the CHAINBREAKER BIKE BOOK : a rough guide to bicycle maintenance.

225 Pages·2018·159.2 MB·English

by  SHELLEY JACKSON

THE CHAINBREAKER
BIKE BOOK
A ROUGH GUIDE TO
BICYCLE MAINTENANCE
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THE CHAINBREAKER
BIKE BOOK
A ROUGH GUIDE TO
BICYCLE MAINTENANCE
by Ethan Clark and Shelley Lynn Jackson.
illustrations by Ethan, Shelley, and Happy
Microcosm Publishing
introductions ..................................................................................................6
shelley ...................................................................................................6
ethan .....................................................................................................6
what kind of repair manual this is ............................................7
who this manual is for ...................................................................9
a special note for women ............................................................9
diy .........................................................................................................10
getting started ............................................................................................10
dealing with a shop ......................................................................10
a note on ladies in a shop ...........................................................11
description of bike types .............................................................11
dedicated to Billy Moss purchasing a bike ..........................................................................13
fit ..........................................................................................................13
Owner of French Quarter Bicycles
materials (steel vs. aluminum) ................................................14
in New Orleans where to buy ...................................................................................14
I would like to dedicate this book to Billy, not just for tools you will need ...................................................................................16
teaching me everything I know about bike repair, but also essential tools .................................................................................16
for taking a chance on hiring me, and for being the constant good tools to have ........................................................................18
source of humor & frustration that kept me loving the job for caring for your tools ....................................................................18
as long as I had it. Billy was a great mechanic and generous a word on bike stands .................................................................18
shop owner. He was a run over on a beautiful spring day, by tune up instructions ...............................................................................19
a too-big-truck while walking down the street in front of the tune up order ..................................................................................19
inspection..........................................................................................19
famous Vaughns Bar, just a block from his home. He was given
wheels ................................................................................................19
a jazz funeral fit for a king, attended by every mechanic he
inspect wheels ...............................................................................20
ever hired who mattered.
axels ...................................................................................................20
We all love and miss you, Billy Moss.
adjustment .......................................................................................21
overhaul .............................................................................................23
True wheels......................................................................................................31
tubes and tires ................................................................................31
how to fix a flat .............................................................................33
brakes ....................................................................................................................35
types of brakes ...............................................................................35
adjusting brakes .............................................................................37
how to stop a track bike ............................................................41
shifters ................................................................................................................41
how the shifter functions ..........................................................41
ISBN 978-0-9770557-3-9
types of shifters .............................................................................41
This is Microcosm #76033
friction vs. indexing ......................................................................41
First Edition - 4,000 copies - 2/1/2008 a word on gear ratio ....................................................................41
Second Edition - 5,000 copies - 9/1/2010 servicing your shifters ...............................................................42
derailleurs ......................................................................................................44
Graphic design & typography: Ian Lynam | ianlynam.com come on baby, don’t fear derailleurs ....................................44
the rear derailleur ........................................................................45
Microcosm Publishing Microcosm hQ Store the front derailleur .......................................................................47
222 S. Rogers St. 636 11th Ave. converting to a single speed ...................................................50
Bloomington, IN 47404 Portland, OR 97214 troubleshooting ..............................................................................51
[phone] [phone] special cable replacing section ....................................................51
types of wire and housing .........................................................52
www.microcosmpublishing.com cutting cables .................................................................................52
TABLE OF CONTENTS
introductions ..................................................................................................6 dressing brake housing ...............................................................53
shelley ...................................................................................................6 ferules and end caps ....................................................................53
ethan .....................................................................................................6 cable length .....................................................................................53
what kind of repair manual this is ............................................7 bearing systems ..........................................................................................54
who this manual is for ...................................................................9 headsets ............................................................................................55
a special note for women ............................................................9 threaded headsets ........................................................................55
diy .........................................................................................................10 threadless headsets ..............................................58
getting started ............................................................................................10 troubleshooting headsets ..................................58
dealing with a shop ......................................................................10 bottom brackets .........................................................................................59
a note on ladies in a shop ...........................................................11 different types of bottom brackets ...............59
description of bike types .............................................................11 bottom bracket and spindle widths ..............59
purchasing a bike ..........................................................................13 chainline .....................................................................60
fit ..........................................................................................................13 adjusting and overhauling ..................................61
materials (steel vs. aluminum) ................................................14 removing cranks ......................................................61
where to buy ...................................................................................14 bottom bracket odds and ends .........................63
tools you will need ...................................................................................16 drivetrains ......................................................................................................69
