Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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'8.8 BY JOHN KARRAS This is the first of a five-part series on bicycling and do-it yourself repairs. So you own a new bicycle. You have just joined millions of your fellow Americans in the great bicycle boom. Last year, sales of new bicycles in the U. S. totaled 8.8 million. This year, an estimated 10 million (more bikes than cars) will be sold. There your new machine stands, all shiny and full of the promise of tires singing on the pavement, the wind rushing over your face, the inches melting off your waist. And all that will happen, plus something you may not have thought of-a flat tire, and flat tires don't sing. There will also be a dozen other minor misad justments, maladjustments and aggravations. But one of the be,. iLes of the bicycle is its simplicity. Nine times out of 10, you can fix it yourself. And that's what this series is all about-keeping those tires singing. But before we get into main tenance and repairs, we ought to ride the bike a little, right? After all, the point of bicycling is bicycling, not getting grease on your hands. The first thing you have to do is adjust the saddle. If you bought your bike from a dealer who is also a cyclist, he'll do this for you. If you bought it from a dealer who's been selling nothing but kids' bikes PANTS P/ 1221 MA (NEXT TO THE CAR( PL E A an*Sn 114 oleeStC Telepho Million ft for the last 20 years, he won't even know what you're talking about. You'll need an accomplice to steady the bike for you. First, loosen the bolt that holds the seat post (that's the post that the seat is fastened to) in place. Then, with the accomplice in front of the bike with a firm and steadying grip on the handlebars, put the heel of one foot on a pedal and straighten your leg. In that position, the saddle should be firmly up against your derriere. With your free hand (the other has a death grip on a han dlebar), pull and twist the saddle up into position. Then get off and tighten the seat tube bolt. Most novice cyclists set the saddle too low. This has the effect of putting you in duck-walk position. Duck walk once around your living room, and you'll see how far you'll be able to ride in that position before collapsing from fatigue. The saddle height is the single most critical adjustment on a bike, )ecause it determines how ef iciently you'll be able to use the mly power available to propel you orward--your leg muscles. At the )ottom of a stroke, the knee should e slightly bent. Some experts will tell you that he handlebar height is equally as :ritical, I don't believe it. Han ilebar height is largely a matter of taste and comfort. Most riders like handlebars at about the same level is the saddle. LOW RISE ,LUE DENIM JEANS ONLY $7.50 WILION AIN ST. )LINA THEATRE) HAT R A" SUR :rt tires ij " ju To adjust the handlebars, loosen the bolt on top of the stem directly behind the handlebars four or five turns. Then tap the bolt, preferably with a block of wood between the bolt head and the hammer. This will loosen the handlebar stem. Raise or lower to suit your taste and retighten the bolt. Tighten it up good and snug, because few things are as disconcerting as putting the brakes on hard in a tight spot and having the handlebars twist one way while the front wheel goes ~ the other. Okay, you're ready to ride. Where? The best place, if your state has them, is marked bicycle paths. The absolute epitome of evil for the bicycle rider is the automobile. And worse yet is the big truck. So if you have bicycle paths where you live, ride on them and enjoy, enjoy. Second best but almost as good, if your area has them, are paved county roads, or farm-to-market roads as they're called in the Middle West. They carry very little traffic and therefore take none of the beating that big trucks give to the main roads. They stretch through some of the prettiest countryside in the nation. But perhaps you don't - want to tool off on jaunts of 20, 50, 100 miles. Perhaps you want to put kiddie-seats on the backs of your bikes and fill them with urchins and just putter around for an hour or so on a summer evening. Fine. Stay on the quiet residential streets * IThis Cou |Worth a |Downtov No strings at (G;ood ON/I.Y ait 9.a - - - - st don't si where no one except an occasional looney drives faster than 20 miles an hour, and have a good time. Which brings us to how you should ride. First, foremost, before anything else, above all else, train yourself to ride in a straight line. If you retain nothing else from this series, retain that. Your life literally depends on it. Most accidents involving bicycles and cars (drunken driving excepted) occur because the cylist swerves over into the path of the car. Pay attention, now, because this is the word. Ride in a straight line. The second thing you have to teach yourself to do if you ride on city streets is to look into the rear windows of parked cars. Every parked car. If the parked car has a head in it, prepare for evasive' action. Because the chances are excellent that the head is at that moment telling some other part of its body to either open the car door in front of you, or to start the car and Dull (es, YOL Save This Coupor1 on Is Redeen DOL f Merchandis( mn Store- 1535 RD and BOOK SH4 tachied! Just come on in! We war pith our Main St. Store which is y you One Dollar in me'rchand ise. )FFER EXPIR ES OCT. 15, 1972 mit of One Coupon per Custome the Brow/.-a-Bit on 1535 Main St. N( ng' away from the curb in front of you. Furthermore, the chances are also excellent that the eyes in that head haven't looked in the rear view mirror before opening the door or pulling away from the curb for at least 46 years, and won't this time. This habit of alertness is especially important for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have recently switched to bicycles for com muting to work and back. Also, if you are new at com muting, plot out your route to and from work on streets that are wide enough to accommodate a bicycle along the curb. If the street is so narrow that cars fill it from curb to curb, you are asking for an early end if you try to ride a bike on it. Many employers and parking gargages, incidentally, have responded to the boom in bicycles by providing daytime parking space for them. The burden of all this is that if you're going to ride in town, you have to ride both alertly and defensively if you're going to survive. Watch out for the octagenarian who hasn't known for 60 years quite where his right front fender Is. Watch out for the angry young man who thinks the entire world should move to one side to let his automobile pass. Watch out for the young mother who's driving a car full of (See Tires Page 13) able For LAR~ i at our i Main St.I I it you to getI vhy we offerI rtvldtS'h~t.