Simple bike maintenance tip

[Marwood Hill]

A bike maintenance tip.
In the old days when i wanted one or both wheels off the ground i would simply turn the bike upside down. Not worrying about a few scratches on the handlebars. Not so easy with todays electric bikes. Buy an adjustable centre stand and use it only for maintenance. Very stable, you can choose which wheel to have off the ground and no damage to bike. When done, refit the side stand. I don’t trust those centre stands for normal use. They need a good flat surface or bike will topple.
Here, i’m converting my Big Bear from front to rear wheel motor and i’m finding this stand perfect.

 

[Nealh]

I use a bipod on my main bike and yes they are good for wheel truing, adjusting brakes and gears. Though nothing beats a bike stand and working at a nice height.

I recently removed my one and cleansed it, raking out all the muck/grime accumulated in the folding mech. A good squirt with WD to rid of muck and a good wipe then a nice liberal sloshing of liquid grease and it works better then when it was new.

 

[vfr400]

I use a bipod on my main bike and yes they are good for wheel truing, adjusting brakes and gears. Though nothing beats a bike stand and working at a nice height.

I recently removed my one and cleansed it, raking out all the muck/grime accumulated in the folding mech. A good squirt with WD to rid of muck and a good wipe then a nice liberal sloshing of liquid grease and it works better then when it was new.

Bike stand for wheel truing? Turn the bike upside down, sit on a stool with the wheel between your legs, then you can true it with love and comfort.

 

[Deleted member 33385]

Aaarrrgghhh - my bike gear is competing for space with my computer, video, photography and audio gear, and I fear that the addition of a hulking great stand will tip the situation into open warefare between the five factions. Luckily, I don't need bike stand, because my bike has a manufacturer installed kickstand and it balances perfectly upside down. It's easy to work sitting down (when I can make space to do so), like I was last night, re-installing the 52T chainwheel, in preparation of another throttle only speed run test. Had to use a new chain.

@Nealh, that chain length measuring method you mentioned the other day didn't work for me - mine is a very weird bike. After much twiddling of screws, I removed two links from a new chain, and after even more twiddling of screws, I finally managed to get all the gears working perfectly again. Without any load at all, the back wheel now spins at 25+ mph, I'll see how fast the bike using throttle only, carrying my now much slimmer self (over 2.5 stones lighter, and counting - total weight of the BBS01b converted Dahon Helios P8 [the old P8 - it's so old they named a new product a P8] bike is slightly less than 20kg) goes later on...

EDIT: Now that it's fully charged, and with no load (back wheel tilted off the floor with the kickstand), the speedo is showing 28.2 to 28.4 mph! That'd get me to work faster! It'll be slower with me on it, of course. With pedalling too, I might get that speed up a bit.

Anyone know where I can get a Bafang BBS01b compatible chainwheel bigger than 52T? Would make pedalling a lot less frantic, on my bike, at that speed.

EDIT: I can go up to 80T!!! If I have the torque and fitness:

Alligt chainwheel 60 BCD (Bafang Motor)

...ideally, I'd love a front derailleur and a double chainwheel, but I don't think it'll be possible on my bike. (?)

 

[Nealh]

You can/should be able to retro fit most chain rings above 32t to a BBS, you need to buy a BBS spider adapter which then should be able to accept a larger ring

 

[Deleted member 33385]

You can/should be able to retro fit most chain rings above 32t to a BBS, you need to buy a BBS spider adapter which then should be able to accept a larger ring

Thanks nealh, I'll look into that. There's no speed limit for bicycles in the Highway Code, and it'd be great to keep up with the majority of cars on city roads. Surely, I couldn't be accused of cycling furiously, if I was pedalling moderately to fast-ish with an 80T chainring?

 

[Nealh]

I think BBS spider adapters are available for 130bcd rings as well as 104bcd.