essential tools .................................................................................16 chain ...................................................................................................69
good tools to have ........................................................................18 getting the right chain ........................................69
caring for your tools ....................................................................18 when to replace your chain ...............................69
a word on bike stands .................................................................18 removal and installation .....................................69
tune up instructions ...............................................................................19 freewheels and cassettes ..........................................................71
tune up order ..................................................................................19 removal and installation ......................................72
inspection..........................................................................................19 chainrings .........................................................................................74
wheels ................................................................................................19 drivetrain troubleshooting ........................................................75
inspect wheels ...............................................................................20 check all nuts and bolts ......................................................................76
axels ...................................................................................................20 safety check .....................................................................................76
adjustment .......................................................................................21 seats ....................................................................................................76
overhaul .............................................................................................23 seatposts ...........................................................................................76
True wheels......................................................................................................31 pedals .................................................................................................78
tubes and tires ................................................................................31 testride...............................................................................................79
how to fix a flat .............................................................................33 the random and (hopefully) helpful
brakes ....................................................................................................................35 information section .................................................................................79
types of brakes ...............................................................................35 wrenching tips ................................................................................79
adjusting brakes .............................................................................37 general troubleshooting .............................................................81
how to stop a track bike ............................................................41 care and maintenance ................................................................82
shifters ................................................................................................................41 locking your bicycle .....................................................................82
how the shifter functions ..........................................................41 safety tips for riding ..............................................................................83
types of shifters .............................................................................41 stuff ......................................................................................................................86
friction vs. indexing ......................................................................41 getting parts ..................................................................................86
a word on gear ratio ....................................................................41 accessories ......................................................................................86
servicing your shifters ...............................................................42 need vs. want .................................................................................86
derailleurs ......................................................................................................44 fancy stuff ........................................................................................87
come on baby, don’t fear derailleurs ....................................44 bike aesthetics and fashion......................................................88
the rear derailleur ........................................................................45 closing statements ..................................................................................89
the front derailleur .......................................................................47 appendices ........................................................................................................90
converting to a single speed ...................................................50 directory of community bicycle projects ............................91
troubleshooting ..............................................................................51 glossary ..............................................................................................................97
special cable replacing section ....................................................51 reprints of old chainbreakers .............................................99-215
types of wire and housing .........................................................52 index ......................................................................................................................217
cutting cables .................................................................................52 about the authors ..................................................................................221
introductions: getting myself on a bicycle that really made a huge positive
change in my life. Riding around this beautiful city helped
shelley me slow down a little. Having a bike in a place that I loved
led to being alone and independent for the first time in
I haven’t been a “professional” mechanic for a couple years
my life. That was a small act that completely reshaped
now. The shop I worked at in the French Quarter in New
my future. I escaped the car bubble culture I had grown
Orleans for about 6 years closed a few months before
up with in Southern California. I was suddenly able to
Hurricane Katrina hit. Now, I have lost my wrench-
experience and interact with the outside world in ways I
turning calluses and a bit of memory for what it feels like to
hadn’t. I smelled the plants around me and began to notice
work on all different bikes in a shop, day after day. My bike
the houses and architecture that made up my surroundings.
fixing experiences were at a shop that worked on virtually
Life became more engaging as I interacted more. Slowly
no fancy bikes, and at Plan B, a volunteer-run space for
this inspired the way I prioritized my life, and I began
bike recycling. At the shop it seemed like the tools we used
questioning my needs versus my wants and simplified
most were hammers and drills, and at Plan B we struggled
so that I could spend more time doing things that felt
to keep functioning components stocked as we pieced
fulfilling. The seed for all of this was a simple, little bicycle.
together bikes with mismatched, used parts. But, at both
Being a bicycle mechanic and actually learning about how
places, we worked so hard to make things work well and
they work and how to fix them, took all of this a step
to provide people with a solid form of transportation. We
further. Getting to work on my own bike gave me a chance
learned a lot more about bikes doing things the way we did.
to learn things, to become more capable.
It was way more than just take off and replace, like most
things in the modern world. We worked really hard to
Think about it, just a simple machine like a bicycle can help
make even the jankiest of bikes run pretty well. Because
you find simplicity, capability, and the genuine desire to live
of this, I will never forget how to be a mechanic. It is like
life to the fullest. Hopefully that inspires others to live their
learning to ride a bike, I suppose. Once you got it, you got
lives this way as well.
it for life. This is my attempt at sharing the little useful
bits of bike repair that I learned over those years.
ethan
This repair manual is slightly limited and maybe even a
In all honesty, I’m not as into bikes as I used to be.
