bestowed on it, the chain runs a little heavy, the pedals don’t spin as
they should, or the cranks revolve as often as they might, and the
wheels are sluggish, there is no remedy but to take down the bicycle,
clean it thoroughly, set it up and adjust it. It will require several
hours’ hard work to do this, combined with a knowledge of machinery and
a knowledge of bicycle working, or else enterprise, care, and common
sense.
Begin work on a wheel perfectly free, as far as the outside can be made
so, from sand, mud, and grit. Remove the chain and put it to soak. Have
a pan of kerosene, and place each small part in that to soak, and any
part that has friction surface or is notably oily or greasy.
Begin serious work on a pedal, which is small and easily handled. If the
pedal is a removable one, take it off. If the spindle is stationary,
take off the movable parts, first the nuts or screws, then loosen the
cones, having a box placed underneath to catch the balls if any should
fall out. Support the box well up under the pedal, as the balls bounce
and jump about. Even if you have had the pedals off before, and know how
it is done, it is well to have something to catch the balls, as
otherwise you must atone for any mistake by a scramble. Place the balls
in a separate dish of kerosene, and carefully count them. Wipe the
movable parts of the pedals with a cloth wet in kerosene, and finish
with a dry cloth.
In taking a pedal down, the place of each part should be carefully
noted, so that it may be a simple matter to replace the parts. If, the
first pedal being now apart, the novice is confused, there is the other
pedal to afford comparison. Study that, then return the parts of the
dismembered pedal to their proper places, and adjust them. The balls may
prove troublesome; but a screw-driver dipped in vaseline will pick up
any very small balls, and pliers can manage the larger ones. See that
cones and washers are replaced, then add a few drops of oil, adjusting
the pedal to spin easily without lateral play, and tighten cones and
nuts. Spin the pedal for a final test, and then begin on the other
pedal.
If after several hours’ work, but one pedal is finished, if that one
pedal is in perfect order, there is much cause for congratulation. The
other pedal may be done very much more easily and rapidly. Of course, it
takes time to wipe all the balls and cones, and nuts and screws, and
washers and spindles, and when the pedal is in your hand, a little time
may be spent to give it an extra rub to brighten its polish. Wipe off
any oil that may have shown in the joints of the bearings, and the
pedals are finished.
The front wheel should next engage attention. Take a large wrench, and
start the bearing cones, and take off the nuts at opposite sides of the
ends of the forks. These nuts are screwed on the ends of the axle, and
perhaps have metal washers under them. Place them in a box by
themselves, and if the forks are notched, there will be nothing to do
but to lift out the wheel. If the ends of the forks have only eyes, the
forks must be sprung to take the wheel out.
When the wheel is in your hand, avoid letting any grease or oil touch
the tire, for it will injure the rubber. Now proceed to work on the
axles. Support the wheel on a large, empty wooden box. The axle is a
spindle, and has cones to hold the balls in against the bearings. The
cones must be removed and cleaned, and the socket of the hub made clean
with an oily cloth followed by a clean one. The axle’s spindle should be
replaced, and the balls and cones restored to their proper relative
positions. Drop in a little oil, adjust and tighten the cones, then
spring the wheel back between the forks, and true it; see that it runs
even between the forks and that the cones are keyed up firm and even.
Replace the nuts, and screw up firm. Wipe off any oil that may have
worked out, and spin the wheel to try it. If it runs long and steadily,
and has no lateral play, and everything is keyed up tight and true, this
part of the work may be considered finished.
Some prefer to use a little pure graphite for the balls, and no oil; and
again some bicycles are made without oil-cups. For the first work, oil
is safer to handle; but remember that two or three drops are enough. Too
much is worse than useless, for oil spreads over a large surface, and
will cover all the surface of the bicycle with a thin film, which will
need to be constantly wiped off.
The rear wheel may be removed without springing the frame. Unscrew the
adjustment attachment, and the wheel will come out. Clean the rear wheel
bearings in the same way you have cleaned those of the front wheel;
replace the rear wheel, and put back the adjusting attachment.
Give the crank axle the same care and attention that the wheel axles
have received. The pedal cranks are fastened on either end of the crank
axle in such a way that the dead centre is avoided as much as possible.
