I now know my bike even more intimately. I had a loose headset (the part that holds the handlebars/front fork to the bike). It had a tiny bit of give in it that I could feel and did not like. This can apparently make steering unstable and cause accidents (that must be why I wiped out the other day! Not the fact that I was fidgeting with my mirror at high speeds on a dirt/sand track). So I'll fix it, I thought, and while I am at it I might as well clean and re-grease the ball bearings.
Naturally, like me, my bike is a little bit different. It has a unique stem design, Montague's patented Octagon Adjustable Stem ("...a system of self-defense that I developed over two seasons of fighting in the Octagon!" Anyone?). Anyway, this design allows you to raise and lower the handlebars easily, supposedly even while riding the bike, without compromising the alignment of the bars with the wheel. Alright then. Cool and innovative, but I have only used it a couple of times, never while riding, and it is certainly no longer easy now that rust and dirt has set in. But I digress.
This innovative design made tightening the headset a little more difficult to figure out, but a bit of despair, followed by online research of Montague bikes and bike maintenance in general, a little more despair and a few Youtube videos later, and I figured it out. I didn't have the necessary tool to get the fork out (a mallet), nor the tools needed to tighten the headset once I cleaned and greased everything and put it back together (Montague recommends a headset press, compression tool, or a large furniture clamp). No fear though! A large rock and small carpet did both jobs just as well. Montague, you are not the only one who is innovative.
So my bike and I are just a little bit closer together, and a lot more ready to hit the road. Five more days!
Naturally, like me, my bike is a little bit different. It has a unique stem design, Montague's patented Octagon Adjustable Stem ("...a system of self-defense that I developed over two seasons of fighting in the Octagon!" Anyone?). Anyway, this design allows you to raise and lower the handlebars easily, supposedly even while riding the bike, without compromising the alignment of the bars with the wheel. Alright then. Cool and innovative, but I have only used it a couple of times, never while riding, and it is certainly no longer easy now that rust and dirt has set in. But I digress.
This innovative design made tightening the headset a little more difficult to figure out, but a bit of despair, followed by online research of Montague bikes and bike maintenance in general, a little more despair and a few Youtube videos later, and I figured it out. I didn't have the necessary tool to get the fork out (a mallet), nor the tools needed to tighten the headset once I cleaned and greased everything and put it back together (Montague recommends a headset press, compression tool, or a large furniture clamp). No fear though! A large rock and small carpet did both jobs just as well. Montague, you are not the only one who is innovative.
So my bike and I are just a little bit closer together, and a lot more ready to hit the road. Five more days!