Lessons learned

[redrhodie]

I've been having trouble getting my front wheel on the past couple of rides. Wheel would go crooked, hit the brake, no spinning. After some struggling, I could get it centered, but with one of those, "Gee, it hasn't been hard before" cartoon captions floating over my head. Managed to get it on pretty easily today before my 49 miler (dern near half a century!) and rode pretty hard into 20 mph headwinds, up and down some biggish (for me) hills, and over some really crappy pavement. Got home, took the bike out of the car, and same thing, wheel would not set right. Closer look--OOooooh, quick release on the brake was up! Doooooh! Guess it's been up for the last few rides. Lucky I managed to stop!

Another stupid mistake I made recently....went into the LBS for a minor adjustment, and gave them the bike with the wheel on, but not tightened (this was before the open brake issue). I just walked it from my car into the shop, and didn't bother. Lucky my LBS guy noticed before he went out on her! I'll never do that again! He really could have been hurt, and my bike could have been ruined.

Thought I admit my mistakes so none of you make them, too> not that any of you would!

RR

[Tri Girl]

Don't be embarrassed! We've all had our "doh" moments before! I'm just not brave enough to admit them...

[sgtiger]

If it makes you feel better, a couple of months ago I changed a flat and forgot to hook the brake back up afterwards. Luckily I realized it before I left my apartment complex. Doh! I definitely wouldn't have wanted to find out the hard way going down a steep hill. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

[boy in a kilt]

I've got a scar on my chin from making that very mistake. I forgot to check the front QR on my mountain bike.

I pulled up on the front wheel to go over a train track. My front end came up just fine. However, since my wheel was no longer attached to my forks and hadn't received the news, it kept going forward. My fork blades hit the pavement, followed shortly thereafter by my chin.

If memory serves, it required 6 stitches to close up the gash.

To make things better, this would end up being the first of two incidents in a 48 hour period that required stitches.

[Mr. Bloom]

Closer look--OOooooh, quick release on the brake was up!

gave them the bike with the wheel on, but not tightened

In July, I went two weeks with the brake quick release open.

Three weeks ago, I'm riding up a 10% grade on rough pavement. As I'm huffing and puffing, I look down to see that my front quick release is so loose that it's unscrewing as I watch it! I never tightened it enough...and didn't figure this out until I'm 18 miles into a 30 mile ride

[SlowButSteady]

Mine was halfway closed on my first triathlon. In South Carolina. In August.

I wondered why it was so hard to pedal, but after the first nine or ten miles, it got easier.

[Pedal Wench]

Probably goes without saying, but I make it a point to always tighten everything as if I were going for a ride, even when I might not. What I mean is, sometimes I'll take my bike out the car and think I'll just loosely tighten the QR, knowing it's just gonna come off next time I load it in the car. But, I've gotten in the habit of making sure it's really tight, just in case I change my mind and ride straight out from the house. Keeps me honest, you know?

Edit: I do this with other things. I had put on a new seatpost, but was just checking for fit and didn't have time to adjust it to the right length. I didn't want to tighten it until I knew how high I wanted it. I made sure I left it so obviously out of alignment (completely sideways) so I wouldn't forget that it wasn't tight before I took it out for a spin.

[smilingcat]

just be careful not to over tighten the QR. You can snap the skewer... I saw a woman once in a shop complaining her QR was not tightening and holding the wheel. Skewer was snapped. Its amazing she didn't lose the QR pieces or drop the wheel.

smilingcat