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rebeccmeisterHappy Winter Bike to Work Day:
I took this photo after spending an extra 1.5 hours this morning on unplanned bike repairs. I'd started noticing rear brake issues with the Jolly Roger, which led me to replace the brake pads this morning, which led me to realize that the JR's rear wheel is far enough out of true and tension to require more focused time on the truing stand; not something one wants to do while trying to make it out the door for work.
So I switched tasks and worked on swapping on a fresh tube and tire onto Frodo's brand-new rear wheel. I'd tried installing the tube and tire off of the old, dead wheel, but the tube had rather promptly deflated and the tire had some worrisome gashes in it, so it seemed like my quickest bet for getting out the door would be a simple swap and go.
...except when I then got underway, both front and rear brake troubles cropped up.
The rear problem was easier to solve - a simple user installation error that, when corrected, now gets the brake pad to hold in place instead of slipping around into the tire.
The front brake problem revealed worn-out brake pads, but also front brake levers that seem to lack the requisite springback. I eventually got things to a point that is workable-ish, but between that and the previous rear brake failure* I am now giving Tektro v-brakes some serious side-eye.
If any of you have any suggestions on higher-quality v-brakes, please enlighten me. The replacements in the rear are Shimano Deore but I don't really know whether they're all that much better.
When I got to work, I learned that Gramps had died.
Here's a photo of Gramps from about 1.5 years ago, right after I'd spent a bunch of time carefully nursing him back to health:
Two weeks ago his tail was still pretty fat, but on Wednesday when I gave him a bath and some more Repti-boost, his tail was thin.
I don't know how old Gramps was. A colleague who has been here longer than me guessed he might be around 10 years old, which is apparently a typical lifespan in captivity. I'm still pretty crushed, though. We are trying so hard to provide high-quality care to the animals we have in captivity here.
If that weren't enough, this afternoon I had to make a phone call to learn that a rowing special events permit we had worked hard to put together got denied.
I'm about ready to crawl under a rock and hide, except I need to take care of the crickets and ants.
*I mean the previous previous one that originally caused me to replace just half a brake lever.
I took this photo after spending an extra 1.5 hours this morning on unplanned bike repairs. I'd started noticing rear brake issues with the Jolly Roger, which led me to replace the brake pads this morning, which led me to realize that the JR's rear wheel is far enough out of true and tension to require more focused time on the truing stand; not something one wants to do while trying to make it out the door for work.
So I switched tasks and worked on swapping on a fresh tube and tire onto Frodo's brand-new rear wheel. I'd tried installing the tube and tire off of the old, dead wheel, but the tube had rather promptly deflated and the tire had some worrisome gashes in it, so it seemed like my quickest bet for getting out the door would be a simple swap and go.
...except when I then got underway, both front and rear brake troubles cropped up.
The rear problem was easier to solve - a simple user installation error that, when corrected, now gets the brake pad to hold in place instead of slipping around into the tire.
The front brake problem revealed worn-out brake pads, but also front brake levers that seem to lack the requisite springback. I eventually got things to a point that is workable-ish, but between that and the previous rear brake failure* I am now giving Tektro v-brakes some serious side-eye.
If any of you have any suggestions on higher-quality v-brakes, please enlighten me. The replacements in the rear are Shimano Deore but I don't really know whether they're all that much better.
When I got to work, I learned that Gramps had died.
Here's a photo of Gramps from about 1.5 years ago, right after I'd spent a bunch of time carefully nursing him back to health:
Two weeks ago his tail was still pretty fat, but on Wednesday when I gave him a bath and some more Repti-boost, his tail was thin.
I don't know how old Gramps was. A colleague who has been here longer than me guessed he might be around 10 years old, which is apparently a typical lifespan in captivity. I'm still pretty crushed, though. We are trying so hard to provide high-quality care to the animals we have in captivity here.
If that weren't enough, this afternoon I had to make a phone call to learn that a rowing special events permit we had worked hard to put together got denied.
I'm about ready to crawl under a rock and hide, except I need to take care of the crickets and ants.
*I mean the previous previous one that originally caused me to replace just half a brake lever.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-12 09:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-12 10:15 pm (UTC)Sorry about Gramps!
My experience with v-brakes ended more than a decade ago after mechanically-functional v-brakes just couldn't generate enough braking force on wet rims and I went through a busy intersection against the light downhill in the rain. I have been a nigh-fanatical adherent of disc brakes ever since.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-12 10:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-12 11:56 pm (UTC)That initial cost hit for disc ain't the greatest.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-13 01:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-13 01:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-15 08:33 pm (UTC)