Time to replace my son's 7SIS...

Ken Pisichko

My son has taken it upon himself to waste his time (in the short term)
but get an education - from myself and from life.

He has decided to use his first MTB (a Christmas gift of a few years
ago) as a bike for jumping - because he states that "bikes are for
jumping". Lord, if he only knew what you can actually use a bicycle for!

He has destroyed a wheel and his Shimano 7SIS rear derailler. He tells
me he doesn't know how to repair the "busted stuff". AHAH! Time for the
lesson because this indicates some receptivity of tutelage ;-)

I told him he would do the repairs with my help, BUT because he has a
job refereeing basketball he can pay for the parts. I will provide help
and tools. He provides the labour and thus gets the lesson.

The plot thickens. I will get a Park tensiometer (spelling??) to use
when building wheels - that way he and I can both learn. I have the
wheel building stand/dishing "gizmo" already.

Rather than get a good but used "better quality" Shimano, I figured I'd
get a 7SIS replacement AND surreptitiously get a better one and hide it
until he learns more. The better quality one would just get wrecked like
this one has.

Any ideas as to what to get for his 7 gear freewheel? He has those
stupid (IMHO) twist grips for gear selection. He and his friends still
think they are cool.

Advice please. Too bad that youth is wasted on the young, and retirement
on the old ;-)

Ken
Winnipeg, Canada

Kurd

Have his job pay for a BMX bike and let him keep on jumping.?

"Ken Pisichko" <kenp@mts.net> wrote in message
news:408093FA.84711BA0@mts.net...
> My son has taken it upon himself to waste his time (in the short term)
> but get an education - from myself and from life.
>
> He has decided to use his first MTB (a Christmas gift of a few years
> ago) as a bike for jumping - because he states that "bikes are for
> jumping". Lord, if he only knew what you can actually use a bicycle for!
>
> He has destroyed a wheel and his Shimano 7SIS rear derailler. He tells
> me he doesn't know how to repair the "busted stuff". AHAH! Time for the
> lesson because this indicates some receptivity of tutelage ;-)
>
> I told him he would do the repairs with my help, BUT because he has a
> job refereeing basketball he can pay for the parts. I will provide help
> and tools. He provides the labour and thus gets the lesson.
>
> The plot thickens. I will get a Park tensiometer (spelling??) to use
> when building wheels - that way he and I can both learn. I have the
> wheel building stand/dishing "gizmo" already.
>
> Rather than get a good but used "better quality" Shimano, I figured I'd
> get a 7SIS replacement AND surreptitiously get a better one and hide it
> until he learns more. The better quality one would just get wrecked like
> this one has.
>
> Any ideas as to what to get for his 7 gear freewheel? He has those
> stupid (IMHO) twist grips for gear selection. He and his friends still
> think they are cool.
>
> Advice please. Too bad that youth is wasted on the young, and retirement
> on the old ;-)
>
> Ken
> Winnipeg, Canada
>

David Johnson

Ken Pisichko wrote:

> Rather than get a good but used "better quality" Shimano, I figured I'd
> get a 7SIS replacement AND surreptitiously get a better one and hide it
> until he learns more. The better quality one would just get wrecked like
> this one has.

Depending on where you buy, a new 7sis might only be a dollar or two less
than a good deraileur. That was true in road bike parts--A couple years
ago, a Tourney (same basic quality as 7sis) was about the same price as
105.

A Muzi

Ken Pisichko wrote:

> My son has taken it upon himself to waste his time (in the short term)
> but get an education - from myself and from life.
>
> He has decided to use his first MTB (a Christmas gift of a few years
> ago) as a bike for jumping - because he states that "bikes are for
> jumping". Lord, if he only knew what you can actually use a bicycle for!
>
> He has destroyed a wheel and his Shimano 7SIS rear derailler. He tells
> me he doesn't know how to repair the "busted stuff". AHAH! Time for the
> lesson because this indicates some receptivity of tutelage ;-)
>
> I told him he would do the repairs with my help, BUT because he has a
> job refereeing basketball he can pay for the parts. I will provide help
> and tools. He provides the labour and thus gets the lesson.
>
> The plot thickens. I will get a Park tensiometer (spelling??) to use
> when building wheels - that way he and I can both learn. I have the
> wheel building stand/dishing "gizmo" already.
>
> Rather than get a good but used "better quality" Shimano, I figured I'd
> get a 7SIS replacement AND surreptitiously get a better one and hide it
> until he learns more. The better quality one would just get wrecked like
> this one has.
>
> Any ideas as to what to get for his 7 gear freewheel? He has those
> stupid (IMHO) twist grips for gear selection. He and his friends still
> think they are cool.
>
> Advice please. Too bad that youth is wasted on the young, and retirement
> on the old ;-)

Just my opinions but did this somehow become your project,
not his?

If you like home bike repair, I think that's just great.
If he really wants to learn this and do it with you , so
much the better.

Am I misreading your tone? Again, just my opinion, but I
would try to feel him out first to see how interested he is,
how much he wants to learn (versus how much he just wants
his bike to work), how interested he is in doing things with
you. It matters whether he's a bright and chipper eight
year old or a jaded world-weary fourteen year old.

Most any kid would be bored to tears watching his father do
the whole thing while spewing on and on about unrelated
aspects of road bikes. And too polite to say that to you.

Again, I don't know you or your son so I could be way off.
But I hate watching these when they go bad.

On to bicycle repair. You can probably detension the wheel,
judiciously press the rim back to near-right and then
properly tension and true it . Lubricated nipples and
stress relief are big improvements to most cheap wheels and
you save the argument about whether a $60 rim is worth more
than a new FogelRider or whatever it is. We discussed that
very job here last week with good advice from Mr Brandt himself.

