Busted!
George is taking the day off from blogging - so another guest post from the wife...
For some reason, this year I've had more than my fair share of mechanicals. First I destroyed a Sram X0 rear derailleur. Then I had to come off of a ride because my chain rings were loose and I didn't have the right tools to tighten them. A nasty Sunday ride at Snake Mtn left me missing a cleat and with a now useless pair of Sidis. It's a shame about the shoes, they were not even a year old. One of the attachment points for the cleats broke and there's no way to repair it and they're not covered under warranty. Between the shoe issue and a business trip (not for the bike shop, nothing fun) -- I hadn't been on a bike for over two weeks and it was finally time for the Tuesday night Girls ride.
And wouldn't you know, not 15 minutes into the ride the pivot pin (not a technical term) falls out of my front brake lever. I'm not a mechanic, I married one and so generally I don't have anything to do with the maintenance or repair of my bikes. But, I really wanted to ride so we searched around and managed to find that little pin amongst the leaf litter. Popped it back in and off we went. Stopped at the top of the next climb, stupid pin falls out again. Pop it back in and ride some more. Falls out again. And this time it's gone. We're looking all over the place and can't find the damn thing. So I call George for a little advice and he seemed to think if we can find something else to stick in there, it might just work. So voila, here's the fix:
a wee broken allen wrench found on the trail. it worked. i had a front brake and we went out and finished the ride. i always find it a little challenging to get back into it after an on-trail mechanical. it's a bit of a struggle to once again completely rely on your gear, especially when you have trail trash providing key braking functions. I'd love to know just how to get beyond that discombobulated feeling.
And just cause i can't resist. a photo from the last Catamount race we attended.
For some reason, this year I've had more than my fair share of mechanicals. First I destroyed a Sram X0 rear derailleur. Then I had to come off of a ride because my chain rings were loose and I didn't have the right tools to tighten them. A nasty Sunday ride at Snake Mtn left me missing a cleat and with a now useless pair of Sidis. It's a shame about the shoes, they were not even a year old. One of the attachment points for the cleats broke and there's no way to repair it and they're not covered under warranty. Between the shoe issue and a business trip (not for the bike shop, nothing fun) -- I hadn't been on a bike for over two weeks and it was finally time for the Tuesday night Girls ride.
And wouldn't you know, not 15 minutes into the ride the pivot pin (not a technical term) falls out of my front brake lever. I'm not a mechanic, I married one and so generally I don't have anything to do with the maintenance or repair of my bikes. But, I really wanted to ride so we searched around and managed to find that little pin amongst the leaf litter. Popped it back in and off we went. Stopped at the top of the next climb, stupid pin falls out again. Pop it back in and ride some more. Falls out again. And this time it's gone. We're looking all over the place and can't find the damn thing. So I call George for a little advice and he seemed to think if we can find something else to stick in there, it might just work. So voila, here's the fix:
a wee broken allen wrench found on the trail. it worked. i had a front brake and we went out and finished the ride. i always find it a little challenging to get back into it after an on-trail mechanical. it's a bit of a struggle to once again completely rely on your gear, especially when you have trail trash providing key braking functions. I'd love to know just how to get beyond that discombobulated feeling.And just cause i can't resist. a photo from the last Catamount race we attended.
posted by mandy at 11:23 AM
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