Category: Maintenance
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Hope springs eternal
In my seemingly endless quest for saddle comfort, I’ve gone and done it again. Every time James the Shouty Bike Fitter mentions the Selle Italia SLR Boost, I’m tempted to give it a try. And after watching a recent saddle comparison video, I pulled the trigger. The Selle Italia is not vastly different at first…
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Bath Time!
I mentioned in the post of yesterday’s ride that Kuroko was awaiting a washing up in the Workshop in the Sky. I decided to go ahead and get it done, and have a look at the shifting another time. Apart from faffing about with the sprayer, the bicycle cleaned up quite quickly. I spent more…
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Shook-up Ride
Today’s commute was something of a shakedown ride (or a shook-up ride?): the first time on Hornsby since I struggled to resolve the grabbing front brake issue. I’m happy to report it’s largely solved: perhaps 90%. And I’m coming to conclude the remaining 10% is a matter of just the tiniest amount of play in…
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Overcast shakedown ride
The initial forecast had been for rain all weekend and through the following week. Welcome to rainy season! But from yesterday, the forecast for today showed a chance of clearing following rain in the morning, so I made tentative plans for a short ride, perhaps from late morning or early afternoon. I woke rather early…
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Frustrating brake maintenance
When I built Hornsby, I was happy to find the Equal cable-operated disc brakes in purple. At the time they were only available from the US, even though they’re manufactured in Japan. (They’ve subsequently become available locally, and yes, they’re cheaper here.) Installation was straightforward, and they’ve mostly worked well with little adjustment needed. Well,…
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Azaleas in season
I’d told Nana last night that I’d be cycling the Tamagawa today, and then when I woke up this morning I thought the Asakawa might be more fun — especially if the dogwoods are in bloom. And then, soon after I set out, I saw the azaleas. Everywhere. And I realized this would be a…
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Get unbent
When preparing for last week’s sakura ride, I noticed the valve core in the front wheel is bent. It’s an easy fix: swap out for a new core and reinflate the tire. I even had the spare and a tool on hand, but I didn’t relish the job of reinflating the tire from empty with…
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The Snail is Back, B’s!
I had other plans on Saturday that kept me off the bike, but it was all to the good as there was quite a wind, and today was milder. I’ve been eager to get Hornsby out for a test ride following the drivetrain replacement (see Part I and Part II), and it was only a…
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Matched Set II
I took a pause in the Deore drivetrain swap for Hornsby when I had some alignment and clearance issues with the new derailleur. In addition to sleeping on the issue for a couple of nights, I consulted the shop manual several times to make sure I had done everything by the book. While I was…