Spring Tension

I pulled the eight-millimeter compression spring from my chest harness and knelt beside the bike on the hallway floorboards. The kickstand pivot had developed two millimeters of axial rattle against the lower frame tab. Unacceptable tolerance. I backed the pivot pin out halfway, wedged the tight steel coil over the shaft, and compressed the wire flat against the bracket face before reseating the pin. I stepped my boot heel against the foot to deploy the stand, then flicked it upward. The coil snapped the steel arm flush against the frame tube with an instant metallic crack. Zero chatter. Mechanical tension holds.