Project Beastie Bike

I was out biking on a remote trail earlier today, when I heard a loud PING. I looked back to find that my derailleur hanger had broken loose. Faced with pushing the bike almost 7 miles back to the car, I improvised with my pocket knife and a piece of Birch branch I found laying beside the trail. A small rock made for a handy hammer. McGyver I am not, but it worked well enough to allow me to pedal back to the car.

DSCF0416A.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
The bolt that secured the derailleur broke?

Nicely done on the field repair.

Cheers, Jock
Thanks Jock. The bolt seemed to pull right out of the mounting hole. I really should get a new frame, as this one is a hodge-podge of parts that were never meant to be together. I just hate to spend more $$$, as I've been picking up some tools for my workshop recently.
 
Thanks Jock. The bolt seemed to pull right out of the mounting hole. I really should get a new frame, as this one is a hodge-podge of parts that were never meant to be together. I just hate to spend more $$$, as I've been picking up some tools for my workshop recently.

How about a short threaded bolt through the hole with a really thin nut to hold it . . . or wouldn't there be enough clearance for the chain and sprocket. (I'm just guessing at the geometry.)

Alternatively, a bolt with a relatively flat head inserted through the hole from the sprocket side and the nut and maybe lock washer on the outside of the frame . . .

In any event, I am impressed at what a pain it would have been to push a bike for 7 miles over trails.

Cheers, Jock
 
Is (was) there really a normal reailleur hanger tab, or was it directly bolted to the frame?

I adopted a 2009 Specialized Stumpy recently, looked rough but seemed sound. Rode it to drop my daughter off at school, and BANG the derailluer actually went far enough in towards the wheel in lowest gear to be grabbed by the spokes, which yanked it up, around, and over, and cracked it in half (it was a fancy stock old XTR, with a carbon fiber cage that snapped pretty easily). I found that the derailleur hanger tab was to blame - it was ent slightly inwards, so the derailleur was angled in, and in low gear could juuuust go far enough to get snagged. I gently bent it straight with an adjustable wrench, replaced the $300-ish XTR der. with a $39 Deore, and now it shifts perfectly.

Wif also just ripped the old chain ring off her beloved Pugeot UO-8 from the 70's. 3 of the bolts came off under her torque going uphill, the chain then taco'd the poor thing around to an bolong shape. So I have some $hit to replace.
 
Is (was) there really a normal reailleur hanger tab, or was it directly bolted to the frame?

I adopted a 2009 Specialized Stumpy recently, looked rough but seemed sound. Rode it to drop my daughter off at school, and BANG the derailluer actually went far enough in towards the wheel in lowest gear to be grabbed by the spokes, which yanked it up, around, and over, and cracked it in half (it was a fancy stock old XTR, with a carbon fiber cage that snapped pretty easily). I found that the derailleur hanger tab was to blame - it was ent slightly inwards, so the derailleur was angled in, and in low gear could juuuust go far enough to get snagged. I gently bent it straight with an adjustable wrench, replaced the $300-ish XTR der. with a $39 Deore, and now it shifts perfectly.

Wif also just ripped the old chain ring off her beloved Pugeot UO-8 from the 70's. 3 of the bolts came off under her torque going uphill, the chain then taco'd the poor thing around to an bolong shape. So I have some $hit to replace.
Dang, your bike troubles seem to be even worse. There is a hanger bolted onto my derailleur - it's what you see hooked around the tree branch stub in the photo. The frame I'm using was never meant to have gears or disc brakes - I did a lot of garage engineering to make it work. I've had a lot of fun with this Frankenstein bike, and gotten a lot of great miles from it, but I've also had my share of maintenance issues. If I can find a proper fat bike frame without having to outlay tons of $$$, I'll likely swap over my wheels, brakes, gears, etc.
 
Sounds like you need a good Cragislist score. Some kind of used fatbike that has a frame your size... I imagine plenty of people buy them thinking they'll use them, then don't, then grudgingly admit it and sell.
 
