I watched carefully as Dave, who's a big guy struggle, to get the jammed seat off Ziggy. And then painstakingly stretch the corset 'ribbons' and retie them at my bottom (wee joke). He had brought some rim tape to go on my inner wheel rim, because it actually didn't have any, and thanks to West Country Recumbent for reading this and supplying me with some tape, perhaps that was why I'd had 3 flats in as many weeks. I gave permission, and was in fact very grateful for him taking photos, of the damage caused when the seat was rammed onto it's pins by the railway staff, on October the 23rd, but I still have only praise for Leesons attitude towards me as a woman with a disability in a strange (but lovely, honest Derek) town. If only Sheffield staff had been the same, because it was the fear, and urgency as the guard took his whistle to his lips, to give the signal for the train to depart, that caused yet more damage to be done. Thank goodness, for nice folk.
Although I could cycle to meet Steve M (CTC) in the Park tomorrow, absolutely no bother now Dave's been messing with my corset, and nipples!!! (apparently it's a bike term!!) he'll tell me owt :) But oooh it felt ever so comfortable when he'd finished!! It's a gentle incline for 3 miles to get home, and the way my cranks are spinning at times? I know it's a cop out, but I think it's a bit dangerous.
I think having shown Dave my Innovation fund literature, it's like the penny dropped at what this could mean to inclusive cycling, if different locations are doing similar things. So I really hope to get things moving. But I think, only think, I will slow down a bit on the 'gobbing off' stuff, and the promotional stuff, and concentrate on my physical health and fitness a bit....???
I am very lucky to have so much support offered, and I hope it's done because I'm nice, and not out of pity.
The seat pins can be a bit tight on new trikes but they get easier with use. Usually they're just a tight fit 'cos they're virgins and haven't had the pins in and out a few times to loosen them up... I'll be interested to see the photos to confirm there is no frame damage. Usually it is just the elastic that has stretched some.
ReplyDeleteDid you have time to try putting the hub gear shifter into '4th' and look at the little yellow markings at the back of the hub like in the video link I posted so you can tell if the hub needs adjusting? It should be really easy to do so at least you know if it is right or wrong...
Trust madam to see the other side of things.... Your back wheel has a big flange on a big lump of gears, so the spokes sit at a very severe angle to the rim and flange. You can see how severe matters are because the spokes are actually bent out of line where they come out of the nipples that adjust the tension against the rim, and one of the spokes doesn't go ping - more of a dull plunk when it is plucked, another spoke is a bit bent. To really do it right you need to enlist a person who loves building good wheels who will get your nipples seated and set to pull the spokes squarely, and perhaps fit brass washers at the flange to bed in the heads. We have Big Al up here but he is charmingly rude to his customers, especially if you have bikes with silly little wheels.
ReplyDeleteI guess it would actually be better to do the detail with Rob and your pet mechanic, but contra to Rob's suggestion that it is impossible to push the seat further down on the pins I'm convinced that is what happened for 2 reasons 1) the space between the crossmembers/braces on the seat and frame is bigger now that what it was when I took off the seat and 2) the bolt was really difficult to undo as there was a force binding it and 3) I think you should be able to 'pop' off the seat from the pins without undoing the bolt - that was impossible in the state the cycle was in before I set about it. The seat mesh is damaged - not quite ripped but weakened where it was forced into the space - everyone hates that design, it causes damage to bikes and it damages the train, and delays are caused becasue even normal bikes get stuck, but our offers to get it right when the redesigning was taking place in November 2007 were ignored.
For the life of me however I cannot understand why Greenspeed cannot design the seat fixing so that the bolt stays in place and the seat has 2 slots rather than 2 holes - it would make dismantling so much simpler.
The gear changing was sticking (not every time though) due to the inner wire being frayed, and that would appear to be a root cause of the errant indexing system - the index point is right, but the cable doesn't move to the right amount - so someone might get your dots in the right place but only for that moment and it will vary if the frayed wires snag. A footery job as they say in Scotland (and I explained the root of the word - foutre (French) which I'm sure will help everyone!)
You should also get the front wheels checked over as there is clear evidence on the spokes of the wheels being forced. It would be interesting to find out what the train number was on that service and have a look at the bike cupboard - as I reckon it will be equally scarred.
If you can resend the booking detail (the one that said - use the wheelchair space) I'll get a few quiet words spread around folk to avoid a mess like your first experience from recurring.
Dave had a quick look, and I did say about lining the yellow lines up or s'thing. I'd forgotten about the video sorry. He thought as I was taking it to Recycle (CTC) for a service, they'd be best qualified to look.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunatly he forgot to take a before and after one of the yellow seat material, which had clearly shifted. He just took one of it almost fixed.
ReplyDeleteThe seat pins should pop off before undong the bolt - they did not. The bolt was rally tight to undo and kept binding - even when the threads had disengaged. I really should have made an accurate measurement BUT when I reassembled the seat the bolt slid in and did up without binding AND the seat popped on to the pins with the bolt in place, with a distance between the braces/crossmambers on the seat and frame visibly greater that the distance when I went to take the seat off.
ReplyDeleteThe seat mesh had been pushed around 30cm off -centre and it was damaged - but not quite cut where the seat had been forced through against the train. To be continued....
There was damage to the outer faces of the spokes on both front hubs (one bent) and a bent spoke and loose spoke in back wheel (the nagle of the spokes in the nipples is really severe and obviously a weakness I've experienced when I had a Nexus 7 on my Brompton (it ate spokes).
ReplyDeleteThe gear cable is fraying and on some gears the indexing does not locate immediately because the inner is sticking in the outer, so even if someone sets it up how they think to be right with the vellow & red dots set up correctly, the frayed ends will make this different every time. I gave up on the fancy indexing and used a friction lever and my 'feel' for each gear engaging, but that is not really the way most folk can work. In 4th I think the cam moved a bit and then had a delayed second 'nudge'as the frayed strand stuck and then slipped - but not every time. One way to deal with this is to get set into one gear and don't change it until the cable and indexing get sorted out.
Oops - my original post went 'Fail' and then all these other posts appeared so I sent the detail again and ..... computers!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice that gentlemen like to 'Mass debate' over my blog. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I couldn't resist.x
Well its a reasobable alternative to footerin about....
ReplyDeleteHi C
ReplyDeleteSay what you like about Brum - it ain't my town!
I like Birmingham but the Brummies worry me. They sort of sing at you and if you ain't got the music it can be hard to understand :0)
I find myself confused (again) is Ziggy now fixed?
Brum might be ok, but New Street is crazy!
ReplyDelete@ Rob - true but when Caroline and I cycled up it there wasn't a problem and it was extra crowded with visiting Blackpool supporters.
ReplyDeleteWolvo's main shopping street is strictly off limits to cycling and its only a couple of hundred yards long!