You ask about a new changer. A steel Tourney is probably
appropriate even if you wouldn't put one on your own bike.
The next model up is $5~10 more . You'll never notice any
difference on a department store gear system. Don't "put
one away for later", there is no point. Just get what you
need to repair this bicycle. His next bike will have the
appropriate changer anyway.

Same for GripShift. With only three parts ( inside,
outside, spring) they are entirely appropriate here. When he
is dissatisfied with them, you can start spending real
money. If he's not yet a teenager you're going to need that
money anyway.

Final comment- you are very right to garner some of the
expense from him. That's important - it will do more than
anything else to make the bike last longer, again, IMHO.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Chris Zacho The Wheelman

I agree wit Kurd. Teaching him to repair his bike is fine. But if he's
just going to go misusing it again, the effort will be wasted.

Get him a bike that is made to handle what he's dishing out, THEN teach
him how to maintain and repair it. Since BMX is a simpler machine to
begin with, he's more likely to be receptive to the idea.

Especially if he's getting a "new" bike in the process.

Chris "I was young once too" Zacho

- -

"May you have the wind at your back.
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

Sheldon Brown

Ken Pisichko wrote:
> My son has taken it upon himself to waste his time (in the short term)
> but get an education - from myself and from life.
>
> He has decided to use his first MTB (a Christmas gift of a few years
> ago) as a bike for jumping - because he states that "bikes are for
> jumping". Lord, if he only knew what you can actually use a bicycle for!
>
> He has destroyed a wheel and his Shimano 7SIS rear derailler. He tells
> me he doesn't know how to repair the "busted stuff". AHAH! Time for the
> lesson because this indicates some receptivity of tutelage ;-)
>
> I told him he would do the repairs with my help, BUT because he has a
> job refereeing basketball he can pay for the parts. I will provide help
> and tools. He provides the labour and thus gets the lesson.
>
> The plot thickens. I will get a Park tensiometer (spelling??) to use
> when building wheels - that way he and I can both learn. I have the
> wheel building stand/dishing "gizmo" already.
>
> Rather than get a good but used "better quality" Shimano, I figured I'd
> get a 7SIS replacement AND surreptitiously get a better one and hide it
> until he learns more. The better quality one would just get wrecked like
> this one has.
>
> Any ideas as to what to get for his 7 gear freewheel? He has those
> stupid (IMHO) twist grips for gear selection. He and his friends still
> think they are cool.

The "better" derailers are mainly lighter, and have nicer pulleys. As
far as withstanding childish abuse, they're probably not actually as
sturdy as the Tourney level stuff you're starting with, and they don't
shift any better either...save your money.

Better yet, this sounds like a prime candidate for singlespeed
conversion. Derailers are worse than useless on bikes used for jumping,
he'd be much better off with a single speed. Among other things, the
rear wheels of singlespeed bikes are VASTLY stronger than wheels dished
for multiple sprockets.

If you're inclined in the do-it-yourself direction, I'd advise buying a
singlespeed freewheel, re-spacing the axle to reduce hub assymetry, and
rebuilding the wheel as a singlespeed.

This assumes that the bike has horizontal dropouts, as most low-end
bikes do.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed for more on this.

Sheldon "It's Even Becoming Fashionable" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------+
| The less you bet, the more you lose if you win |
| --Alan Rudolph (_Trixie_) |
+--------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Ken Pisichko

Thank you all.

No, I won't do the work - I will just show him how! Thank you for the advice
regarding just replacing the derailler and forgetting about having a spare
for a just in case scenario.

Right now he has a bike and there is no other option - fix it or walk! I
won't buy him another one. If he wants a single speed, then that is fine,
BUT he can save up for one - or at least for the parts.

So it seems that I will get a "tourney" level rear derailler and he can pay
me for it. After all, he is refereeing 3 basketball games this PM and will
make about $30 doing that. He does referee a few times a month, so... Time
for him to learn about "freedom to do..." and the consequences thereof ;-)

A single speed? Now that would be a project, but I doubt that he (at 15 yo)
would want to do it AND pay for it. So it is fix what he has and live with
the consequences.

Heck, I was just at a former student's home. He is now a journeyman mechanic
and a auto-shops teacher. His home garage is filled with the consequences of
grown men's "jest for freedom" - and he makes a good additional income
helping these men fulfill their dreams ;-)

Now it looks like my son Matthew will be having his turn at learning some of
life's lessons.

Sheldon Brown

Ken Pisichko wrote:

> No, I won't do the work - I will just show him how! Thank you for the advice
> regarding just replacing the derailler and forgetting about having a spare
> for a just in case scenario.
>
> Right now he has a bike and there is no other option - fix it or walk! I
> won't buy him another one. If he wants a single speed, then that is fine,
> BUT he can save up for one - or at least for the parts.
>
> So it seems that I will get a "tourney" level rear derailler and he can pay
> me for it. After all, he is refereeing 3 basketball games this PM and will
> make about $30 doing that. He does referee a few times a month, so... Time
> for him to learn about "freedom to do..." and the consequences thereof ;-)
>
> A single speed? Now that would be a project, but I doubt that he (at 15 yo)
> would want to do it AND pay for it. So it is fix what he has and live with
> the consequences.

Huh? Single speed is the _cheapest_ solution! Doesn't require any
parts at all if he keeps the multi-speed freewheel he has. All that's
needed is to shorten the chain and remove a bunch of stuff.

It would be better, though not necessary, to buy a singlespeed
freewheel, which costs less than a cheap derailer as we were discussing.
This would allow the wheel to be made stronger by reducing the dish.

Sheldon "Misunderstood?" Brown
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Give a man a fire, and he will stay warm for a day. |
| Set a man on fire, he stays warm for the rest of his life. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com