This week, however, I decided to have a bike shop work on my road bike. That’s a first, after over four decades of bike ownership. Somehow these modern indexed shifting systems seem a lot more finicky. Maybe it was seeing how tiny the little springs and stuff in that shifter was. Maybe it's not wanting to mess around with Shimano stuff, compared to the SRAM glory on Buddy. If they didn’t want me going in there, why are there screws? Maybe I’m getting old. I picked it up tonight and it actually seemed to work OK. They stuck their own new chain on instead of the new chain I bought, but I would have done the same. They gave me back the old new chain. I'm sure it'll come in handy some time. The new front small chain ring I stuck on does exactly what I wanted. All the other stuff passed muster. This sucker needs a LONG test ride now...
The Road Bike. AKA "the bike with no name"
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13 comments:
I find it interesting that when placing a solitary bottle cage you chose the seat tube instead of the down tube.
Well, you are an engineer. Not all of us are : )
But actually, what has prevents us from working on our bikes as much as we could have done, is mostly time rather than skill. There are simply not enough hours in the day, and it becomes a matter of priorotising. Yes, I can do "X" to my bike myself if I put my mind to it (and get the right tools). But it's not necessarily the best use of my time and talents.
Hmm. Just when you think you have covered every topic, along comes a comment like the one above...
Make that the TWO above...
Your bike needs a name. 'Lucille' has been taken. 'Bob' is too mundane. Something in Italian would be pretentious and arty on a bike as utilitarian as a Cannondale. But...since it's the bike with no name, I would suggest either East Clintwood, or the simple Max. (As in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.)
Me? I don't name my bikes. Too girly. (snicker)
Crimeny, now THREE future posts spun from comments on one. All I will say is that, IMHO, bikes are all "it" whatever named. As of today, my most anthropomorphising efforts at the Cannondale refer to it as either "the Road Warrier" or "that bike from Pennsylvania with the shifter bosses they don't sell replacements for:"
Ed W, do you know my parents, Lucille and Bob?
No need to apologize to me. I became a shop mechanic because I possessed no other job skills and needed money. I don't have the temperament to be a good waiter, which is the traditional job of struggling writers, actors and cartoonists.
I developed mechanical skills by fixing my own stuff. Most poor saps who get sucked into the bike business start that way.
I would much rather sell tools and parts than just facilitate people's weakness by fixing their machinery. It is, as you say, not that mysterious. Shimano has done the best they can to make it ridiculously complex, followed dutifully by Campy and SRAM, but you can still keep your shifters and brakes separate if you want. By doing so you eliminate nearly all annoying chronic problems with overly complicated systems.
I recently had my local bike shop service the bottom bracket on the Trek 560 I am restoring. I would have liked to do it myself. But I did not have the correct wrench. It only took about 10 min.Probably because it was the only thing still on the frame.I have since ordered(and received) the correct wrench and spanner.Last year I had
them adjust my shifter/levers on my MotoBecane
Mirage Sport. Because frankly they scare me.
Hugh, don't let your shifters know you are afraid. They will turn on you on a lonely road and you will never be seen again.
Shimano. The Emperor's revenge...
Back in the 1990s I was going to start the Enola Gay Component Company.
So, does EGCG = SRAM?
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No Need for Non-Robot proof here!