Category: Rehabilitating Ol’ Paint

  • Going Bonkers!

    Going Bonkers!

    We had two days of beautiful weather this weekend, sunny and mild with very little wind. Sadly, I was too busy to ride. But I found enough time Saturday afternoon to take the plunge on the tire replacement for Dionysus that I’ve been putting off for more than half a year. I was given a…

  • Finally getting my 右前

    Finally getting my 右前

    Ever since Ol’ Paint was reborn as Dionysus, I’ve been wanting to reverse the brake levers. My preference is for 右前, meaning the right lever pulls the front brake. Ol’ Paint was set up this way, as is Kuroko. Among other things, in a country where I ride on the left, it means I can…

  • Musing about brakes

    Musing about brakes

    I’ve been commuting by bike a couple of times a week recently, and it’s been bothering me that Dionysus’s front brake is connected to the left lever when it should be the right. In the US and various parts of Europe, this is the norm, whereas in England the front brake is usually the right…

  • Why ‘Dionysus’?

    Why ‘Dionysus’?

    A friend recently asked why I’d rechristened Ol’ Paint as Dionysus. Is it just the pleasure thing, or do you feel like you’ve got the sword of Damocles hanging over your head as well? Buck So I responded with the explanation I had made on the occasion of her debut ride: “torn to pieces and…

  • Shorter brake arms, more stop

    Shorter brake arms, more stop

    Since completing Dionysus in late May, I’ve been trying to improve her soft braking power. (Everything else is working well.) I’ve increased the spring tension (which only affects the feel) and adjusted the pads to be as close to the rims as possible without rubbing. But there’s just not quite enough stopping power. It’s OK…

  • Commuting with Dionysus

    Commuting with Dionysus

    I’ve commuted to work twice now with Dionysus, on Friday and again today. I had a couple of issues Friday morning. First, I hadn’t tightened up the seatpost properly after adjusting the brakes, and the saddle kept sliding down. I ended up feeling like I was pedaling with my knees up about my ears. But…

  • Having an adjustment

    Having an adjustment

    During the debut ride of Dionysus (née Ol’ Paint), I felt that the brakes needed more tension. They were working fine, but there was too little effort required on the lever pull (and hence a rather weak return when the brakes are released). So I decided to increase the spring tension on the brakes. It…

  • Dionysus Debut

    Dionysus Debut

    We had beautiful weather today for the debut of Dionysus, née Ol’ Paint, born from Zeus’s thigh. For the first ride I didn’t want anything too challenging, nor did I want to stray far from civilization (in case of mechanicals), and so I chose my standard Tokyo Landmarks route. And I’m happy to say that…

  • That’s me happy

    That’s me happy

    Some last-minute touches for the bike this afternoon. I had a spare mount for the Garmin GPS, so I installed that. (I may not need the out-front mount that I’ve got on order which won’t arrive for another week.) And I put on the lights again after having charged them up last night. I was…