In an effort to squeeze as much bike time into my busy schedule as I can, I recently made the investment in a "new" commuter bike. It's a 1979 Motobecane Super Mirage. It's in pretty good shape and looks like the last time is was ridden was some time during the summer of 1980. However, the front wheel is not quite true. I figured I could handle that and spent some time researching instructions on how to true a wheel.
The best instructions I found were on Park Tool's website. They have all sorts of great "How To" articles for guys like me who are too cheap to go running to a bike shop anytime you need anything done.
Just a sidenote: I've always been intimidated by the thought of doing any mechanical type stuff on my bike. I mean what if I mess it up? Then one day I had this revelation. So what? What's the worst that's going to happen? I mean, it's not like it's going to explode. And if I don't feel comfortable with the work I've done, all I have to do is undo it. Plus, I figured that if I have the possibility of working on people someday as a physician, I better be able to handle something as simple as a bicycle.
After reading the instructions and thinking it through conceptually I convinced myself that it had to be a simple process. It's not like I was reinventing the wheel or anything. (please feel free to groan at that one)
Unfortunately this weekend my best efforts were more or less thwarted. After lots of trial and error this weekend, I don't know that my front wheel is really any more true. I'm going to chalk this up to a few different factors. 1) I don't have a truing stand. I remedied this by hanging my bike from the ceiling in the garage or flipping it upside down. It kind of worked. 2) I've never done this before and 3) I kept forgetting which way to turn the wrench to tighten and loosen spokes. [IMPORTANT: when tightening a spoke from the outside you have to turn it counter-clockwise which in my opinion is fairl counterintuitive] However, I'm prepared to give it another shot at my next available opportunity.
Until then I'll do some more studying. And if you're interested and like me don't have a truing stand of your own you can check out this video.
So, you purchased the bike, eh? I figured you would, but I hadn't heard from you. Here's an update on my status. I just purchased a Schwinn World Sport frame and I'm getting the parts together to make it into a real bike :) We'll see how it goes.
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