Ezee Quando I Servicing

[kevinfox]

I've just collected a Quando I for my partner to ride after knee surgery and was wondering what mods and maintenance are worthwhile before it takes to the road. My partner isn't technical so I'm happy to do anything that saves me the inevitable phone call. The bike is in very good condition apart from:
it needs a new battery,
it needs new steering bearings,
the brakes judder despite cleaning all the black gunk off the wheels
Thanks in advance
Kevin

 

[flecc]

Not much to do Kevin, they're basically quite reliable but the brake judder is quite common. Best solution there is a new set of pads, choosing long profile ones this time instead of the short standard ones. The Clarks MTB ones from Halfords are ok for it, or these Avid ones which have the advantage of being able to change just the rubber inserts in future. Any local bike shop can get the Avid ones from Fisher Leisure for you.

Clean the rims again before putting them on, then make sure you put them on the right way round as they are marked L and R for left and right. The longer lead in side sits between the forks so they are a bit fiddly to mount initially. You may have to swap the inner and outer washers on the pad mounts to get the spacing to the rim correct. When aligning them, angle them very slightly to have a slight lead in on the trailing contact edge so they don't dig in and snatch when being applied, which causes judder. You may never completely cure the front brake judder but it should be improved.

Otherwise it's just oiling, chain mainly, but occasionally brake cables and a drop in the folding pedal inner bearing ends. There's nothing electrical to service.

When eventually replacing the chain, change the freewheel as well. It's a 14 tooth BMX thread freewheel and the chain is a 1/8" size. The 48 tooth chainwheel should still be ok at that time.
.

 

[kevinfox]

Thanks v much for the info - what do you use on the chain these days? When I last had bikes it was 3 in 1 then when I last had a motorbike with a chain it was chainlube as oil flung off.
Also is there any point taking the motor to bits and lubing the cogs? If so what with? Flecc, looking at your very informative Q Bike pages it mentions you took the motor to bits and reassembled it a couple of times but I can't work out exactly what you did!

 

[flecc]

Bearing in mind that you'd previously mentioned the very low mileage done and that the bike is quite new, you won't need to worry about the motor's internal gears. When the time comes after some 3000 to 4000 miles more, I'll advise then if that happens.

Any cycle oil will be ok on the chain, even light car engine oil is ok. I use grease liberally coated on fixed speed bikes like this, but some find that a bit messy.
.

 

[BertYardbrush]

I've just collected a Quando I for my partner to ride after knee surgery and was wondering what mods and maintenance are worthwhile before it takes to the road.
Kevin

I hope your partner has long legs. I found it a bit of a stretch to reach the pedals - I'm about 5'7" with 29" inside leg (hope this isn't too much detail).

The saddle is about 4" thick, I have replaced it with a less upholstered one, shortening the vital distance by a necessary 2".

 

[kevinfox]

Thanks Flecc,

I'll pop to Halfords and see what they have on the shelf.

I hope your partner has long legs. I found it a bit of a stretch to reach the pedals - I'm about 5'7" with 29" inside leg (hope this isn't too much detail).

The saddle is about 4" thick, I have replaced it with a less upholstered one, shortening the vital distance by a necessary 2".

She seems to just cope so far, bit of a stretch with a bad knee but hopefully after her op later this week and subsequent recovery things should be a lot easier.

In other news I took it down an old railway track this afternoon and apart from the cutting out its running well and the brake judder has improved substantially. It came from close to the middle of london so maybe they've not been used much