Fortune Favors The Brave

Posted: 2nd September 2010 by The Ghost of Jerry Reed in Daily Ramblings, This Just In...
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Today in the subsection D break room, Brad from the Shipping Department told me Teenwolf (Inside Sales pariah) had been trying to “start some static”. Basically, Brad is an acolyte of the Octagon. Homeboy loves Mixed Martial Arts fighting and the training that accompanies it. He tested the lowest body fat percentage last Spring and could be described as being in cyborgishly optimum shape. Apparently, Teenwolf said that although Brad is in great shape, “ride” shape and “overall” shape are very different and that there isn’t a snowball’s chance Brad could complete the century Teenwolf and his cross country ride stooges were planning for Saturday morning. Brad disagreed vociferously and said that his fitness level would be more than adequate for 100 miles on the bike. This was where I found Brad’s mindset in the break room, ruminating about the possibility of doing a century ride with little to no bike riding in his legs. I went over the pros and cons with him. Pros: he was in good shape and had Teenwolf’s doubt as motivation. Cons? Cramping, saddle sores, fatigue and mental exhaustion. But then I asked him, “When was the last time you really challenged yourself? When was the last time you could look Ole Bloggy in the eye and not feel shame? This could be huge man! Huge I tell you!” as Geoff hovering in the background told him it was a bad idea and that I was mentally deranged. While it is true, that I am mentally deranged, I think this ride will do Brad some good. So what if he’s never ridden in clipless pedals? After the first few falls, his nerves will be steeled against any of the 9 or 10 thousand other dangers that await him on the circuitous lake route. He shall be astride his trusted Soma, which is steel, which won’t crack after one of Tony’s erratic lane shifts sends Brad into a ditch. Basically, Brad must do this ride to beat Teenwolf. It’s not a race, but just finishing it will be some sort of victory he/I can use to taunt Teenwolf for weeks to come until our voices are horse and our barbs ineffective and meaningless. Good luck Brad! Do not fail us.

Brad’s trusty steed, Perses…

We Have Rebuilt It, Now We Must Install It

Posted: 1st September 2010 by The Ghost of Jerry Reed in Daily Ramblings, The Goods
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And now, re-assembling the Campy Record shifter. Behold, the finger lever with ratchet ring, pivot post nut and washers installed.

Finger lever slides into the lever body. Bearings now sit around the pivot post.

The G Spring carrier sits snugly with both G-Springs inserted on either side with a liberal slathering of Campy grease.

Another washer and the index gear is placed on top.

The index spring is set in the index gear, a layer of grease and the thumb lever is squeezed onto the end of the spring.

What Zinn refers to as the “bushing”, which isn’t really a bushing, is placed into the center of the index gear and thumb lever.

Now the tricky bit. This is where it helps to have a 5mm in a vise or a custom made shifter jig so you can have both hands free. A flat head screwdriver is used to wind the compensation spring on top of the thumb lever. This is where all the tension lives!!!

Properly installed, the compensation spring should look something like this:

Now a washer and a bolt are thrown on top to hold everything together or else, CHAOS!

Grease all the moving joints.

Slip the plastic bottom cover back on. No need for a hammer as finger strength should suffice. If not, seek medical attention; you have Asian Finger Death Fever.

Whoopsy, don’t forget to slip in the top spring above the finger lever. Patrick prefers a pair of needle nose pliers and steady fingers, honed after decades of all night “Operation” marathons.

The spring is snugly bedded in the lever body. The shifter has been rebuilt and Patrick will be allowed to see his loved ones again, unharmed…. until the left lever needs rebuilding.

VOILA! The finished product. Doesn’t look too different, but if you could HEAR how it shifts now, you’d soil yer britches!

We Can Rebuild It, We Have The Technology

Posted: 31st August 2010 by The Ghost of Jerry Reed in Daily Ramblings
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Before we get to today’s photo-splosion, a brief if not somewhat frantic reminder from Defeet Product Manager Sandy Emmanuel (her words):

“Hello all you good people. This is Sandy and when I’m not busy worrying about my Schnauzers or returning cardigans to QVC on a bi-daily basis (don’t judge me, nothing gives you that right), I’m reminding as many safety conscious cyclists about, wait for it, wait for it, Defeet’s new HI VIZ line of socks, gloves, booties and arm warmers. These are really bright and if you don’t think so, I’ll come to your shop and throw my beloved Spanky on your face. Then, there’s no amount of HI VIZ that can rescue you from the tornado of Schnauzer teeth that’ll turn your face into ground beef. OK, gotta run, my Lentil Hot Pocket is ready! Nummers!”

