Q&A: Great grandmother's "wheel"

Q: Dear Mr. Langley,
I've been reading my Great Grandmother's diary. She was born in 1885 in Maine. When she was 15, she worked and saved money for a "wheel" that she purchased and rode. I was thinking that she must have meant "bike." I learned that bikes with big front wheels were called "highwheels," but I couldn't imagine someone riding one of those in a dress. Were bikes called "wheels" in those days?

Thanks for your time,
Karen

A: Thanks for the email, Karen. She did mean bike but at the time bicycles were commonly called wheels. The highwheel, which was more commonly called the ordinary in its day because it was the ordinary bike everyone rode, was only popular for about 10 years, from about 1878 to 1890. Then came the safety bicycles. By 1900, when your great grandmother was looking for a wheel, she would have been buying a bike similar in many ways to the bikes we ride today, with same-size wheels, lightweight parts, probably wood rims, pneumatic tires and even a brake. Below is an illustration from 1898 showing such a bike and rider. Notice how nicely the cyclists dressed then. Also, note that they're resting their feet on little pegs attached to the front fork. That's because bikes did not freewheel yet so they couldn't coast with their feet on the pedals. It's also interesting that before the safety bicycle came along most women didn't ride because it was considered taboo by society for them to ride highwheels. Once the safety was available women took to cycling in a big way and it actually helped launch the women's liberation movement.

You're lucky to have a diary to read about this in. I bet it's a fascinating story.

Thanks for sharing,
Jim

Nice bike-repair video site!

BicycleTutor.com is a fine new video resource. Watch this excellent tutorial on wheel truing and visit Alex's super helpful website for many more fine bicycle-repair vids. Good work, Alex!

Wheel Truing

This video from Alex of the bike-repair website Bicycle Tutor.com covers wheel truing very nicely. And he has lots of other excellent repair videos on the site, too. It's a great resource.

GREAT TIP: Really nice bike-repair video site

Q&A: Drivetrain clunk, bicycle noises

Q: I have a 94 Bianchi with the Shimano 105 group. When I pedal it feels
like there is something loose, kinda like a clunk from both crankarms. I
removed the crankarms and reinstalled them they are tight, the pedals are
tight, I took apart the cassette cluster and cleaned it up. The spindle does
not seem to have any play it. I also took the chain rings off cleaned them
and reinstalled. Still the clunk. The only thing I didn't touch was the
sealed crank bearings because there wasn't any play in the spindle. What do
you think?

Al

A: Hi Al,
I think the bottom bracket cartridge is loose in the frame - the cups aren't
tight enough so it's moving under pressure. I would remove the crankarms
again and using the correct bottom bracket tool, I would first make sure the
right-side (chainring side) cup was nice and tight in the frame (turn
counterclockwise to tighten) and then I would check the right side (turn
clockwise to tighten). Usually, when there's a clunk like this, it's from
the whole BB moving and that should fix it. If you have some blue locktite,
it would be a good idea to put a couple of drops on the threads before
tightening to make sure the cups stay tight, but that's not mandatory.

Hope that helps quiet your bike, and note that I have a huge story on
keeping bikes quiet on my site with a zillion more bicycle noises and how to
shut them up here: http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/keepitquiet.html
Jim

Q&A: American King of Scorchers bicycle

Q: Please note the following bike: American King of Scorchers-Mclntosh &
Huntington Company, Cleveland OH, 1896. I acquired one a few weeks ago and
would like any information you might have on it. The only part that is
compromised is the stem; there is a significant crack in it and will
certainly break apart if tightened. If you have or know the whereabouts of
a nickel plated, period-correct stem, please let me know.

Thank you in advance,
Mark

A: Hi Mark,
For that vintage of bike you should definitely contact/join The Wheelmen
www.thewheelmen.org I'm a proud member. This club is devoted to restoring,
preserving and riding bikes made from 1860 to about 1925. As a member you
will receive the club newsletter and be able to run classified ads looking
for parts and you'll find out about events and meet people with bikes like
yours that can help you with restoration, tracking down parts, etc. To start
looking for your stem you could visit the link above and check out the
message boards. You might also check out the antique photographs and see if
you can find your bike or check the bicycle brands list where you will find
your bike listed:
http://www.thewheelmen.org/sections/bicyclebrands/showresults.asp?whichpage=
2&pagesize=50&alphachar=A There's even a chance the Wheelmen library has a
catalog for your bike and that you can get a reprint for a few dollars. Give
it a try and if you'd like to send me a digital photo of your bike I'd be
happy to take a look and see if I can offer any more information,

Yours in cycling,
Jim

Q&A: Weaving spokes

Q: Hi Jim,
My wife and I both have Mavic Cosmos wheelsets, but from different model
years. I noticed the other day that the spokes on my rear wheel are not
"woven." That is, on her wheel the last (third) spoke cross goes under, not
over; on my wheel every spoke cross goes over. I was taught (by you,
probably!) that weaving the final cross under makes for a stronger wheel. Is
that still true? Does it apply to these new tech wheels?

Thanks,
Your one-time apprentice, Fred

A: Nice to hear from you Fred!
Yes, weaving the spokes is the way I build wheels and would recommend
building them. The spokes touch that way and it adds lateral stability and
also may prevent some road vibration from reaching you for a nicer ride (it
might dissipate when it reaches the cross), though that's probably something
engineers would debate.

However, on these new factory-built wheels with minimal spokes and unusual
spoke configurations and types, the companies sometimes throw "the rules"
out the window. I can't remember the Cosmos wheels and they're not on
Mavic's site anymore to check, but it might be that they didn't weave the
spokes because that would have caused too much of a bend in the spokes. Or,
they might not have done it because they didn't want the spokes to touch
each other as this can be a point where the spokes gradually wear as they
chafe there (even on standard wheels this is a problem, which is why it's a
good idea to lube your spoke crosses/weaves).

So, I suspect there is a slight design difference between your and your
wife's wheel and that's why one has weaved spokes and one doesn't, and I
wouldn't worry about it. Usually the tensions are so high on modern factory
built wheels like this that you won't have a problem.

Hope that helps, and ride safe!
Jim