Shoutout to the old timer at the farmers market who fixed my bike chain

I was out on the river valley trail last Saturday and my chain kept slipping off every 10 minutes... I was about to walk my bike all the way home from Hawrelak Park. Then this older guy at the market saw me struggling and came over. He pointed out I'd been threading my chain the wrong way around the derailleur for like 2 years! I honestly thought I knew what I was doing since I've been riding since I was a kid. Turns out the little jockey wheels have a specific alignment and I had it crossed up the whole time. He fixed it in 30 seconds flat and showed me a trick to check it with a penny. Has anyone else had a simple mechanical thing they did wrong for ages without realizing?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavin_clark7d ago

Hasn't everyone got that one thing they did wrong for way too long? I used to put my gas can's spout in wrong for years and wondered why it always burped gas everywhere. Finally a neighbor pointed it out and I felt like a total bonehead too.

eva_ward887d ago

Gotta admit I was totally on the fence about this until I read your post. I always thought those spouts were just poorly designed and that's why they leaked everywhere. Never once considered I might be the problem. Now I feel kind of dumb because it makes perfect sense that there's a right way and a wrong way to put the thing in. Thanks for saving me from smelling like gas for the rest of my life!

jesse7737d ago

Wait, wait wait. "Saved from smelling like gas for the rest of my life"? That is a bit dramatic, isn't it? I mean, I get it, that smell sticks to everything, but I think you'd have to be bathing in the stuff to actually smell like it forever. But if you were that close to being a permanent gas stain, then yeah, I guess I'm glad you saw the light before you became a human candle. Still, it's wild to think someone could be pouring gas wrong for years, that's like discovering you've been wearing your pants backwards your whole life.