The first covid lockdown, and the three months I got paid to stay home (hooray for Canada!) made me realise how much money I spent on petrol each month. So I started to fix up my old kijiji mountain bike so I could use that instead. Unfortunately it was far too busted to be salvageable. I started looking for bikes and, inspired by Not Just Bikes on youtube, bought myself a second hand opafiets from Go Dutch bikeshop in Toronto. It's pretty great! Super comfortable. But it is old, so it needs some work done.
Up to this point (June 2022) I have cleaned up the frame rust, and have overhauled the rear hub. I do need to redo the cone adjustments, which will happen any day now...
As for upgrades, I have bought an electric horn/alarm, and a 'ding-dong' bike bell that is very cheerful. I'll use the bell for pedestrians and fellow cyclists, and the horn for cars.
In the future I want to get some pannier bags, and some kind of basket for the rear rack. I have a couple of insulated lunch bags that happen to be sized for a six pack of beer and they fit perfectly on the rear rack, I'm just not sure I can trust the elastic straps to hold them securely. It wouldn't hurt to have some shock absorbtion, too. I have basically told myself that the next beer I buy must be transported by bike. Fortunately there are two breweries in town, both about 8km away, plus a Beer Store and an LCBO that are both closer. I know I can ride that distance, one way at least. It's a goal to aim for.
I haven't had a beer in a few weeks haha
I'll add more as I go. I want to replace the fenders, get a good centre stand, and a dyno and good lights. And probably more stuff.
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When I first put the rear hub back together it didn't really work. I couldn't tell if the low gear was working and sometimes it felt like it was binding up, on the bench at least. Well that got me feeling a bit mopey about it all and it took a few weeks to work up the mojo to have another go at it.
Well yesterday was the day for it. I saw one of my coworkers riding his shiny new ebike home from work and decided I was going to get my accoustic bike working! It turns out the issue is that I didn'g set the cones correctly. That's it. I feel a bit silly, but oh well. I sorted the bike out last night and just now I went for a quick jaunt up the street and back again. About 1.3km. I am stuffed. I knew I wasn't fit but wow. But the amazing news is that the hub works perfectly! I have all 3 gears! Super chuffed right now.
I still need to replace the chain (and probably the sprockets, they look worn. While I'm at it I'll change the ratio for better climbing. The low gear is great but it's still only 75% - not that low haha.
Woot!
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