Maintenance at the first 400 mile commuting mark

Hello Reader,


One of the challenges with buying used equipment of any kind is that you are not sure of it's condition and what maintenance it will need in the near future. When looking at the numbers though is makes financial sense to buy used as long as you're willing to take time to learn some new things about doing repairs yourself and be inconvenienced (Also called Badassity by MMM). Part of the reason that I recommend washing your bike once a week (at least) and deep cleaning your chain (and lubricate properly) at least once a week.
    The great benefit to this is getting to know your machine, and you'll probably find items that need attention during the preventive maintenance(PM) stage rather than roadside emergency.
    After the first week of riding to work I washed my bicycle and I found a broken spoke on the rear rim, because I washed it Sunday evening I was able to make time and replace the spoke (taken from a used rim on a scrap bicycle). I replaced my chain before I started commuting and have removed it and soaked it in mineral spirits(solvent) for a few hours, cleaned off chain and lubed with a chain lube that sets into a wax like substance to reduce the amount of dirt attracted to it.
    While washing my bike the first week I noticed that the pedals were starting to not spin freely, trying to keep costs down and unsure about switching to a clipless pedal system I was holding out on buying new pedals. But last Thursday on my way into work, I started to notice a "click" in the drivetrain, I stopped by Bothell Ski & bike to buy a new chain ($15) and a chain wear gauge ($25). The chain is just at the wear limit. I figured I would just replace the chain at work when I wash my bicycle at lunch. I get to work and I find that the pedal feels really weird, after checking it I saw that it was sloppy. Here are the pictures of it disassembled:

I think that I found part of my clicking, see the bearing cups in the top? I ran down to Performance Bicycle and picked up a pair of Comp pedals ($30). Measuring the new chain compared to the old one (after using a chain breaker to set the proper length) you can see that it is nearly a half link off after just under 400 miles on that chain! I am going to up my chain cleaning/maintenance from once a week to twice a week.



After I replaced the pedals and the chain, the "click" has gone away and it runs smoothly now. I think that if you were riding solely on paved surfaces (in the dry weather) I think you should get more miles out of your chain. 6 miles out of every 16 miles (37.5%) that I'm riding are on lightly graveled trail, this is the reason for closer chain maintenance intervals.

Until next time, keep the rubber side down,

The Diesel Cyclist



A cheat day in my commute

Hello Reader,


Today I got out of the house about 15 minutes too late, I thought about driving in....then I thought "how can I make this work and still ride home from work?"


If instead of my usual 16 mile trip in, I rode down the hill 3 miles or so and catch the bus to a transit center in the same vicinity of my work then I can make it on time and still get to ride home!


Luckily for me the bus was 3 minutes late, I removed the panniers from the bike and loaded it onto the bus bike rack and hopped in. New road from transit center to work... it turned out to be alright. Make the decision, then figure out the best way to execute! Thank you to Google Maps!

Until next time, keep the rubber side down,

The Diesel Cyclist

Nasal Congestion?

Hello reader,


Today I am going to cover my experience of dealing with being what seemed to be a little sick and riding into work anyway.
    Last Monday I woke up with a sore throat, and some nasal congestion, so I stayed home and rested. Decided to ride into work Tuesday...blew my nose more than I could imagine, clear now. Later that day I felt even worse, just exhausted, needing rest I guess. So I drove into work the next day, had the rest of the week off.
    So the conclusion that I came up with is that if I am truly on the tail end of being sick then I'll be ok riding into work, just bring extra paper towels to take care of the mountain of mucous coming out of my face.









Until next time, keep the rubber side down,


The Diesel Cyclist

An explanation of my current commute

Hello again,
Today I'm going to share the details of my current commute. Above is a picture from Google maps, their elevation tool is great for planning a ride. It's 15.6 miles to work, with nearly half of it dedicated bicycle/running path. I am very grateful to the Rails to Trails program in the Seattle area! It makes my commute look like this:

My commute back home I ride the bus until I get into better shape then I plan to ride the whole way. So for now it's .9 miles to bus stop, riding the bus then 3.8 miles to home going back up that hill you see in the first picture.

Total 20.3 miles per day (for now).




