Lumberjack GamesBroke a spoke. . .major changes ahead
The other day (Wednesday) when I was riding home I broke a spoke on my bike. No biggie right? A new spoke is about 50 cents. A new nipple is about 50 cents. That comes to $31 dollars. Here's how I figure it:
- I have a tubular tire glued to the rim instead of a normal clincher like most people. Removal and replacement: $18.
- Truing (If I don't do it myself) the wheel: $12
- Nipple and spoke: $1
- Gas at $3.00 a gallon
- Using a rusty front wheel from my old 10 speed
- Using Sandy's GT Autostream (shown here)
By the way, I think that all people who own bike shops in Rochester are elitests. I asked one today: How do most people who ride tubular tires replace their spokes? The answer was that most people who have these kinds of tires have a team mechanic who changes them for them. So I guess that means that I better make my own team. My team name will be: Screw It. Owen can stretch the new tires. Alex can be the glue man. Annika can true the wheels and chastise me for not getting the wheels rebuilt soooner.
3 comments:
WAY TO SAVE GAS!
I rode Sandy's bike to work this morning, and it took just a half hour. What can I say? Her bike is a great commuter. I would probably add some kind of pedal clips so that my feet are properly positioned and don't slip off, but that's about it.
Also, I think that I will try to rebuild my own wheels. That way, I can buy better wheels, and after building them, if they need truing or dishing, then I can just pay a shop to do that. If they are really screwed up, then at least I tried. I have to get better at maintaining my own bike if I want to keep it for a long time. There are plenty of good articles about wheel building, and it would be a good fall project for me.
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