Page Contents
What to carry when you ride
Grip removal and replacement
How to clean your bike
Brake levers - Moto style
Brooks' saddles - modification, break-in and pics
What you should carry when you ride.
The question comes up from time to time about what should be carried on a bike ride. Of course many factors are involved when deciding what to carry so we should analyze our own situations. For instance, the remoteness of where we ride means a lot. The risks of riding 20 miles from the trailhead into the backcountry are far different than the trails of local parks and those near the city. Wherever we ride we should always do a "what if?" for each situation. For instance, an unridable bike, 10 miles from your car on a 90 degree day is far more dangerous than the same bike on a 60 degree day in a well-traveled park. You might not even survive the first scenario.
Let my experiences and suggestions be a starting point for you. Here are my ideas.
Tube - You need to carry at least one spare tube. Make damn sure it's wrapped in something to protect it from wearing holes in the folded corners of the tube while it jiggles in your under-saddle bag. I had three large holes in mine once. The tube was useless. I wrap mine in an old sock. This sock can be placed over the hand as a glove for dirty jobs (chain fixing, backside wiping etc). Inflate the tube at least twice per season to check for leaks. Maybe replace it at the start of each season.
Pump - Get a good one. Cheap ones are junk and a false sense of security. Make sure it works and you know how to use it before you have to.
Patch kit - With unopened glue! For your 2nd and third flats of the day.
Chain tool - Get a good but small one. Know how to use it! The Park Tool CT-5 is excellent. Practice on an old chain.
Powerlink - Sram Powerlink is far easier than joining with a chain tool. Get the right one for your chain. A chain tool is needed for removing the broken chain pieces. If you have a Shimano chain it might need a special pin.
Tire sidewall boot material - This is a must for torn tire sidewalls. You can't ride with a 1/4" slit unless you boot it. I've used it a few times to save others a LONG walk. I use thin suede leather but many other things can be used - law chair webbing, powerbar wrappers, a dollar bill. Wrap 2' of duct tape around the pump. This is for taping the boot in place plus other emergency jobs. I've used this many times to help others too.
4-5-6mm allen wrenches - Tape 'em together. I almost never use 'em but they're there. A small multi-tool is ok but for me, there are surplus tools on most of them.
Self-help stuff -Identification and a plastic whistle on a nylon string around my neck. If you're immoblized, you can blow a whistle longer and louder than you can shout. If you're riding in Moab Utah there's no point in carrying your home address in NY around your neck. Think about your situation.
Cellphone - I used mine to get a ride home this year when I t-boned an effing loose dog on the trail and broke my fork and my face.
First aid kit - I carry nothing but you might want to.
Sunglasses - a whack in the eye with a twig or a large bug can wreck your day.
Bug cream - a must in Mosquito country. Ever tried fixing a flat in the bush on a hot steamy day while covered in mosquitoes, blackflies and deerflies? You'll only ever do it once.
The ability to make a single-speed bike out of a geared bike - what if you snap your derailer off and you're 20 miles from the car and it's 95 degrees?
The knowledge to use all the above in the worst conditions you ever ride in - trying to fix a broken chain in 95 degree humid weather in the middle of a swamp is NOT the place to practice.
The further you get from civilization, the more you should consider what's needed for survival.
When deciding what to carry, ask yourself what are the likely mechanicals you're likely to encounter that will stop you from riding the bike (I'll tell ya - they're flats and broken chains) and how far are you willing to push your bike if you can't fix the problem. That's no more than a 1/2 mile for me. Ten miles on that 95 degree day could be deadly.
As a retired emergency response worker I know for a fact that the best thing you can do is to think about what can happen to you and your bike and to decide what you would do about it. Emergency workers do this all the time and it's called Pre Planning. Of course you can't think up every possible scenario and neither would you want to prepare for them (you'd need an emergency response helicopter following you if you did) but there are some things that are more likely to happen and their results be more dangerous.