The large sprocket-wheel is on the crank axles, and sometimes not
movable. The cranks are screwed or fastened with pins to the ends of the
axles, and should not be disturbed. Take the large key-wrench from the
kit, and start the bearing cones. If the crank must come off, see that
the nut on the end of the crank-pin is flush with the end, and place a
piece of wood on it before striking it with a hammer, as already
explained, to start the bolt or pin. Or if you have some one to help,
let a heavy hammer-head be held under the crank beside the bolt, at the
other end; and the double shock and recoil from the heavy hammer as the
blow is struck will jar the bolt loose.
Remove and clean the cones and balls, then replace and oil them, and
adjust the cones tight, ready for adjustment when the cranks are in
place. The only bearings left to attend to are those in the head of the
frame. Take out the handle-bars, and wipe them and their socket very
carefully; never allow any oil to remain there. The handles should never
be immovably tight; yet grease, if any were introduced, would perhaps
cause them to slip when they should remain in place. The crank axle-key
usually fits the cone of the head of the frame, and that may be treated
as any other set of ball bearings--loosened, removed, cleaned, replaced,
oiled, adjusted, and tightened. Any dust may be removed from inside the
frame-head while the bearings are off.
When the head bearings have been restored and the handle-bar replaced,
put on the chain and adjust it. The rear wheel is arranged to move
forward or back on the frame by the adjusting attachment. This allows
the two sprocket-wheels to be placed nearer together or farther apart,
and the chain may be stretched and held between them to any desired
degree of rigidity or of slackness.
When the bicycle has been set up, the parts correctly replaced, before
turning it right side up, go over the entire adjustment of the machine,
to see that nothing has been forgotten. Have wrench and screw-driver at
hand and a clean cloth. Begin with the bearings of the front wheel. See
that the oil is not working out, and wipe them again. Take the key, and
see that they are true and tight. Apply the screw-wrench to the nuts of
the fork, and see that they are screwed home. Treat the rear wheel in
the same way, and look that both wheels travel on the same line or
plane; if they do not, it is because the bearings are out or the frame
is bent. Go over the axle bearing, feel the chain, spin the pedals and
wheels. A well-adjusted wheel will carry the weight of the valve around
quickly and then swing back, showing how sensitive it is to so small a
weight. If you are satisfied that everything is right, turn the bicycle
right side up, and square the handle-bars. The only way to do this is to
stand in front of the bicycle, and take the wheel between the knees
while the handles are pulled into place.
The saddle-post and screw-nuts that hold it should be examined and
removed and carefully wiped, as well as the socket where they belong.
The screw that holds the saddle-post in place does its work by friction,
and any oil would prevent it from acting properly, and the saddle would
slip. Keep the oil-can carefully wiped, and see that the little spout
has a clean round hole at the end that will allow only a drop at a time
to escape; for oil travels and spreads in a marvellous manner, appearing
where least expected or wanted. If there is a hand-brake on the bicycle,
adjusted to alter with the handle-bars, examine it carefully, and wipe
the rods. Oil here will allow the coupling to slip and the action of the
brake to be impaired.
[Illustration: STRAIGHTENING THE HANDLE-BARS.]
There are so many things to be carefully observed and accurately done in
this kind of work that mistakes and omissions may be easily made by the
inexperienced; but there need not be so many blunders, after all, if
one works slowly and observingly, taking notes, in writing if necessary,
as for instance how far the bearing cones are keyed in when in place,
which is the reverse side of the crank and pedal pins, if they are
interchangeable, or rights and lefts.
Screw threads are made rights and lefts, and threads are made to fit
them in the sockets where they belong. That pedals may not work loose,
the spindles are made right and left, with a reverse screw, so that
forward pedaling drives them tighter. In the older constructions, the
pedal sometimes became unscrewed and fell off, or the nut fell off and
the pedal loosened. All such matters should be studied before taking
down a machine. Usually the maker’s catalogue will describe and
illustrate these details. Study that, and learn the names and uses of
all the parts of the bicycle, and then you will be prepared to go to
work by yourself, or with but little assistance.
