Dan Brussee
July 9th 03, 04:34 PM
In article >,
says...
> Thanks for all your helpful suggestions.
>
> 1) I have found an excellent source for parts and mechanical advice:
> Manny's Lowrider Bicycles in Venice, CA (where I live - lots of beach
> cruisers around here).
>
> 2) The derailleur is a Positron, and when I posted originally I
> thought that finding an old solid-core cable would be impossible
> (hence questions about spring-loaded derailleurs). Manny to the
> rescue... though as parts go the cable was pricier than XTR...
Supply and Demand marketing at it's finest
> 3) Picked up new bearings but not cones or cups. I assume I'd be
> wasting my time installing new bearings into old other stuff... but
> I'd be happy if someone could confirm that for me.... Do "new cones"
> mean a new axel, too?
You would have to inspect the cones to know if they are bad. The
bearings may have gone bad without damaging the cones. Replacing the
axle is only necessary if it is bent or has bad threads. Remember the
only thing the axle is really doing is keeping the cones at a set
distance apart and providing a place to bolt the wheel to the frame. It
never contacts the bearings (well, I hope not anyway!)
> 4) When I regreased the bearings I used Park Polylube. Is that
> sufficient? Is there anything more suitable?
Probably just fine.
> 5) Meanwhile, the old boat is beginning to ride pretty nicely, even
> with its shot bearings. This weekend I'm going to grease the headset
> and cranks. Anything I need to watch out for?
Same type of thing as the wheel bearings, but you might need some
different tools. Headset and crank bearings will be in cages holding
them together. This should make working on them even easier. Be sure to
clean them well and get grease into the cages. A little too much grease
is better than too little!
> 6) Brakes: it seems to me that fore-aft sloppiness is just something
> I'm going to have to live with, due to the nature of the caliper
> design (i.e. when tightened to eliminate slop, the brake spring isn't
> strong enough to re-open the jaws). Any setup tips?
There are 2 nuts on the front side of the caliper. The inner one
controls how tight the caliper arms are to each other. You want to
balance the slop to allow free movement of the arms in and out without a
lot of forward motion. Again, a smidge too loose is better than making
them stick. The outer nut is only there to "lock" the inner nut in
place. You will probably need a 10mm thin wrench to hold the inner nut
while cinching the outer nut.
Centering this type of caliper is kind of a art too. Two schools of
thought. A: Use two wrenches. One on the back nut that holds the caliper
to the frame and another "either" on the inner or outer front nut. If
you want to rotate the caliper clockwise, use the outer nut, if you want
to rotate it counterclockwise, use the inner nut. Then slowly turn both
wrenches simultaneously. B: Use a drift pin or even a heavy screwdriver
and a light hammer. Position the drift pin over the spring just to the
side of the center bolt and ding it with the hammer till it moves. Kind
of a hack, but it does no damage to the spring and usually does the
trick.
> Thanks!
>
--
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says...
> Thanks for all your helpful suggestions.
>
> 1) I have found an excellent source for parts and mechanical advice:
> Manny's Lowrider Bicycles in Venice, CA (where I live - lots of beach
> cruisers around here).
>
> 2) The derailleur is a Positron, and when I posted originally I
> thought that finding an old solid-core cable would be impossible
> (hence questions about spring-loaded derailleurs). Manny to the
> rescue... though as parts go the cable was pricier than XTR...
Supply and Demand marketing at it's finest
> 3) Picked up new bearings but not cones or cups. I assume I'd be
> wasting my time installing new bearings into old other stuff... but
> I'd be happy if someone could confirm that for me.... Do "new cones"
> mean a new axel, too?
You would have to inspect the cones to know if they are bad. The
bearings may have gone bad without damaging the cones. Replacing the
axle is only necessary if it is bent or has bad threads. Remember the
only thing the axle is really doing is keeping the cones at a set
distance apart and providing a place to bolt the wheel to the frame. It
never contacts the bearings (well, I hope not anyway!)
> 4) When I regreased the bearings I used Park Polylube. Is that
> sufficient? Is there anything more suitable?
Probably just fine.
> 5) Meanwhile, the old boat is beginning to ride pretty nicely, even
> with its shot bearings. This weekend I'm going to grease the headset
> and cranks. Anything I need to watch out for?
Same type of thing as the wheel bearings, but you might need some
different tools. Headset and crank bearings will be in cages holding
them together. This should make working on them even easier. Be sure to
clean them well and get grease into the cages. A little too much grease
is better than too little!
> 6) Brakes: it seems to me that fore-aft sloppiness is just something
> I'm going to have to live with, due to the nature of the caliper
> design (i.e. when tightened to eliminate slop, the brake spring isn't
> strong enough to re-open the jaws). Any setup tips?
There are 2 nuts on the front side of the caliper. The inner one
controls how tight the caliper arms are to each other. You want to
balance the slop to allow free movement of the arms in and out without a
lot of forward motion. Again, a smidge too loose is better than making
them stick. The outer nut is only there to "lock" the inner nut in
place. You will probably need a 10mm thin wrench to hold the inner nut
while cinching the outer nut.
Centering this type of caliper is kind of a art too. Two schools of
thought. A: Use two wrenches. One on the back nut that holds the caliper
to the frame and another "either" on the inner or outer front nut. If
you want to rotate the caliper clockwise, use the outer nut, if you want
to rotate it counterclockwise, use the inner nut. Then slowly turn both
wrenches simultaneously. B: Use a drift pin or even a heavy screwdriver
and a light hammer. Position the drift pin over the spring just to the
side of the center bolt and ding it with the hammer till it moves. Kind
of a hack, but it does no damage to the spring and usually does the
trick.
> Thanks!
>
--
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