Pino Disassembly / Reassembly Techniques, Tips, Tricks?

[head honcho]

Recently returned from a cycling holiday where we disassembled our Pino for transport.  While I've found it simple enough to take apart and reassemble,  I'm always a bit nervous about forgetting to do something and I have managed to misroute cables during assembly that required me to separate the frame to correct the problem . Also, for the timing chain (from the front crank to the rear crank), have any of you been disconnecting the chain and removing it completely during disassembly?  I have been leaving the chain intact and just putting it in a plastic bag to prevent getting everything greasy. .    

Upon reassembly at home,  I started writing up a checklist for future trips.  Do you have any techniques or tips you would like to share for disassembly/reassembly of the Pino?  

Thanks and Happy New Year

[Haus Shirleece]

My wife and are are going to be purchasing a Pino next month. If you have such a checklist which you could share we would be very interested.

Best
Nicholas

[Bob Bending]

I have only split ours a few times butter what it's worth...

We have a Hase stand (the one under the princess seat, not the BB), and find that very useful for supporting the front end come the moment of separation – you just have to worry about the back. Equally handy for putting the beast back together. I just use a plastic bag on the timing chain – it would be a pain to re-thread through the tubes. Bungees that usually hold stuff on the back are handy for keeping the seat folded down and holding the front brake lever and cable tidy. If you remove all four bolts holding the steering, you can remove it and turn it sideways – still all cables attached – to reduce the width profile of the backend.

Bob

[Chris Rust]

I do a lot of dis/assembly. We put ours in the car a lot and we have taken it on a long-haul flight which involved re-assembling on a hotel veranda in India, luckily I had a brilliant 11-year-old Indian engineer to help me. It does need a little engineering sensibility so if you aren't confident it's worth getting a mechanically minded friend to help you work it out the first time.

A few thoughts:

• Study the whole setup first and photograph everything so you know how it goes back, but don't use photos as a substitute for really studying it. I got into a few difficulties by not doing this :o)
  
  
• Pay particular attention to cable routing as you'll be disconnecting the front brake cable/hose but also, as you re-assemble it, you can get confused about which side of what the other cables might go.
  
  
• My main disassembly kit is  3 long hex keys (6mm, 5mm, 4mm) and an adjustable spanner. You can use the exact spanner for disconnecting the steering link, less likely to compromise the nut head, but you never know when you will need an unpredictable spanner on the road so an adjuster (and a pair of pliers) is always a good idea. I think originally I just needed a 6mm and 5mm but I lost a screw from the brake lever one day and the replacement has a smaller socket. As well as the tool kit on the bike (including those items) I have a box that goes in the car with various spares, hand cleaner, and anything else you might need at the start and end of a ride.
  
  
• Which brings me to the next thing, always have some spare stainless hex screws with you, that brake lever screw went flying in a grassy field and that was that, except the bottle cage screws were the same size (phew). Otherwise it might have been a wasted weekend in Wales. My 11-year-old helper in India got a bit excited at one point and waved his arm in triumph when he solved a tricky problem I had set him, sending a vital screw flying into a nearby pond. Poor little chap was mortified but luckily I had a spare.
  
  
• My sequence is (other sequences are available)
• Remove Seat
• Disconnect front brake cable and make it secure (yours is probably a hose but I've fitted mechanical brakes)
• Disconnect chain and make it secure (see below)
• Disconnect steering linkage, the rear connection seems the best one to undo.
• Remove rear handlebar mount screws and swing bars down
• Disconnect frame halves (making sure you put the seat QR skewer somewhere safe)
• Remove seatpost
• Count your tools and make sure they are packed and go with you :o)
• Refitting is the reverse.
  
  
• For the chain I do it like this:
• first derail it from the front chainwheel, pushing the lower chain tube to deflect it as I wind the cranks backwards
• Use a hex key to derail it from the rear chainwheel (it will be nice and slack once it's off the front wheel)
• Use a hex key to hold it up while lowing the chain into a plastic bag - I keep a small black carrier bag for this. It take a bit of practice to get all the chain into the bag neatly without getting it into an awkward tangle and getting your hands very dirty.
• Use a couple of velcro straps to fasten the bag to the front carrier, or frame.
• Refitting is the reverse, you'll need the hex key to rerail the front chainwheel.
  
  
• As Bob says you can remove the handlebars completely which can be a help, as long as you replace them with the with the cables back in their correct places (they can be twisted or wrongly routed if you aren't careful.
  
  
• but I have a different technique for the handlebars. If you remove the rear pair of screws from the handlebar mount (keep them safe!!) and slacken the front two slightly, the bars will swing forward and down to make quite a good stand for the rear part of the bike. If you have a front stand, do this operation before you split the frame and the rear section can be lowered a little to sit on the bars. That can make it easier to pack in a car as they'll be supported upright but maybe not as compact as removing the bars in Bob's way. But if you do this keep an eye on cables as you swing the bars, if a cable or electronic wire is caught somehow the bars apply a lot of leverage. Put those two screws back in their sockets for safe-keeping ASAP.
  
  
• Removing the seat is a big help but it takes a bit of learning and a bit of strength (on our older seat anyway) I've used a marker pen to show which side of the seat is removed first / replaced last. On our older seat we have to slacken all the tensioning straps before removing it, not sure how it works with today's designs.
  
  
• The part I have lost most often is the seat quick release. When you remove the seat it's left trapped between the two halves of the bike so when you split them it's free at last! You may forget to pick it up or you may put it aside and forget it somewhere. Put it straight back onto the seat for safety but I carry a couple of spares, a standard one from a bike shop is cheap, I think a front wheel skewer is the right size or near enough (take the existing one to the shop to compare :o)
  
  
• Good to have some cable ties with you and I think I have rerouted cables once or twice using cable ties to secure them.
  
  
• I have an old Yoga mat which is ideal to go between the two halves of the bike in the car and round anywhere that might transmit oily marks to the car.
  
  
• 'Fasty' straps are brilliant for securing the bike inside the car, http://www.roofbox.co.uk/straps/
  
  
• You can buy a roll of velcro tie and cut it to length to make ties for any situation, cable ties for permanent, vecro for removable (naturally)  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Velcro-VEL-EC60253-10mm-Brand-Reusable/dp/B00186QF2C
  
  
• You can't avoid getting your hands a bit dirty. I pack some Ecover heavy duty hand cleaner for when water is available and some Decathlon dry hand cleaner - foam that you spray on and rub to remove oily marks for when there's no water (great for roadside repairs) I can't see it on their website

That's probably enough from me. Here's how we packed our bike to fly
https://sevenleagueboots.wordpress.com/2013/10/12/platinum-blonde-nomads-packing-the-pino/

Here it is going by train, including removing the bars a la Bob Bending
https://sevenleagueboots.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/pino-by-train/

Enjoy

Chris