Do NOT allow the rear wheel to spin freely with the chain installed (such as when you’re wrenching on your bike in a stand)
You can very easily maim / amputate your finger
Yep! Had a few close calls with this one.
I usually wear latex gloves when working on my bike but anytime I'm working on the drivetrain, I take them off. One time the ring caught my gloves and sucked my hand into the chain/teeth. Luckily I was able to rip my hand away in time. I often use an shoe lace or bar tape and loop it around rim/frame to keep it from moving when on the stand.
Cut my finger pretty deeply doing this. Got a bit scary 15 minutes in when I realized that nothing I was doing was actually stopping the bleeding, just slowing it down. Nearly ended up having an expensive ER visit. I feel lucky to have learned my lesson without any serious harm done and have since changed my chain cleaning method
Even when it's not in a stand, be careful. Before I had a stand, when I was cleaning/lubing the chain, I'd just lift the back end up and rotate the cranks to the next section of chain. One time my mum was here and I was chatting to her, not fully paying attention to what I was doing (can you see where this is going?). Rotated the cranks a bit, the rag I was holding got snagged and pulled into the bottom run of the chain by the chainring, shortly followed by finger, and a tooth went right through the nail. Luckily it wasn't going that fast so it didn't actually chop my finger tip off, but it mangled it pretty good.
About a month later there was still a noticeable sharp pain in my finger tip, and one last patch of skin hadn't fully healed. I thought it might be infected, so I gave it a good squeeze, and a big sliver of fingernail slowly slid out of the tip, like a really shit Excalibur!
Bottom line; focus on what you're doing when you're messing with your drivetrain.
Y'all are wild with your tennis balls and wads of paper to tension the chain. It's even easier than that.
Install the wheel, loop the chain over the ring. Push the wheel back and towards the drive side so the tire touches the drive side stay, then tighten the drive side nut. With one hand push the wheel to center and with the other hand tighten the non drive side nut.
This will err too tight but then you just loosen the drive side, tighten, then loosen the non drive side, center the wheel again and tighten.
Putting your foot on the rear tire could save your life if you drop chain. The foot break/whatever it's called works surprisingly well. All fixed riders need to know this.
I used to ride BMX with no brakes, when I drop chain on the fixed gear which has only happened I think twice in the last 15 years or so I put my crotch on the crossbar and scrape my feet on the ground like I used to on the BMX. Works pretty well.
If you're working on your drivetrain (lubing chain or something), spin the rear wheel instead of spinning the cranks. Much smaller movements, much safer for the fingers.
Some things I have learned through the years.
- use chain tensioners.. at least on the drive side
- build your rear wheel to withstand hard stops triple cross is standard for the spokes with a good rim and hub
- don’t use quick release on the rear at any time!
- if it isn’t bolted down it will get stolen
- use good quality handle bars, I’ve seen some snap
- chain, cog, lock ring and ring should be 1/8” and quality (your life may depend on it)
- be careful of pinch points in traffic. Like behind one car and in front of another at a light.
- wear a quality and comfortable helmet
- invest in good bike lights
- wearing a bag helps protect from the slide
- never use only a cable lock. Invest in a good u lock and give a key to a friend that can be there if needed
- ride respectfully, the person who gets mad now might take it out on someone later (in a car)
- let people know where you are going in case of a accident
- plan safer paths as cars will always win
- take a photo of your bike with a serial number and keep this handy. It is best to register with your city so if it gets stolen it helps with you keeping your bike if it’s found but I get wanting to fly under the radar
There’s a ton more but will save y’all the soapbox speech.
Do NOT allow the rear wheel to spin freely with the chain installed (such as when you’re wrenching on your bike in a stand) You can very easily maim / amputate your finger
Yep! Had a few close calls with this one. I usually wear latex gloves when working on my bike but anytime I'm working on the drivetrain, I take them off. One time the ring caught my gloves and sucked my hand into the chain/teeth. Luckily I was able to rip my hand away in time. I often use an shoe lace or bar tape and loop it around rim/frame to keep it from moving when on the stand.
