A few weeks ago I was riding with our club and started a conversation with another rider on a sweet looking Look road bike. Towards the end of the ride we were talking and he noticed I had a compact crank set and said he had a lighter one he didn’t need. I have a FSA and be had a spare Shimano. I stopped by today and it turns out it was an Ultegra and I was pretty impressed. He even gave me a new Dura Ace bottom bracket and bearings. Just holding the Dura Ace BB I felt the difference in weight. I ended up spending about two hours as he tuned up my bike. It may just be my imagination but I swear the bike is a pound lighter. It was good time spent working and talking about bikes and rides we want to take. It was all in all a great day with a 39 mile ride and two hill climbs I couldn’t have made three months ago. Between whom I ride with and some of you I talk with this is the best sport/lifestyle I have ever tried.

Aw, shucks!

Cool to make new amigos... espec. if they are knowledgable and engaged. My main riding chum is good to ride with but is very disinterested in bike equipment, riding techniques, maintenance, bicycle news, etc. He hardly ever touches his bike other than to ride it, while I am buying and learning to install seats, brake pads, wheels, tires, bars/tape... etc.

Well that is sort of what I meant. Some of the advice I have received on this forum has been more than helpful. And I enjoy reading the posts on some of your rides. I am even looking forward to meeting some of you than live near me. But maybe it is just our age group but I find most cyclists I meet to be helpful and friendly.

But to have someone sit down with you and show you how to work on the bike first hand was worth the time. It was just so surprising to me to have someone offer the crankset. bearings and bottom bracket just because they had an extra set, and weren't interested in a compact set. And that represents a major upgrade to my ride. Now I just have to start collecting the tools.

I wish I had friends who would give me Dura Ace and Ultregra. You owe someone some pie.

Tools. One of my first bike purchases was a set of tools and a Park work stand. Also, I made a decision to stay with Shimano parts so I would only need to learn one brand.

Hasn't helped much. I am still terrible working on my own bike, but the effort has been there.
Actually, I also tried, but never learned how to tune up a carburetor. To me that is a mystery piece of equipment.

Even with these problems I do take care of several items on my bike and encourage anyone that likes bicycles to accumulate some tools and dig in.

You can stop by my house and I will give you a patched tube.

No kidding. Maybe a lunch to go with it. He said I have to come back and pick up my old crank set because he has one just like it already setting on the shelf. Maybe I can offer lunch or something?

But the guy is big into cycling. He has kids that are into it as well. And while I was standing in his garage I noticed a brand new Trinity Alliance TT bike. He said he got such a deal on it he had to get it. I was almost afraid to touch it. It looked like a piece of art.

Ha! My riding chum would have probably turned it down! "Unnecessary... I've already got a working crank", he'd probably think. Guess there are different sorts of bicycle companions. I AM still glad to ride with him though!

One of the guys in our club, with whom I don't usually ride, LOVES working on bikes. When he found out I need to install a new cassette, he insisted on doing it. He has already switched my cassettes when I got new wheels, replaced my cables and done some adjustments. He gets a bottle of wine now and then from me, but seems embarrassed to accept it.

It's clear that I need to find a different class of people that I work on bikes for.....

That would be worth a GU pack at least good buddy.

With maybe one or two exceptions, ALL my friends are cycling friends.

Rick / OCRR

And the carburetor has been replaced by the doubley mysterious elctronic fuel injection.

I learned all my bike mechanic skills in the seventies. I kept the same bikes until a couple of years ago. Now, everything is different. Hydraulic disc brakes on the mountain bike, threadless headsets, different bottom brackets and cranks, brifters, cassettes instead of freewheels. I've been slowly learning the new stuff and accumulating new tools as needed, but the Ultegra crank assembly on my Madone has me intimidated. I need a mechanic friend.

I see I may have to rethink working on my own bike. I thought it would be too complicated even for an old gear head. I had no idea what was involved in changing a BB and bearlings. I also didn't realize the two little black idler wheels could be removed for cleaning from the rear deraileur. And getting a Park Bike stand looks like a great investment.

