Friday, September 14, 2018

Leave Work Early Today And Go For A Ride, You Deserve It

Once again I was very busy yesterday.  First, I had to get my children to their various institutions.  (The younger helps assemble Apple products; the elder has moved up to sneaker manufacturing.)  Then, I had to go vote:


With the addition of that "I Voted" sticker I now have one of the most cloyingly smug bicycles north of 145th Street.

Sadly, my write-in candidate of Shirtless Guy Who Photobombed de Blasio did not defeat incumbent Andrew Cuomo despite my enthusiastic door-to-door campaigning:


Then it was time for the real work to begin:


But before it could I had to address some front shifting issues.  Curating gear changes between the large and small chainrings has been somewhat problematic on this bicycle for awhile now, but between being lazy and having like fifty other bicycles the way I've been addressing it has been to fiddle with the barrel adjuster while riding and then simply forget about it after riding.  Yesterday however (perhaps inspired by voting) I resolved to finally Do Something About It.

As I worked to correct the problem, I wondered why Shimano had designed a front derailleur with geometry such that in order to move the chain over onto the larger ring the outer plate of the derailleur had to move so far over that it hit the crankarm.  Then it dawned on me: they hadn't.  The cage was almost certainly bent.  This explained a lot.

I then rummaged in my parts bin for a replacement derailleur, but the most suitable one had a clamp that was way too big, even for a shim.  So, with no other options, I set about rectifying the problem via judicious application of force applied by means of pliers, adjustable wrenches, and whatever other grabby-ended levers were at hand, and before long the shifting had gone from "crappy" to "eh, that'll work for now."

I may have to requisition a new front derailleur from the CFO--or, more likely, steal one off another bicycle.

At any rate, after that off I went, over the GWB to Route 9W, the Fredliest cycling corridor in the Western Hemisphere, where I saw someone riding a Cannondale Slate:


I've been bicycle blogging for over 11 years now, and I've been alive on this planet like four times that.  In that time, I've largely gotten over being irritated by certain bicycles for no reason.  However, I must admit I still find myself bothered when I lay eyes on a Cannondale Slate.  I know it's petty and stupid of me, I'm sure it's a fun bike to ride, and if someone gave me one I'd gladly ride it.  (DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES SEND ME A CANNONDALE SLATE.)  Also, if you have a Cannondale Slate and love it then I am very happy for you.  Still, as a distillation of all that is trendy into a single bicycle--650b, drop bar go-anywhere bikes, suspension on bikes that really don't need it--it annoys me in the same way as people who get decked out head-to-toe in hiking gear and carry trekking poles to take a morning walk in the park.  What can I say, I'm shallow that way.

Anyway, other than that it was a good ride.

Speaking of gravel bikes:


The GR2 looks snazzy too, but it comes at a super-steep price: $6,500 for the frameset and up to $13,000 for a complete build.

Oh come on, it's not even made of wood!

Sorry, no sale.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Get wood!

cube farmer said...

podium..?

Fredly Adams said...

Like your shifting, my fitness has gone from "crappy" to "eh, that'll work for now"

Podio?

Anonymous said...

I-podium

Cuomobiker said...

Pulling the plug on work at noon to go riding. Might not come back. Your fault.

tobeistobex said...

It seems that Cannondale could come up with an elegant way to route the front brake cable. It looks as if they went one step beyond "Fuck it, use a wire tie"

effemm said...

podium?

MolassesChamois said...

The best part of waking up, is scranus in yer cup

Chazu said...

I love the fact that it is probably a good idea to instruct your readers to not send a Cannondale Slate to you.

On the off-chance that a commentator has a solution and will bother to share it:

I have a 7000-series Dura Ace hub from "back in the day", which is the 9-speed era. At some point, grit entered the cup/bearing area on the drive side, and now the cup is etched to the point that it will chew up ball bearing fairly quickly. (I rode in the rain, and shortly afterward I recall feeling roughness in the wheel, which led me to discover the etched cone.)

So, it is not easy to find a replacement cone for this hub. It may be impossible. In any case, the search continues. The closest thing I've found is this: Link to Austrialian website that used to sell them.

They appear to be terminally out of stock.

Then there is Wheels Mfg , and they appear to have stopped manufacturing cones for this hub.

