Mechanical Mayhem!

I've finally given in to everyone telling me that even if I'm not going to get a new bike just yet, I really should get some road tyres for my bike! Ant took his in to get it serviced this week, so I asked him to take one of my wheels in with him and to ask for some tyres that would be suitable.

As requested, he came back with two lovely new tyres for it that are all nice and smooth and completely different to my old ones. We'd been offered the tyres on trial to check they were ok, so before even going to put dinner on (unheard of for me - food is always my first priority!) I sat down in the living room with the bike manual, my bike wheels...and of course some patient help and guidance from Ant, as quite frankly, I didn't have a clue what I was doing!

The old ones came off quite easily and I found putting the new tyres on relatively easy. There might actually be some hope that one day I'll be able to change it all by myself - although if I tried unsupervised and without more practice, there is a very high likelihood that I would forget to do something quite important!

So - new tyres on, pumped up and ready to go, I took the bike out for a very short test drive in our road. It was pretty dark by this stage, so I didn't want to venture too far as I don't have any lights fitted yet. It was pretty hard to make out any difference on a very small flat bit of road. Ant's bike was still being serviced and was due back the next day, so we resolved to take both of our bikes for a longer test run on Friday evening and see what difference the changes had made.

Unfortunately the test ride didn't go quite to plan. Ant was delighted with his bike - his chain no longer squeaks for every pedal rotation and with his tyres newly inflated to the right pressure, he was on a roll. I started off ok, but then developed a noise of my own and stopping to check it out, we realised my brake pads had started rubbing against the rim. We attempted to adust this and I got back on again, but shortly after it started again. After stopping for the third time - and now getting concerned as it was starting to get dark - we decided to cut our ride short and head home again.

Having read up on brakes in the bike book, we attempted to adjust them and solve the problem this afternoon, but didn't have much luck! I've now come in to look at online forums and I may have found the solution. Shame Ant has locked our bikes together and to the banisters and seems to have gone out with the key....will have to wait until he gets back before we have another go at sorting it out. Ah well, for now I'll just put my feet up and enjoy a nice cup of tea!