Rick, did you notice they changed the date for the Hemet Century to October?

Jet, I'll bet there would be times you would give a Cliff bar for a patched tube, if you were tryting to fix a flat and discovered a split for instance?

Well good for you, but a 'friend' friend not a chump friend!..............We had a friend that was pretty close to us. She had this habit of running her mouth a little too much. One day I got tired of it and did some flapping of the gums myself. Didn't hear from her for about a year. So one day she shows up on a ride at our rest area. Goes on and on about how she would like to ride with us again. Next thing I know she's pointing out problems with her bike. I adjust the derailleurs for her then she rides off and we never hear from her again!...What a chump!

If it's an Octalink, I feel your pain--still haven't figured out how to get those suckers to stay tight the first time. They always seem to loosen up in the first couple hundred miles, and then again in the next hundred or so, no matter how carefully I align and torque them. And of course, even though I haven't mastered that, one of these days I get to learn how to work on my DA7800 Hollowtech II crank, another kettle of fish altogether. It's these little mental challenges that help stave off Alzheimers, or so I hear...

Someone gave me a patch once!

a cliche is commonality breeds contempt..That is Not pertinent to cycling friendships.. If a group of cyclists' friendships can outlast 5 days on the road; then the bond is darn good. Agreed. My best friendships are cycling related.

I strongly believe in being nice to those who are nice to you. Heck I even try to be nice to those I don't particularry care for. Less stress on the system I feel. But I know what you are saying. I just believe that there are a lot of good people out there that don't get enough credit because of the few bad ones we run into in life. I have met people just like the one you discribed but I try to forget about it, as hard as that can be, and enjoy the good ones. For me the hard part is when you find someone that is willing to teach you something, and I have a lot to learn, not to take advantage of them. I plan on learning how to work on my bike and want to get a basic set of tools. I have a complete craftsman tool set but there are some bike specific tools I need and I will look to someone like the guy that worked on my bike the other day for guidance. We and some of the people in here would be a good sourse.

Yes Robert,

I did notice that! The change was to avoid a conflict with the Devil Mountain Double. So . . . that being the case, I'll be riding a century, my first fixed gear century on that date, April 18th, instead. We're starting from Yorba Linda Regional Park, 8:00 AM if you'd like to join us.

So far it's Lauretta (it will be her first century), Eugene (will be his 2nd), Scott (maybe on fixed gear) and myself. We'll go toward Huntington Beach, turn around at the Pier, then head back inland with a stop at Rio Java before hitting the climbs on Greenriver and Ontario, cruise around Corona and back to the Park.

Should be fun!

Rick / OCRR

I may be out of town on the 18th. But if I am not is there a site where I can look at the century ride? If there is a lot of climbing you woll only see me at the start and finish because I am a slow climber.

Oh, Rick@OCCR did lend me a pair of gloves on a GMR ride. I forgot mine so he reached in his lil car and pulled out a BAG-O-GLOVES!......Keeps it right next to his BAG-O-HEADBANDS!

I think that was the nicest thing another rider has done for me!

You're quite welcome Mr. Beanz, happy to help you out. Yeah, I keep my cycling clothing bits in Zip-Loc baggies so I don't lose them. A trick I learned way-back-when from famous SoCal cyclist Anny Beck.

Hi Robert,
There is no site for the ride since it's a kind of made up as we go route! Climbing is all back-loaded, i.e. after 50 miles approx. so you'll be well warmed up before the climbs. Plus, I'll be on a fixed (as will Scott probably) so we'll be struggling on the climbs.

Rick / OCRR

In 1980 my wife and I went to an organized ride. While she was in the ladies room I saw another tandem (tandems were rare in those days) leave. We started a heroic chase. Fortunate for us, a train blocked the road and gave us the opportunity to catch them. It was a pretty hot day so we took a break under a tree for a chat.

That couple is still among our very closest friends. We've done hundreds of rides together and have dinner together almost every Friday night.