Toddler steps?

The next step in preparing Hornsby for the build is a cord whip chainstay protector. Kuroko and Dionysus both have plastic chainstay protectors, which protect the paint from the chain striking the chainstay (which can happen over large bumps, rough pavement, etc.). Kuroko’s was a very thin appliqué from the start and has been shredded for several years now. In the case of Dionysus, the plastic was thicker and more flexible from the start, but had difficulty even so conforming to the compound curves of the chainstay.

I’ve seen cord whip chainstay protectors in Blue Lug videos in the past, but nothing in the most recent couple of years. So I decided to give it a go myself.

I was hoping to find some grey cord with purple highlights, but grey with blue was the closest I could find.

I watched a tutorial on YouTube and of course it did not in any way prepare me for the amount of time I’d spent fighting snarls in the cord vs. actually whipping. None of this is helped by the taper of the chainstay, nor its slick finish, nor the fact I had no idea how much cord would be needed. But I got there in the end, despite discovering a large knot in the cord halfway through and having to backtrack.

[Ages ago I shared Surly’s “Fatties Fit Fine” slogan with Fearless Leader Joe, who said, “Great — I should have no problem then.” As if that would even begin to apply. “No,” i told him, “they mean fat tires.”]