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.

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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.

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I need to take off and clean components from my old bike and get the headset pressed onto the frame and the fork measured and cut.

I’m going to take it to the shop and get the frame prepped for all the components. There may be paint gunked up around some of the threads in the bottom bracket shell and derailleur hanger that would prevent the components from screwing in flush against the steel, so, depending on the mechanic’s assessment, I might get the threads faced and chased.

I’m also going to spray framesaver into the tubes of the frame before I seal it up with parts so as to avoid hidden rust and corrosion in the future. Its always a good idea, with steel bikes, to remove the compenents, check for rust, and add some framesaver like product. And, while the parts are off, you could also deep clean them and make needed adjustments.

For more info, you can refer to: Surly’s blog post concerning care for steel frames or

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