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Today - May 2012

This evenning in my ride home, while coming to a stop at a red light, I fell over while clipped in. I had my left foot unclipped but for whatever reason I decided to try to put both feet down. I lost my balance and fell to my right. Bicycle is fine. I managed to twist far enough to land on my butt and I'm fine as well. Only injury is my pride.

Classic n00b mistake. :eek:
 
I still have floating bone chips on both elbows from that ... it's quite embarassing, but happens to everyone!

This evenning in my ride home, while coming to a stop at a red light, I fell over while clipped in. I had my left foot unclipped but for whatever reason I decided to try to put both feet down. I lost my balance and fell to my right. Bicycle is fine. I managed to twist far enough to land on my butt and I'm fine as well. Only injury is my pride.

Classic n00b mistake. :eek:
 
I still have floating bone chips on both elbows from that ... it's quite embarassing, but happens to everyone!

More embarrassingly, it once happened to me while I was in mid-rant, castigating a group of high school boys who had stepped into the road without warning. Their faces quickly turned from shock and humility to broad smiles...
 
Headset Installation: 4,000
Headset Installation: 4,000
Clamp on a FD and Align: 2,000
Put on a Chain: 1,500

I won't go back if I can find something better.


yipes, aside from the headset installation (which requires specialized tools, but tools can also be constructed from parts found in your local hardware store), i think you can learn to do it on your own.

this book helps me as a home mechanic (AKA hamfisted hack) and only costs 24.95USD + shipping
http://www.parktool.com/product/big-blue-book-of-bike-repair-second-edition-BBB-2
 
Went shopping after work to get some smart-casual navy trousers. The fat leg curse struck again. Big thighs/small waist make for terrible looking trousers.
 
Jack: glad you are on the bike again. Now just keep upright!

On shops, I have taken several friends to Nalshima and everbody has gotten knowledgeable, efficient service. The new Jingumae shop is so popular that it gets super busy being the main drawback.
 
<rant>
Regarding shops, service, and costs. In my opinion, a shop that provides good service is going to be at a premium price. As a customer, you are paying for the shops expertise, facilities, and liability that if something goes wrong, they will make it right. If you could tolerate a lower service level, like ordering parts online or having a non-enthusiast shop do the service, it's an option.

But keep in mind, by not supporting what you enjoy, you can't expect it to last.
</rant>

/me scurries away to find an asbestos jersey.
 
<rant>
Regarding shops, service, and costs. In my opinion, a shop that provides good service is going to be at a premium price. As a customer, you are paying for the shops expertise, facilities, and liability that if something goes wrong, they will make it right. If you could tolerate a lower service level, like ordering parts online or having a non-enthusiast shop do the service, it's an option.

But keep in mind, by not supporting what you enjoy, you can't expect it to last.
</rant>

/me scurries away to find an asbestos jersey.

Cost and quality are not always so directly correlated in my experience.

I have a great store near me, Maystorm in Koenji, where they really do provide excellent mechanics at very little real cost. The guys there are pros working for tri teams. They know what they are doing.

The type of costs that John has been paying would be unheard of [sorry to keep rubbing salt in the wound John].
 
Headset Installation: 4,000
Headset Installation: 4,000
Clamp on a FD and Align: 2,000
Put on a Chain: 1,500
Remind me why you didn't get a complete bike... or at least a complete frame & fork...?
 
The end of Spring and onto Summer we go.... 945km this month.
Rainy season looks to be on us soon, so maybe a few less next month...

Ride on:bike::bike:
 
Nice Wiggle coupon codes at the moment

QUEEN60 Spend 50,750 JA YEN and get 8,700 JA YEN off your basket
QUEEN25 Spend 21,800 JA YEN and get 3,600 JA YEN off your basket
QUEEN10 Spend 10,900 JA YEN and get 1,400 JA YEN off your basket

Not applicable to bikes or Germany. I just bought a shedload of Gu gels and Clif bars.
 
Rainy season looks to be on us soon, so maybe a few less next month...

You mean the rain gear season?

IMG_1454.JPG


I did 550 km this month, little more than half of what I did in April, and about 60% of that was in the 300 km brevet on one weekend. Have a business trip from tomorrow, which means no cycling until June 13 :( Things should get better again after that.
 
Remind me why you didn't get a complete bike... or at least a complete frame & fork...?

It was a bit of an experiment/learning experience. I wanted to find a supplier of good value for money titanium frames and create some sort of on-line business from it. Not focusing so much on custom orders, but generic Ti frames for those that wanted them. I ordered a Ti frame and Ti fork and they look great, and wish I had ordered a Ti headset from the company as well. In my research though, I found that Ti parts on Ti parts cause them to bond to each other, and some grease with copper in it is required to keep them apart. It seemed like too much trouble. There was not much weight/cost savings, and I thought it would be better to go with something brand name. I ordered a Campy record headset because my other parts are Campy, and I thought that 1&1/8'' was all that mattered, but it turns out that there are various diameters, and other dimensions to consider when dealing with integrated headsets. Next time I will order a frame without an integrated headset for sure. After I got a shop to put some calipers in the headtube to see what was required, and doing some on-line research, I ordered another headset (Crane Creek) from Wiggle. The photo showed the dimensions I needed, but when it arrived, what was sent was a different size. I questioned them about it, and they said that the photos don't always match the stuff they are selling, and they were in the process of always showing accurate photos of the stuff they were selling to prevent situation like that from happening in the future. So, when it came time to order a 3rd headset, I thought I would go to a shop that had been given some good reviews, and was not too far away by train. The issues I had with Positivo have been written about recently, so I'll leave it at that for now.

