foolishly went to a bike shop instead of my mom's (where I left some of my tools), but hey I wanted to bike not drive.

I just wanted to replace a full link with a half link to take some slack out of my chain while it's "slammed", dude was like "why not just add a full link?" and I was like "because I want to slam the wheel all the way into the track ends, not all the way out and still have tension with just the slightest bit of play". So he takes my bike back and I browse his wheels. Brings it out and I see the wheel is probably a half inch back now and I say "no man, I wanted it as close to the seat-tube as I could get it, I wanted to *replace* a full with a half, not just add onto it. He looks at me and the bike and says "oh yeah you'd have no room for that, besides this is good enough, this is basically track" - measures it "19 in...err 18.5, yep almost track, you'd have no more room and you'd never be able to get your chain on". Clearly he didn't want to do what I asked so I just gave him his $5 and left and will go pick up my chain tool tomorrow.

today i did some more constructing, it was entertaining

f'd around getting a front derailleur to work 100% (no barrel adjusters)
took about 45min... now im hungry

signed away my life in student loans

^same

then bought a serious pedal wrench

today i did 15 miles around a loop near my place. before i left i realized that my rondel's plastic spd plate almost completely delaminated from the rest of the shoe! i contacted mission workshop about it and after a couple emails had a fedex tracking number for a new pair! mission workshop has AMAZING customer service!

i had lunch with my boss. sashimi and sapporo! i'm always hesitant about going to lunch with him after he took me out to let me know about my cut in salary.

I totally jacked up my new KMC K710SL. My POS chain breaker essentially squashed the pin instead of pushing it out. Now it's looking like I'll need to find a better chain breaker and replace the messed up link with a spare link that I was (trying to) take off.

Do you know the trick to using a shop wrench? Hint: it involves the momentum of your rear wheel moving. ;)

This can happen even with the best of chain tools. Those asymmetrical plates can be a bit of a mother****er.

Today I received a pair of Exustar Touring shoes to check out.
http://prollyisnotprobably.com/2010/...uring-PINP.jpg
Am I really considering going clipless? :eek:

I thought you were considering going bowling when I first saw the image

I know, right? The heel is a little weird but the shoes are pretty comfortable.

:twitchy:

Any tips? I figured a good chain tool pin should take care of it. I think part of my problem was the pin on my tool was too soft and really ended up a lot worse than the pin in the chain itself.

OR... does it not matter if the pin is deformed and kind of reams out the inner plate hole diameters a bit?

Deforming a chain in anyway is never a good idea...

I love my park CT - 7; it made easy work of that chain. Plus in case of the pin being had by tough chains, they sell for dirt cheap, 2 for $3.

Just wondering; Is yours the one coated in titanium nitrate (the gold version)? Because I think the pins are a bit harder to remove partly because the chain is coated in the TI - N post assembly.

Nope, I have a plain silver one. It was <$17 shipped on Amazon, so I figured I'd give it a try (other choice would have been Izumi Eco, same price, already know I like it).

Oh, tough chains nonetheless.

/ on topic
Well to recap today's bike hunting; I got to watch my wife oogle over a whole bunch of bikes and get to test ride some. She seems to have her heart set on a bianchi pista via condotti complete. But she's going to sleep on it before she decides tomorrow.

I also have to ask whether you guys have heard of a brand called "Linus bikes" before? They're economical but looked quite nice for the price. Not as close to the beauty of the via condotti nonetheless.

I can't speak to their quality, but Linus bikes seem to be all the rage these days when it comes to casual city bikes. I see them all the time in NYC, and people seem to like them. Again, I have no personal experience, so I can't say with certainty whether they're good bikes, but yeah.

Adeline Adeline, the store in this NYTimes piece about female cyclists carries a lot of Linus Bikes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/ny...pagewanted=all

Today the lady and I did some riding at the velodrome. Got in some pacelines for a bit, helped her practice some sprints, then did a few 400m time trials. Felt like puking.

Wabi sells them >>> http://www.wabicycles.com/exustar_spd_shoes.html I saw them when I bought my Lightning. How are they for walking ? Do they have decent traction ? I'm pretty happy with my Shimano SPD shoes and Keen Sandals, so I'm just curious.

Today I: Dropped a friend riding a geared bike (mtn bike) on the flats. Felt pretty darn good since I was recently diagnosed with MS and have been having some issues with hand and foot numbness.

I don't mean to sound disingenuous but I just kinda gave up hope in my body and riding my new singlespeed has given me some confidence back.

They're not too bad for walking and the rubber sole is really hard but has decent traction. I find them to be a little narrow but I've got wide feet anyway so that's to be expected.

Wow those are ugly.

BUT, in my experience, Exustar makes a good product for a good price.

I don't think they're too bad looking, actually. They make me feel snazzy.

Today i'm packing up my bike for my trip to Germany.Using a Travel Case is so much easier than boxing it up.

today i'm recovering from last night's cross practice/race/missnout/insane time. **** that was awesome. and hard work. and my god am i slow.

What pedals are you considering? I would get Time ATACS or SPD's.

Pics?

Angie's got a set of Shimano A600s sitting around so I'm just going to try those out.