So . . . here's a question that I can ask here in relative anonymity without feeling too self-conscious . . . alright out with it -- when I was working in a shop this past summer, I got teased alot for being such a noob when it came to repairs and part names, etc. I learned a lot and had a great time; I even got myself reasonably well-adjusted to the teasing . . . we used to joke about pranking shops by calling to ask if they had any Canadian Bottom Brackets.

Now someone suggested when I was building up my SS that I get a half link in order to get my chain length right. I repeated that suggestion in this forum, and I said something about it to one of my friends the other day. He laughed at me and told me that there was no such thing as a half link. Was someone on this forum jerking my chain, so to speak? Is a half-link like a Canadian BB? Is it just a joke? You can call me all the names you like, but at least get me out of this particular bit of ignorance!

Thanks!

they're real.

oh quit teasing him ckd! there's no such thing as a half-link. you had to ask silly questions once too!

ok, i'm off to the lbs to have my spoke fluid topped up

grab me a 27mm cone wrench while you're there.

https://www.danscomp.com/cgi-bin/haze...IL&item=463011

don't believe it man, that site's a spoof.

my norco has a canadian bottom bracket...

Make that two. Also, I need some crank elastomers.

actually i've been meaning to ask. where can i get world-champion-stripe paint? do i need a special brush?

You could get a chain made entirely of them. (shadow conspiracy)

i call photoshop!

I have two norcos with the special edition Acadian bottom bracket..... not to be confused with the Quebecois bottom bracket like in those marionni's

https://www.danscomp.com/cgi-bin/haze...IL&item=464041

Wow. This thread is great. I actually got duped on the cone wrench one this summer by one of the mechanics I was working for. Also, on my greatest hits album, the song about the time that I told a customer he'd bent his chain ring (uh, dude, that's the ramp . . . ). I'm really on a roll the last couple days. This is why I like SS. Fewer parts = fewer chances to make an @$$ of myself!

Thanks guys!

And not to be an ass, but this is precisely the reason many seasoned riders find themselves visiting bike shops for tubes and brake pads, and not much more. The higher price is always justified by expertice in grandstanding arguments, but in practice, we've all had similar experiences to the customer cited above in the bent chain ring example.

I wish more bike shops were good bike shops.

Which half of the link do you need, the right side or the left side?

All BB's from the northern hemisphere thread in clockwise. BB's from the other hemisphere, like Austalia New Zeland etc., are counterclockwise. This way the rotation of the earth helps keep them tight.

I agree -- more bike shops should be good shops. The LBS in my neighborhood in Chicago is owned by a complete @$$hole. Incidentally, while I'm on my soapbox, don't bother going to Wheels and Things in Hyde Park for anything. I'd walk my bike downtown and back for a part before I'd go into that dump. The guy is such a jerk. You're the only customer in there, he has no other business (there are a whopping two bikes for sale or something) and he's totally obnoxious about whether or not he has a part. Save yourself the trouble!

Everybody has the experience of having some goofy noob at the LBS tell you something you know is wrong. I think the problem though, is not that people make bad diagnoses (I know I made a few this summer for sure), but that people are so damn defensive and angry about it. When someone pointed out my mistake with the bent chainring/ramp I admitted my ignorance immediately and took it like a man. I'm not ashamed to say when I'm wrong, and I was definitely wrong. Too many cyclists are so wrapped up in not looking like they don't know, that they won't admit when they're making a guess or when they've out and out screwed up. This is what makes so many interactions in so many shops so damn crummy. If people could come at it as brothers trying to make a bike work, then we could get on with it. It's all the **** about expertise that frontloads these interactions with ego, attitude, and snobbishness. We could all just chill.

Peace.

The elusive Canadian bottom bracket:

every time i see an email regarding tis thread in my inbox the title makes me think of sausage links and candian bacon. mmm…

Our shop guys sent people out looking for the Jarvis Tool. We'd tell them, "Yeah, Dan over at What's Your Racquet has one, just ask and he'll give it to you". The noob would always come back empty-handed [sometimes with a slurpee], but we'd have some peace and quiet for a while.

that was my first thought when i read what the OP wrote. It took me a while to realize your talking english/italian/"canadian" threading. That's what you're talking about....right?
If not, just be glad I'm not the noob working at your lbs

i think of canadian bacon too, but i think of the movie canadian bacon, remember with john candy and rhea perlman, i just found out it was directed and written by micheal moore, oh man that movie is great