Thread started by docmadmax at 03.30.08 - 2:00 am

hey all... so i am a sins and sprockets/ midnight ridazz rider who has been transpalanted to europe for the next couple years... miss the weather and miss the rides!

first, if anyone knows about similar styled rides happening in europe, or wants to help me get a club rolling let me know. i am in mannheim/heidelberg area, but in paris for a long weekend every month...

now, to my problem. i am riding the 2006 specialized langster, with stock drivetrain, flipped the hub to ride fixed a couple months ago... love it! i was feeling like a skidding/trackstanding jedi warrior, until it all just stopped working... i have somehow fucked up the rear hub, i think...

i'm a big 'un, and at 215 lbs i am afraid maybe the amount of torque created by the downstroke on the cranks, plus the skidding has somehow worked the rear sprocket loose. is there a maintenace procedure i should be doing? or was this badly assembled at the shop? the fella in sandiego who sold it to me did so at an incredible discount because he felt singlespeed fixed gear bikes were the devil, so maybe he did a less than excellent job of putting it together?

i know the drivetrain is very very straight, and i know my hubs were well tight in the dropouts. i don't know how i broke this, how to fix it, or how to prevent it from happening again. hoping all that bike kitchen know-how i sorely miss will float it's way over here to europe via this thread...

what i have now is a dead bike- unrideable, with cranks that just freely spin the rear cog on the rear hub with no movement of the wheel. obviously the problem is somewhere in the rear hub, as this fixie should not have a free spinning rear hub with no rear wheel movement...i see a lockring that looks mis-threaded and loose...

i think i need a lockring wrench, buti don't know how to size the tool to the wheel. i would take it to a german or french shop, but a) it's not cheap b) noone in europe rides fixed(i've been told-though maybe this is a simple repair any shop can do?) and c)most importantly,i want to learn how to do it myself...

please help, sorry for writing such a long thread. i'll send a bottle of absinthe to anyone who can walk me through this without making me feel like a complete retard.... really.

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You gotta tighten the cog back on there and then yer lockring.
You can do this by taking the cog on the wheel, and put the wheel
in a vise and use yer arms to spin the wheel with the cog on it tighter. Or you could do it the italian way, where you fold the chain over itselfand tighten it down by pulling on the folded chain this actually really works when done right. The cog's probly just loose and needs to be tightened. After you get it tightened, one way or another, go ride it around then re-tighten it because you gotta break it in. Go on the internet to learn how to tighten a cog 'italian style'. Use a hammer and screwdriver, poking the screwdriver down on the lockring that should do it. A shop should only charge you a couple euros for this, but if yo can do it yerself, you can further prove to yersoelf that Americans really are better than Europeans.

Good luck!



tallcans4tallbikes
03.30.08 - 11:36 am

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OR YOU CAN HAVE SOMEONE WELD THE COG TO THE HUB IF YOU DON'T PLAN ON RESELLING THE RIM.



barleye
03.30.08 - 12:41 pm

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I used to live in Dexheim. Fuck I miss it over there. :0(



NEWB310
03.30.08 - 5:05 pm

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thanks to you all, i don't feel like a retard...
i should say that is so mice to get support from ridazz all the way back home... i woke up hungover from drowning my bike sorrows in gin and found these responses... thanks again, i feel better...

so the screwdriver and hammer idea is what i just used, and the thing is as stripped as...whatever, it's stripped!

yep, i am better than a european...

upon inspection,it appears the softer metal(aluminum? it doesn't receive a magnet well) of the threaded hub has no threads left, while the threads of the lockring and sprocket(steel? it takes a magnet well) have their threads still, although not very nice looking ...

i would gladly use the advice listed to weld it-(i can weld-badly)... but i can't weld steel to aluminum, right?

so i think "set-screw through the rear cog" but if my 210lbs of beef killed this setup out of the factory, i am sure i'll destroy a couple setscrews in even less time... my roomate suggested JBweld, but that seems even dumber still...

i feel like this thing may be shot completely... before i start asking for online sources to buy a replacement set of wheels, are there:
---any more suggestions on how to fix this,?
--- how did it happen?
---how do i prevent it?
---has anyone else rode fixie and had this problem?
the specs call the rear hub a: " specialized 32 hole forged alloy with double sealed hub with chrome track nuts" i call it "crap"

anyway, it is on alexisrims R500, 700c...
i guess i am willing to just part company with this piece of junk and get something a little more bulletproof... i liked the fellas over at orange20, do they ship?





docmadmax
03.31.08 - 3:00 pm

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also, WHERE/WHO do i send the ABSINTHE? i feel it would be a really great idea to drink it with other ridazz during a nice summer ride? cheers!



docmadmax
03.31.08 - 3:05 pm

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Isn't that illegal, sending that through the mail? Also, Absinthe in the states is legal now. Woop! What are you doing in Germany? I looked on teh interwebz and found this for you:

http://www.radsport-altig.de/Seiten/Start.html

They have a Specialized Langster. Check out the home page. You may want to check this out. They are in the Heidelberg area.



NEWB310
03.31.08 - 3:43 pm

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the problem probably occured because you rode with it loose. aluminum hubs are fine (virtually all hubs are aluminum). You just need to make sure that everything is tight. also if it ever gets loose, you need to tighten it asap. as long as the cog and lockring stay tight, that won't happen.




stevestevesteve
03.31.08 - 4:45 pm

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Get yourself a dura ace lockring for 10 bucks and put an end to the sketchiness you speak of.



kyber
03.31.08 - 5:23 pm

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