Thursday, February 10, 2011

Hebie Stabilizer

Todays problems:
Broken spoke on rear wheel. Not had this in years. Hoping it is just a weak spoke.
Hebie Stabilizer fell apart - well more so than it had before. There was a cosmetic bit of plastic tubing that covered the spring and attachment points - that fell off before the first photo was taken. This time the spring fell off when the clamp became loose.
The stablizer keeps the front wheel pointing forward when you lean your bike against a post, or put the bike on a center stand. For me, it also stops the front light I have mounted at the top of the fork, being bashed against the frame. I had one on the Yuba, till my spring broke. (I got a spring from the hardware store. Yuba sell a spring, that is probably way better suited than the one I used.) The Yuba has a drilled mounting point on the down tube. The Hebie uses a "one size fits all" clamp. It was good while it worked. It looks like the strap that goes around the down tube slipped when the plastic coating softened. I know we have had some hot weather here lately, but was it that hot?
I removed it as there didn't seem to be much point keeping it on. Looking at how the clamp works, I'm not impressed. Its also marked the paint:(
At this time I wouldn't recommend buying a Hebie Stabilizer.
Later I found the spring! That was a bit of luck. So have it on with a cable tie for now. And I cable tied one end of the spring on so that it cannot fall off and get lost again. The cable tie will not be a long term solution. If I keep this, then I'll be looking for a better clamp. Means I'll be making my own up. If I do that, I'd go to all stainless steel or aluminium fittings so they don't rust.
I'll wait until I have my front rack fitted, because then I'll be moving the light to another location. Stopping the light getting hit was my main reason for fitting the stabilizer. On the Yuba I had a piece of water pipe around the light to protect it. The light is plastic - repeated hits on the frame would not be good for its long term health. I like my light, so am looking out for it. I keep a sock on it during the day to reduce UV exposure also.