My bike has had a lot of work done on it now in bits and pieces. As we could afford to do so, we’ve been updating it bit by bit to make it just what I’ve wanted it to be. This, hopefully, will be the last bit.
My bike still had the original steel Raleigh rim with the original spokes and hub brake, and I had a tire dynamo to run the lights. Well, the rim was getting rusty, a bit wobbly, and the tire dynamo was having serious issues after having sat out in the rain for a half a year, so we decided it was really time to just do the last bit of work.
The tricky issue with this bike was the rod brakes, and I knew that could potentially be an issue, from others I had seen try to replace the front hub and have issues getting the rod brakes to work. The solution my bike shop decided on, however, was unique as far as I can tell :)
The solution was to reverse the brake arm on the hub, and then attach the rod so that it’s bowed out. If you try to install it normally, due to the different positioning of the brake arm on the hub, the rod runs into the axle nut before it reaches the brake arm. In any case, though this looks a bit odd, it has worked great so far.
The dynohub has worked much more consistently than the tire generator was, and the brake is stronger than the old one was, so it’s a win-win there.
The hub in general I think looks nice on the bike, and now I have matching black rims as well, instead of one chrome and one black. The only thing I miss is that little “wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” sound the tire generator made. Oh well.
In any case, so far it’s been a great update, and pretty much perfectly rounds out the bike to where I want it. Nice to have it done now, too, since it’s been dark and rainy all week. Hub brakes in heavy rain are a godsend, not to mention lights that work consistently. Hoorah!
Happy Spring, everyone! (yes, I mean that somewhat sarcastically for you Portlanders) :)
