Category: Maintenance

  • Saddle No. 5

    Saddle No. 5

    I wanted to install the new saddle and seatpost before today’s ride. I set the bits out on the table last night, and then got started this morning before 8, when it was just 6C in the Workshop in the Sky. Replacing the saddle and seatpost was straightforward. Of course I weighed the old and…

  • Through with Brooks*

    Through with Brooks*

    I mentioned at the end of the Koedo Matsuri post that there was a mechanical I wasn’t ready to talk about. I’ve just sorted that out in anticipation that tomorrow’s weather might allow a ride. My Brooks saddle had been squeaking ever since it came back from the repair, when I had the broken shackle…

  • Anticlimactic

    Anticlimactic

    My jaunt up Takaosan earlier this week confirmed that Kuroko’s spiffy dynamo lights are working, so it’s time to bring the Forking Dynamite project to a close. I’ve had a couple of finishing touches waiting in the wings — for more than a year in at least one case — and today was the perfect…

  • Fighting water with … water

    Fighting water with … water

    Following last weekend’s very wet but ultimately enjoyable Tour de Chiba, Kuroko was overdue for a washing. And I needed to deal with the mildew on the saddle, which I’ve left languishing in the bike parking garage for a week now. The first order of business was simply to give the entire bike a good…

  • Claustrophobic

    Claustrophobic

    In just 48 hours I’ll be boarding a plane to fly to the start of the next adventure. Following my last jaunt up the Edogawa, I had a short list of maintenance items I wanted to address, and then it would be time to pack up Kuroko for the trip. The Edogawa ride was largely…

  • Temporary Addition

    Temporary Addition

    This is just until I get the dynamo set-up sorted out. But I’ve got a big ride before that. I’ve had the light sitting in a drawer for at least two years. It still has a charge.

  • First wash in a long time

    First wash in a long time

    I woke up resolved to undertake a long-planned upgrade. I wasn’t able to get to the Workshop in the Sky until about 10:30, though, and in that time I’d had second thoughts. I’m about six weeks away from departing on a week-long ride, and it’s possible this upgrade will take more than one weekend to…

  • Cloudy Cherry Kawagoe

    Cloudy Cherry Kawagoe

    Before I could set out, I had to replace the saddle that broke during last week’s ride. I have another Brooks, a C15 that I’d used until my Lejog attempt ended in tears. It took only a few minutes to replace the saddle, cleaning and greasing the bolts before torquing them to the correct specification.…

  • Well that sucks

    Well that sucks

    The forecast today was for warm weather with light wind, following several days of rain and gale-force winds. Ever since I discovered the entrance to Tamagawa Sky Bridge, I’ve wanted to try starting from there to go to Yokohama, and I thought today might be the day to do that. Nana had not prepared any…