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LabVisual t1_j8upt0l wrote

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If a young man on a mountain bike were to accidentally travel back in time into a medieval town, would the local artisans be able to help him maintain his bicycle? assuming he has a fairly decent understanding of how his bike works, and perhaps a small pouch of tools

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shantipole t1_j8v6szp wrote

Anything more than cleaning and oiling: not really. Airing the tires would be next to impossible without extremely precise fittings that most artisans wouldn't be capable of. Any replacement parts would require materials (rubber) or manufacturing precision (chain, spokes, etc) that would be very difficult if not impossible to reproduce.

With enough time and money, an artisan could probably figure out workarounds (like casting replacement links out of brass or bronze) but the bicycle would be more and more of a frankenstein's monster and would be less efficient and usable.

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