OK Sandy, I posted the Defeet HI VIZ reminder, put the hand-trebuchet down and climb off Jose’s shoulders. Whew, anyhoo, sometimes Campy shifters stop working correctly. It happens people. Sweat, rain, dirt, bugs and whatever else can get inside the shifters and wreak havoc on the tiny bits inside. Luckily, Campy shifters can be pried open and completely overhauled. It’s the tiny parts and somewhat idiosyncratic arrangement of said parts that can make this a daunting task (even with the ever helpful “Zinn and The Art of Bike Maintenance” (BOOK1150). This week, the Blog’s right Record shifter crapped out and thus a rebuild was in order. Part 1 of this riveting 3 part series, DECONSTRUCTION!!! Patrick Augustine said he loves (he made sarcastic air quotes when he said this) servicing Campy shifters so he was kind enough to let us photo the various steps and parts. Theres lots of good old fashioned oxidation and crud built up over almost two years of use, which will hopefully motivate all of my fellow Campy owners to take a long hard look at their poor, neglected, Campy shifters and consider an overhaul. This is not a guilt trip!

The offending shifter…

Removing the pivot pin…

Popped the plastic cover off revealing gnarly innards of the shifter!

Removing the bolt holding the washer, which reveals…

… the flat “compensation spring”. This spring is yanked out with a pair of needle nose pliers or pried out with a screwdriver.

After a bushing is removed, the dirt and corrosion covering the thumb lever, return spring and index gear is plainly evident and scowled at!

The finger lever is removed. More nasty corrosion surrounds the pivot post nut and washers! Yuck! Inside the lever body, the G spring carrier is CLEARLY VISIBLE!!! (pointless enthusiasm)

Pivot post nut is removed, disengaging the ratchet ring and corresponding washers.

Back to the lever body, we finally remove the crud-covered G spring carrier complete with bedded G-springs. The G-springs take the brunt of the work during shifting and will need to be replaced, with extreme prejudice. Once again, a pair of needle nose pliers is used to gently remove the carrier. A good lashing of Clean Streak will be used to clean the carrier off and burn off my fingerprints in the process.

Well, here is my right hand shifter, in all its piece meal glory. Taking the shifter apart is the easy bit, on Thursday, we’ll put it back together again, underwater.

Name this part…

Posted: 30th August 2010 by The Ghost of Jerry Reed in Daily Ramblings
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The Weekend Cometh, The Menchov LURKETH

Posted: 27th August 2010 by The Ghost of Jerry Reed in Daily Ramblings
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A quick reminder, today is the last day to sign up for the 12 Hour Night Owl Charity Ride in Columbia, September 17 & 18. Click here for info!

Another quick reminder, Menchov will win the Vuelta. Just a reminder. Oh wait, TEAM time trial tomorrow?!?! Nevermind. He’s pinched for sure. By the way, we’ve seen this before but it bears repeating, Ralph Fiennes and Denny: Separated at birth?

Lance Armstrong gets “The Onion” mention. It’s pretty awesome.

African cycling encounter from waaaaaay back.

And finally, because the world can’t get enough Hugo Koblet films…

Carol Channing, Healer.

Posted: 26th August 2010 by The Ghost of Jerry Reed in The Goods
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A Closer Look At…

Posted: 25th August 2010 by The Ghost of Jerry Reed in Daily Ramblings, The Goods
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Tuesday, The Other White Meat

Posted: 24th August 2010 by The Ghost of Jerry Reed in Daily Ramblings, Not at all Cycling Related
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“I’m outta here!!!!”

