November 26, 2019
I hope you are enjoying some mild and/or wild weather/activities. I have had a few repairs to make on ye olde Bastarde. I was experiencing some unconscionable chain skipping both before and after replacing my drive train. So, I took a pretty close gander at the chain tensioner and noticed it had some lateral slop that I felt might be contributing to several occasions of the chain falling off the sprocket. I was not enjoying unpleasantly anticipating the jarring sensation of a chain toss whilst striving mightily to reach the peak of some of the hills that constitute my 500 total feet of climbing that I endure on a daily basis! Egads! Egads, indeed! So I easily removed the semi-circular lock washer needed to fiddle with the chain tensioner attachment bolt and slapped on an outer washer to limit lateral slop.
Then I struggled to reattach the lock washer and managed to launch it off into a corner of the garage somewhere where it landed clinkily. I am guessing it’s not really necessary, I might just have to tighten up the bolt every so often. Then I took out a link on the chain to keep it taut like a tiger wrapped around the tensioner and sprocket. And thus far it seems to be keeping things in-line!? Yes!? Update: mostly great, one minor chain skip on a climb after several days of riding, so it's certainly much improved but not as perfect as it used to be.... maybe I'll invest in a Surly Singleator one of these days to see if they're any better.
Here's another modification that I recently installed:
Why would I do such a thing? Hmmmmm. Well, just write your answer on any unused or lightly used bike component and send it my way and I'll let you know if you're right! Or just wait until you get to the bottom of this ramblingly incoherent piece of .... prose.
In other tedious/exciting news, I finally replaced my rear bicycle tyre (a much beloved Maxxis Overdrive Elite with approximately 10,000 miles on it that I have been thinking about replacing for slightly less than a year) with a new Serfas Drifter 1.5-inch diameter tyre!
So I’ve gone from a 1.75-inch diameter tyre to a 1.5-inch one and the ride feels slightly more nimble, but less cushy. I am curious to see how it holds up during the wintery weather conditions that surely await, like the gaping maw of a sprocket-chewing Siberian tiger. Update: back tyre spun out a bit during some standing climbing in the slush this eve, but not too bad and probably would happen with most tyres. Since I took the corners quite wimpily I am not sure about cornering, but no big problems.
As you might notice, I've only installed the rear tyre thus far because my trusty olde Maxxis Overdrive Elite front tyre still has some tread left and I've been busy caulking the driveway.
In other potentially more relatable news, I’ve taken to singing loudly and/or reciting a poem quietly whilst bicycling merrily to and fro. Here are my 3 main selections:
I also throw in a couple others from time to time, mostly “Blowin’ in the Wind” when it seems appropriate and the parts of “Wraggle Taggle Gypsies” that I recall, not to mention the anthemic "Waltzing Matilda."
Your loving BSO-ha!