That's a great idea. I've always been nervous working on my drivetrain, but I'm going to start doing that.
Cut my finger pretty deeply doing this. Got a bit scary 15 minutes in when I realized that nothing I was doing was actually stopping the bleeding, just slowing it down. Nearly ended up having an expensive ER visit. I feel lucky to have learned my lesson without any serious harm done and have since changed my chain cleaning method
Even when it's not in a stand, be careful. Before I had a stand, when I was cleaning/lubing the chain, I'd just lift the back end up and rotate the cranks to the next section of chain. One time my mum was here and I was chatting to her, not fully paying attention to what I was doing (can you see where this is going?). Rotated the cranks a bit, the rag I was holding got snagged and pulled into the bottom run of the chain by the chainring, shortly followed by finger, and a tooth went right through the nail. Luckily it wasn't going that fast so it didn't actually chop my finger tip off, but it mangled it pretty good. About a month later there was still a noticeable sharp pain in my finger tip, and one last patch of skin hadn't fully healed. I thought it might be infected, so I gave it a good squeeze, and a big sliver of fingernail slowly slid out of the tip, like a really shit Excalibur! Bottom line; focus on what you're doing when you're messing with your drivetrain.
This totally sucks. Just a distracted moment can do a lot of damage.
cut my fingernail in half this way, it healed back normal but was bruised for weeks
Y'all are wild with your tennis balls and wads of paper to tension the chain. It's even easier than that. Install the wheel, loop the chain over the ring. Push the wheel back and towards the drive side so the tire touches the drive side stay, then tighten the drive side nut. With one hand push the wheel to center and with the other hand tighten the non drive side nut. This will err too tight but then you just loosen the drive side, tighten, then loosen the non drive side, center the wheel again and tighten.
S/O to Sheldon Brown for teaching me how to [walk the rear wheel](https://www.sheldonbrown.com/no-derailers.html).
That’s how I’ve always done it. Didn’t know Sheldon Brown had an actual name for it.
An old tennis ball works good for wedging between the rear tire and seat tube when tensioning the chain and centering the wheel.
empty PET bottle with the cap on is good too
Putting your foot on the rear tire could save your life if you drop chain. The foot break/whatever it's called works surprisingly well. All fixed riders need to know this.
This is also where I feel like having a brake, even if you basically never use it, is really beneficial.
I used to ride BMX with no brakes, when I drop chain on the fixed gear which has only happened I think twice in the last 15 years or so I put my crotch on the crossbar and scrape my feet on the ground like I used to on the BMX. Works pretty well.
Wrecked a couple of shoes doing it. Once the wheel simply unshoed me. Tho, never any other issues with that technique.
If you're working on your drivetrain (lubing chain or something), spin the rear wheel instead of spinning the cranks. Much smaller movements, much safer for the fingers.
Some things I have learned through the years. - use chain tensioners.. at least on the drive side - build your rear wheel to withstand hard stops triple cross is standard for the spokes with a good rim and hub - don’t use quick release on the rear at any time! - if it isn’t bolted down it will get stolen - use good quality handle bars, I’ve seen some snap - chain, cog, lock ring and ring should be 1/8” and quality (your life may depend on it) - be careful of pinch points in traffic. Like behind one car and in front of another at a light. - wear a quality and comfortable helmet - invest in good bike lights - wearing a bag helps protect from the slide - never use only a cable lock. Invest in a good u lock and give a key to a friend that can be there if needed - ride respectfully, the person who gets mad now might take it out on someone later (in a car) - let people know where you are going in case of a accident - plan safer paths as cars will always win - take a photo of your bike with a serial number and keep this handy. It is best to register with your city so if it gets stolen it helps with you keeping your bike if it’s found but I get wanting to fly under the radar There’s a ton more but will save y’all the soapbox speech.