I don’t know how people do true long distance biking. I drove a couple of hours Saturday morning to ride WV's Greenbrier River Trail. I arrived at 0715, and was shocked to see the parking lot was packed. I got the last available spot. I have never seen so many people on a trail other than the Appalachian Trail; I bet I saw 50 different individuals throughout the day. There were two young, fit looking guys on high end bikes that were screaming along. They rocketed past me on the outbound leg, going well past where I turned around, then rocketed past me again on the way back. Youth!

I went down there with a goal in mind of completing a 40 mile out-and-back ride. My comfort zone is really 15-20 miles total for a day, but I wanted to push myself. I didn’t make it. By the time I had hit 15 miles on the outbound leg, I was running out of steam fast, which is unlike me. I decided to push forward, but by the time I hit the Spring Creek Bridge just short of the 19 mile mark, I was done. Problem is, I wasn’t sure if I had enough in the tank to get back to the car almost 19 miles away. I was rationing my water by that point, and had to go a lot slower than I wanted, even though the return leg is mostly a slight downhill incline. I ended up stopping to sip on water and pass out in the grass (kidding) a lot more than I would have liked. Furthermore, my legs and backside got so sore at times that I just got off the bike and walked it for short stretches. At least the new derailleur hanger I installed worked well.

The weather was excellent and the scenery was beautiful, but I won’t try a long distance ride like that again. My 37.4 miles did exceed my previous personal best of 27 miles, but from now on, I’m going to stay within my biking comfort zone. The last 10 miles to the car took a lot longer than expected, and I got home a lot later, too. When I told my wife how far I had ridden, she said "What is it, Mid Life Crisis Day?". Wives.

DSCF8460D.JPG
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
We got a dusting of snow in December for a hot second, that was gone in about a day. Since then, 40s and rain, but the forecast for next week looks like real snow. Which... I a ready for, since I've been clacking around on studded mountain bike tires for 2 months by now.
 
One final pic of Beastie before its new owner comes to get it. I had a lot of fun with it and learned a lot about bike mechanics while building and modifying it over the past few years, but it will soon be in the possession of a friend who has been wanting a fat bike for a long time. I've been thinking for a long time I wanted to move to a lighter bike, and I knew after 14 miles in the woods on the 29+ bike I was loaned by the bike shop, I would not be satisfied with returning to Beastie's heavier 26x4 frame.

Here it is next to the new arrival, a 2019 Trek Stache 5. It is not as tricked out or quite as light as the Stache 9.7 I had yesterday, but it was also less than 1/2 the price, too. I test rode it on the streets near the bike shop, and it felt great. It's also around 10 pounds lighter than Beastie, and will be even lighter once I convert the tires to tubeless. Looking forward to getting out in the woods with it.

bikes.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
Here it is next to the new arrival, a 2019 Trek Stache 5. It is not as tricked out or quite as light as the Stache 9.7 I had yesterday, but it was also less than 1/2 the price, too. I test rode it on the streets near the bike shop, and it felt great. It's also around 10 pounds lighter than Beastie, and will be even lighter once I convert the tires to tubeless. Looking forward to getting out in the woods with it.
Enjoy Tony. There are no off road rides in my area so my bikes are all road machines, albeit all with straight bars these days but that machine looks nice(y)
 
Ohhhh you were DONE FOR when you threw a leg over that loaner bike. The difference is just so great that no mere mortal could resist an upgrade. Like letting your indoor cat outside, just ONCE... now they know what they're missing.

A few times a year companies like Devninci that make incredible carbon fiber offroad machines costing $4k - $10k will roll up a demo truck to my local shop, and people sometimes ask me "you coming out on the demo ride?" ...NOPE. Can't afford to fall in love with one of those.
 
Ohhhh you were DONE FOR when you threw a leg over that loaner bike. The difference is just so great that no mere mortal could resist an upgrade. Like letting your indoor cat outside, just ONCE... now they know what they're missing.
LOL, yep. Before she left for work today. my wife said "You do know why he loaned you that bike, right?". When I told the shop owner that, he laughed and said "Tell her she's right. I've sold a lot of bikes to people who have borrowed that bike". I was pretty sore from all the hill climbing yesterday and gave myself a rest day today, but I'm going back out tomorrow morning.
 
Back
Top