The cleats on the bottoms of our cycling shoes are some of the most well-worn pieces of equipment a cyclist has. They get walked on, shoved into a pedal against spring pressure, scraped onto the ground, and are forgotten about until they become a problem. Kind of like tires on your car.

I decided to shoot a little video for this topic. The quality isn’t great so please bear with me as I try something new.

I had some great plans this weekend and I was excited. I posted a pic on Dailymile of the five-day forecast and the great weather we were going to have. It made for a great opportunity to get out and work up a sweat. Then, on Saturday, I was given a dose of reality as I violated one of those unwritten rules every dude should know. I got caught without a rubber.

Last week saw me only able to get two rides in due to some nasty, rainy weather almost all week. Plus, on Saturday, I woke up with some serious sinus issues that kept me from riding. I’m actually quite lucky I haven’t gotten real sick with my wife and two of my daughters under the weather. Luckily, I’ve dodged that bullet.

Yesterday I explained in length how I was missing the compression nut (actually called an ‘External Crank Arm Fixing Bolt) on my cranks and that’s what was causing my left crank arm to keep coming loose. Remember how I went to the bike shop in town that sold Specialized bikes to get the part? Well, they sold me the wrong one. Go figure. This was discovered when I took my bike to my favorite local bike shop to have yhe bottom bracket serviced and the nut put on (due to needing a special tool).

After some searching, the mechanic verfied they don’t have what I need in stock and couldn’t find one via their online sources. They will call Sugino (the maker of the cranks on my Allez) to see if they can get the part. If they can’t, I did find what looks to be the right part on Amazon. It also looks like you don’t need a special tool for it but I’ll have my BB serviced anyway.

In short, it looks like I’ll be without my road bike for at least the weekend and into next week. Why, oh why didn’t I take care of this when I wasn’t riding.

This mornings ride was very low key because I can’t ride my road bike right now (see below) and because I’m taking it easy until my body readjusts to riding again. I took the hybrid out for a short three mile loop. I’ll ride the hybrid for a few more days until I get the Allez back from the shop.

Why I Have A Crank Problem

Yesterday you may remember that I had a problem with left crank arm again where it wants to come off during my rides. I’ve replaced both bolts that hold it on to no avail. Yesterday, while heading to Lowes (a local home improvement store) to get some Blue Loctite, I stopped into a local bike shop to talk to a mechanic about my crank problems (no jokes please). It turns out that I’m missing the compression nut that screws into the left-side of the crank arm. The mechanic says that without that nut I’ll never be able to keep the crank arm on. Here’s a diagram of what I’m talking about. The compression nut is part #5.

Dura Ace Crank Diagram

This particular shop would have had to order me a nut (no, my nickname isn’t Juan Pelota) because they don’t sale Specialized bikes. I left there and headed over to the shop that carries Specialized bikes to pick up the nut which was only $5. Today I’m going to take my bike back to shop #1 to have them overhaul my bottom bracket and put the nut on. Just so you know, that nut requires a special tool (TL-FC16 in the figure above). It looks like a large allen bolt but it isn’t. I went to Home Depot to see if I could make a tool using the nut and bolt trick but nothing fit (standard or metric). So, because I have to take it in to get the nut put on I’m going to have the bottom bracket overhauled at the same time. I’m taking it back to first shop I talked to because they are my favorite shop in the area. Even though I didn’t buy the part from them, I’d rather pay them to install it and do the maintenance. You can follow that shop on Twitter @bicyclesetc.

The Shut Up Everything T-shirt

If you follow professional cycling I’m sure you’ve heard of Jens Voigt. If not, he’s one of the most respected riders in the peleton and is known for his gutsy riding style and giving 100% effort all day every day. He’s also known for the quote “SHUT UP LEGS”. See the video below.

While typing up yesterday’s post, and thinking about how sore I was all over from my first ride in a couple of months, I thought of Jens and his ‘SHUT UP LEGS’ comment and mentality. If I applied that to myself at the time it would have to have been ‘SHUT UP LEGS, NECK, SHOULDER, HANDS, FINGERS, WRISTS, TOES, BUTT, ETC.’. I thought that might look kinda funny on a t-shirt.

Shut Up Legs Tshirt

Getting a flat while out riding will happen to all of us at some point. It’s inevitable. Just as sure as the Sun will come up each day we can all look forward to it. It doesn’t have to be the end of the days ride though if you’re prepared and know a few tips to make it easier.

Six Tips To Easier Flat Repair

1. Be prepared. If you’re out riding with no way to repair your own flat then you’re riding on borrowed time. If you’re riding with friends you may be able to bum something off one of them but if you’re all alone and 30 miles from nowhere then you’re what I like to call ‘screwed’. Being prepared starts with having the equipment needed to repair your own flat – patch kit, tube, tire levers, pump/CO2, etc. Most all of this can be easily carried in a seat bag and I discuss this in the article I wrote about what you should carry in a bicycle seat bag. Having the right tools doesn’t help if you’ve never used them though. Practice changing tubes while at home until you get the hang of it.
2. Shift to the smallest cog if the flat is on the rear. Putting the chain on the smallest cog on the cassette will make it much easier to remove and install the rear wheel. Chances are you won’t be in the smallest cog when you notice the flat. To get the chain there just shift the gears, pick up the rear wheel by grabbing your seat with one hand, grasp a pedal with your other hand and roll the crank forward one or two revolutions.
3. Inflate the tube a little before installing. Putting some air in the tube forces it to hold its shape as you install it. This will help keep the tube installed as you work the tube into the tire around the rim.
4. Find small leaks with saliva. If your going to use a patch on the tube you’ve got to find the leak. If it’s small it could be hard to locate (using Tip #5 will help) and you could waste a lot of time putting air in the tube and then squeezing it while you try to listen for the leak. If you can find the general location by listening or using a reference point you can pinpoint the leak by moistening a couple of fingers with your saliva and rubbing it on the the tube in the approximate location. The saliva will cover the hole and as air escapes will begin to bubble up. With the leak located you can now patch it. This is just like the soap bubble test when looking for leaks in natural gas and freon lines.
5. Create a reference point using the tube stem and tire. By creating a reference point you make it easier to find the hole in the tube if you have something sticking out of your tire such as a nail. If the culprit of the flat isn’t obvious you can use the reference point to correlate the hole in the tube with a spot on the tire so you can check for small foreign objects like glass or thorns. To create this reference point, install the tube stem aligned with a specific spot on the tire like a logo, letter, color, or mark you’ve made.
6. Inflate halfway first. It’s very easy to accidentally get the new/patched tube caught between the rim and tire when installing it. If you fully inflate the tube with it pinched like this you’ll either pop the tube right away or shortly after you start riding. By inflating the tire halfway you give yourself an opportunity to see if the tube is pinched and correct it.

Do You Have Any Tips?

I’ve started the list with six but I’m sure some of you have other tips that are great so lets hear them. Post’em in the comments below.

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Feature image courtesy of Brampton Cyclist.