For instance, I don't carry many tools as I keep my bike well-maintained and rarely need any hardware. There's isn't much that can't be fixed with 4-5-6mm allen wrenches and what can't be fixed probably isn't going to stop you riding back to civilization. I won't carry a 6" adjustable if there is only one nut on the bike and its coming loose won't stop me riding.
This is easy. Removing your grips takes a few seconds and not hours of struggling. Remove your bar ends (if you have them) and bar plugs. Get a long thin screwdriver (mine has a 6" x 3/16" dia blade) and rub it with liquid soap or spray it with WD-40. Pass it all the way under the grip (make sure you don't poke it up thru the grip!) so it sticks out on the brake lever end.
Now, using the end of the bar as a fulcrum (pivot), twirl the screwdriver around the bar, under the grip. As you make a full circle, grab the grip with the same hand you have the screwdriver in and pull the grip off all in one motion - so it's push - twirl - pull. That's about five seconds worth of time. Far easier and quicker than using compressed air or injecting mysterious concoctions under the grips eh?
To replace the grip, soak the grip in hot water for a few minutes, (wash out the WD-40 with soapy water if you used it), have the bike sitting with the opposite handlebar end resting against a wall, wet the exposed handlebar where the grip is going, working quickly take the grip out of the hot water and slide it onto the bar. It will take a goodly amount of force but it will go on better if you don't let it rest - keep it moving up that bar until it's in the right spot.
When it's dry it will be on there reeeeeeeel good. If the grip loosens up after a while, you might be a candidate for sticking it on with hairspray or spray-can paint.
That wasn't too hard was it?HOLD IT!! I've got a new method and it's sooooo good it should be illegal. The liquid soap or WD-40 above worked well but I now use another product that is much better - Isopropyl Alcohol !! This is the stuff that is used for cleaning up bicycle disc brake systems (manufacturer recommended!) and delicate things like tape deck recording heads. Get it at any pharmacy and it's cheap.
I dip the screwdriver in the bottle and use it as a lube to allow the screwdriver to slide under the grip. Work quickly as it evaporates in no time.
Now here comes the best part - use it as a lube and a fixer for re-installing the grips. Plug off one end of the grip with one hand and pour the alcohol into the open end. Fill the grip a ¼ full. Block off the open end and shake the grip to lube the whole inside. Pour the alcohol back into the bottle and as quick as a flash, install the grip. This stuff leaves the inside of the grip kinda tacky and it dries in no-time leaving the grip stuck to the bars. Ta-daaaaa! What could be simpler?
How to do this depends on how dirty it is. If it's not really dirty just spray Lemon Pledge (yep) on a rag and wipe it down. To clean a not-too-dirty chain, spray a rag with WD-40, grab the chain on the lower run and backpedal by hand. Then lube the chain with a drop on each roller and wipe as much off as possible when you're done. For brake pad gukk on rim sidewalls use green 3M Scotchbrite pads.
If the bike is really dirty then you have to get serious. I hang my bike under the eaves of the garage with rope loops, or if you're rich use a real bike stand.
I use a wash kit as shown with the addition of a pail, a hose, Dawn dish detergent (cuts grease!), rags, WD-40, chain lube, Pledge, solvent.
1. Remove both wheels. With the Park gear brush dipped in solvent, scrub the cassette cogs. Use the ratcheting action to help you. Let sit & soak.
2. Gently rinse the whole bike with the garden hose. Noooo it won't do any harm if you don't drill a stream at any bearings! Just use a raindrop type effect.
3. With frame brush dipped in the suds and not the water, wipe down the whole bike & fork. Use the bottlebrush for all hard to reach areas. Rinse with the hose.
4. For really dirty chains and derailer pulleys you're going to have to clean with the solvent. It's better with the chain off the bike (more on this later).
5. Back to the wheels. With the stiff brush dipped in the suds, scrub the tire sidewalls and rim at the same time. Use the soft frame brush on the spokes. Use the bottle brush for the hubs. Use the stiff brush for the cassette using the same ratcheting motion. Use the claw on the Park gear brush to remove crud from between the cogs. Rinse the wheels.
