Post by Cowboy Camper on Aug 27, 2010 20:26:48 GMT -6
Biking is an outdoor activity (of course... ) so I guess here's the best place to tell a recent story.
My daughter is now on her 3rd bike. A new Mountain Bike was bought Monday after she wrecked her garage sale 3 speed that I bought her last year as a step up from the 'kid bike' she had first. The kids bikes are the 20" models and single speed of course, so when she outgrew that one I thought a classic 3 Speed 26" model would fit her just fine.
It did for a while until the Coaster Brake went out on Sunday, at the bottom of a hilly trail by the "Ammo Can + Woods = Awesome" cache. This trail dead ends Mostly with a fence, and that's a good/bad thing.
Good: if the brakes go out, you have a means to Stop, albeit by means of a crash.
Bad: Alternative is to run past the broken part of the fence and crash down a ravine with Rocks and Trees and all sorts of nasty stuff. Talk about getting Hurt!
Bad 2: is the fact that hitting that fence head on Also hurts and will wreck a bike pretty good.
Now for the good news.
Daughter is A-OK. The hit hurt, but she walked away just fine. The few marks could have been a lot worse had she Not hit the fence. She got her coveted New Mountain Bike after all, as I would not have her on that 3 Speed with bad brakes. (A Coaster Brake, BTW... Back pedal to Stop. It just quit working.)
Further Good News is that I know how to salvage, repair and Improve bikes since the age of 10. I can (and have) rebuilt several bikes for myself over the years and this one is no different. It's good to go right now, and it's either ready For Sale or to hold onto as as a spare bike. (Still undecided on that yet, but Daughter still doesn't want it back.)
Repairs:
The crash Really bent the front fork... and I mean Bad! Not only were the Forks bent, but the upper stem that leads up to the handle bars also took a hit. This bike would basically not Steer right anymore after the hit into that fence. Well, yesterday I took that Fork to work and straightened it up just right with a Vise and my own muscle power. First I straightened the outer Forks that you can see, and then I took a Pipe to the upper stem and was able to correct that as well. When I got back to the shop after work I repainted/touched up the paint where the crash made the paint chip off and reassembled the front end. It handles Great!
Tonight after work, I added Hand Brakes front and rear to compensate for the now dead Coaster Brake and I also reassembled and adjusted the 3 Speed shifter cable assembly so that it works properly again. While I was at it, I replaced the seat as well. The old one was so hard on the tail... it had to Go!
To conclude, this 3 Speed is even better than it was before I found it at the garage sale last year. My daughter still doesn't want it back (of course, she's liking the New one....) and I am torn as to Sell it off for a Profit or simply Keep it. I'm actually leaning toward Keeping it as it is as good to go as it can be, and I take a LOT of Pride in being able to make things like this happen for us. Even if it IS a Girl's bike, I hold no shame in Riding it proudly since I repaired it my own darn self. ;D
My daughter is now on her 3rd bike. A new Mountain Bike was bought Monday after she wrecked her garage sale 3 speed that I bought her last year as a step up from the 'kid bike' she had first. The kids bikes are the 20" models and single speed of course, so when she outgrew that one I thought a classic 3 Speed 26" model would fit her just fine.
It did for a while until the Coaster Brake went out on Sunday, at the bottom of a hilly trail by the "Ammo Can + Woods = Awesome" cache. This trail dead ends Mostly with a fence, and that's a good/bad thing.
Good: if the brakes go out, you have a means to Stop, albeit by means of a crash.
Bad: Alternative is to run past the broken part of the fence and crash down a ravine with Rocks and Trees and all sorts of nasty stuff. Talk about getting Hurt!
Bad 2: is the fact that hitting that fence head on Also hurts and will wreck a bike pretty good.
Now for the good news.
Daughter is A-OK. The hit hurt, but she walked away just fine. The few marks could have been a lot worse had she Not hit the fence. She got her coveted New Mountain Bike after all, as I would not have her on that 3 Speed with bad brakes. (A Coaster Brake, BTW... Back pedal to Stop. It just quit working.)
Further Good News is that I know how to salvage, repair and Improve bikes since the age of 10. I can (and have) rebuilt several bikes for myself over the years and this one is no different. It's good to go right now, and it's either ready For Sale or to hold onto as as a spare bike. (Still undecided on that yet, but Daughter still doesn't want it back.)
Repairs:
The crash Really bent the front fork... and I mean Bad! Not only were the Forks bent, but the upper stem that leads up to the handle bars also took a hit. This bike would basically not Steer right anymore after the hit into that fence. Well, yesterday I took that Fork to work and straightened it up just right with a Vise and my own muscle power. First I straightened the outer Forks that you can see, and then I took a Pipe to the upper stem and was able to correct that as well. When I got back to the shop after work I repainted/touched up the paint where the crash made the paint chip off and reassembled the front end. It handles Great!
Tonight after work, I added Hand Brakes front and rear to compensate for the now dead Coaster Brake and I also reassembled and adjusted the 3 Speed shifter cable assembly so that it works properly again. While I was at it, I replaced the seat as well. The old one was so hard on the tail... it had to Go!
To conclude, this 3 Speed is even better than it was before I found it at the garage sale last year. My daughter still doesn't want it back (of course, she's liking the New one....) and I am torn as to Sell it off for a Profit or simply Keep it. I'm actually leaning toward Keeping it as it is as good to go as it can be, and I take a LOT of Pride in being able to make things like this happen for us. Even if it IS a Girl's bike, I hold no shame in Riding it proudly since I repaired it my own darn self. ;D