Behemoth's Steering Finally Fixed

Well, I got her back from her contrôle technique with her dealer in the
16th arrondissement on Friday.

He said there was nothing wrong with her, brakes perfect, shifter fine
etc.

But the horrendous jiggle on startup that has made pedalling Behemoth
such an issue for the past six months turned out to be due to a trifling
too-tight headset. The ball bearings couldn't roll properly, he said. He
just had to loosen the headset screw by a quarter turn and Bethie has
gone from being Demon Bike to Bike of my Dreams as she was meant to be.

Award to Jean-Pierre Jacquot for having been the first to suggest that
this might be the origin of the problem, way back in January.
Unfortunately I was too inexperienced to be able to test for it myself.
And thanks to everyone else who has been so infinitely patient and
hand-holding through my never-ending complaints. I'm glad I gave Bethie
the benefit of the doubt and didn't terminate our relationship before
allowing her this simple test.

Looking forward to a whole new biking experience.

EFR
Ile de France

In article ,=20
says...
Well, I got her back from her contr=F4le technique with her dealer in the
16th arrondissement on Friday.
=20
He said there was nothing wrong with her, brakes perfect, shifter fine
etc.
=20
But the horrendous jiggle on startup that has made pedalling Behemoth
such an issue for the past six months turned out to be due to a trifling
too-tight headset. The ball bearings couldn't roll properly, he said. He
just had to loosen the headset screw by a quarter turn and Bethie has
gone from being Demon Bike to Bike of my Dreams as she was meant to be.
=20
Award to Jean-Pierre Jacquot for having been the first to suggest that
this might be the origin of the problem, way back in January.
Unfortunately I was too inexperienced to be able to test for it myself.
And thanks to everyone else who has been so infinitely patient and
hand-holding through my never-ending complaints. I'm glad I gave Bethie
the benefit of the doubt and didn't terminate our relationship before
allowing her this simple test.
=20
Looking forward to a whole new biking experience.

That's wonderful news, Elisa! I would never have thought a tight=20
headset might cause that kind of problems.

--=20
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the=20
newsgroups if possible).

Elisa Francesca Roselli said:
Well, I got her back from her contrôle technique with her dealer in the
16th arrondissement on Friday.

Excellent. I hope you two have many happy miles together.

Incidentally, is the machine's name homage to "The Master and Margarita" by
Mikhail Bulkagov? In light of the steering problems, the image of an
outsize, wicked cat seems quite appropriate, while the biblical references
don't.

Regards,

-david

David Nutter wrote:

Incidentally, is the machine's name homage to "The Master and Margarita" by
Mikhail Bulkagov? In light of the steering problems, the image of an
outsize, wicked cat seems quite appropriate, while the biblical references
don't.

I wasn't thinking of Bulgakov in particular, just of a huge, lumbering, diabolical
thing. Behemoth apparently means "monster" in Hebrew - some say it may actually
mean "hippopotamus", which isn't inappropriate given our combined weights. And of
course it is one of the names of Satan. But when she's being good she gets
nicknamed to Beth, like the gentlest sister in Little Women. And then I'm Elisa,
so I suppose us two together can be ElisaBeth.

EFR
Ile de France

Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:
[...]

:: But the horrendous jiggle on startup that has made pedalling Behemoth
:: such an issue for the past six months turned out to be due to a
:: trifling too-tight headset. The ball bearings couldn't roll
:: properly, he said. He just had to loosen the headset screw by a
:: quarter turn and Bethie has gone from being Demon Bike to Bike of my
:: Dreams as she was meant to be.

[...]

::
:: Looking forward to a whole new biking experience.
::

Good news!

in message , Elisa Francesca
Roselli ') wrote:

Well, I got her back from her contrôle technique with her dealer in
the 16th arrondissement on Friday.

He said there was nothing wrong with her, brakes perfect, shifter fine
etc.