_CHAPTER XVI._
_Where to Keep a Bicycle._
Almost anywhere that a bicycle can stand or hang will do for a place to
keep it; and almost any place will do to go to work on a bicycle--the
roadside, the lawn (though the grass is worse than a haystack to lose
things in), anywhere, in fact, that may suit your convenience. The
accessories of the bicycle should have places where they may always be
found, and the bicycle itself should be kept where it will be
undisturbed and where it may be kept free from finger-marks, dust, and
oil.
With the bicycle should be kept certain conveniences for handling it--a
table or bench fitted conveniently, frames to hold the wheel for
cleaning and adjusting, a good light to work by, and a place for the
tools that are sure to accumulate. There are two kinds of workshop for
the amateur--the one that you fit up for yourself, and the one that is
fitted up for you. The amateur with a place well fitted out likes to add
details of home construction, and the proud owner of a corner cupboard
is always anxious to replace makeshifts. In either case, get the best
you can, and take care of it. Of tools, the best are always cheapest;
but good tools, or tools of any kind, can become a very expensive
luxury. Taste for the best comes quickly to even the moderately
enthusiastic.
A bicycle rack room should be light, with plenty of head room, and
conveniently fitted with racks, shelves, and lockers. Each rack should
have its corresponding shelf-room and pigeon-hole, either beside it or
above and behind it. There is an infinite variety of racks to select
from, from the two stakes driven into the ground or fastened to the
floor, to the handsomely finished metal racks with joints to hold the
frame at any angle.
If there is but one bicycle to care for, it is better to have its rack
and shelf and cupboard together--the rack to hold the bicycle in a
proper position, the shelf for sundry attachments, and the cupboard for
the lamp and extras. Such a bicycle corner can be made very attractive
to look at when everything is arranged and kept in perfect order. When
several bicycles are to be cared for together, when neatly set up they
make a very pretty showing. If possible, the rack-room should be
separate, set apart for that purpose, and kept under lock and key; it
should be dry and well lighted, free from frost, and not likely to be
over-heated by direct sun-rays in summer. The frost is injurious to
metal and enamel; and the sun or too much heat will spoil rubber, and
possibly injure enamel as well.
An even temperature, not any special degree of temperature, is
requisite; for changes of temperature cause different degrees of
expansion and contraction in different materials; and as the steel
frame, and the enamel it is covered with, do not expand and contract in
quite the same degree, they will gradually work loose from each other,
and the enamel will flake or split.
The rubber tire should be kept out of the sun, and the place where it
stands should be kept very clean, and no oil allowed about; for oil is
injurious to the rubber, and in case of punctures makes repairing very
difficult, if not impossible. A rubber surface with even the slightest
film of oil will not make a joint, as the oil prevents the rubber
surface and that of the cement and the article to be repaired from
uniting.
If the workshop is to be used by more than one person, each should have
a tool-chest and a work-bench of his own, and each tool-chest provided
with lock and key, and each person with a key to the outer door. Tools
are but the continuation of the individual brain and will power. What
one handles becomes, while in one’s hand, a part of one’s self, as it
were. Tools, therefore, should be individual property always, just as
scissors and thimble are, though of course extra tools may be provided
for general work. Every one prefers a good pair of scissors to a poor
pair, and the same preference is likely to be evinced in the case of
other tools. If the tools are common property, the best will be always
taken, and often not restored to their proper place.
A bicycle workshop is devoted to metal work, woodwork, and rubber work.
The metal work should be kept by itself, and the tools used for metal
work only.
The amateur can commence fitting a shop by setting up a small deal table
and a vise. The table will do for a work-bench, and one vise will serve
for a beginning; it should be of medium size, quite heavy, made of
wrought iron or cast steel, and capable of holding a wrench in its jaws,
though a less expensive one could be made to do. A cheap vise, however,
is pretty sure to break if a strain is put upon it; and, while a good
workman could get comparatively good work out of a poor vise, the poor
tool in unskilled hands would be sure to show its weak place.
