Rolling past the end of June puts us at the mid-point of the calendar year, and it happens, here in the US, to be followed by a holiday weekend (at least this year). This seemed like a good point to take a day to do some routine maintenance and reflection on how my cycling year was going.
When I say "maintenance", I mostly mean that I decided to take a day to address issues that I’ve noticed while riding over recent weeks (maybe months) but have mentally set aside in favor of riding. This is not always ideal, but I am certain I am not the only person who does it.
Top on my list was addressing front end alignment. I’d had an issue with tire wear back in April, and I’d purchased new tires and re-set the alignment following the instructions in the Catrike Manual. Now - about 700 miles since putting the new tires on - I was noticing somewhat uneven wear on the outside edges of those tires. I’d gone back and forth on this in my head. First I questioned whether I was really seeing it, and when it became more undeniable, I debated whether to take the trike in to the shop to have it - and any other maintenance - addressed.
This debate occurs in part because, although I’m getting better at it, I am still not a confident bike mechanic. In many ways, the ways of cycle repair and adjustment seem a black art, with myself but a novice, and afraid that I will accidentally summon a demon if I recite the incantation incorrectly.
Or something like that. I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on in the back room of the bike repair shop - probably summoning Balrogs. I hear Balrogs do bike repair...
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The thing is, the bike shop is almost an hour away and, in our troubled times, requires an appointment be made in advance. My trike would likely be gone at least two days, possibly three. I do have an alternative to the trike, of course, but I don’t want to use it. And so I remind myself that these are the reasons I’m learning to do it on my own.
Alignment isn’t hard work, but it’s fiddly. And, of course, it seems like my first go at it either wasn’t quite right, or perhaps it had worked it’s way out (though the nuts around the adjuster bar were still quite tight). At this point it appeared I had too much toe-in, so I worked it back out a bit. This required a lot of moving back and forth with my measurement tool - a bit of telescoping curtain rod - but I think I have it set better now. Time will tell (and I think I’ll order a second set of tires just in case).
The other area I wanted to address was either an issue with the chain length or the derailleur, and I wasn’t sure which. I have been having trouble getting the Expedition to shift into the big ring on the back. Sometimes it would go, but others it would do that characteristic clattering sound that is the functional equivalent of the trike saying "I’m trying, Boss, I’m trying", but with no joy. The chatter is there for other gears, and I’d been having issues with single clicks of the shifter periodically jumping two gears at a time. More recently, I’d also been having some issue with shifts into higher gears simply not grabbing at all for several seconds.
This latter issue is particularly concerning when it happens just as you are shifting up to pull away from a chasing canine. Which is, of course, always when it happens.
I’d adjusted the boom in just a bit a few months ago due to some issues with knee pain. It was a small adjustment - I really just needed to make up for the difference in length needed to accommodate for winter clothes and boots - but it made me wonder if the chain was now too loose (remember - dark art). So my next task was to take a link out of the chain.
This I’ve actually gotten pretty good at, using a wire to keep the two ends nearby, and popping those pins in and out with the tool. I did quickly discover that my workbench was not at the ideal height for this particular task, requiring a little more bending than I’d prefer, but I got the link removed, got it all back together, and ran it through the gears...
...And it was clear, as I hit the two big rings together - twenty-first gear, I believe - that the chain was now too tight. It would still spin, but it was very taught and rubbing tightly against the lower chain tube.
So I muttered a few less-than polite words to myself and Calamity Jane, my trusty sidekick for the day, and went and put the link back in.
This meant that I was going to have to fiddle with the derailleur. To me, this particular part always seems the darkest of the black arts, and if I’m being honest, part of the reason I started with adjusting the length of the chain was in hopes that I wouldn't have to interact with it.
Fortunately, Utah Trikes has a very nice video laying out how to adjust the derailleur. Five minutes into it I was able to get the chain to reliably move to the top ring of the cassette. The adjustment to address gear skipping took a little longer, but I think I’ve got it sorted out now. I say "I think" because I definitely got it to stop happening on the work bench, but I haven’t taken it out on the road yet. That - which will probably happen later today - will be the ultimate test of my conjuring.
While I was at it I cleaned the chain (wiped it down anyway) and re-oiled it, and wiped everything else down as well. I did brief checks on the brake connections and made sure the wheel skewers were properly tightened down. I have come to realize, as my riding time goes up, that I need to do this sort of thing more regularly. I was able to more or less get away with annual spring tunings at the bike shop with my Cannondale. But my highest mileage year on the Cannondale was about 750 miles, and I’m already well past that now for 2020. More riding means more wear and tear, of course, and that means more maintenance. Plus, while I love my trikes, they are mechanically more complicated than the Cannondale - one extra wheel, 18 more gears, and much more chain, among other things, makes for more to keep track of.
As I’ve hinted, I didn’t go for a ride after completing my maintenance. Working on the trike was actually my second project of the day (the first involved putting a swing, which had been the victim of the prairie winds, back together), and it was relaxation time by the time I got everything back together and my tools put away. So I put the Expedition back into the Mobile Trike Garage, locked everything up for the night, and consulted with my beer fridge.
But today? Today I’ll test it all out. Today I ride.