13°C, light breeze & sunny. Warm!
Surprisingly warm for the start of December. Anyway, changing that screw-on cog was easier than I expected. Now the chain is rolling smoothly, unlike yesterday. It was so bad, I thought the chainring would need a change too. Not necessary.
5°C, lighter, calm.
Unwanted side-effect, punctures. Just patched the tube that went down yesterday, it had two holes and needed two patches. One was a snakebite, probably from the moment the nail punctured and pinched the rim against the road. It’s not so obvious that the tyre is going soft on soft round.
In the meantime, both tyres on the bike have gone soft overnight.. At least two more punctures!
That averages out at nearly two per ride. Sigh.
Tyre liners, change tyres or some of that goo that seals from the inside? What’s the best idea?
16°C, brisk SW. Dry and grey.
Half-term break: is a time to clean up. It’s only been two weeks since the lodger moved out, but I am in the process of discovering problems he left behind. Rug Doctor is a carpet shampoo machine which I have rented to clean the his room as well as others. There are wine stains and other spilt drinks; some on the mattress. They cleaned up remarkably well.
I have am idea for the staircases – stripey carpets. Then, in each room, it’s possible to put replacement carpets that match one of the stripe colours.
Never again will I allow a lodger to keep a pet. His lizards ran up the electricity bill and the rabbit made the room stink (plus a damaged patch on the carpet).
24°C sunny, no breeze.
Yesterday’s ride was no twithout problems. At 45 miles, the gear change became heavier and sticky. Up-shift was unreliable but I knew what it was. Out of sight, inside the cable the wire was frayed. It snags and forced me to double-shift and back for the rest of the day. With experience, I knew the fault immediately.
Once opened up, it was clear. A single strand of wire in the cable had coiled up inside the sheath.
Today, I fixed it and changed the cable route too.
I have been looking at new bikes too. There are two complete bikes that fit my needs and size. A Kona Jake and a Raleigh Revenio. Both are cyclo-cross bikes with disc brakes. I want more reliable braking in rain. Normal brakes are poor when the rims are wet. Discs should solve that. These two makes are suitable because the top-tube length is right for me (22.5″ or 60.5cm).
I hate short frames. In the 1990s, top tubes were mostly 21.5 inches for all frame sizes. That is mad, the size should be in proportion to the frame size; not fixed to suit the brazing jig.
In the mid 90s, I had both my made-to-measure frames built with 23″ top-tubes. At the time that was the only way to get a frame that fits me. These days, there is another choice: off-the-peg.
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Posted from a mobile.
7°C, clear, cold wind from sea.
Cycling: ~4,409 miles.
Fewer miles than I hoped for due to several problems-
I want to clear 5,000 miles in 2013 (by as much as a thousand miles to make up for 2012). To this end, the summer bike needs a good overhaul to avoid mechanical problems and ensure that it’s more fun to ride.
This point generates another list for January-
Not too much cost, but quite a long turn-around while it’s away at the Campagnolo service center. No need to ride it until March though.
7°C. Some rain, sun too.
A mending weekend: TV, laptop, bike, smoke detector, hair, shelves
TV makes a short high buzz with a few minutes of changing channel or starting a video. One web forum sort said unplug it for at least 4 hours to reset it. So far, no better, possibly getting worse.
Bike: has a new tyre to replace the one that gave trouble on Friday. It’s all shiny and clean now.
Laptop: frequently drops the internet connection. The router is okay, the desktop pc, phone and DVD player all work properly. Again, the web forums say install new network card drivers. Done, and it’s better but still cuts sometimes.
Not the best way to spend a December weekend. Cycling is the best but I have a cough and listless.
So, housemaking it is.
Micycle 