stickboybike

A local cyclist delivered his box of parts, wheels and new frame this week. Another Campy build, third one this month and for as long as I've known this guy, that's the only group I've seen him ride. Consistency. I start to work quickly and pull the fork off the bike in order to cut the steer tube. While the fork was sitting on the bench and realizing I do not have a crown race setting tool for a tapered steer tube, I'm taken back by the 'lawyer tabs' on this fork. They.are.huge! The old Christmas cartoon of baby New Year and his huge ears, came to mind as I marveled at their twice the normal size. Not having a parts supplier at my disposal, I'm momentarily stunned on how I'm going to install the 1.5" bearing race. The 1 1/8" Park Tool version obviously won't slide down far enough and tapping on the race with a screwdriver is not my style. With a quick trip to the local big box hardware store, I nabbed a $4.00 section of 1 1/

I was on a ride a few years ago with a woman who was in town form Charlotte, NC and after the ride she made the comment that she hadn't shifted her bike that much in a long time. CLT must be flatter than central PA. None the less it got me thinking about cyclists, their riding habitats and how equipment selection can reflect that. Shifting can't be totally dismissed on the bike unless you're choosing the ways of the Jedi via single speed drivetrain and that's a whole other story. The rear derailleur experiences more use than the front derailleur and sometimes become the bane of every cyclist's existence depending on their riding conditions and maintenance techniques. During my last bike build for a local cyclist, he requested use of white cable housing on the bike. The housing was cut for him at a local shop which he received in a large loop. This allows custom cut lengths by the mechanic, in this case, me. When it came to running the rear shifter cable, the sto