But the horrendous jiggle on startup that has made pedalling Behemoth
such an issue for the past six months turned out to be due to a
trifling too-tight headset. The ball bearings couldn't roll properly,
he said.

So, a happy ending! I'm very glad to have been wrong.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; It appears that /dev/null is a conforming XSL processor.

In article ,
Elisa Francesca Roselli writes:

But the horrendous jiggle on startup that has made pedalling Behemoth
such an issue for the past six months turned out to be due to a trifling
too-tight headset. The ball bearings couldn't roll properly, he said. He
just had to loosen the headset screw by a quarter turn and Bethie has
gone from being Demon Bike to Bike of my Dreams as she was meant to be.

Well, I'm glad you got that fixed, and can now enjoy Bethie
in all her free-spirited splendour.

Award to Jean-Pierre Jacquot for having been the first to suggest that
this might be the origin of the problem, way back in January.
Unfortunately I was too inexperienced to be able to test for it myself.

The antient lore is that a headset should be loose enough to, when
you lift the front of the bike up, let the front wheel & handlebars
easily flop to one side or the other; the headset should be tight
enough that the fork doesn't palpably 'clunk' when, standing beside
the bike, you close the front brake and give the bike a little
shove forward.

I'm glad I gave Bethie
the benefit of the doubt and didn't terminate our relationship before
allowing her this simple test.

Many inter-human relationships could benefit from such patience,
forbearance, perseverance and mercy. You're a nice person. So
you deserve a bike that behaves well :-) And you've gained a
deeper intimacy with, and understanding of your Bethie. I guess
that's how bikes become more than mere chattles to their guardians.

Looking forward to a whole new biking experience.

Enjoy!


cheers,
Tom

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Behemoth apparently means "monster" in Hebrew

"b'hemoth" = "huge beast"

some say it may actually mean "hippopotamus"

It's from the Egyptian "p-ehe-mau" = "water ox"

Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:

Well, I got her back from her contrôle technique with her dealer in the
16th arrondissement on Friday.

He said there was nothing wrong with her, brakes perfect, shifter fine
etc.

But the horrendous jiggle on startup that has made pedalling Behemoth
such an issue for the past six months turned out to be due to a trifling
too-tight headset. The ball bearings couldn't roll properly, he said. He
just had to loosen the headset screw by a quarter turn and Bethie has
gone from being Demon Bike to Bike of my Dreams as she was meant to be.

Award to Jean-Pierre Jacquot for having been the first to suggest that
this might be the origin of the problem, way back in January.
Unfortunately I was too inexperienced to be able to test for it myself.
And thanks to everyone else who has been so infinitely patient and
hand-holding through my never-ending complaints. I'm glad I gave Bethie
the benefit of the doubt and didn't terminate our relationship before
allowing her this simple test.

Looking forward to a whole new biking experience.

EFR
Ile de France

Congratulations! Another little fix that makes a big difference. I
look forward to your future posts!
Best Regards, Bernie

Tom Keats wrote:
In article ,
Elisa Francesca Roselli writes:

But the horrendous jiggle on startup that has made pedalling Behemoth
such an issue for the past six months turned out to be due to a trifling
too-tight headset. The ball bearings couldn't roll properly, he said. He
just had to loosen the headset screw by a quarter turn and Bethie has
gone from being Demon Bike to Bike of my Dreams as she was meant to be.

Well, I'm glad you got that fixed, and can now enjoy Bethie
in all her free-spirited splendour.

Award to Jean-Pierre Jacquot for having been the first to suggest that
this might be the origin of the problem, way back in January.
Unfortunately I was too inexperienced to be able to test for it myself.

I once had a similar experience after installing fenders on a bike.
The bike seemed to handle poorly and was difficult to dangerous
to ride no-hands. I had the benefit of knowing it had ridden well
before, though. While futzing with it in puzzlement, I realized
the wheel did not flop freely. The front fender bracket was rubbing
on the lower headset cup. A quick bend with a screwdriver and
the problem was fixed, never to return.