I was in a hurry to get home in the dark, rainy night, and managed to cross the chain on the commuter bike, the old Diamondback Apex + Xtracycle, and when this happens the chain is short and the cranks wedge up and stop moving. Rather than taking the time to stop and properly loosen the wheel or whatever it takes, I pushed hard. It seemed to work, and off I rode in the rain. I noticed something dragging, seemed to be brakes, but the light in the garage revealed damage:
- 1. 2 broken spokes
- 2. bent & twisted rear derailler
- 3. bent rim (7 speed 1994? LX from B's Gary Fisher, Shraeder valve)
- 4. flattened bearings/axle issues
Clearly, I AM HUGE! But destructive when lazy. Fortunately, the box of spare parts is deep in the fleet.
- Put spare rear Neuvation MTB wheel onto the MTB finally, moved XT hubbed Mavic SUP rim to the rear of the commuter.
- Moved the white industries hubbed Mavic front to the front of the commuter - all Presta now! Finally!
- Found the Ultegra long cage and slapped it on to replace the mangledSimano Alvus POS
- SLIME presta tubes have been waiting for this moment
- some tuning on the rear and front deraillers was necessary
- slapped on large reflectors that came with the Focus - if not here then where.
Considered were 10 speed shift pods and using the 10 speed 28t cassette. I love Shimano, near-Lego Like cross compatibility sometimes. OR upgrading the MTB to 10 speed, but that would take new shifers and then brakes.
Project 2 was more rewarding, as it already has results. My Little M is riding on 2 wheels like a big guy!
Little M did some fancy skidding in Golden Gate park a few weeks back, on training wheels, and somehow wore through the tire and tube, causing a flat a distance from the car. SO new 12.5" x 2.25" tires were acquired, with smooth treads and new tubes with an angled Shraeder Valves - just when I thought I was done with them, Shraeder keeps on coming.
M sort of helped put it all together, but doing his own thing as he does, the nuts to the training wheels were misplaced. A few backbreaking (my back) test rides holding him up in the driveway expanded to a trip to the school playground, and shortly after that, M was buzzing around on the smooth tires by himself! Very exciting. This little bike has launched both kids now, both kids due for an upgrade!
