When To Not Be Super Frugal?

— When flying on low-cost carriers (LCC).

 At first this is contradicting since people usually fly LCC for the low fares. These flights are for most of the time relatively cheap. As a young student with an itch to travel, my eyes sparkle with joy, my pupils dilating mad. Europe is teeming with LCC and there is an impressive list of operators here. If your travel preferrence is to get from point to point quick, hassle-free and not left tired from the journey then air travel is the right choice for you since it cuts a great amount of travel time.

LCC however comes without the frills of “normal” commercial airliners. Generally, insurance, meals, and checked baggage does not come as standard. They are not very flexible in terms of re-booking, connecting flights and VERY strict about cabin baggage dimensions and weight. LCC airports are also usually in the middle of nowhere so getting to the nearest city will cost extra. There is though an instance of an LCC airport being right smack in the city like Bremen, Germany, which is very cool.

To be stranded, is not cool. LCC is not all bad. On the bright side, you can choose what you want and what fits your budget. Some argue travel insurance isn’t that important. I’m not so sure about that since there is a thing called Murphy’s Law and of course that volcano in Iceland that erupted in 2010 which cancelled all flights in continental Europe. It’s good to have a peace of mind by paying a small fee when things like sickness or baggage lost happens during the travel.

Get checked baggage. During the travel you might pick up something nice or interesting at the airport to bring back home. These can add weight to your cabin baggage. LCC have a strict cabin baggage policy which limits size, weight and types of items that can be brought onboard like sharp objects and liquids. If it is overweight  you either have to repack or pay a penalty fee and the bag will be put in the cargo hold. So again for a peace of mind, get the checked baggage.

Pretty winglets on Ryanair B738 at Stansted Airport

It should also be noted that LCC runs on low operating costs and the departure gate is almost all the time located at the furthest region of an airport without using a skybridge. Arrive early at the airport to: 1. beat the queue 2. make it to the gate on-time (try to do this without sprinting lol).

To travel with the littlest cost, needs good planning. A hiccup in it could end up costing you more, you might be better off flying on non-LCC. By opting for the “additional options” you allow yourself more freedom and less restrictions. Now, you can worry less.

Happy happy travels,
Afifi

Velo Challenge Hannover 2011

Velo Challenge Hannover 2011 Helmet Cam from Afifi

It was more like an enjoying festive sunday ride than a race, well at least for me. I think i could’ve done better if i didn’t make those unnecessary stops in between and stayed within the fast group. Oh well, time to hit the books! (again)

Today I Whacked Some Balls!

This post contains information about removing and installing the ball bearings off the Fulcrum Racing 7 front wheel hub. Use this information at your own risk.

After the winter pause, I took the road bike out for a spin. A few hundred meters in, there was a considerable amount of resistance building up in the front wheel and then the hub gave a high-pitched shriek LOL. That gave a fright to an old lady passing-by. I know I might be too. After all the Lycra shorts were too damn sexy. Flustered i was, in the midst of this confusion.

It appeared that i need to change the ball-bearings of the Fulcrum Racing 7. There are dozens of cycling forums with people asking about how to remove/dismantle the hub of the wheel. I could not find any instructions in the English forums since most of them end up sending the wheel to the shop.  IMO having a qualified person to do the job is the best way to deal with this problem. But I want to learn how to service my machine, hence this post. I found a few German forums with very useful instructions. A poster even regarded this as child’s play and will take around 15min. That’s quite impressive.

Wheel without quick release.

The exploded view of the front hub in Technical Document in Fulcrum’s website does not indicate a circlip ring. There is actually one on each end to fasten the bearing cover. There is a dedicated circlip plier for removal but I used a needle-nose plier. Wear protective eyewear! The ring can fly.

Circlip ring removed.

Bearing cover removed.

Hitting the axle.

Hit the axle (preferably with a rubber mallet, I had a pestle wrapped in layers of cloth) to eventually knock off the axle and the bearing on the other side.

Bearing without axle.

Use axle to knock the other bearing out.

This is only a rough walk-through of what I did. Remember, it is always important TO NOT damage the wheel Okay.

Here’s a link to the said forum at Tour Magazin (in German): http://forum.tour-magazin.de/showthread.php?t=151126

Will update this post once my ball bearings arrive by mail. My ball bearings?

***UPDATE***

• Still waiting for the standard sealed cartridge bearing 6001-2RS. They should arrive soon.
• Bought 10 flat washer. They are the Kotflügelscheiben kind (fender washers?) 13,0 x 30 mm (1,2mm thick) and fit through the axle nicely covering the bearings.
• The plan is to take the quick release skewer with the washers and use it as a clamp, to press the bearings into the hub. The washers will act as spacers and (well, i guess) exert equal amount of force on the bearings so that they uniformly enter the hub. These were 0,92EUR from the hardware store. Online prices are ridiculously high unless you’re looking to buy more than a thousand pieces which does bring the unit price down. There is also a tool for this job called the bearing press if I’m not mistaken which costs around 50EUR. Wait. What? That is almost the price of a new wheel lol so no I’ll just have to improvise.
  

***INSTALLING THE BEARINGS***

The ball bearings finally came in the mail. I bought these SKF 6001-2RS for 4,50EUR a pop incl. shipping.

 

Ze ball-bearing.

To put the wheel back together, insert the axle through the hub along with the bearings on both sides. Insert the skewer and ‘clamp’ with the washers, hub cap and then screw the nut in.

Ball-bearing, washers, cap, skewer nut

As the skewer is tighten the bearing will be pulled in. Tighten the nut and continue closing the lever. Since the washers are a tiny to wide to fit into the hub (the bearings should be slightly lodged in the hub), i changed the order so that the hub cap is next to the bearing, then washers, then nut. My attempt managed to pull in one bearing on one side. So i took out the skewer and placed the cam on the other side and pulled the other bearing in.

So both bearings are now in. Job finish? Not yet. Check the axle for play. If there is play, the bearings still need to be pulled in. Put in the bearing covers and secure with the circlips.

Checking for play

So that’s about it. Hope this would be some sort of help to you.

Happy riding!
Afifi