Every time I do maintenance on the bike, something gets worse.
The last three weeks have been a long proof of this.
Week one I washed and lubed the chain. I over-greased it. The grease ended up on the brake discs and I lost grip. I washed everything and redid it.
Week two I tried to be careful. No improvising, no shortcuts. Degreased the chain properly. Cleaned the cassette. A homeless man passed nearby, yelling. I tried to ignore him. He grabbed the back tyre I had taken off and left sitting on the ground. I had to take it back out of his hands. While that was happening, the degreaser found its way onto the brake discs. Again. I bought a deep disc cleaner and a microfiber and started over. A lot of grime came off. The bike was clean.
It also still clacked every time I pedalled.
So I started taking things apart until the noise had nowhere to hide. Wheel axles first. Still noisy. Pedals and pedal axles next. Earlier this week I did those. To get to the axles I had to pry off the pedal dust caps with a knife, carefully, trying not to slice my hand. That same night I got hit by shivers and a fever I had not signed up for. The next day I called in to work and stayed home. I did not leave home. I did not have the energy for anything.
By the time I got back to the bike, only one suspect was left. The crank.
I have a Crankbrothers 17-in-one. Good little multitool. It does not have a crank puller, or a bit that fits a crank bolt, or the right anything for this job. I had two options: buy yet another tool, or improvise. I have already bought a degreaser, a deep disc cleaner, a microfiber, and the bike itself this year. I picked option two.
You can detach the screwdriver bit from the multitool. The crank bolt sits in plastic. I had learned this from many YouTube videos for completely different bikes (the concept was the same, the tools never were). Half the work was learning what each part was called so I could search for it. Crank arm, dust cap, crank bolt, square taper. Once you know the words, the videos appear.
Plastic is forgiving. I lined up the metal bit and turned. It bit into the plastic, the bolt came loose, and I got to the inside.
Then I greased the crank and put everything back. The bolt does not need to be torqued tightly because of that same plastic, which is the part of the design I am most grateful for today.
The crank job took thirty minutes on Friday after work. I rode the bike. No noise. I went from Barking to Hornchurch park and back. It was hot.
The front brake still does not grip well. With just the front brake, the bike rolls a few more metres before stopping. For emergency stops I use both brakes together. They are effective. I have been postponing the front brake for a while.
The maintenance is done. For now. The saying still stands. For now.
