London to Paris - the bike

Where were we? Oh yes, I had to pay £99 to register and then raise a minimum of £1200 to take part. So I sent my cheque off and didn't really give it much more thought.

Not long after, I received a pack telling me all about how to go about raising money and the training required. The bike is not perfect, so I subscribed to a Forum on the web (http://www.bikeforums.net/index.php - if you're interested) so that I could ask the people who are really into folding bikes what is best to do.

Some people suggested just changing the front chain ring - the big cog at the front where the pedals are - and make it bigger. But then, someone suggested getting a rear hub that has 3 gears inside it and the ability to put a set of 7 gears on a derailleur as well. That sounded so much better I got straight onto ebay to find one.

A couple of days later, and £10 lighter in the wallet, I had a 3x7 hub which gives me 21 gears when made up. I rushed it round to our local bike shop owner - John - who I know is a wizard wheel builder. And from here on it went a bit pear shaped.

The rim on the existing wheel has 28 holes for the spokes and the hub has 36. Oops. Not to worry though, I asked the guys on the forum and they gave me a link to a supplier and I ordered another rim. A day or so later and the rim arrived and I rushed around to John. Yes, will be a pain but couple of days and the wheel will be ready.

John was as good as his word, and I picked the wheel up later in the week. Of course, he had a few problems because the spokes had to be custom made as they are so short. But, he managed and I'm happy.

Until I got home... the wheel is bigger than the existing one on the bike!! Not by much, but definitely bigger! How can that be? The existing tyre say 16 x 1 & 7/8ths and the rim says 16in. I went back on to the forum to ask....

You think someone would have warned me, wouldn't you? It seems 16in is not necessarily 16in in the folding bike world. Some companies measure to the rim, others to the tyre. Consequently there are two 16in wheel sizes. How mad is that!? As mad as me, by now!

I spent an afternoon fiddling about to see if I could get the new wheel in and the good news is I can. Only now, the brakes no longer fit. The brake blocks now go straight into the spokes instead of rubbing on the rim as they should when I apply them.

Back to John. I think he thinks I'm nuts, but came up with a solution... he suggested welding a piece of metal just above the existing fastening point. Job done, I went back to fit the brakes... guess what? It works! And so do the gears, although the top gear is so stupidly hard to push, my spindly legs won't be able to manage it, except perhaps on a 1 in 5 descent.

So the bike is finally ready... just the money to raise and the training! That's the next Blog....