A Desperately Needed Dying Breed

Somebody didn 't get some BB love

Joe dropped his bike off.

Joe and the shop go back about a decade. He had purchased a bike from another shop and they could never get the shifting to be dialed in. He brought it into us to see if there was anything we could do. He was frustrated to the point that he was willing to get a new group, if we could make his shit work. A coworker took a look at it. Noticed that the shifter only had 8 clicks when it should have had 9. Disassembled the shifter and moved the plate to make it the right amount of speeds. Shifting worked perfectly.

Joe has come back ever since. And he lives 5 hours away. He dropped his bike off again. He had just had it tuned elsewhere as he couldn't get down to us and needed it to be working. The rear derailleur was ghost shifting.

Read more,

http://mooseknuckleralliance.org/2013/08/a-desperately-needed-dying-breed/

This House is Bike Fucked

As I was going about my morning business, I noticed a random Presta valve cap next to my tablet. This triggered a moment of "Master of the Obvious." I continued about my business but kept running into random bike things in random places that made no sense. My wife and I are both bike people so there is a lot of gear and shit jammed into our house. I guess sometimes things just end up where they end up...

PV Cap where no tube lives...

Multi-tool that should have been in my pack but instead ended up on the nightstand.

Co2 Cartridge tucked why nicely next to my computer, in the office where technically speaking no bike gear resides.

I assume I'm not the only person with this problem...

The World is an Imperfect Place

As a good friend of mine likes to say, "The world is an imperfect place." So shit happens.

If you are anything like myself or the folks with whom I turn the pedals, you probably like to turn the pedals hard and put your two-wheeled love machine through the paces. When said activities are taking place you rarely have time to be thinking about whether you torqued your XTR cranks to the specified 13 NM or if it was done in the alternating fashion prescribed by the Japanese God of Cycling, Shimano. Hopefully, you or your wrench of choice has done said things and you can ride into the sunset without worries.

But as I started this here post, the world is imperfect and shit happens. Anyone who rides has found themselves stranded on the side of the road with a broken bike in one hand and the look of defeat in the other. At this point you hopefully aren't praying to the Japanese God of Cycling that you remembered to restock your saddle bag or that your multi-tool is, in reality, safely tucked in your Deuter hydration pack. If any of those thoughts are racing through your mind, you are not alone. Many a cyclist has been stranded on the side of the road hoping that the red neck that just about killed them five minutes earlier can forget the middle finger salute they received and give said cyclist a ride back to town.

Seeing that I tend to ride with people who are proficient in maintaining and repairing their own bicycles, I have found that there exist two main types of trail side repairmanperson.

Not Obsolete Anymore

This is a tool that should be completely obsolete. The only reason a shop should have one, should be to tweak old brakes. Old as in the 80's. I should not be using this on brand new caliper brakes. Unfortunately it is a tool that I use on a regular basis on new, out of the box caliper brakes from that brand that makes so many OEM products, Tektro. I'm not sure why, but they just can't quite seem to get the arms straight...

As a side note I could not find this tool offered from Park any more (granted I searched for about 32 seconds but that is beside the point). So I guess I should just be happy I have one at my disposal for those times when they are actually needed.

For those of you unfamiliar with this tool, it is a Park BT3. It is used to "tweak" the arms on a caliper brake to get the pads to line up or toe the way you want. With modern brakes the arms are usually formed close enough to straight that with the conical washers now used you can get the pads to line up. Unfortunately, there are still some cheap ass brakes out there that just don't quite make the cut.

You can get a visual here, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Park-Tools-Brake-Toe-Tool/dp/B000NOO4O6.

I guess I should thank God that I work in a shop that has been around long enough to have old tools that are no longer available.

Or something.

Always leave the house with clean cables just in case you get hit by a car and your bike ends up in the shop

So your bike isn't shifting properly? OK. Come in, sit down, we can talk about this.

Now, now, tell Uncle Knuckler everything. Oh, so it skips around. It takes two clicks to get it to shift. Anything else? It's driving you crazy. Last question, when was the last time you changed your cables/housing? Six years ago? Holy shit, let's start there.

There are three parts to most shifting systems: (the exceptions are Di2 and that new Syncros stuff) the shifter, the cables/housing and the derailleurs. The shifter is where your input is applied. Want a harder gear? You hit the button releasing or pulling cable tension. The derailleur receives that input via cables/housing and moves the direction that you wanted it to. It's a simple system.

The weak link to the system is the cable/housing. Over time grit and shit will enter the housing degrading the inner sleeve causing friction. The outer sleeve of the housing will also wear exposing the inner radials adding flex to your system. Sure you can buy that fancy Gore stuff to extend the life of your cables but one thing is certain, your shifting performance will degrade over time, regardless of what you do. Yes, I said regardless of what you do, at some point your bike is not going to shift like it should. Big fucking deal, get over it and buy some new cables/housing. How often? Well, if you need me to give you an exact time frame, once or twice a year. If you think you can handle a little more freedom, change them when your shifting isn't working perfectly.

Is it time to say good bye to a good friend?

I've mentioned my favorite tool in the past. I am happy to say that she is still in use, but I'm wondering how long I should go before I bust out the new one. It's hard to say good bye to a good friend but I can actually grip the silver one... Maybe a few more days.

Broken T-Mobile Frame

Apparently, the person that installed this BB didn't get the memo that 900 ft. lbs was a bit excessive on the torque. The tool you see in my hands is what I like to call "the big guns." It is a 3/4" ratchet mated to an adaptor that brings it down to a 1/2" driver size. perfect for BB's.

What this picture fails to show in any way, shape or form, is that there is a crack that runs from about 5mm under the bottom braze-on boss to about 5mm above the top braze-on boss. And that both are about to pull out of the frame. I got the BB out, but the frame was toast...

My little purple tool

You always here about a technicians favorite tool. Well mine is purple. Or at least it used to be.

I purchased this bad boy for $.99 in 2006 because I was sick of trying to put water bottle cages on with a triple. I soon found that with a descent bit kit I could do almost every repair possible with this small, functional tool. It improved my speed. It made it easier to switch over to a torque wrench when needed and has become my must have tool for any repair.

If you can tell from the picture, it is quite worn. The entire driver was purple when I purchased it and was also knurled. From the constant use both the anodizing and the knurl are almost gone. The magnet that helps hold the bits in place is also loosing some of its touch and on occasion the bits just fall out.

I tried to replace it about three months ago. I figured it had served its purpose and it was time to retire it to the home tool box where it would see minimal use. The driver I purchased lasted one whole day. After which the magnet fell out making it useless. I went back to my little purple tool.

It has also been interesting for me as I have worked with many mechanics and in a couple of different shops over the years to the response I have received about my driver. Every single tech has scoffed my little purple tool, only to regret their words as they break down and buy their own. I guess there is a reason I use it constantly, it works.

Cheers to tools!