My bike has been suffering from severe neglect. I guess you really do always hurt the one you love. I use this bike so much and it really takes the abuse well. BUT today I decided to give it some TLC and wow did it open a can of worms! Started with a bit of wobble I noticed in the rear wheel- had a broken spoke. Fixed that. Then realized that despite the trued wheel it was still rubbing on the brakes- needed adjustment. But that meant the brake cables needed to be pulled and lubed, they were so dry they were sluggish. Threw on new brake pads while I was at it.

Since I'd gone so far I decided to deal with something I'd been ignoring for a couple of years- a worn out bottom bracket. I'd picked up a replacement cartridge a year ago and still hadn't gotten around to pulling the old one and putting the new one in to replace it. Oh, this was intense, the bike is about 10 years old and I've never pulled the cups. The plastic cup, despite a touch of lube (yes, I did turn it in the correct direction) shattered as I attempted to turn it. The drive side, steel cup was wedged in so solidly it wouldn't move. Soaked it in lube and had to take off to work on my folder.

Got home tonight and picked up a bolt (8mm x1.0 x 30mm) that could hold the remover in place while I torqued it to the max. Well, after a lot of persuasion it worked. Pulled out the cartridge, cut the plastic cup in half (w/out damaging the threads) and cleaned up the threads, put in the BB and I'm all set! The bikes all cleaned up and lubed and I can't wait to ride in tomorrow.

BTW, the folder was amazingly efficient, made great time.