6. Use the Scotchbrite on the brakepads.
7. Replace the wheels and check the workings of the brakes and gears.
8. Wipe everything down with a rag to dry it. Let the bike sit to dry.
9. Wipe most things down with the lemon Pledge. Nooooo not the rim sidewalls!For really dirty chains - remove the chain (it's simple if you have a SRAM chain with Powerlink) and drop it into an old large plastic coke bottle. Use your favorite solvent. Do NOT use gasoline!! Shake the bottle vigorously, clean yourself up, put the top on the bottle and do it again. Fish the chain out of the bottle with a bent steel coat hanger and let it drip dry. Wipe with rag. Replace chain and lube it.
Brake levers and the brake they're attached to.
To which brakes are your levers attached? Do you know? If you know, did you ever think why they’re attached to the levers they are?
Most mountain bikers are aware of which lever operates which brake but not many have ever thought why they’re connected to where they are or even whether it’s correct for them. Maybe by reading this you’ll think about what’s happening and maybe you’ll even think of making a switch.
Bikes in N. America (where I am) always seem to come with the left lever attached to the front brake. Even though a few people have offered opinions of why this is so, none of them have convinced me that it’s right. Nothing has ever made sense to me. Rather than dissecting those reasons I’ll give you my reasons for going against this and even if you don’t make a switch at least you’ll make your decision with some thought.
I think that the bikes in N.Am are all wrong and the left brake should be connected to the rear brake and not the front. This is usually called “MOTO”. Let’s see the reasoning for my opinion.
I’m right handed so I’ll base the following on that. If you’re left handed then do the necessary mental switch for your dominant hand.
What’s the worst thing that can happen when you’re braking? Yeah I know that going over a 1000’ cliff is the worst but normally the worst thing that happens is that you go OTB (Over the Bars) right?
Most people go OTB because –
1 – Their weight is too far forward for the present situation.
2 – They use too much front brake for the present situation.
When I ride my bike and have to do something like scratch, wave, drink, eat, point or adjust, I do it with my dominant hand – the right one in my case. This leaves the other hand still on the bars and ready to use the brake lever that’s just a fraction away. If, when the dominant hand is off the bars a sudden incident arises that needs some braking, it’s natural to apply the brake that’s most handy, correct? That brake, on all factory assembled bikes, in N.America, is the font brake.
Usually when we’re riding one-handed, our bum is planted firmly on the saddle which makes our center of gravity quite high and far forward. This, combined with the application of the front brake is a recipe for an OTB trip.
I much prefer my non dominant hand to be in charge of the rear brake. When doing all the one-handed activities outlined above, the rear brake can be dragged slightly and if the need arises, that brake can be applied as hard as possible with the only negative being that a rear wheel will skid.
So there you are folks – if I have one hand on the bars and in charge of a brake it’s going to be a brake that doesn’t have the ability to launch me over the bars.
Ok, now it’s your turn, unless you’re left handed, give me a good reason for left/front braking! Go! And “Uhhhh my bike came that way” doesn’t count.
** It's quite simple to switch over your cables or even hydraulic lines. It normally takes two minutes for both types of brakes.
Recently there was a thread on the Internet about modifying Brooks saddles. As a 25+ year custom leatherworker - almost exclusively making sheaths for hand made custom knives - I thought it was about time that I modded one of my own Brooks and leave a few tips behind.
I've got a ton of experience cutting thick, heavy leathers. The Brooks is a pussycat though as I do lots of cutting through multi layer stacked sheath edges and here's one that was 5 layers thick and measured 50/64ths of an inch or 3/4" - five times thicker than a Brooks saddle.
The nose of the saddle I modified as soon as I got it a couple of years ago as I don't like Brooks nose shapes.
My mod isn't a radical one as I didn't want to cut into or cut off the Brooks Pro embossing.
This is how I went about the mod -First remove the Brooks nameplate on the back - this should be removed if you're trimming the back apron. About a 1/4" of leather can be removed here. Use about a 3/16" drillbit preferably in a drillpress. A hand drill is ok too. From inside the saddle just drill off the peened over shaft of the rivets. From the edge of the leather you're going to cut off, pry off the Brooks nameplate with a screwdriver. Mark up the piece of leather you're going to cut off NOT the main part of the saddle! I draw my cut line to travel just along the tops of the old rivet holes.