little old school for the type of bikes that are on the road
Once was a time when my world revolved around my
these days. At the very least, what this manual covers is
bike, (a pink Tommassini that I found in a dumpster in
the basics of mechanics and repair, a starting point for
Boulder,Colorado), my courier bag, my little pouch of tools,
a person who wants to learn to work on their bicycle. At
my leatherman, my pump, my Nalgene bottle. That was
best, it is inspiration for learning to look at your surround-
about all that I owned, and I thought of myself as a little
ings in a whole new way, because what I want to express
rolling autonomous zone—ready for anything. This was in
here is not simply how to make a broken bicycle work
New Orleans, where the ground is flat and the roads are
again, but how to make anything broken work again.
bad and biking just makes more sense. There, it seemed
So that you feel like you can look at a problem and not
that after food, a bike was the most important thing you
just not feel daunted by it, but to actually feel inspired
could have. I hurled myself into cycling; working with
by it, to see every problem as an opportunity to learn
Shelley at French Quarter Bikes, and volunteering at Plan
something new and useful. I mean, we live in a world full
B, the New Orleans Community Bike Project, where we
of impermanence. It is the law of nature that the things
helped people fix up bikes out of recycled parts. Eventually,
around us, tangible and intangible, change and sometimes
I decided to take it a bit further. I went to frame building
fall apart. Embrace it! Learn to look at problem solving in a
school in Ashland, Oregon, then moved to Asheville, North
whole new way.
Carolina, with the intent of working at a fancy bike shop
where I would learn about more high end gear. I made a
Honestly, I believe it was moving to New Orleans and
resume in comic strip form, got a list of the bike shops in
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town from the yellow pages, and set out, in the snow, to to help you identify what you are looking at and make it
get a job. The first place I walked into was a bike/ski shop, easy to think logically about what each part does and how
an REI-type outdoorsy outfitter place, the kind with happy they work together. It will help you locate a part on your
families of mannequins in khaki shorts rappelling down the bike even if it looks a little different than the ones in our
walls. “This place is not going to hire me.” I thought as I illustrations. For me, I can look at most car engines (old
handed my resume over to the mustachioed golden-boy ones) and find a carburetor, distributor, alternator, etc., and
manager. But they did. I finally got to work with super- though they sometimes look radically different from car to
fancy, high-end parts. And you know what? It sucked! I car, by understanding each part’s form and function I can
hated it. All day long I dealt with cyclists, mostly either troubleshoot the reason it may be malfunctioning. Doing
mountain bikers or racers. I adjusted shocks and disc this with a bike is way easier than with a car, and you
brakes; I upgraded forks and put together titanium road shouldn’t have a problem if you open your mind to it.
bikes. It felt like I was on a different planet than when I
was helping people with bikes they needed for getting to For some, certain descriptions may be difficult to grasp. If
work. I didn’t care about some accountant’s three thousand mechanics are new to you, then, start with simple things
dollar mountain bike! I wanted to be straightening bent to get you familiar with tools, the way they work, and with
forks on forty year old Schwinns! I’d gotten into bikes the way your own hands work. Start with fixing a flat, or
because I thought that they were empowering. Bikes give adjusting your seat height. Or do something with a friend
people self-reliance, but the high end bike shop tries to take who can show you a little first. Or wing it! That’s how I
that away. Funny thing about capitalism; how that works. learned. Eventually, after some time and a lot of mistakes,
Like I said, I’m not as into cycling as I used to, but I still I think I got it. So please, be patient with yourself. Sadly,
have the utmost of respect for the bicycle. It is the most no repair is problem free and there always seems to be a
efficient machine on earth, and in a world that’s so full of catch. From rusted-on nuts, banged up threads, to wrong
crappy things, finding something like a bicycle, which is tools, and wrong parts, or maybe we just don’t cover
about as close to purity as you can get, is a life-changing how to fix the exact kind of part on your bike. Things will
thing. So when Shelley asked me to help with this book, happen. Difficulties will arise. Just be patient and logical,
I jumped at the chance. I may not be who I used to be, and with your own ingenuity and a little guidance from this
the guy that actually planned, once upon a time, to have book, I think you can work it out.
“Bike Ride” tattooed on my knuckles, but I still wanted to
share what I know about bikes and maintenance before it There are a few basic things that bikes should be—
leaves my increasingly sieve-like memory for good. functional, practical, simple, and if you’re so inclined—
Ok, on to mechanics! pretty. For some people, these things are prioritized
differently. That is fine. But with this book, we’ll start at
the top. You’ll learn first how to make your bike functional.
what kind of repair manual this is:
Making it pretty is up to you, but we’ll give you a few tips
This manual can serve many people, from the very beginner
on that too. The book is based around a full maintenance
to a decent mechanic who just likes to geek out and hear
tune–up. It is set up to help you keep everything on your
people talk a lot about bikes and turning wrenches. If you
bike functioning well to help prevent larger problems that
know everything in here already, or this seems too simple
could come up from basic neglect. Lack of maintenance
for you—that’s great! Find a more advanced manual!
and attention leads to problems whose solutions are too
You can take bikes as far as you want to, and with some
difficult to handle in a simple repair manual like this one,
attention and logic, the bikes this manual will help you fix
leaving you dependent on some stranger to fix things
should take you as far as you want to go.
for you. That ain’t cheap. The preventative maintenance
required to avoid this is actually quite easy.
