Tag: repair

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Fork Fixed (Replaced)

I got my bike fixed! If you missed it, back in July the from suspension fork on my bike just… separated. The bottom half fell off. It looked pretty corroded in there. I kept riding it for a while as I debated what to do about it. Oh, and since I hang my bike in the garage from the front wheel I started adding a bungee cord so the whole bike would not slide off from the front wheel!

Dana said “Why don’t you get a new bike? You ride all the time and could probably use something better.” And I really didn’t want to replace it, but I thought about getting a cheap “backup bike” in case it broke more. I thought about going to The Bike Farmer’s place but for reasons, I did not

But! The file folks at Allis Bike got me fixed up. It was very affordable, and they did great work. They even saved the old fork for me just in case. They also replace the chain as they noticed it was stretched a bit. Now, when I got the bike back I took a ride and somehow the chain started being all crazy so I contacted them and they said “Bring it in!” So I did…

The noticed the chain got twisted. How? I don’t know. But I do know they fixed it, and said “All good, no charge!” and I rode away. Awesome!

Also, the shop has a flyer I made up on the wall, and it’s been there for like… 35 years!?! If that’s not enough to trust a local bike shop then I don’t know what is. Good crew over there at Allis Bike.

The longer version of the flyer story is that I know one of the guys there, and have for a long time. When I was rebuilding a bike I found in a dumpster near a frat house in Madison I needed a new front rim, tube, and tire. Pete got me all set up I have this idea in my mind I handed him $30 cash for it. I cannot confirm this price but it was 35 years ago, and Pete was a pal. Each of us was the “Other Pete” to each other. So yeah. Solid!

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Fixing a Watch Band

Back in 2023 I got an OtterBox All Day Band for Apple Watch and after two years it broke. Not the whole thing, just the little gray part that holds the excess strap. Bummer!

It’s not great to wear a watch light this since the excess strap just… hangs loose. So I was going to order another one but the colors I was okay with were out of stock. So I decided to try to fix it, and then decided if I could fix it I would not order a new one. I’m trying to buy less and just sort of consume less. Fix things, don’t throw them away, and all that.

So I have a bunch of these tiny rubber bands, maybe two dozen of them. It’s the kind of thing I save because you never know when you’ll need it.

Hey, it works! It’s a tight fit, and getting the strap into it wasn’t easy, but it’s a thing I do one or maybe twice per day, so I could live with it.

It looks okay! The only issue is that the rubber bands only last a few weeks or so and then wear out and break. This was annoying, but got me through another two months using the watch band.

Then one day I found my old Fitbit in a drawer. The screen pretty much stopped working years ago, which is why I ended up getting an Apple Watch. Anyway, I slid off the little band thing and got it to slide onto my watch band!

I did have to snip the little nub on the inside, as it was a bit too large to fit the holes in the OtterBox watch band. This was easy to do with a micro cutter.

Hopefully I can get a few more years out of this watch band. I like everything about it except for the fact that the little piece broke. And hey, if you do stop using an old watch band consider saving it for parts!

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Sewing to Repair

I learned to hand sew and how to use a sewing machine in school. I think it was 7th grade in a Home Ec class. The term “Home Ec” is short for Home Economics. Here’s the Wikipedia definition:

Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as textiles and apparel. Although historically mostly taught in secondary school or high school, dedicated home economics courses are much less common today.

The new term appears to be “Family and Consumer Sciences”, I say “new” because 500 years ago when I was in school it was just called Home Ec. We had a sewing class in middle school and I think I remember a cooking class in high school. Since my kids are adults I honestly don’t know what is happening in schools today, but I’m writing today to talk about sewing.

As I mentioned recently I repaired my old boots, and it felt really good to fix them rather than get a new pair. I was able to save money and opt-out of another consumer transaction. So when my gloves got a small tear in one of the fingertips I said “I should sew that up!” and I did… eventually. I’m not sure why it took me so long to do it, since it was a repair that took less than 10 minutes.

But as much as I call myself a maker and someone dedicated to DIY I really do feel I need to be better about this stuff. About repairing things in a timely manner.

I took a poll asking people the following question: Are you able to repair a small rip in a piece of clothing by hand sewing it?

Nice results! I probably fit into the “Yes – But it would not look very good” category and I’m okay with that. To be honest though I’m glad most people do know how to sew. It’s s great skill to have, even if you use it just for repairs and not for actually making new things.

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Another Flat…

So according to my previous post I last had a flat tire in October 2024 (and August 2024). For the one in August I took it into the LBS to get fixed, but in October I changed it myself because damn I should DIY that stuff, right?

I probably got a puncture on the January Scrappy Hour Ride as my tire was pretty low at the end of the ride. Anyway, Matt was kind enough to give me a set of tires (nice tires!) so I pulled off my own worn out tire and put on a new tube and tire.

I actually had no idea the direction of rotation could matter, and I didn’t, notice the little rotation arrow until after I wrapped up the repair! Luckily I got it right.

Oh, I did end up throwing together a simple PVC bike stand. It’s not great (yet) but it’s better than nothing. It definitely helps when changing the rear tire.

(Note: I also got a flat tire with my car last month but I’m not counting that one.)

So hey, we are back in business and as soon as it warms up a bit, or I feel like suiting up again, I’ll hit the road and try it out.

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Boot Repair with Plasti Dip

Boots repaired

Boots worn out

Remember back in 2007 when I got new boots? Well, they broke. 17 years ago I said “they should last at least 10 years” and they did!

But in the last few years I noticed they were cracking and sort of falling apart. For a minute considered getting a new pair because I am an adult with more than a few hundred dollars in my savings account…

But then I thought, maybe I should try to fix them? So I did. First, the damage… see the photo above and the two below.

Boots worn out

The right boot wasn’t too bad, but the left was terrible. It came apart right below the seam where it is sewn together and in other places the boot had cracked and split open. You can see the white filling on the inside of the boot.

Boots worn out

I’ve had this Plasti Dip since at least 2017 (I know this because I used it for a project) and honestly I think I dipped all the tools I needed to dip. I started the repair by grabbing a cheap bristle brush and “painting” on a coating of Plasti Dip. I let it dry and did a few more coats and called it a day.

I then wore the boots outside, did some walking around, and they split open again. Obviously the solutions was… more Plasti Dip!

Boots repaired

This time I grabbed a popsicle stick and just slathered it on, filling in the cracks and gaps and I did this a bunch of times to build up a good layer of rubber to stick everything back together. (You might notice I also fixed the aglets with some heat shrink tubing.)

Boots repaired

I’ve flexed them a bit and they feel like they’ll hold together, but if not I can always just pour the rest of the can onto them. Seriously though, I hope this does it because I’d really hate to buy a new pair, mainly because I want to cut down on buying new things if I can repair old things I already own. I probably wear these boots less than 30 days a year since we don’t really get that much snow and I don’t spend a ton of time outside if it’s extremely cold outside.

So fingers are firmly crossed that this fix works!

Update: 10 days later the boots are holding up but I lost an aglet.