A Not so Quick Fix

Always double check your (and others') work...

Several weeks ago, I noticed a strange "wobble" in my rear tire. I can fix most problems with my bike within a few minutes, a half hour at most. This one, though, continued to stump me for several days, so I finally caved and took it to a bike shop. Kayuh Bicycles, the place closest to where I work, seemed appropriate:

I'd never been there before. When I walked in, I found out that they're opening the front area as a cafe, so that'll be pretty sweet when it's up and running, no pun intended. Anywho...

They took it apart and it turned out that I had a warped axle. I guess that was to be expected, as the bike was already almost 20 years old by the time I got a hold of it last Summer. A 20-minute repair, out the door. Boom.

After a long and aggressive ride on Sunday, the wobble returned, so I returned to Kayuh after work on Monday. They said it probably "settled" and just came loose. They tightened a couple things up, and boom. Done. I left quickly, as I had to grab lunch before a meeting and my afternoon job.

On my way home, I felt a rub, and noticed that the rear brake was now rubbing the rim. No big deal, right? I re-calibrated the brakes when I got home, and everything was fine.

Except that an hour later, the wobble returned, even worse this time. I'm guessing when Kayuh fixed the wheel the second time, it stayed in place because the brake was holding it there. Either that, or the wheel wasn't completely tightened. Luckily, my afternoon job isn't far from my home and another bike shop, Liberty Bell Bicycle:

Of note, they used an air wrench instead of a hand crank, and it worked. It's been alright ever since, and most importantly, I'll be ready to ride naked on Saturday. ;)

This is not to insult Kayuh, because they're nice guys and until I beat the shit out of my bike on Sunday, their fix was working fine. I'm just saying it always helps to double-check your bike before you leave the shop. In this case, it didn't cause any major issues (thankfully).

UPDATE: So, it turns out I did have a serious issue, most likely exacerbated by these recurring trips to the bike shops. My rear hub was completely blown out, caused by over-tightening and then re-tightening. It started acting funny again on Friday, and when I attempted to tighten things back up again, it actually became looser. $25 and a new wheel later, I'm FINALLY free of this beast of a problem that should have been solved on the first fix. Jerks.