Whatever the case, my wish for a relaxed, sit-down lunch stop at the Shell Station was now shot to pieces. I would have to bust out the wrenches and Phillips screwdriver to disconnect the rear coaster brake and undo the rear axle due to the lack of quick releases. More unnerving was the realization that the ruptured tube was not salvageable and that I’d have to use the only spare tube in my emergency kit to replace it. I had patches for punctures, but it didn’t occur to me earlier that split tubes were a real possibility with this bike. I should have brought at least two spares to have a higher margin of safety. Chains come in one length and are shortened to the appropriate length for the bike by removing links and joining the ends.
You’ll be back to enjoying your bike in no time at all.
If the tire pressure is too high, the tires unseat from the wheels, allowing the tube to escape and pop like a balloon. So the night before I inflated the tires right up to what I thought was the “safe threshold,” which experience told me was 40 PSI on this bike (still 15 PSI under the maximum pressure huffy trail runner labeled on the sidewalls). I wanted to have the lowest possible rolling resistance for this ride, after all. There were much more cars on the road in the afternoon than during the wee hours of the day. A funny thing was that motorcyclists kept waving as I was crawling back up the pass.
Wearing glowsticks on the neck and wrists and reflective orange bands on the calves, I set out onto dark roads illuminated only by the super-bright headlight of the cruiser. One great thing about setting huffy cruiser out at this cricket-chirping hour was that there were very few cars on the road. It was a particular relief to make it out of the Poudre Canyon shortly after the last remnants of daylight disappeared.
Also, my best friend from Pennsylvania, Ms. Lucy, is hoping to move to Solivita after retirement — so I’ve been using my Women’s Huffy Cruiser to go house hunting recently. In addition to that, I ride on the miles and miles and miles of perfectly manicured bike paths strategically placed throughout my 55+ gated community. If the bike has a derailleur 3/32″ / 2.4mm chains are used. Derailleur chains are also specific to the number of rear gears. 6, 7 and 8 speed systems use the same chain. I, too, went to sleep—at least for the next seven hours. It wasn’t nearly enough to wipe out the sleep debt from the night before, but at least the bed was more comfortable than the weeds.
Traffic got even heavier between the Mishawaka Amphitheater (Mile 170) and Ted’s Place (Mile 189), and I was thankful for lights and reflective gear while on this narrow-shoulder highway. For about 20 minutes during this stretch, raindrops were tapping the helmet—curious considering the weather apps had claimed a 0% chance of rain. Indeed, there seemed to be plenty of blue sky ahead and to the south. Nevertheless, the precipitation felt refreshing.
A special tool is needed to push out a pin to shorten the chain. The chain is joined by either using the same tool to push in a special pin, or by using a special split link – which is generally easier to do. When our shop re-opens to the public following the coronavirus outbreak, we’ll be happy to discuss options for fit customization, upgrades, and accessories.