cycling
I’ve been back in NYC for a little while now after a short jump to Illinois to spend time with the family. A week after my crazy road trip, I started a new full time job and am currently attempting to settle into a life where I don’t leave all the time.
By a “long time” I mean to say that I’m buying plane tickets to Thailand in June after a short stop in Texas to see all of my favorite people. It I plan a trip, it makes me feel like all is well in the universe.
In NYC news, the weather is getting to the point where, when its not raining, I’ll be able to pedal my way in circles around Prospect Park to my heart’s content. I’ve not ridden my bike, any of my bikes, since I’ve arrived in NYC last November. I’ll have to dust off my toolbox to clean the chain and check the brakes and shifting before I head out into the streets.
Instead of cycling, I’ve been hitting up Brooklyn Boulders after work for a few hours three times a week. Its the largest indoor climbing gym in NYC and has the most densely set walls I’ve seen at any of the gyms I’ve visited across the country. The people are super nice and the problems are well thought out with several different kinds of inclines and overhangs to make everyone happy. As for top rope climbing, though, its a bit lacking in comparison to some of the gyms out west with a lack of ceiling and long overhanging routes. Nothing like Rock’n and Jam’n in Denver, but, really, a place like that is a gem, as far as I know, when it comes to indoor lead climbing.
Last night, I put the tires, cables, and chain onto Pacer and rode it to work this morning to work. In my short 1.5 mile commute I noticed that the shifting could be smoother and that I really should get some road tires.
To fix the shifting issue, I’ll go ahead and clean the chain with Rock and Roll to see if it gets any better. I’m using an old Ultegra 6500 in the rear so, maybe its just old? I’ve used older XT stuff before, from around the same era as 6500 and its smooth as butter. I’m hoping its just the weird chain goo making it jerky.
I’m currently using some bulletproof commute tires I had laying about, so, they are pretty beefy and much heavier that I would prefer. I might get some Continental Gatorskins or some Bontrager Race-Lites. Heavier tires, yes, but not as heavy as the ones I’m currently running, and, well, I hate getting flats.
Lamar looked horribly backed up from my balcony, so, I decided to ride over to Mellow Johnny’s instead of driving the half mile. After trying out a couple of bags, I got the frame to fit in / on my old Chrome Metropolis (I think, it was the one under the Kremlin, but they don’t have that one anymore… so… not really sure, i’ve had it for years) so, I packed up the headset, fork, stem, and spacers.
The work on the bike that was needed is as follows:
- Headset installed
- Fork measured and cut
I brought spacers and the stem I plan to use in order to make the measurement. I had contacted the shop in advanced, so, when I got there, they knew exactly why I was there.
When checking out, I noticed some framesaver and realized that I probably should have applied that before getting the fancy Chris King headset installed. Doh! The mechanics gave me some good pointers and told me to follow the directions and be careful not to get anything on the bearings so as to ruin the headset. I applied the stuff after I got home after reading the directions over and over, but I still made a bit of a mess.
When taking this photo, I suddenly realized the colors are going to match my shoes with the pink headset, green frame, brown seat, and cork bartape. How embarrassing…
Earlier today, I had taken over the kitchen while cleaning my components from my old bike. I’ve been getting a lot done! Hopefully, after all of this framesaver stuff is done, I won’t run into any complications.
