Hi all. It’s springtime in Paris and the birds be singing. Time to hop on the bike and get out into the countryside. But…I have a broken spoke, squidgy brakes, rust on the chain and floppy tyres (I promise to do more situps! ha ha). So either I can do the lazy thing and just get on and ride, or take the old beast to the shop and get a bike tuneup. Well I decided to do a third thing. I’m going to fix it all myself! Yes, what could be easier than a few twists of a wrench and pump of a…well pump, to get things back in shape? Boy was I wrong!

First of all, the spoke. I thought I could just go to the shop and say “gimme a spoke”. And they would reply, “Black or silver?”. “Black”. “Here you go. That will be 1/10 of a cent.”. Then I would go home, pop it on, and be on my way. Nope. Spokes come in 1000 different sizes, types, shapes and colours. There are round spoke, flat spokes, fat spokes with a skinny middle bit. In the end I had to carry my wheel to the shop for them to measure it. Apparently a 1mm difference can cause a spoke not to fit. Well that’s what they told me. So i get my new single $2 spoke home and realise that I can’t get it on the wheel! The gears are in the way. If it was the front tyre, no problem. If it was on the back tyre but on the left side, no problem. But it was on the on side that WAS a problem. Again, had to go to the shop, pay $15, wait an hour, and I’ve fixed it!

Next up, tighten up the brakes. I remember in the good old days you could just loosen a nut, pull some wires, and viola! Quick responsive brakes. But not on my bike. Mountain bike brakes, especially hydraulic brakes are a totally different beast. Working on them is like fixing a car. You have to bleed them. Purge them. Fill them. All with very specialized tools. Stuff I didn’t have. So off I trot to the shop. $20 for a hydraulic fluid bottle and some hope. This didn’t go as badly as the spoke change. The only mishap was when I disassmbled the caliper, I accidentally squeezed the brake and a stream of mineral oil shot accross the room staining my kitchen cabinet. No biggie. I’m moving in a few months

Pumping up the tyres was pretty easy. It was something I’d done a hundred times before. So it was pretty uneventful. No really. I just pumped them up. Job done.

Now I’m ready to go! Fresh battery in the computer and quick oil of chain and I’m off! Till next year…