attn: bicycle enthusiasts

[Dorothy Wood]

I have a vintage schwinn and I want to make it go faster. I've cleaned the chain and scraped the gunk off of the derailleur cog dealies. I also lubed up the moving parts. I haven't tested it out yet because it's raining. but is there anything else I can do?

also, how do bicycle gears work?

[TurdBerglar]

make it go faster?


sell it and buy a new lighter one

[TurdBerglar]

don't use wd-40. all it does is attract dirt and mucks shit up thus acting more like sand paper than lube.

[TurdBerglar]

inflate the tires to the maximum recommendation listed on the sidewall

[Dorothy Wood]

I used some stinky stuff specially made for bikes.

how do gears work?!

I'm trying to figure out bicycles today. I need to replace a spoke. seems easy enough. I also unhooked the back wheel's brake because it's never worked properly. and I was talking to this girl who's into bikes and she said she just has a front brake, and I haven't died yet, so I figure I might as well just get it off of there.

for an old bike it's not that heavy really. it's a road bike, pretty skinny for something so old.

[TurdBerglar]

what do you mean how do gears work?


the derailleur moves the chain onto different sized cogs changing the gear ratio.


and good for you on the bike lube stuff


and don't replace the spoke by yourself. bring it into a bike shop. all those spokes need to be at the same tension in order to keep the wheel true and round. riding on a wobbly wheel will definitely slow you down. the bike shop has a special set up to check for the trueness of the wheel as the adjust the spokes.

[Dorothy Wood]

I want to fix it myself! I replaced my chain by myself even though the guy at the bike shop was skeptical.

I might just get a new front wheel anyway, it's getting a bit rusty.


like, what's the difference between the chain being on the biggest (in diameter) gear vs. being on the smallest? and what about the two that are by the pedals?

[Dorothy Wood]

yeah, my front wheel is definitely wobbly. it's not extreme, but it's going to get worse I'm sure.

[TurdBerglar]

I want to fix it myself! I replaced my chain by myself even though the guy at the bike shop was skeptical.

I might just get a new front wheel anyway, it's getting a bit rusty.


like, what's the difference between the chain being on the biggest (in diameter) gear vs. being on the smallest? and what about the two that are by the pedals?


well on the front cog if it's on the biggest it gives you more speed but less climbing power(harder to pedal at slow speeds). and in the back it's the complete opposite. so first gear would be the smallest on the front and the largest in the back. and the highest gear would the the largest in the front and the smallest in the back.

[Dorothy Wood]

well on the front cog if it's on the biggest it gives you more speed but less climbing power(harder to pedal at slow speeds). and in the back it's the complete opposite. so first gear would be the smallest on the front and the largest in the back. and the highest gear would the the largest in the front and the smallest in the back.

okay, that's how I have it, I thought so. I just got to wondering if I could be doing something different when I was cleaning them up.

thanks turdle. :)

[TurdBerglar]

show your tits