Have a notch cut in the edge of the table to let the vise back to where
there is bearing surface; and it is well to have it as far in as
convenient, for the weight will thus be supported more steadily. Get a
plumber to cut a section of lead pipe about as long as the jaws of the
vise, and have the piece of pipe split and flattened. You can do this
yourself if you can handle a saw, and have one that is suitable for
cutting metal; or a jig saw will do, and the lead can be flattened on a
block with a mallet. Screw one of the flattened pieces of lead into the
jaws of the vise, leaving about an inch to project above; hammer the
projecting part over, and one side of the jaws will have a lead face
that can be taken out. Do the same with the other piece of lead. Replace
them both, and the vise is fitted with a pair of lead jaw faces, which
will be found most useful.
The lead being soft, any small metal object may be held between the jaws
without injury, while if the steel face of the vise came in direct
contact with the metal, a screw for example, the thread might be
bruised; or if the screw were harder than the vise, the face of the jaws
would be marred.
With a work-table, a vise, and the bicycle kit, a very fair beginning
may be made, and any refractory small part handled with ease. Even the
spindle of the axles of one of the wheels may be screwed in, and the
bearings removed, while held in this way. The vise will act as a clamp
for holding pieces to be polished, and it is most useful in taking a
pedal or other small parts down. Above the table should be a tool-rack,
three feet of board ten or twelve inches wide, with a ledge or shelf
nailed along the lower edge, and a strip of leather or some stiff and
pliable material nailed on in loops to hold the tools. Under the table
should be kept a couple of boxes--wooden boxes such as canned goods come
in will do--one as a receptacle for oil-cans, kerosene, and cloths, and
the other to use as a frame. The outfit should be completed by a little
bench, and a wooden stool to sit on when working at the table; for much
of the work about a bicycle may be done while seated comfortably, and it
is always well to save strength when possible.
A workshop once started, many little contrivances suggest themselves for
convenient working,--a nail must be put up for the apron, a corner found
for the working gloves, separate places allotted for oily cloths and
clean ones and for the kerosene. The bicycle lamp, if an oil-lamp,
should have a stand for trimming and filling, and should be cared for
regularly; the best of lamps will smoke occasionally, and the soot must
not be allowed to fly about.
From fitting up a bicycle workshop, the transition is easy to studying
accomplishments that may be of use--planning tours and trips, exercising
scientifically to prepare to enjoy them, studying the construction and
improvement of modern contrivances, learning the use of map and compass,
investigating camping possibilities, and learning how to depend on
limited resources when cut off from supplies. The simple appliances and
contrivances of the home workshop lead the mind to appreciation and
desire for something better, more workmanlike. A choice of tools
suggests itself; and from the first assortment of a couple of wrenches,
a few screw-drivers, a hammer, and a couple of wooden boxes, is finally
evolved the well-furnished amateur workshop.
The ideal room for this purpose should have a good north light, with
windows on two sides if possible, and high enough from the floor to
allow a work-bench to be placed in front of the window with the light
falling upon it, and a space of ten inches or a foot between the lowest
part of the window and the bench; this space to be arranged as a rack
for tools. The windows should open and shut easily, and be fitted with
two kinds of shades, dark green and white, two pairs of shades to each
window, two rolling up from the lower part, and two down from the upper
part. Nothing is so fatiguing as working by light not suited to the work
to be done. With shades arranged in this way, light may be perfectly
controlled, and distributed where needed by means of reflectors.
Ventilating and heating, also, must be arranged for.
The workshop should have running water, and a closet for working
clothes, which are apt to be oily or greasy. There should be plenty of
shelf-room, and an extra cupboard or two. The floor should be of wood,
unpainted. There should be a bench for carpenter work and carpenter
tools; a bench for cabinet-working tools for fine wood-working; a table
for rubber and naphtha; and a long, heavy, narrow bench fitted with
vises of different sizes and patterns; a table devoted to the blast
furnace, a corner for an anvil and portable forge and another for a
lathe and power-saw, though these may be dispensed with. The movable
furniture may consist of stools and benches of different heights, and
the frames necessary to take down and handle a bicycle on.
Metal can be bent, twisted, cut, pressed, elongated, sawed, stretched,
and melted into any shape desired. The tools adapted to this work may
consist of holding tools, carving tools, molding tools, and bending
tools; and contrivances and tools made to perform certain work, as
screw-driver, etc.