1. Pencil the outline of the mod on the leather. When you're happy with it, make the pencil line heavy. Go over the pencil line with a Sharpie marker. On a black Brooks just use the pencil.
2. As a saddle is not easy to handle on its own I clamped a seatpost on to it.
3. Using a thick Xacto handle (a fist-full for a good grip) outfitted with a hooked blade, pull the blade towards you while following the line. Do it lightly first just to leave a light cut-line for subsequent cuts. A normal boxcutter with a new blade should be ok for the job too but the Xacto with its narrower blade will go around corners better.
Let's talk about cutting heavy leather. I've cut myself once in 26 years of cutting heavy leather so I have some experience and success here. You have FAR more control if you're pulling the blade towards you. Always pull straight back with your elbow in tight to the body - move the saddle to let the blade follow the curve; don't let the knife follow the curve as then you'll be cutting off at an angle with your elbow flopping around and you won't have total control. Hold the saddle in tight and close to you so that the length of your cut stroke is about 1" maximum at a time. This way, if you DO slip off, your arm moves no more than 1" straight back. Tough to slice your vital organs while doing that eh?
4. While cutting down, pulling the blade towards you, cut a light line just through the top skin of the leather.
5. Re-trace this first line using the same pressure. This will now result in a cut 2x as deep. Repeat until you're through the leather. This will take about 3-4 passes with the knife. Don't rush this part as a slip can ruin the saddle.
6. As you didn't have to exert too much pressure and because you were only allowing movement for about 1" of forearm travel there wasn't much chance of severing a limb or other appendage was there? Keep ALL fingers on the non-cutting hand on the other side of the blade.
7. Check your work and clean up the edges with the blade if you left any rough uneven spots. Use a "paring" cut as though you're shaving a carrot - short, controlled strokes with the blade pulled towards you.
8. I now used a leatherworker's "edge beveler" to take a 45 degree cut off the outside and inside edges.
http://www.tandyleather.com/products.asp?number=8077-03
You could use a knife or sandpaper for this step.
9. Next I sand the leather smooth with about 220 grit wet & dry sandpaper. Major tip - dampen the leather but use the paper dry and stapled to, or wrapped around a small wooden block. Use water but I use........saliva! It works much better.
10. I then use a "bone folder" to slick the damp edges. You can improvise.
http://www.tandyleather.com/products.asp?number=8116-00
Wet the edges and rub hard with something hard and plastic - like a Sharpie marker maybe or a kitchen knife handle. Rub and round the edges until they shine. Keep 'em damp while doing it.
11. I dyed my edges with Feibings Tan color spirit based dye available from Tandy Leather. I put on a vinyl glove and push my finger into a rag. Dip the fingertip in the dye and apply it to the cut edges. Don't get the dye anywhere you don't want it (your clothes, momma's table, the carpet, the rest of the saddle etc) as it's there forever if you do.
http://www.tandyleather.com/products.asp?number=2100-09
12. The last step was to lube the edges with lanolin cream and to buff very hard with a rough cloth. Brooks Proofide would be fine or even clear shoe polish.Here are the before and after shots. You can just see my pencil lines -
The nose which was modified earlier -
Here it is finished -
For full size pic of this finished saddle click here.
Here is my curved blade Xacto knife -
Breaking in a Brooks saddle.
When Brooks saddles are new they are as hard as solid wood and you need to mold them to your backside for them to be comfortable. As a wet-molder of much leather over the last quarter century I'll tell you how I broke in the saddle shown above. This is what worked for me but I'll make no guarantees of how it will work for you.
Leather is very moldable when wet. That's how your new Brooks got to be the shape it is in the first place. But molded leather is stretched leather and it never un-stretches. Our goal is to mold the saddle to the shape of our bum and no more. A saddle that was too wet would just keep stretching and stretching until it was like a sway-back mule.
