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Lost a nut on my ride yesterday (yes, it's road cycling)
Last Post 06/15/2014 02:53 PM by 79 pmooney. 7 Replies.
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79pmooney

Posts:3178

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06/11/2014 04:47 PM
Planned to ride Jessica J, my good fixie up to the two high points of the Chehelams southwest of Portland.  Armed the bike with the 16, 22 and 12 tooth cogs.  It was an easy ride up to the fist high point, Mountaintop Road.  Stopped to flip the wheel around to the 17 for the smaller ups and downs going to Bald Peak.  Went to tighten the track nuts.  Somehing was very wrong!

There was a 1/4" gap between the dropout and the hub.  Huh!  I looked at the other side.  (This is a completely symmetrical hub, flip-flop lock-ringed fixed both sides.)  The left side looked normal.  Did the axle and nuts move relative to the hub?  And how could that happen without messing with the nuts and locknuts on both sides?  Nah.  But that 1/4" gap?  The dropouts spread?  On a stiff, strong ti bike?  Not very likely!

I looked closer.  No lefthand locknut.  The washer was floating free.  But, wait a minute!  nuts are circles.  The only way it cfan come off the axle is by sliding or unthreading along the path of the axle inside it.  And it has to get past the track nut.  But that track nut never came off.  It must have broken!  And it has to be here because I got here.  I looked down and there were the two halves of the nut.

I pulled the 22, screwed on the 12, inserted the broken pieces in place and rode gently down the 1200' I had just climbed, stopped and turned the wheel to the 16, replacing the nut pieces again and made it home. I got zero workout.  (The climb was gentle and I had a screaming tailwind.  The 22 was for steep stuff later that I never got to.)

Weird.  In 180,000 miles, I have never broken a hub nut.  Cheap track nuts, yes but not a nut or cone.  Well, Jessica J gets points in my book.  I usually swap the wheel off the pavement.  Finding both halves of that nut?  Pretty unlikely.  But yesterday?  I pulled nto a perfectly paved driveway for the swap.  When I looked down, both pieces were right there.  Same when I dropped them several times.  The girl was looking after me.

Ben
Orange Crush

Posts:4499

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06/12/2014 12:37 PM
this is pretty nutty

my first geared bike had wing nuts, but that is a wickedly long time ago. Aside from the wing nuts, note that really really big small ring. It was the time of real boys and real men.

79pmooney

Posts:3178

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06/12/2014 01:03 PM
Was that a 52-48 and half step gearing? (Where the front shift was half that of each shift in back.)

My first "real" bike was the Peugeot UO-8, the early compact geared 10 speed! 52-36 x 14-28. Oh, and it had dual pivot brakes only we called them centerpulls.

I like the seatpost mounted pump. Back before drinking became a problem. Was that photo taken in Switzerland?

Ben
Orange Crush

Posts:4499

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06/12/2014 01:09 PM
most likely yes on 52-48 but I can't answer the 2nd part. This was my first year as a serious cyclist and not very technologically inclined at that point. Soon thereafter I bought my Gazelle Campagnolo Record; my sister rode the hybrid for longest time.

Yes, Col des Mosses. Three day trip across Switzerland with my buddy. One night, the youth hostel was in a nuclear shelter (Fribourg); interesting.
jmdirt

Posts:775

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06/14/2014 12:12 PM
Ben, Every time that I see the title to this thread, I get a pain reflex in my scrotum.
Nick A

Posts:625

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06/14/2014 05:55 PM
If you told us that you busted a nut while riding Jessica, I'd wonder if I was on the correct site or not.

N
KootnaMoots

Posts:47

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06/15/2014 12:51 PM
OC...Wondering question....Back in the late 40's our Swiss coach would get the bike parts from Home and our bikes had Wing Nuts, about 3 " long. He called them Ving Nots. With the lawyer tabs would the Skewers be that much faster on a wheel change. The wing nuts were fast but we were comparing to hex nuts. Man that was a long time ago
Koot
79pmooney

Posts:3178

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06/15/2014 02:53 PM
Kootna, I just had a thought. Slower racing wheel changes would be a real benefit to all of us. That changes the balance between tires being as light and fast as possible with low flat resistance to more flat resistant tires to protect riders from big time losses. High end tires designed to get significantly fewer flats? Don't we all gain down the road?

Maybe we should be rooting for REALLY SECURE axles!

Ben
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