Hard to believe I know, but yes,  I’ve  been bike maniacing again, and surprise, surprise, quite successfully, fingers crossed, touching wood etc.. The back brakes on the Pioneer were “sticking” , after application, I’d be pedalling off with the brakes on, until they snapped back to the off position? Very annoying, and hard work.

Of course I didn’t have a clue about the cause, so I consulted the internet, on how to adjust the brakes. Went through it step by step, with the end result no difference, by the way it took me ages last Friday afternoon, much to the annoyance of her indoors.

Then I decided to turn the bike upside down, to have a better look at what was going on. It soon became apparent, there was a quite severe buckle in the wheel itself, so back to the internet, I knew that wheels could be “trued” by tightening or loosening the spokes, and I found the relevent instructions. Sadly, I don’t possess a spoke tool, but I commandeered one of my son’s pliers into use.

I should have taken pictures, but I was in maniac mood, concentrating on the task at hand. There I was ,sat on the bench on the patio, the pioneer upside down,  rear wheel between my legs, I could almost have been playing a welsh harp. Using the brake pads as a guide, the wheel would, as it turned rub and stop against them, and I set about tightening the opposite side, and loosening the other side spokes. To my amazement, this operation soon made a difference, and I continued to fine tune the wheel.

Result brakes stoped binding, and the wheel ran true.

What a bike maniac!!!