rjones28 

Took Benson to her grooming appointment this morning. We have really good road crews here. Travel time was the same as always.

ls01

Ours are struggling with reduced funding. Keep in mind morning for me was 4:30 am. I was breaking trail for a bit of the commute.

I might have to break out the shovels when I get home tonight. Don't wanna do it... not prudent...

phrantic09

We didn't have a plow hit our street until about 7 this morning. It looks clear now though.

genejockey 

I spent hours Sunday and yesterday, poring over Ebay listings, looking for a nice matched wheelset for the Cannondale. I also took the RX100 hub apart, the one that felt 'gritty', or 'crunchy'. The fact that I could to this without cone wrenches suggests part of the problem was that the non-drive side cone wasn't properly locked in. So I looked at a bunch of videos and pages on servicing Shimano hubs, and the solution occurred to me - rebuild the RX100 front hub with new bearings and grease (the cones look good), and pair it with the aesthetically-similar Ultegra rear wheel. They're both bright hub/anodized rim, both straight-gauge spokes, and the slight difference in rim profile between the Mavic 195 front and the MA3 rear is not so obvious at a distance. And it means I can have a working bike sooner, and cheaper.

I also realized I'd NEVER rebuilt any of the hubs on my bikes, even the 1995 Dura Ace hubs on the Ritchey, which still spin astonishingly smoothly. And I realized I should probably rebuild any old wheels I bought off Ebay anyhow. SO I bought cone wrenches, ball bearings, and grease! Wish me luck.

ls01

You can run a ball point pen around the bearing tracks in the cones to "feel" for imperfections, same on the cones. If you find a little bit of damage to the cups... so what? Run them to failure then. They will last a long time even with pits. New cones and balls grease em up and adjust. Cones are replacable.
As far as adjusting.. I lock one side and play with the other. You will get a feel for how much the cone moves and in which direction when you lock and unlock. You want just the tiniest whisper of play on the axel, that will get removed when you cinch up the quick release squewer.
EDIT: Yep, a cone thats too tight will feel gritty and have no play. The art is finding the spot that has no perceptible play, but runs smooth and free.

Jack Tone 

One more tip. Don't rebuild ball bearing hubs or head sets over cement or other hard floor.

ls01

Uh oh, just got the call. Tomorrow I get my first injection of the Vaccine. That is all.

genejockey 

You haven't lived till you've spent hour searching for one of the tiny screws that you find in a wrist watch movement, the ones that take the 0.5mm screwdriver.

rjones28 

We're on a snow route, so the plows run pretty regularly, when a bit of weather is forecast. But, even the county roads were clear by 8am.

Velo Vol 

You must be old.

rjones28 

I've come to enjoy refurbishing hubs (and BBs). I get a lot of practice down at the shop.

Good luck.

Velo Vol 

Snow route to where?

ls01

I ain't that old. I am a utility worker.

Velo Vol 

I don't remember seeing that on the list of special people.

genejockey 

Essential Worker.

Interestingly, Pharma research is considered Essential Work, but I don't believe Pharma researchers are considered Essential Workers for purposes of vaccination, and since my work doesn't involve interacting with the public - luckily for both me, and The Public - I don't think I qualify anyhow.

genejockey 

I just bought enough 3/16 and 1/4 inch bearings to overhaul 7.5 bikes worth of wheels.

Velo Vol 

Here he wouldn't be eligible now unless that's considered a first responder.

I have a weakened immune system and probably won't get in for another month or so.

LAJ

I'm old enough, I'm essential enough, I'm COPD enough and doggone it, people pretend to like me.

genejockey 

My take is that everyone should get vaccinated as soon as they are allowed, because it's not just for you, it's to reduce the number of susceptible people in the population, which reduced transmission opportunities for the virus. If you have the opportunity to get the shot, get the shot.

bampilot06

Today was one of those days where all the stars aligned and I had two awesome rides. The first one was solo, I had to delay it due to extreme wet conditions but once I got started I didn’t want to stop. It was. perfect 55 degrees, zero wind and I felt super strong. Had to stop when nature started to call. Not using wet leaves or my nice gloves.

Second ride was with Lily. She was bummed because she hasn’t ridden in two weeks. She took off strong holding 16 mph. I was super impressed. She didn’t hold it the whole ride, but she was looking stronger as well. At the 17 mile mark she said she wanted to do 30 miles. I was worried she was going to bonk at the 25 mile mark but she pushed through. Next week she wants to do 40 but she wants a break in the middle of it. Thinking of going up the cap trail and finding a place to eat and then turning around.

Super proud of her. I’ve never seen her so motivated before, and it’s crazy to me how far she is going. It took me months before I ever got to 30 miles.


Hope everyone is well. Been super busy and out of it lately, why I havnt been popping in all that much.

seedsbelize 

What's the occasion? Moving back?

gnome

Went to pump up the rear tyre on one of my commuter bikes this morning. The tube failed at the valve. At least I have sufficient bikes that I could just transfer my work clothes to another one and ride that. I now have two bikes with dead tyres to fix. I'm not looking forward to getting the Marathon Plus tyres off the rims. Looks like the weekend is bike maintenance weekend. The repairs are queuing up.

genejockey 

First hiccup in restoring the Cannondale - the crank and BB arrived. YAY!

The BB is Italian threaded. WAAAAH!

A correctly threaded BB has been ordered. (Fingers drumming on table)

seedsbelize 

An axle vise will make the job so much more pleasant.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=axle+vise&...P%2FONECOL.jpg

seedsbelize 

Some friends are down for the winter, from Colorado. They are anti-maskers, anti-vaxers, and hoaxers. They are also moon landing deniers.