A-Bike Central Forum

not a spam post but a serious point:

the a-bike manual recommends 20w oil for lubrication Can you use the the aerosol-type products with teflon etc. instead that appear to be cleaner? Any recommendations?

Is there anyway to lubricate the headset?

XSSF wrote:Is there anyway to lubricate the headset?

Yes, but I never feel the necessity of it. Do you feel your A-bike's steering heavy? If so, unless your bike is from very early production batch, canbe improved by using a 3mm allen key and not by lubricating it.


I use "Finishline Tefron Plus lub" for my chain by the way.

Where do I use the 3 mm allen key?

What can I use to lubricate headset if the 3 mm allen key doesn't loosen it?( some chain oil on the plastic bushings maybe? )

Is there anyway to tighten the headset or remove for overhaul?

A-bike's steering (and folding mechanism) appears to be on a stiff side at first, but it gets much smoother as you ride more.



Part A: taking apart is a little tricky and doesn't affect steering that much to me actually.

B: this and D catch C too tightly sometimes, and it canbe a cause of heavy steering, so loosen this using 3mm allen key and shift it upwords does help. (it doesn't move much though.)

Very first production batch seems to have a rather rough quality for this (B) part, so in this case, try smoothing the B's contact surface with C by sanding.

In case of lubricating for improving steering, just remove part B then you can lub part C (consists of two plastic washer and the main part) in anyway you like.
(*sanding down part C's plastic washer isn't a good idea.)

I bet we'd better avoid using those "multi purpose oil" for our A-bike, 'cos these oil seems to be mineral-base oil, which could destroy plastic materials.

Hi all

I have just encountered this very problem - stiff stearing. Happened after my first outing in rain, so I'm guessing some grit and mess has got into the mechanism somewhere. My steering has been fine up to now. Not sure what "batch" my bike was built in.

Newcross, as always, you've come up trumps with some great advice, which I will digest and follow tonight when I get home and try to resolve my sticky and stiff steering.

one more question on the steering: now that I've had a quick look at it here in the office, there seems to be some "play" or "give" or "slack" between the turning of the actual handlebars and the turning of the main shaft that moves the front wheel - ie I turn the handlebars and the top part moves on its own for a couple of degrees/mm before it moves the main shaft. Do you have this "play" on your A-Bikes? Is there something I can do to fix this?

many thanks

WD-40? WD meaning water displacement.
I cant say how it'll affect the plastic parts

I was being incredibly stupid over the "play" issue. It was when the bike was folded, so none of the parts was locked in place, so there was bound to be play. What an idiot.

But the stiffness remains. I'll have a go with teflon lube and/or wd40 and/or loosening the bolts.

thanks

I did have a look on WD-40 website. English site was awfully designed and I couldn't find the info I needed! so I extract some from Japanese WD-40 official website.

According to them, they cannot reveal what their product is made of, but their test prove the following materials weren't affected by WD-40 after soaked into it 168hours.

Polyethylene, polypropylene, TEFRON, Polyester, epoxy resin, vinyl (PVC), Nylon, Delrin, acrylic, Formica,

And they said WD-40 can crack those transparent Polycarbonate and polystyrene when applied. Other materials? They didn't say anything...

As Amuro Lee presented, A-bike uses Polymide.
http://www.abikecentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=272

err... so is it okay or not? I don't know. Somebody familiar with chemicals has to help us out with it.

I couldn't find anything on 3-in-1 and other brand's multi purpose oils. I heard that mineral oils' petroleum essence could react to petroleum within some plastics and spoils its durability somehow.

I ended up using a Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) spray - it worked well enough but smelt for a week or so...

newcross wrote:A-bike's steering (and folding mechanism) appears to be on a stiff side at first, but it gets much smoother as you ride more.



Part A: taking apart is a little tricky and doesn't affect steering that much to me actually.

B: this and D catch C too tightly sometimes, and it canbe a cause of heavy steering, so loosen this using 3mm allen key and shift it upwords does help. (it doesn't move much though.)

Very first production batch seems to have a rather rough quality for this (B) part, so in this case, try smoothing the B's contact surface with C by sanding.

In case of lubricating for improving steering, just remove part B then you can lub part C (consists of two plastic washer and the main part) in anyway you like.
(*sanding down part C's plastic washer isn't a good idea.)

I bet we'd better avoid using those "multi purpose oil" for our A-bike, 'cos these oil seems to be mineral-base oil, which could destroy plastic materials.

hey new cross, before undertaking this very delicate surgery to my abike,
i read all the post, and of course, since i dont belong to this world, subsequently i am not use to those technical terms, i am lost!!!

so just to make sure, i copy one paragraph.
In case of lubricating for improving steering, just remove part B then you can lub part C (consists of two plastic washer and the main part) in anyway you like.
(*sanding down part C's plastic washer isn't a good idea.)

you emphasized that sanding down the part c, is not a good idea.
i am confused!!

i have managed to gather the tools to unscrew the part c, to do what i have been suggested, but the above warning made me think.
since i dont know what those material are, i just want to go with the easy way, and that is sanding the damn part.
should i go ahead?

P.s sorry for reviving an old thread.

thatsme. the part you took off from your bike should be part "B" and not C. removing C will be a lot more difficult. B is the one fixed by only two screws.

Does it sounds clear? if not I can try uploading some more pics tonight.

ah, lubing part is anywhere around C (including contact points with other parts).

newcross wrote:thatsme. the part you took off from your bike should be part "B" and not C. removing C will be a lot more difficult. B is the one fixed by only two screws.

Does it sounds clear? if not I can try uploading some more pics tonight.

ah, lubing part is anywhere around C (including contact points with other parts).

got you now, I just got confused with the picture.
i will do it tonight.
thanks again.

Hey

I would strongly suggest avoiding WD40. It can indeed damage the plastic, and worse is not a good long term lubricant.

By the nature of WD40, it collects dust and grit quickly and in turn will wear mechanicals. I would (personally!) rather have nothing than use WD40

I run a number of bikes of all types and sizes (recently adding an A-bike!). It costs a little more, but go and buy some GT85. This is a lot more friendly to the plastics, and is a good long term option.

Hope this helps - it has taken me (and my bike club!) many miles safely by using GT85. The drivetrain and moving parts of the Abike are no different!

Matt

jojo from Barcelona, Spain requested me to re-upload the pictures i posted here, so here it is (new images). it seems even with A-bike Plusthe heavy steering problem still can happen to some users.




(unfortunately the original images (including A-bike blog images) were deleted from server by accident sometime ago, and my current situation isn't helping me to fix all of them just yet. )