.762 mm (3/16″) – front wheel hubs (2 times 10 balls – i.e. 10 balls at each side most often – this includes all the Shimano dynamo hubs, except models DH-UR705, and DH-UR700).
- 6.35 mm (1/4″) – rear wheel hubs (usually 2 times 9 balls) and cup and cone bottom brackets (2 times 11).
- 5.556 mm (7/32″) Campagnolo Record front hubs and some exotic hubs of other manufacturers (2 times 9 balls).
- 2.381 mm (3/32″) – most Shimano pedals bearing balls.
Info courtesy of https://bike.bikegremlin.com/2255/standard-bicycle-bearing-ball-sizes/
According to a different page on that site, they say old school white lithium grease is good for lubing up the new bearings. I am fairly certain I have all of that, lube and ball bearings. I did over-buy. On top of it all I did get a few things for the house and someone's birthday. I needed to make the minimum purchase.
So "F5" the browser and it will probable get here when I drop off mid afternoon after the Carbo Crash. I will allow that since I am up at 5AM and the dog will let me know when they are on the property.
Won't you Rack? Good Boy, now stop barking! I know. They're here and bringing me stuff. And a New Duck for the Jeep too!
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