Bill’s Bike Blog

Problems and Solutions

LOOK Cleats.

Problem: Do you love the LOOK platform but hate the price of new cleats? Do you have a bunch of old, worn-out cleats?

Solution: I find that my cleats tend to wear out on one side much more than the other, leaving half of the rear lip intact. Get out the dremel, use a cutting wheel, cut the good parts out and piece them together. The screws will hold them in place.

Note#1: if you cut consistent shapes, not only can you use any of these parts on either shoe, you can also replace sections instead of the whole cleat.

Note#2: I sometimes have squeaking problems with these. Any solutions?

Gloves.

Problem: Love those gloves, but the padding squishing down? Are your pretty gloves just not comfortable enough?

Solution: My wife figured out a way to greatly extend the comfort life of gloves: get some Dr. Scholl’s double-thick foam insoles and cut them to fit inside the palm of the glove.

The part which sticks out goes between the thumb and the index finger. This provides padding on what is, at least for me, where I put a lot of pressure. It also helps the pad basically stay in place.

I pulled the glove back so the extra part can be seen wrapped around the hand.

Tire--serious hole or rip in the side.

Problem: have you ever been on a ride and hit something like a sharp rock which rips a 1/2 inch tear in the side of your tire? Have you ever seen a tube bulging through some weakness in your tire, or had it blow because of one?

Solution: You’ve probably heard of the dollar bill solution. I have a better one. I met a group of people at a church parking lot to do a 50 mile ride. While looping around in the parking lot I clipped one of those concrete blocks in a parking space and ripped about a 3/4 inch hole in the side of my back tire. I always carry duct tape, so I hoped this would work. I put it inside the tire, but early in the ride it was clear that this was not going to hole, for it was bulging pretty bad. Here is one place that litter comes in handy. I looked for a water bottle or pop bottle alongside the road. I found one, borrowed someone’s knife, cut an oval out of the plastic, placed it in the tire, put a piece of duct tape over it to keep it in place and protect the tube from the sharp edge on the plastic, and rode another 40 miles on it, with the tire at full pressure.

Now I carry with me a few ovals which I have cut out of a plastic pop bottle. I have used this system a few times since then, both on my tires and other people’s.

I repaired one tire this way and put another thousand miles on it. Plastic from a pop or water bottle can hold a LOT of pressure.

 Followup: on September 18, 2007, while doing some grassy shoulder/ditch riding to find Tour of Missouri water bottles, I sliced the side of my tire on a piece of glass. (Important: these are the actual photos.)   It caused quite a hole in the tube as well.  

I got out my trusty plastic reinforcer and the duct tape, made a patch , put it in and aired it up.

Even though some of the green patch could be seen through the tire, the patch held just fine. When I got home I redid the patch, using a large chemical rubber patch inside the tire in place of the duct tape, and I put a tiny patch on the outside of the tire to cover up the green. So far I have ridden it about 80 miles without any problems.

Heart rate monitor belt.

Problem: lack of good contact, especially early in a ride.

Solution: a dab of KY on the contacts.

Index Shifting inconsistencies

Problem: your index shifting (STI, etc.) seems to be right at one end of gears in back but wrong at the other end.

Solution #1: replace your shifter cable. What has happened is that one or more of the cable filaments has broken. This allows the cable to stretch more than normal, so what works at one end will be wrong at the other end. On STI shifting this is common in the shifter itself, where it is not obvious. The second most common location is where the cable connects to the derailleur. You might need to look closely there as well, for a filament might have snapped on the back side of the nut/screw which holds the cable.

Solution #2 (if #1 does not work): replace the cable housing with new compressionless housing. DO NOT USE THE HOUSING FROM CABLES YOU GET AT PLACES LIKE WAL-MART! That type of cable housing is coiled like a spring, and it will compress and really mess up your shifting. (It’s fine to use that kind of housing on your brakes.)

Pain Issues.

Problem: Ever get a bee down your jersey in the middle of nowhere? I get stung 2-3 times a year while cycling.

Solution: carry a tiny tube of toothache medicine (e.g., Anbesol or generics). It weighs practically nothing, and yet can really help with stings.

Problem: either you or someone you ride with will slip and get scraped up (i.e., road rash). This is always a painful experience.

Solution: carry some triple antibiotic WITH PAIN KILLER. This will make the ride home much less uncomfortable.

Things to carry with you:

Duct tape. Make a small roll of a few feet. You’ll use it for something.

Patches. Those stick-on ones are great for the short run. Ultimately, if you are not one of those snobs who is NOT environmentally conscious and insists on never riding on a patched tube (think “rubber and landfill”), you’ll need to put a chemical patch on (i.e., one where you buff the tube with sandpaper, put rubber cement on it, LET IT DRY, and then put the patch on). However, chemical patches are a pain to use on the road.

Tube. Bring a spare tube or 2. I always carry 2. It is much quicker to replace the tube than to patch it, and you cannot get patches to stick if it is wet outside.

Tire pump. If you use CO2, bring an extra cartridge.

Tire levers.