I’ve filled out and Harriet has formatted Sheldon’s page about upgrading old road bikes, which Sheldon left as a work in progress.
Tag: maintenance
Sachs Elan/SRAM E12 Internals
John has posted a new article about the mechanism of the Sachs Elan/SRAM E12 12-speed internal-gear hub; the largest, heaviest, most complicated internal-gear hub ever marketed — flawed execution of a brilliant design concept. The unusual way this hub establishes its ratios carries an important lesson. In connection with that article, John has updated his article about the history of the Elan, his main page about Sachs/SRAM hubs and the internal-gear calculator.
Shimano Internal-Gear Hubs
John has made major updates to the pages on Shimano Nexus and Alfine internal-gear hubs — 3-speed, 7-speed and 8-speed; also a page with general mechanical information.
Stuck seatposts
John has added information on yet another way to remove a stuck seatpost — dissolving it using a strong chemical.…
Flats
John has made a few revisions to Sheldon’s page on flat tires. More to come…
Page updates
John has updated chains.html, with some added thoughts about chain cleaning, and more pictures; also leather.html, with a couple of comments from readers about leather treatments; k7.html and k8.shtml to reflect changes in product availability.
A reader’s video shows what it’s all about
A reader has posted a very nicely-produced short video about upgrading of an older steel-frame bike. This kind of project is exactly what sheldonbrown.com is about.
The bicycle already has endured some 30 years, and it will probably still be running long after today’s top-of-the-line carbon fiber bicycles have splintered.
The rebuilder’s tools and technique clearly also went through an upgrade. A hammer, punch and drilled clock of wood are used to break the old chain; a proper chain tool to install the new one. There is less and less use of adjustable wrenches as the video progresses.
There’s some riding on the sidewalk near the end of the video, next to a wall with doors in it. Suggested follow-up upgrade: a reading of my Bicycling Street Smarts!
Harriet Fell’s updates to the site
While John is plugging away at adding new material to the site, I continue to work on cleaning up the code. I had started converting files to XHTML but I am now converting to HTML5 instead. I am trying to give the pages a more uniform layout for easier maintenance and I try to repair the syntax and check on broken links as I work on the files. Someday, I may get to the end of this task and start writing but I fear it shall all be like “Albert’s Bridge” by Tom Stoppard. When I get to the end, it will be time to start again.