Also, this manual is not written in high tech or “cool
dude” language. It is written in the language we would be
speaking in if we were standing in front of you. It is meant
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learn something that can help them make a repair or want to
who this manual is for:
get and ride a bike. Spread the word with us about how great
We want this book to be accessible to everyone! For women
and simple bikes are and all the great things they do for our
and men, the wealthy and to those who live life by simpler
lives, and we can help make our little bike scene a big, colorful,
means; all races, ages, abilities and strengths. It may seem
eclectic bike scene. Thanks.
obvious that bikes would be accessible to all types of people,
but sadly, this is not always true.
a special note for women:
Ok ladies, this is a little pep talk for you. I know it can be
In America at least, we are brought up in a competitive world,
difficult at first to pick up a new skill, especially one that is
with surroundings steeped in capitalism and consumerism. It
often thought to be a man’s thing. My (Shelley’s) first job ever
makes it difficult to know what our needs are. From a young
was selling tools in a hardware store, and it was the first time
age most of us looked forward to getting our first car, our
I experienced the kind of blatant sexism that would just bring
driver’s license. Most of us are taught to look forward to
me to tears, the kind that would follow me through many jobs
success in our lives: getting married, acquiring things, buying
ever since. It was worse at the bike shop, where I was often
things. Our whole world is shaped by the idea of supply and
spoken down to, called sweetie, and asked if I need help lifting
demand, to think that if we can get anything we want, that
something. Sometimes it was out of kindness, cause in the
it is not wrong to get everything we can. But, we will assume
south, everyone called everyone sweetie, even when they’re
that for many of you interested in bicycles may be longing
calling the cops on you. But there were times when I was
for a simpler life. Hopefully we can create one by learning
assumed to be the wife of the owner, or spoken about to
from the faults of the macrocosm and not making the same
the owner as if I wasn’t in the room. Things like, “She can
mistakes in our microcosms. There is no need to impose the
fix stuff?” spoken to my boss as I was working a bike on
competition, greed and caste systems of the rest of the world
the stand.
into our lives and communities.
The same kind of shit comes up whether we are working in
I know it is natural for humans to break themselves down
a shop, in a free bike project, or working with a guy friend in
into groups, recognizable by dress, mode of transport, musical
the garage. It is easy to get a little nervous, shy, or frustrated
tastes, hairstyles. We like to be around people who look like
when the person trying to teach us to fix something, or
us because we assume they have similar belief systems. This
the person whose bike we are trying to fix, keeps taking
is not always true. Try not to create barriers between you and
the tools from our hands and doing the work for us (I am
the people around you. Maybe this seems a silly topic for a
guilty of doing this myself). It is your job to stand up and be
bike repair manual, but we have seen plenty of sexism, racism,
heard. Know what you want to learn, get to know the tools,
and competitiveness between people over who has the coolest
the language, and by all means, do the wrenching yourself,
shit in the biking scene. This is just silliness. Maybe you have
even if it means making mistakes. Ask questions and look
cooler stuff, but why? Cause you worked harder and spent
for guidance, but look to your own sense of logic as well. I
more money? Because you don’t work and have hours upon
often find women to be more attentive and careful of their
hours each day to go dumpstering and scavenging all over
work, unlike a lot of bolt-breaking dudes I have worked with.
town? Never seen a woman totally kick ass as a mechanic?
Trust yourself and your work. If things get out of hand and
Well, just so you know, there are a lot of ladies out there who
you are feeling left out or condescended to, speak up, and
could teach some boys a thing or two. The bottom line is: it’s
let the person know you are totally capable of doing what
not a competition. Everyone and every bike is allowed in, ok?
you are meant to be doing. Keep up the hard work, and don’t
back down. You’ll be happy about it in the end. I know I am.
So while this book was made by a couple punks, one under
Empower yourself, and by all means, don’t stop there, learn
thirty and one who likes to say she’s pushing 40, it was made
to be patient to help empower others as well! Let’s hear it for
with the intention that anyone should have access to it! Help
the girls!!!
us do all we can, with our limited abilities, to make sure lots of
people from all over the place get a look at this so they may
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