A belated congratulations to Hawley graphics department hefe Julie and the newest addition to her family, Lyndi! If you know Julie, you know she is not a fan of having her picture taken and one would assume that extends to having photos of herself published online, especially post-birth photos (almost typed “after-birth” but thought that might cause some confusion). It appears this aversion to photos is genetic as Lyndi shields her babyface from the encircled babyrazzi. “Lyndi, over here! Lyndi! Lyndi! Lyndi!”


Joshie sent this loving, bike lane-related homage to the GREATEST racing game ever, “Mario Kart”. Leave it to those plucky rain-sodden hipsters in Portland! What next for that city, HANDMADE BICYCLE FRAMES??? CYCLOCROSS RACES??!?!

Lastly, I espied this giant banner at Fort Jackson on my Sunday morning ride. First of all, Kid freaking Rock??? Second of all, what was the last album Kid Rock released (that WASN’T spoken word) and more importantly, what decade was it ? I didn’t even know he was still alive. Totally mind-boggling. Don’t look up ticket prices or your head might explode. But most importantly, if I’m paying 30 dollars for a ticket, there better be a Joe C surrogate or we’re going Altamont on those hucksers.

Gingham Thingham

Posted: 23rd August 2010 by The Ghost of Jerry Reed in Daily Ramblings
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A glaring example of why you should always wear a shop apron when working with dirty greasy chains, Patrick tempts fate as he subjects his pink gingham “leisure shirt” to the rigors of the workbench. Adam’s single speed Raleigh now has a healthy dose of BB’s rattling around in its tubing in addition to the sexist epithets etched into his seat post. Speaking of which, the man-child known as Adam should be in Akron, Ohio as these words are typed, desecrating some piece of Lebron James ephemera, or so we hope. Adam, we trust you remember our “arrangement” before you left and the dire consequences that may occur if not “fulfilled”. Vague threats aside, here is a threat totally concrete in its menacing nature. Basically, if you don’t go to coworker Teenwolf’s cross country ride blog and buy a t-shirt, he’ll go back to racing crits and terrifying the snot out of every casual racer within an eight bike length radius. Cat 4s, you have been warned. 100 percent of the proceeds from the t-shirt sales go towards funding the ride, which is for a good cause methinks. Also, Teenwolf mentioned the possibility of ordering some extra ride-commemorating jerseys, designed by our very own Josh Baker….

I’m Too Neurotic To Shop At Publix

Posted: 20th August 2010 by The Ghost of Jerry Reed in Daily Ramblings
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I went to Earthfare yesterday after work to buy a head of lettuce. Apparently Earthfare doesnt sell heads of lettuce (something about a tariff, Mugwumps), opting for overpriced plastic boxes with individual leaves. I ranted about this to the inside sales office and Michael said, “Why don’t you just go to Publix? It’s right next to your house!” Well, the answer to that question is complicated and perhaps a delicate matter. I go to Publix, a lot, because of its aforementioned proximity to my house. I could centipede to it if I wanted, that’s how close it is. Because of the frequency of my visits, the check-out clerks and bagboys all recognize me. We have developed a comfortable rapport of nods of acknowledgment with the occasional “hello”. But now, what was once “Hey there!” and “You’re back soon!” has now morphed into comments about my personal grocery choices, which in turn makes me feel extremely uncomfortable for some strange reason (as most normal people would have no problem with this). The final straw came a few days ago when the check-out clerk scanned my black beans and said “Black beans huh?” to which I retorted “Yup!” and then he questioned for what purpose was I buying black beans, how do they taste, how do I like to prepare them, do beans make you gassy, etc. Holy moley, the Matlock cross-examination! It was only a few minutes of chit-chat, but the line of questioning became so strange, so intrusive, that it started to feel like a Kafka novel or some weird semantics experiment I was an unwitting participant of. I’m very garrulous by nature, but for some reason I hold my grocery choices and reasons for those choices close to me. Please Publix, let me keep one last shred of the tattered husk that was once my dignity. And yes, I eat black beans to compensate for the lack of protein in my diet, mainly in burritos or the occasional nacho plate. Also, my fiber count is off the charts! So anyway, I have a special spots for green bikes and noticed a hand painted Frankenbike outside of Earthfare that had a lovely grip/frame coordination thing going on. Have a Publix-free weekend!

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