This guide is devoted entirely to the subject of bicycle care: adjustment, lubrication, maintenance and repairs. Whether you ride a ten-speed, an off- road bike or even a tandem, the instructions are so systematically arranged that you will find adequate help for all the most frequently en countered problems. It covers not only minor irritations which the experienced cyclist has learned to cope with himself, but also those mysterious things that befuddle even the longtime bicycle rider.
This first section is largely an introduction to the bicycle, and is intended primarily for the less experienced rider. If you are quite familiar with the bike and its components, it may be in order to skip most of this section and go straight on to the more specifically technical matters covered in the sections that follow. If you should not be sure of some of the terminology used in other parts of the guide, this will be the place to look it up.
Throughout this guide I have used American terminology and spelling convention. Thus, my British readers may be somewhat confused, or even offended, to find words like tire, center and aluminum, where they expect to read tyre, centre and aluminium. I apologize for this, but it is one of the hard facts of publishing that it is only possible to keep the price of a guide down by offering the same version in Britain as is sold in the U.S. However, I shall make every attempt to refrain as much as possible from using expressions which make sense only on one side of the Atlantic. Wherever the British name for an item differs by more than the spelling alone, I shall provide both terms the first time it is mentioned.
The Parts of the Bicycle
The illustration above shows a ten speed bicycle, equipped with a full set of accessories. There are many different kinds of bicycles on the road. Many look different from this model and few will be as elaborately equipped. But each of the components shown here can be found on one bike or another. There are of course several distinct bicycle types, which will be briefly described in the next section. First we’ll take a look at the various components of the bicycle as shown in the illustration.
The frame is the bicycle’s back bone’. In fact, it is generally the only part made by the manufacturer whose name appears on the bike: the other parts are bought from specialized suppliers and mounted to the frame in the bicycle manufacturer’s plant. The frame is a tubular construction, welded or brazed together to form one structurally sound unit. The tubes of the front portion, or main frame, are top tube, down tube, seat tube and head tube. The rear portion, or rear triangle, consists of two sets of thinner tubes, called chain stays and seat stays respectively. A short tube at the lowest point, where main frame and rear tri angle meet, is the bottom bracket shell.
The size of the frame—which should be selected to match the rider’s leg length so that he can straddle the top tube with both feet flat on the ground — is usually measured as the total height of the seat tube: from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube. An alternative and more precise way, which results in a shorter nominal size for the same actual size frame, is to measure from the center of the bottom bracket to the centerline of the top tube. The latter method is often used on mountain bikes.
The steering system consists of front fork, handlebar, stem and head set bearings. The head-set bearings are installed in the frame’s head tube. The steering system does more than steering alone, because it is also required to balance the bike when going straight.
The wheels are attached to the front fork and the frame. Each wheel consists of hub, spokes, rim and tire. The wheel’s nominal size is the diameter measured over the inflated tire. Adult bikes usually have 27-in wheels for ten-speeds or 26-in wheels for mountain bikes, three-speeds and utility bikes. Children’s bikes and folding bicycles have smaller wheels. The tire may either be the conventional wired- on type, which consists of separate inner tube and cover, or a tubular racing tire which is cemented to the (special) rim. The latter type is used on racing bicycles only and is called tub in Britain, sew-up in the US.
The drive-train is the set of components that transmits the rider’s effort to the rear wheel. It consists of pedals, crankset, chain and sprockets or cogs on the rear wheel. Usually the cogs are mounted on a freewheel mechanism, which may be screwed onto the rear wheel hub or may be integrated into the hub. The crankset consists of cranks, chainwheels and a spindle or axle which runs on the bottom bracket bearings. Often toeclips are installed on the pedals of derailleur bicycles.
The gearing system comes in two distinct versions: derailleur gearing and hub gearing. The former is used almost universally these days — certainly on all ten-speeds and mountain bikes. It consists of a rear derailleur, with which the rider can choose between several different sprocket sizes on the freewheel, and often a front derailleur to choose between two or three different front chainwheels.
In the case of hub gearing, a kind of gear box is built into the rear wheel hub. Usually there is a choice of three different gears, although versions with two and five gears are also available. The two-speed hub requires no further control, being operated by pedal ling back briefly; all other gear mechanisms are controlled from shift levers via flexible cables. The levers may be mounted on the handlebars, the down tube, the handlebar stem or at the ends of the handlebars. The shifters for hub gears have definite positions representing the various gears, whereas most derailleur gear shifters do not have such fixed positions.
The brakes are most commonly in the form of calipers which squeeze against the rims of the front and rear wheels. There are several different types of such caliper brakes. Other forms of brakes include the coaster brake (also called back-pedaling brake), built into the rear wheel hub, internally expanding hub brakes and the disc brake, as well as the pull-rod operated roller-lever brake (also called stirrup brake). Caliper brakes, drum brakes and disc brakes are generally operated by means of flexible cables.
