Maintenance

[Dinkyfish]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to the forum (will go write a quick intro in a sec but wanted to get this posted 1st) so apologies if this is in the wrong place, I swithered about putting it under 'safety' but it didn't seem to fit with the other topics there.

Essentially I have a pair of original powerisers that I have had for several years, but I haven't been on them for well over a year now. This is because I lent them to my boyfriend some time ago- I didn't want him to borrow them as he's a) clumsy and b) too heavy for them but he nagged me so much that I eventually gave in. He'd had little shots on them on other occasions so he knew roughly what he was doing. But of course the inevitable happened and he fell off them (hurt himself but not badly so I was able to say "I told you so" lol) and brought them back with his tail between his legs. After a day of so I went to have a closer inspection of them and noticed that the velcro strap behind the knee bar (I do not have the knee cuffs like the newer models) had torn nearly completely in two so he got a second telling off.

Well he offered to pay for replacement parts but because I never got round to looking it kind of got forgotten about, and then when I did remember he was really struggling financially so I decided to let it slide for a while. Well I've just remembered today that they still need fixed, and he has a new job so I'm going to start nagging him again to see if I can get them up and running again.

Whew, that was a long story. ANYWAY my main question is: after such a long period of sitting idle, what kinds of maintenance should I perform on my powerisers to get them up and running again? I don't want to assume they'll be good to go and wind up having an accident on them.

I did a google search but there seems to be absolutely no topics on poweriser maintenance which really surprised me! Any advice is welcomed!

[Spud]

Like this one: http://www.projumpforum.co.uk/index.php?page=Maintenance
 
The broken velcro will need replacing and in addition to that check all the bolts are tight and spray joints with silicone based spray. It's worth while spraying them quite frequently. That's about all I can suggest. Somebody else will probably have more ideas though!

 

[Jason]

The velcro on most kneebars is pop riveted on so depending on which end came off it can be mended with by anyone who has a rivet gun and some rivets

If diy isn't an option you can replace the entire kneebar (used to be £15 each but not looked for a while) and while you might get away with one they arn't always the same size between manufacturers or even between batches of the same model so you might need two

Probably best to ask on here if anyone has an old one in good condition (quite likely as a lot of people go for cuffs now)

An alternative is to get yourself a set of cuffs theyare much more comfy and will help with your shorter leg problem as they can be moved closer to your leg

Otherwise agree with Spud just a spray of silicon often

Jason 

[Dinkyfish]

Thank you both! I hadn't found that page at all but I think the problem was mainly that I have never heard the term "bocking" or "bockers" used until I found this forum. I was still looking up the old name, poweriser. Not sure when it got changed lol

My father is actually very into his bikes so I'm sure he has plenty of silicon spray that I can borrow. Checking bolts and whatnot is also no problem.

The strap that is broken is actually torn so there's no way to fix it I don't think I was actually looking at a set of the calf cuffs, can anyone here confirm that they will fit on the older model of poweriser too? I actually emailed the shop selling them but they weren't 100% sure. They certainly look like they'll fit but obviously I don't want to spend £25 on something that might not fit...

[Jason]

A very good question that

The main problem with the Cuffs is that some early bocks had thin soft plastic clamps and they won't hold the cuffs still
The later thicker plastic clamps always held for me but a few people seem to have problems with them slipping

This has been cured in several ways (rubber or sandpaper wrapped round the bar or tightening the bolts up really tight

If your not sure which you have post a pic here and I should be able to tell you

Some later Powerisers had metal clamps and they are fab for cuffs

If you Dad is into bikes he might have a rivet gun and all you need is a bit of 1" nylon webbing and some velcro

I buy both of these from here

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Buckles-and-Webbing-Emporium

The rivets are under the foam padding on the kneebar and can be accessed by sliding it along the bar

Jason 

[Dinkyfish]

Thanks, I'm not sure if I would trust any 'home repairs' on this kind of thing... it would more than likely be fine but I'm very tempted by the cuffs anyway after reading about how comfy people find them in comparison.

I've attached a couple of pics of the clamp (it's really difficult to get one that shows it clearly lol), does it look like they'll fit to you?

p.s. I know they're dusty, don't laugh lol

[Spud]

Hi there,
Cuffs would fit into the bracket of your powerisers but because of the increased directional forces they are unlikely to hold steady. The brackets used were not designed for the cuffs and they will probably move around. The projump plastic brackets or poweriser metal brackets would work but it won't be the cheapest option!

[Dinkyfish]

Aw Seems my plans to get these up and running again aren't going to be quite so simple. Thanks for the info Spud.

Do you have any idea where I could get replacement brackets? Just so I can look into how much it would be to replace them as well - I really liked the sound of the calf cuffs (I seem to remember having difficulty tightening my knee bands enough because my legs are quite small, think they dug in something rotten too :/ ). I did a search (and checked the shop linked to from here) but couldn't see anything at all.

Failing that I'm going to need to go down the repairs route.

[Dinkyfish]

I found this site, are any of these the parts I'm looking for? They all look just like what I've got so I'm not too hopeful

http://www.xtremestilts.com/spareparts.htm

[Jason]

Sadly it looks like you have the thinner brackets and the site sells the thin ones as well

But they do sell the kneebars

If you are dead set on getting cuffs I think PJ sell the heavier plastic brackets but not sure of the price

One other thought though

Most people didn't use the velcro straps to fix themselves into the bocks and I used to cut them off as they rubbed

The best method I found (apart from PinHeads Kneestraps which are no longer available I think) was the straps that used to come with PJ's many years ago

You can easily get some of the webbing the cheapest way is to buy a set of those luggage straps from the £1 shop
You need the soft ones that can be tied in a bow and they need to be about 2 mts long  and you need 2 of them

Heres the instructions on how to use them

http://www.projumpforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=1395.0

It is really amasing how much more secure you feel on them once you have tied yourself in

Jason 

[Dinkyfish]

Thank you Jason!

Well I've been torn all morning because I got into contact with projump/ghostbikes about getting the clamps as well and they had a look at my powerisers and made me a really good offer. But obviously even the best offer is going to be considerably more than a couple of pounds from the pound shop lol

Eventually I decided to go for the cuffs because:
a) I usually bock for 10-15 minutes at a time, take them off to give my legs a wee rest (I really am unfit so mu muscles get tired quite quickly) and while I'm resting one of my friends usually has a shot. I didn't fancy spending huge amounts of time undoing/retying the straps (Pinhead's quick release ones would have been ideal but as you said he isn't making them any more)

b) Because of the padding round the knee bars I find that they're really too wide for my legs which makes it quite difficult to even walk, the cuffs look thinner and will hopefully be more suited to those of us with little legs (lol)

c) My boyfriend is paying haha

So I've placed the order and my stuff should be here by tomorrow or Wed at the latest! Hurrah!

[Locky]

Cuffs FTW definately.

We just did a workshop at a festival this summer and I think we had just 2 pairs that had knee bars, the rest were all cuffs and we hardly touched the ones with knee bars. It's just too much work to take them on and off again etc. Cuffs are so much easier.