Any suggestions? I may just de-lace the wheel, re-use the rim, and throw the hub at the next charging dog.

theEel said...

WEED and weekend!

HDEB said...

"Eh, that'll work for now" desribes my best performing sporting equipment. That Can-o-tin Slate looks ridiculously ugly and silly. Enjoy the weekend all : )

pbateman aint into anxiety said...

$13.5K .....THIRTEEN THOUSAND...

I thought i was an idiot for buying all this silly DA bits and peecees for this old bikey build but i'll certainly come in way less than $13.5K.

one thing i like about second hand, old bikeees is that when you inevitability bang it into something loading/unloading it, or when you thing you've leaned it on something securely and it topples over mocking you as you futilely try to catch it etc...is that you don't cry.

I assure you that if i had a $13.5K bike I'd probably cry if the thing even got dust on it.

Snoob, would the fear factor of dinging up a $10K Tenovo factor in to your overall enjoyment if you had to pay for it yourself?

I know when i had this low mileage lovely perfect vintage car that driving it came with a pretty decent level of anxiety that made driving not super fun which kind of defeats the purpose.

Some guy from upstate said...

Oh boy, another bottom bracket standard! T47? Was Cyberdine Systems involved in the design?

Nice you got to go Fredding after voting in the morning. Up here in the great northern wilderness the primary polls open at noon.

Schisthead said...

'before long the shifting had gone from "crappy" to "eh, that'll work for now."'

Congrats, you have arrived as a master wrench.

Perfect is overrated and the work involved rarely pays off.

sj said...

I will happily give you a replacement front derialeur out of my parts drawer ... as long as you take the rest of them with you as well.

Anonymous said...

Not made of wood, pity.

Anonymous said...

podium!

dancesonpedals said...

Better a tester than a testee.

Pist Off said...

Front derailleurs are maybe the least important bike component (not an original thought, Grant P uses a stick as frt. derailleur sometimes.) On my squishy mtb I run a narrow-wide main ring and a 24t granny with no front changer. I’m okay with stopping and moving the chain to granny, as it means there’s a long soul-sucking climb ahead.
Also, just always say no to proprietary suspension (Cannondale I mean you.) That bike defines the term, “hat on a hat.” Suspension and big puffy 650 tires, all presumably for dirt roads.

Ellie said...

Florence put a damper on my ride today. At least I've got the power! Go Tan, go!

JLRB said...

I should leave work because rain is coming. But I will ignore your advice because work is still here. might take that 4;30 call via the new wireless headset thingy my bride presented to me as a gift. I hope I don't fuck up the mute - nobody deserves to listen to me huff and puff my way homeward.

I have a feeling the beach house I vacationed in this summer is now flotsam and jetsam.

Happy weekend to you all.

Anonymous said...

I didnt even know you wrote the bike forecast and I was reading it the other day and thinking, why is this person trying to write like the bikesnob, he's not even doing a good job at it!

Just hoping said...

Now that am a washed up ex-cx "racer," am I allowed to ride my cross bike on gravel rides?

Please tell me, "Yes"!

Anonymous said...

Chazu, if the cone is gone then likely the hub race is as well; but you can try my home machining method of placing the axle on a drill and using some wood for support, hold fine sandpaper to the cone surface until it meets your needs. if epic fail then get new hub and rebuild wheel.

Freddy Murcks said...

I thought one of the appeals of so-called gravel bikes is that they didn't look like or ride like roadie douche chariots. The $13,000 Argonaut dispels that notion pretty quickly. That bike and body position that results from that build makes my back hurt just looking at it.

bad boy of the south said...

Can we borrow your tenovo as a flotation device down here in the carolinas?

Die free said...

First I skim the pictures....

Today I stop.. Eyes "wtf is wrong with that bike?", Brain "I think he photoshopped something, like he always does, move along eyes..." Eyes "no Brain, there is something here, do your job... " conclusion, that's one ugly bike, it prolly rides like it's broke, it sure looks broke.

Chazu said...

Anon 6:28; thank you!

Totally into Bike Dicks said...

Do you even have another WorkCycles bike?

Are you even sure that you voted?

Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?


You could use a new spanner for your tool bag.
Works best on a teeny Dick Power cycle (info here).