The saddle is mounted to the frame by means of a seat post, called seat pin or seat pillar in Britain. It is clamped into the bicycle’s seat tube by means of a binder bolt which squeezes the split seat lug around the seat post. On mountain bikes this binder bolt usually takes the form of a quick-release device.
Accessories allow the cyclist to optimize his bike for the intended purpose. Some bicycles come equipped with a whole plethora of gadgets, but in the US most are quite devoid of such useful items as lights, fenders (mudguards in Britain), luggage rack, chain-guard and pump. Other handy accessories include saddlebag, lock, speedometer, water bottle and perhaps a warning device, such as a bell or a horn. One item I am less than enthusiastic about, though often in stalled, is the kick stand (prop stand in Britain).
That’s a long list of items, and it’s not even remotely complete, because each of these major components itself consists of a number of smaller parts. But such further details will be dealt within the sections that follow. For the time being it should suffice if the reader can identify the parts mentioned above on his bicycle. Preferably he should even take the time to ‘play around’ with them a little, in order to learn how they work and how they are installed.
Bicycle Types
There are several distinct types of bicycles, the most popular of which shall be briefly described here. Quite often the same bike may be referred to by different names, not only by non- cyclists (who will invariably refer to anything with drop handlebars as a ‘racing bike’, even if it weighs fifty pounds), but even by people in the bicycle business. I shall try to use the most widely used names for each type, mentioning other common names where appropriate.
In addition, it may often be hard to determine whether any particular ma chine belongs to one category or another, because the distinction some times depends on several factors, some of which may indicate a bike is of a particular type, whereas other factors would indicate it belongs to another category. Just the same, most bicycles can be pretty clearly assigned to one of eight basic categories. These shall each be described with an illustration and a few words on the following pages.
AMERICAN UTILITY BIKE
Utility bike. This is the traditional American fat-tired fifty-pound monster. In other countries lighter and qualitatively superior machines are in use for the same utilitarian purpose, and the survival of adult transportational cycling in those countries may well be the result of that. The American utility bike has sluggish fat low-pres sure tires, flat handlebars, a coaster brake and no gears. Fenders and chain-guard are usually installed.
THREE-SPEED (ROADSTER)
Three-speed. This is perhaps the best name for what is called roadster in Great Britain. In many parts of the US these bikes are known as English racers: a very inappropriate name in deed, if one considers that this is the British equivalent of the American paperboy bike. Flat handlebars, hub gearing and hand brakes are usually standard. Tires are somewhat narrower than those mounted on the American Utility bike. Fenders, chain-guard and often a luggage rack are standard accessories.
TEN-SPEED DERAILLEUR BIKE
Ten-speed. This has become the generic term for all bicycles with derailleur gearing and drop handlebars, including machines with anywhere from five to eighteen speeds, and ranging from cheap cash-and-carry junk to racing machines costing over a thousand dollars. Adult sizes almost invariably have 27-in wheels with rather narrow tires. Aluminum alloy components are widely used on the better versions of this type. Accessories are rarely provided on such machines, though in recent years there has been a trend toward equipping some models with good luggage racks and even lights. In Britain and the rest of the civilized bicycle world fenders are generally installed on any model not intended for actual racing.
FOLDING BIKE
Folding bike. Though rare enough in the US, this bicycle type has long been popular elsewhere. Most of these compromise more desirable qualities in order to achieve stowability. They all have small wheels and are usually equipped with quick-releases for handlebar and saddle adjustments.
MOUNTAIN BIKE (ATB)
Mountain bike. This bike, also known as ATB (all terrain bike) or off- road bike, is a relatively light and sophisticated bicycle with flat handle bars and fat high-pressure tires. It is ultimately suitable for use on unsurfaced trails and on poorly surfaced roads and streets. Most have fifteen- speed derailleur gearing. These bikes are particularly suitable for (and popular with) less experienced adult riders, who have never been comfortable with the ten-speed’s ‘nervousness’.
TANDEM
Tandem. That’s a bicycle built for two. It has become increasingly popular in recent years, as qualitatively superior (and very expensive) models have come on the market. Tandems present a number of special maintenance problems, most of which will be covered in subsequent sections of the guide.
TRACK RACING BICYCLE
Track bike. This is a special racing bicycle for use on a cycle racing track. It has neither gears nor brakes and is extremely light and rigid. The rear wheel is driven directly, without a free- wheel. Like the road racing bicycle, it has very light tubular tires.
BMX-BIKE
BMX bike. That’s the name for those tiny little agile machines ridden by kids who usually seem big enough to ride a real bicycle. These are the only kids’ bikes that differ substantially from most adult bicycles. Not much use for everyday transportation, due to the extremely low gearing; a lot of fun, though, especially off-road.
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