Blog
Gearing Up
January 22, 2012Orange Bike Project is gearing up (haha, pun totally intended) for a full semester this Spring! We're open five days a week now, and are in the process of renting out bikes, planning events, and helping fellow riders with whatever bike problems they may have. The Cage (what we call our workspace) is currently a maze of bikes, and reflects the current bustling traffic of OB life.
Our last shop day was fairly busy. Not only were renters coming in to check out bikes, but Will was working on fixing an ocean-blue bike with a stubborn bottom bracket. He couldn't unscrew the BB open, and so Valerie helped him out by using this hollow metal rod we keep on hand. Basically, if we are trying unscrew something that requires animal strength, we slip the long rod over the wrench and use it to unscrew whatever it is we are working on. 99.99% of the time, it works.
This was that .01%.
So what they did was lift the bike onto the table, and use the vice to clamp on to the BB and then proceeded to turn the whole bike. I don't know what the statistics are for that working, but you would figure it would be pretty good-- the vice is actually bolted down to the table. Well, it didn't work!
At this point, a girl came in needing help with her shifters. Someone had tried to steal them off her bike, and now she was stuck on one gear. I helped her out by installing a brand new set, and in the meantime, Will and Valerie got that BB unscrewed. I'm not sure how, I think Valerie may have used brute force. That's one of the things I love about OBP -- a lot of the time you have to be resourceful and creative, and in the process you get to workout your triceps.
If you're interested in Orange Bike Project, shoot us an email (orangebike@utenvironment.org), or "Like" us on Facebook for up-to-date information on our social rides.
-Shiyam