Show Us a Tool

[RunForTheHills]

Well, I like tools. Maybe I am hoarding them, but it seems like there are plenty to go around for those that want them. And with Amazon, any tool you need is only a few days away. Even hard to find specialty tools. I hope my daughter enjoys my tools after I am gone. She does know how to use them unlike my wife.

 

[PedalUma]

An anthropologist might say we are defined by three things; our tools, or art, and our garbage.

 

[PedalUma]

I thought something was off. It is well over 1%. When it is this bad it means a new chain, new gear cluster, and a new chainring. What is sort of cool is that because I am always shifting, all three wore evenly together and it only started minor skipping today. Oh, that outer chainring is only decorative to sort of hide the motor. This motor has been used daily for six-years. I lubed the tranny this week to keep it going and replaced the rear tire.

 

[Biplaneguy]

I can't say I've actually used this on a bike, but this little monkey wrench is (I believe) from the toolkit included with Pierce Arrow bicycles, made by Billings & Spencer, around 100 years old. They also made motorcycles and cars but my understanding is that the "B" marked short wrenches (this is around 6" long) were "bicycle wrenches". It was in a toolbox full of tools that I picked up for $20 at an estate sale. The moving jaw on the wrench was bent, somebody obviously abused it, so after straightening the shaft as best I could with heat and a hammer (so it now opens and closes fully), I milled the jaw so the faces are again parallel.

 

[PedalUma]

little monkey wrench

It's fun to restore old tools. My bike stand is from 1964. I could have used buffing compound on it to restore it but decided to retain the patina. A couple of times I have found an old rusted ax head and fully restored it to a perfect working ax, painted and polished with a new handle.

 

[PedalUma]

Something that gives me the warm fuzzies happened today. A friend that approached me for the first time from EBR back in maybe June followed my tips for teaching her granddaughter to ride a bike at Halloween. Today was her first real ride and I was sent the video. The advice I gave was to remove the pedals with a pedal wrench and lower the saddle with a 5mm hex key. That way she would get the feel and 90% of riding. Today at the next grandmother visit the pedals went on and the kid really zooms. The love of cycling passed to another generation. They had a celebration party but the mom is not as happy as she reflects on the new level of mastery and independence. She won't be a baby again and has taken flight. This is the woman who had me make a transcontinental bike for her and her off-road camping gear. She had me sign the bike but I was reluctant, 'cuz she could then place a hit on me to boost its value.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Something that gives me the warm fuzzies happened today. A friend that approached me for the first time from EBR back in maybe June followed my tips for teaching her granddaughter to ride a bike at Halloween. Today was her first real ride and I was sent the video. The advice I gave was to remove the pedals with a pedal wrench and lower the saddle with a 5mm hex key. That way she would get the feel and 90% of riding. Today at the next grandmother visit the pedals went on and the kid really zooms. The love of cycling passed to another generation. They had a celebration party but the mom is not as happy as she reflects on the new level of mastery and independence. She won't be a baby again and has taken flight. This is the woman who had me make a transcontinental bike for her and her off-road camping gear. She had me sign the bike but I was reluctant, 'cuz she could then place a hit on me to boost its value.

yep worked for my granddaughter. but she was so small I had to buy that kick bike in a small size. when she was 4 she was riding fully banaced.

 

[spokewrench]

I thought something was off. It is well over 1%. When it is this bad it means a new chain, new gear cluster, and a new chainring. What is sort of cool is that because I am always shifting, all three wore evenly together and it only started minor skipping today. Oh, that outer chainring is only decorative to sort of hide the motor. This motor has been used daily for six-years. I lubed the tranny this week to keep it going and replaced the rear tire.

I wasn't born yesterday. The photo says March 4.

About 7 PM on a Thursday in April, 1965, I was pedaling up a 10% grade 1,000 feet long on a 3-speed. Most riders got off and pushed. Some could do it in low. This time, I got impatient, shifted to high, stood, pulled up hard on the bars, and accelerated like a rocket until the chain let go. I'd torn the teeth off the rear sprocket.

At 8:12 the next morning, a tantalizing 17-year-old confronted me to say she hoped to ride with me the next morning, Saturday. I pulled my sprocket out of my pants, let her examine it, and explained that it wasn't currently up to the job, but in another 24 hours, I hoped to be hot to trot. With a peculiar lack of a pause, she offered to provide a Schwinn 10-speed.

That brought to mind Richard Lovelace's 1649 poem, "On Going to the Wars." "I could not love thee, Dear, so much, loved I not honour more." I wanted badly to provide the service she requested, but riding a Schwinn would have left me without honour. I told her I'd try to get my machine ready in time.

I found no wear on the chain ring, so I replaced only the rear sprocket. The chain fit the new sprocket perfectly. She wasn't at our tryst. Monday, she said she'd changed her mind. So it was all a conspiracy to get photos of me on a Schwinn. I wondered if Captain Kangaroo was behind it.

Did you find wear on your chain ring?

 

[PedalUma]

I wasn't born yesterday. The photo says March 4.

About 7 PM on a Thursday in April, 1965, I was pedaling up a 10% grade 1,000 feet long on a 3-speed. Most riders got off and pushed. Some could do it in low. This time, I got impatient, shifted to high, stood, pulled up hard on the bars, and accelerated like a rocket until the chain let go. I'd torn the teeth off the rear sprocket.

At 8:12 the next morning, a tantalizing 17-year-old confronted me to say she hoped to ride with me the next morning, Saturday. I pulled my sprocket out of my pants, let her examine it, and explained that it wasn't currently up to the job, but in another 24 hours, I hoped to be hot to trot. With a peculiar lack of a pause, she offered to provide a Schwinn 10-speed.

That brought to mind Richard Lovelace's 1649 poem, "On Going to the Wars." "I could not love thee, Dear, so much, loved I not honour more." I wanted badly to provide the service she requested, but riding a Schwinn would have left me without honour. I told her I'd try to get my machine ready in time.

I found no wear on the chain ring, so I replaced only the rear sprocket. The chain fit the new sprocket perfectly. She wasn't at our tryst. Monday, she said she'd changed her mind. So it was all a conspiracy to get photos of me on a Schwinn. I wondered if Captain Kangaroo was behind it.

Did you find wear on your chain ring?

I will read more, but I am so inept and lazy that I never set the date stamp on that camera. I guess I could set it to 9:00 2029. I don't need a date samp anyway, film cameras didn't have them. Ansel Adams with a date stamp?

 

[PedalUma]

Did you find wear on your chain ring?

When a chain is in that state it is all burnt toast on fire. It is not going to the dog's breakfast. At some point I will set the date stamp. Maybe.

 

[Gionnirocket]

When a chain is in that state it is all burnt toast on fire. It is not going to the dog's breakfast. At some point I will set the date stamp. Maybe.

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