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Shouting into the Void
Oct. 27th, 2014 04:24 pmAttn: Those who ride bicycles!
First off, I feel as though I should provide a bit of disclosure. I've been a bad bicycle mom. At my previous apartment it was easy for me to keep my bike out of the elements, because there was a three-season room in the back of the house I was allowed to use for storage. At the new place...there's like, the front porch and the cellar. SO the bike, she has been rained on.
My best attempts at keeping things covered with various garbage bags and the like have all met with varying degrees of failure, and my attempt to buy a bike cover was met with derision from the guy at the REI who told me to just get a tarp.
Both of these things I could have had shipped to me via Amazon ages ago, but just...life happened. There's been a lot of life happening to me lately, so...yeah.
This is why my bike chain is redder than I'd like, and noisier than I'm comfortable with.
I've looked online for resources on the care and maintenance of bike chains and...there's a lot. The only thing that stuck was the idea of measuring the chain to see if it's in need of replacement.
So I turn to you: How do you maintain your chain and gears?
Are there products your recommend? Tools I'm going to need?
Normally I'd just go to Landry's and call it a day, but the last time I was there for a flat tire they gave me a card for a class in bike maintenance before sending me on my way. Which I'm taking as a hint that they'd like me to be a little more self sufficient. I'd be more than happy to ignore that hint, but then they went and put my seat back on way too low and I'm bitter.
Which also reminds me: I need to figure out away to adjust my seat, because I've tried and am apparently no where near strong enough to move the damn thing.
So to sum up:
I'm bad at bikes.
First off, I feel as though I should provide a bit of disclosure. I've been a bad bicycle mom. At my previous apartment it was easy for me to keep my bike out of the elements, because there was a three-season room in the back of the house I was allowed to use for storage. At the new place...there's like, the front porch and the cellar. SO the bike, she has been rained on.
My best attempts at keeping things covered with various garbage bags and the like have all met with varying degrees of failure, and my attempt to buy a bike cover was met with derision from the guy at the REI who told me to just get a tarp.
Both of these things I could have had shipped to me via Amazon ages ago, but just...life happened. There's been a lot of life happening to me lately, so...yeah.
This is why my bike chain is redder than I'd like, and noisier than I'm comfortable with.
I've looked online for resources on the care and maintenance of bike chains and...there's a lot. The only thing that stuck was the idea of measuring the chain to see if it's in need of replacement.
So I turn to you: How do you maintain your chain and gears?
Are there products your recommend? Tools I'm going to need?
Normally I'd just go to Landry's and call it a day, but the last time I was there for a flat tire they gave me a card for a class in bike maintenance before sending me on my way. Which I'm taking as a hint that they'd like me to be a little more self sufficient. I'd be more than happy to ignore that hint, but then they went and put my seat back on way too low and I'm bitter.
Which also reminds me: I need to figure out away to adjust my seat, because I've tried and am apparently no where near strong enough to move the damn thing.
So to sum up:
I'm bad at bikes.