The Brooks' official method is to apply their Proofide to it and ride many miles. Of course this works but it is a slow process.
Here is my method - I took a washcloth, soaked it in water and wrung it out. Then I placed it on the saddle and bound it in place with an old towel. Next I placed the bike in the trunk of the car and drove 40 minutes to the track. When I arrived and removed the washcloth, the saddle was nice and evenly damp without being too wet.
Next, I rode the bike on the track for about twenty minutes. This allows your sit-bones to wet-mold the leather to your shape. In actual fact, you are stretching the leather to accommodate your shape. Check the saddle often to make sure it's not stretching too much. Leather that is stretched too far is ruined.
After about an hour of riding (three 20 minute sessions) it was molded perfectly to my backside and very comfortable. It was also dry by now too. I quit for the day and returned home. Damp leather must be allowed to dry naturally (usually overnight is long enough) and then its fibers must be lubricated. There are many leather treatments on the market, most of them expensive and all of them claim wonderful things. My favorite leather dressing is Lanolin cream. It's simple, inexpensive and very natural. I bought a tub of mine from a Pharmacy. Get the unscented kind with no extra additives. Lanolin cream is extracted from sheep's wool. It's a great hand cream too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanolin
Leather oils - oils like Neatsfoot Oil (boiled from cow's hoofs) - is great for leather but it softens it. This is not good for a saddle as it will continue to stretch. I would suggest things like Lanolin, Proofide, Sno-seal or natural shoe cream. The Proofide and Sno-seal will waterproof the saddle if you intend to ride outdoors in the rain. They probably contain beeswax.
I've applied my Lanolin using a few methods -
1. Put the saddle out in the sun to warm up. Apply a liberal coat of dressing and let it soak into the opened pores naturally. Buff with a clean rag when dry.
2. Warm the saddle with a hair dryer then do as above.
3. Just massage in a coating of dressing with the saddle cold. Let soak in and dry. Buff.
I apply my Lanolin a few times per year (maybe 4).
Have fun!!
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Brooks' Proofide Ingredients
This is from the tin of Proofide - Tallow, Cod oil, Vegetable oil, Paraffin wax, Beeswax, Citronella oil.
Brooks' Nostalgia
Mike T. remembers Brooks saddles from his early days of riding in the UK. Plastic saddles (Unicanitor were the first - see below for a very special one!) were in their early days and Brooks were the prevalent saddle. The pro riders of my native northern England had the best ones. Their thousands of training miles broke-in their saddles beautifully and they were prized possessions.
One of my local bike shops in the4 UK in the 1960s (and a very famous one) - Harry Hall Cycles in Manchester - used to remove the leather covers, soften the leather and re-apply using oversized hand-hammered copper rivets. They were things of beauty and, as far as I can gather, the motivation for the Brooks factory switching to large rivets for their Pro series saddles. I'm still trying to find out what Harry used to treat the leather. As he died in late 2007 (http://www.harryhallcycles.co.uk/history.asp) he won't be divulging his secret.
Large copper rivets
The famed copper rivets were introduced in the 1950s primarily to complement the brown and honey colored leather that was being introduced at the time. Corrosion resistance was also a plus, but it wasn't the reason. And, contrary to popular belief, Brooks could not confirm the story that the large rivets of the Team Professional model came about as a result of team mechanics ripping off the Pro model leathers to pre-soften them, and then requiring a larger size rivet to cover back over the existing holes. While this may have happened, Brooks says the larger rivets were simply more cosmetic, and added to a high quality, hand-finished look.
Plastic saddles
Here is the early plastic saddle that started the modern trend of synthetic saddles that have taken over today's market from the leather saddle. This is a Unicanitor. The saddle company Unica started the trend and was bought out by Cinelli in 1962 who re-labeled them as Unicanitor.
This one is owned by none other than the famous guitarist Eric Clapton. Mike T. also had this orange version back in 1962.
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Resources -
Lanolin - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanolin
Neatsfoot oil - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neatsfoot_oil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks_England
Brooks' official saddle care - http://www.brooksengland.com/docs/leather_saddle_care.pdf
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