For about 2 months I rode down and up the hill to the bus stop to get into shape to ride the commute to work. I rode the route to work once on a day off to see how feasible it was to make the trip and then work. Even with that the first day I rode into work I got turned around and rode north instead of south (it was before the sun was up), I still made it to work on time, but I had to work a little harder than I had planned for. The first week of commuting my legs were hurting, especially while working standing up and going up and down stairs. The second week was much better. A friend who commutes by bicycle 12 miles both ways said, "The first five day you ride to work like that you will question your ability to make decisions, about day 6 you'll be glad you started doing it." He was right, week two was much better than week one, and it's getting better here into week three.


Until next time, keep the rubber side down,


The Diesel Cyclist

Andre the Giant

7/6/2018


Hello Reader,


Thank you again for stopping by! Today I wanted to go into detail on how much I have spent on buying a bicycle and getting it ready for commuting to work.


First of all let me introduce you to "Andre the Giant". It's a Giant Yukon 19.5 inch frame, with road tires.

I picked it up on Offer Up for $60. The first thing that I had to do was get a helmet, and a tire pump; picked up from Walmart for $40. Then I got fenders and luggage rack for $20 off of Offer Up. Bought panniers from Back Country for $65. Needing a whole new gearset I decided to try to change ratios, but I found that clearance for the larger front gears is an issue (however I guess it doesn't matter that much for now, I can't even stay in my highest gear on relatively flat ground). The lower bracket bearing didn't spin freely, so I bought one of those and the tool to go with it; $40. Chain was stretched out, New chain:$15. Went to Recycled Cycles in Seattle and found a used gearset that will work: $10. Chain link pliers $15.

Cost of getting this bike ready to commute 100 miles/week:

Used bicycle off of Offer Up:        $60

Tire pump & helmet:        $40

Used Fenders and Luggage Rack:        $20

New Panniers from Backcountry:        $65

Used front gearset:        $10

Lower bracket bearing and tool:        $40

New Chain and chain pliers:        $30

Total Cost of starter bike:      $265

    If I wanted to get started for cheaper I could have continued to use a backpack and cut out the luxury panniers, fenders, luggage rack and the fancy new tire pump and a used helmet. The total would have been closer to $140.

    Through a few videos on Youtube and some elbow grease I now have a commuting bicycle. The first 200 miles over the last couple of weeks have proven this set up to being reliable.

Hopefully this helps out someone trying to figure out what it would really take to start commuting to work equipment and price point wise.

Until next time keep the rubber side down,

The Diesel Cyclist

An Introduction to The Diesel Cyclist

7/2/18

Hello Reader,

First of all thank you for taking a moment to check out this blog!

About 2 months ago I decided that I am sick of being overweight (at my peak I was 265 lbs at 5'10"). I am in my early 40's and I am a father to 4 wonderful adult children and married to a wonderful woman for over 10 years. I have been a diesel mechanic for 20+ years and I currently work on transit buses.


   Why in the world would I decide now to start riding a bicycle to work? Well, about a year ago I decided to be more financially responsible and pay down the debt I have accumulated from the last few years of making financial decisions based on emotions. In Dave Ramsey terms "Stupid with zeros on the end of it" or Mister Money Moustache "Sucking at Money".


   So I've been on the path to trimming down expenses, the most glaring was a gnawing desire to buy lunch nearly everyday at work, and blowing hundreds of dollars in a weekend on eating out (and usually it was fast food, bleh.) So just packing a lunch for work most of the time, and planning a weekend menu cooking from home put about $1000 a month back into our budget! I don't even miss the food that I was buying, because cooking and prepping my lunch has became an adventure.


   Also listening to the FI community (including Mr. Money Moustache (MMM), ChooseFI, Radical Personal Finance, The Frugalwoods, etc.) I started trimming other expenses as well which brings me to MMM. When he talked about riding a bicycle to work my first reaction was, "I live 16 miles from work! That would be fine if I lived in a town with no hills and the commute was less than 5 miles, also does he know that it gets wet here in the Seattle area?"


   After emotionally calming down, I realized that with my wife telecommuting 2 days a week and carpooling 2 of the other days a week in addition to me commuting by bicycle and transit I could lower my total commuting fuel bill to about $10 a week.
   Looking for a bicycle through craigslist, offer up, etc. I found a Giant Yukon 19.5" frame with road bike tires already installed. In a future post I will go into more details into cost of getting it started.
   I spent the last few weeks preparing for commuting into work. I have gone the last 2 weeks without having to use my car for work at all, it's a small accomplishment but I am encouraged to keep pressing on.


Until next time, keep the rubber side down,

The Diesel Cyclist