yipes, aside from the headset installation...[/url]

The chain was just an afterthought. I figured after good reviews, and giving them roughly 8,000 yen to do about 10 minutes worth of work and also buying 8,000 yen worth of headsets, and them forgetting to call me to say my order was in, they would probably pop on the new chain for me for free. I have a chain breaker tool, but recently had an issue with a new 8 speed Shimano chain where I was not aware that for that chain, special pins are needed to put it back together. As a result, that Shimano chain broke twice before I figured out what needed to be done. It cost me some riding time, frustration etc. and to fix the problem I determined I needed to buy some special pins, or but some KMC smart links. I went with the KMC smart links, but they were between 1,000 and 1,500 yen and that was pretty much the same price as a new chain at Y's, and I had already spent about 3,500 yen for the chain from Wiggle and it just seemed like a ridiculous situation. This time around it was a Campy Record chain and I thought the shop would know what to do and it would not be an issue. I would have been fine with the 1,500 yen to pop the chain on, but knew that the chain would need to go through the FD, and just brought it in so that it could be taken care of. The shop wanted me to take my bike out of the shop, screw the FD on on the sidewalk, bring it back in, and then tell them to put the chain on so I could save 2,000 yen? It just seemed crazy.

The type of costs that John has been paying would be unheard of [sorry to keep rubbing salt in the wound John].

Starting to feel like when I was into MTBing in my highschool/university days. Had more disposable income then, and it seemed like every week or two I was back at the shop needing something done. I see now how I was ripped off a time or two for not knowing better, but it seems to happen all the time now. Getting hit by a car for the first time in my life a day after dropping about 18,500 yen for this headset drama, definitely added some salt to the wound. I have been riding my POS MTB to and from work more often than not every week this year, and at the same time, spending a lot of money to put my Ti bike together, and more recently, get my new used steel bike in working order. Spending money for nothing, when you don't have much of it to start with, sucks.

Not so much a rant, but just clarifying a few things.

I am sure that I will have my new TCC kit soon, have my steel bike in working order after getting run over by a car, and have my Ti bike built up (after getting a T25 torq tool for the brakes/shifters) and in no time be setting some personal bests on some wicked group rides. Until then, just taking one day at a time.
 
Not many long rides this month, but having moved to my new location has clearly helped me commute more often by bike.
monthly_chart.php
 
It was a bit of an experiment/learning experience. I wanted to find a supplier of good value for money titanium frames and create some sort of on-line business from it.
...

Uh, excuse me a little here, I've been out on the town tonight and have had more than a few beers..., but weren't you just complaining about service charges? Correct me if I've got something wrong, and I'm far from being any kind of super-service-man, but I'd expect that someone (planning to be) dealing in frames would be able to easily do the tasks that you were talking about a page or two ago on their own.

At least I'd hope that my frame dealer would be able to.

There's a bit of a disjunction in all that, if that's the right word.
 
It was a bit of an experiment/learning experience...

Uh, excuse me a little here, I've been out on the town tonight and have had more than a few beers..., but weren't you just complaining about service charges? Correct me if I've got something wrong, and I'm far from being any kind of super-service-man, but I'd expect that someone (planning to be) dealing in frames would be able to easily do the tasks that you were talking about a page or two ago on their own.

At least I'd hope that my frame dealer would be able to.

There's a bit of a disjunction in all that, if that's the right word.

I love it. Get a couple beers in the guy and he is ready to go to the kill. Have you read the whole story? Should I put it in all caps? Or write it backwards for you (because that is always hilarious)? IT WAS A BIT OF AN EXPERIMENT/LEARNING EXPERIENCE. The issue was being put over a barrel for exorbitant service charges without getting a free tube of KY. Cheers mate. Have another one, if that's the right word.
 
Rode home today, feeling pretty good in the old brain box.

Emotion plays the biggest part in my riding, I have come to realise. If I am not up for it, I sit back and hate every minute, but if I am game, then they better watch out.

Today I felt about 68% up for it, and was surprised to feel my body responding well. Drafted cars the whole way home, in the middle of the lane, as I usually sit when I am riding alone, between 40-48km/h. The cars behind me saw what I was throwing down, and were cool.

I would love to find someone who is up for double teaming the kind of street riding I do, sitting behind cars, drafting in the middle of the lane and basically riding like a Bosozoku. A fellow nutter, of any gender who likes to sit behind trucks going 50+kmp/h would be most welcome!

Oh yeah, in the process of taking the stickers of the left side of my bike, due to a 'theory' I have.

Owen
 
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