Cutting tools are knives, saws, files, and chisels, which perform their
work by applied power, whether controlled directly by the hand or
otherwise.
The metal-working outfit may contain many varieties of tools.
_CHAPTER XVII._
_Tires._
In the older forms of wheel, the tire did duty in protecting and
strengthening the wheel and holding it together. In the bicycle wheel,
the rim is the strengthening and supporting contrivance. The tire
protects the rim, and acts as a spring cushion as well, receiving shock
and jar. The solid rubber tire was an advance over the old steel tire on
the bone-shaking machine, as it was called, in the days when the bicycle
was still in its experimental stage.
The solid tire was narrow, and after a certain diameter of material was
reached, the weight of rubber became too great if the tire was made
larger. It was found that a certain thickness of material was sufficient
for wear and tear and that more surface was desired to grip the roadway,
and that consequently the tire should be made lighter. Hose-pipe was
tried, and did well; and then experiment succeeded experiment in the
effort to produce a tire that would fit, wear well, be light, and give
speed and resiliance.
A pneumatic tire is made of a tough, hard outer material to resist wear,
a fibrous inner material to give stiffness and prevent stretching, and
an impervious inner layer to retain the air. Rubber is a sticky, gummy
substance, easily melted at a comparatively low temperature, and
becoming hard when exposed to the air and moderately low temperature; it
dissolves readily in benzine or gasoline or naphtha, and is insoluble in
water. Grease and oil have a peculiar disintegrating effect on rubber
and rubber materials, and are most injurious to them. To prevent rubber
substances from adhering to each other, they are prepared in a
particular way, and feel dry and gritty to the touch.
Tires are made in layers, and double-tube tires have a separate inner
tube of impervious rubber to hold the air, and an outer covering of
toughened material, that is quite separate and not necessarily
air-tight, to resist wear.
The tire must be held immovable on the rim of the wheel. There is all
the pull of the weight of the moving bicycle against the surface over
which it moves, and the tire must be secured to the rim in such a way as
to keep it forced in place. There are two methods of fastening it
permanently to the rim,--with cement or other material of that
character, so as to make it a part of the rim, as it were; and by
clamping it fast. A cemented tire, or indeed any tire of rubber, should
never be left in the sun, as the heat affects the rubber and perhaps the
cement.
Changes of temperature affect different materials in different degrees,
and the different materials expand and contract, working loose from each
other until something gives way, with apparently inexplicable results.
When two or more different materials are used in construction in this
way, this problem will always present itself.
The tire inflated, the impervious inner covering of the tire tube, which
is made of a soft and yielding substance, fills the interstices in the
outer covering, rendering it air-tight. Should a hard substance then be
introduced into this material, and a puncture occur, it is necessary to
locate the puncture. This is very difficult to do if the puncture is
small, and the substance that made the hole has been removed. Ascertain
first that the trouble is not with the valve of the tire if the air is
not retained properly. Then test for puncture in this way. Wet the
surface of the tire, and note the bubbles that form under the film of
water, and the puncture is found.
The inner surface tire is made to resist the air, and is usually of pure
rubber. The outer covering is for strength and wear. Rubber may be
repaired with rubber easily enough, and the purer the rubber, the easier
it is to cement it with a cement made of pure rubber dissolved in a
volatile vehicle. Almost any repair or renovation of the tire may be
accomplished with rubber material, rubber cement to be used for
plugging, and twine or cotton cloth to be used for strengthening
purposes. Small punctures require only plugging from the inside; tears
and rents require plugging and reinforcing as well. Each make of tire
has its repair-kit and directions for use.
The single-tube tire, with its inner coat, is so made that the inner
covering will act as a continuous plug. The soft rubber is compressed,
and put on in such a way that the air pressure, even if a puncture
occurs, will help to close the hole by pressing on all sides around and
about it. To illustrate this principle, cover the outside of the tube
with soft rubber cement, and let it dry. Then turn the tube inside out.
The rubber will be in an active state of compression. Force air against
the surface, and it is easily seen how the rubber is crowded if there is
any place made by puncture, and how the hole would be closed.