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03-22-07, 11:37 PM
So I've been slammed with work and life stuff this week, sort of a sun up to sun down busy that leaves you wondering "What the heck did I do all day?" as you fall asleep reading about how Schwinn screwed the pooch ("No Hands", very interesting book).
Fretting all week about new parts that were ordered weeks ago but have yet to arrive; today was the deadline to get the bikes together for the weekend. Climbing race Saturday, TTT Sunday with a fair amount of "up" too.
Yesterday the new(ish) Snap On torque wrench arrived, complete with calibration stickie, so I'm ready to bang on some carbon bits.
I do the climbing bike prep, swap out bars and stem, tidy up some details and then at 1:00PM I get the call:
"Cranks are in."
Long to short story pull out two cranks and bottom brackets and swap/install with new/other crank set. The usual messing around to get things right; including taking a die grinder to a brand new Rotor Q-ring to fit it on the Stronglights. Test spin and there's a creaking. Rear wheel hub is loose, and the headset needs a re-torque. Badda bing, I got no cone wrench for the hub. It's 45 minutes RT to the LBS, so I look through the tools and find a cheapo open end that's the right size and take the grinder to it. We have cone wrench. Hub fixed, test ride, all is well. Next!
Misc this and that on the new TT bike (Wendy O Williams only rides a Plasmatic) and it goes out for the test spin. Front derailluers rubbing on the big ring, it needs to go higher but it's at the max adjustment. We can drill the pop rivets and reset the clamp on, but that's another hour to do right and I don't know if I have the right size rivet which could mean an hour round trip and there's got to be a better way, or at least a quicker one.
Coke.
Can.
Shims (under the bottom of the derallieur where it clamps).
We have clearance.
Test ride...nice ka-chunk on the 11. Krap. 20 minutes of swapping/diagnosing and it turns out to be the chain. Wife's down the hill, quick call to her and the LBS and a new chain is on it's way up. Finish putting on the elbow pads, everything else is working and I'm screaming past one of the local pickups on the 53/12...this thing is fast! For grins I scale it...15.8# starting line ready with the carbon 58's. Nice. Don't even have the ZG's on yet, but they'll be offset by the Ergomo when it arrives but it's still dang light for a full on aero rig.
Wife comes home, hands me the chain, and a package the has just arrived.
From England.
No way!
Way!
It's a brand new shiny Bell Meteor, the last piece of the puzzle.
I clean up the garage a bit, bring some order to the chaos, and head inside at 6:30. I pause to look at the two rigs waiting for the weekend.
I love it when a plan comes together.
I just wish it didn't require such a birthing process.
Fretting all week about new parts that were ordered weeks ago but have yet to arrive; today was the deadline to get the bikes together for the weekend. Climbing race Saturday, TTT Sunday with a fair amount of "up" too.
Yesterday the new(ish) Snap On torque wrench arrived, complete with calibration stickie, so I'm ready to bang on some carbon bits.
I do the climbing bike prep, swap out bars and stem, tidy up some details and then at 1:00PM I get the call:
"Cranks are in."
Long to short story pull out two cranks and bottom brackets and swap/install with new/other crank set. The usual messing around to get things right; including taking a die grinder to a brand new Rotor Q-ring to fit it on the Stronglights. Test spin and there's a creaking. Rear wheel hub is loose, and the headset needs a re-torque. Badda bing, I got no cone wrench for the hub. It's 45 minutes RT to the LBS, so I look through the tools and find a cheapo open end that's the right size and take the grinder to it. We have cone wrench. Hub fixed, test ride, all is well. Next!
Misc this and that on the new TT bike (Wendy O Williams only rides a Plasmatic) and it goes out for the test spin. Front derailluers rubbing on the big ring, it needs to go higher but it's at the max adjustment. We can drill the pop rivets and reset the clamp on, but that's another hour to do right and I don't know if I have the right size rivet which could mean an hour round trip and there's got to be a better way, or at least a quicker one.
Coke.
Can.
Shims (under the bottom of the derallieur where it clamps).
We have clearance.
Test ride...nice ka-chunk on the 11. Krap. 20 minutes of swapping/diagnosing and it turns out to be the chain. Wife's down the hill, quick call to her and the LBS and a new chain is on it's way up. Finish putting on the elbow pads, everything else is working and I'm screaming past one of the local pickups on the 53/12...this thing is fast! For grins I scale it...15.8# starting line ready with the carbon 58's. Nice. Don't even have the ZG's on yet, but they'll be offset by the Ergomo when it arrives but it's still dang light for a full on aero rig.
Wife comes home, hands me the chain, and a package the has just arrived.
From England.
No way!
Way!
It's a brand new shiny Bell Meteor, the last piece of the puzzle.
I clean up the garage a bit, bring some order to the chaos, and head inside at 6:30. I pause to look at the two rigs waiting for the weekend.
I love it when a plan comes together.
I just wish it didn't require such a birthing process.