Tag: maintenace

November 7th – This is annoying. Just about every bike wheel has spokes of some sort, and their job is critical and load-bearing. As you ride, the spokes on the bottom of the wheel are in compression, and the ones at the top in tension, and as the wheel spins, the spokes are alternately pushed and pulled.

The do a lot of work considering they’re just 2mm diameter bits of stainless steel wire.

I carry lots of weight on my commuting bike – anything up to 20 kilos, and together with my resplendent girth, the wheels come under some stress, particularly on the pothole-strewn backroads of Walsall.

On Thursday, the bike felt odd on the back end. An inspection showed me that three spokes had broken, which need to be replaced. That’s a pig of a job, especially as they have broken at the rim end, which means removing the tyre and rim tape and replacing the nipples.

Today, I procured replacements and hoped to do the job when I got in – but it was far too wet and miserable.

I don’t know why the spokes failed; probably just excess weight and fatigue. But I’ve now lost trust in that wheel and wonder what else it has in store for me…

April 16th – Today, passing through Tyseley, I noticed a work crew of lookouts and technicians were on the tracks as trains passed by slowly. I wondered what they were doing, and stopped to take a look. The one chap has a measuring gauge, and is checking carefully the distance between the rails around a set of points.

It never occurred to me that this was necessary, but once thought about, the geometry of the tracks must have to be perfect. It seems a whole industry of measuring equipment exists specially for the purposes of checking the tracks.

I love the way the guys work as a group – I saw five – with some being lookouts stationed with horns to warn those engaged in the task that a train may be coming.

he work practices of the railway fascinate me.