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rebeccmeisterAs a general note: the second half of this past week was very much occupied with rowing-related stuff, but not the sorts of things I'm inclined to blog about at length. I will just say that I will be relieved when I can pass on the torch when it comes to organizing events for the club.
In any case, since I think I've generally tended to log my bike maintenance, here we go: today was an overdue day for Froinlavin: a good cleaning, followed by tightening up the front and rear brake cables, and a new rear shift cable. I should have cleaned Froinlavin after the 200k, because there was still salt on the roads in March. But at least now it's done, so I'm ready for the next rainy brevet, heh.
When it comes to bike maintenance, there are a couple different strategies a person can employ. My general default has been "ride the thing todeath failure, then replace the broken part with a new one."
There are certain points where this strategy can cause some major disadvantages. I was amazed by the condition of some of the bikes that were arriving at the 400k overnight stop on the New York-Montreal-New York 1200k last year, best described as "barely rideable." One of those times when you want to exclaim because you never knew it was possible for a tire to get that bald. If you're a relatively fast rider and you've been putting in a whole lot of brevets, maybe you can afford the time and creativity required to fix a blown-out tire, broken spokes, and more.
On the other hand, I can see some major benefits to starting a 1200k with most parts in nearly-new condition.
Froinlavin is currently somewhere in-between. Feeling Froinlavin's rims, I need to start thinking about wheel replacements in the near future. I put on fresh tires this spring, and a fresh chain and cassette, and also a fresh saddle, but I need to allocate time for fresh bar tape, and I might also go for new chainrings ahead of traveling to France.
In any case, since I think I've generally tended to log my bike maintenance, here we go: today was an overdue day for Froinlavin: a good cleaning, followed by tightening up the front and rear brake cables, and a new rear shift cable. I should have cleaned Froinlavin after the 200k, because there was still salt on the roads in March. But at least now it's done, so I'm ready for the next rainy brevet, heh.
When it comes to bike maintenance, there are a couple different strategies a person can employ. My general default has been "ride the thing to
There are certain points where this strategy can cause some major disadvantages. I was amazed by the condition of some of the bikes that were arriving at the 400k overnight stop on the New York-Montreal-New York 1200k last year, best described as "barely rideable." One of those times when you want to exclaim because you never knew it was possible for a tire to get that bald. If you're a relatively fast rider and you've been putting in a whole lot of brevets, maybe you can afford the time and creativity required to fix a blown-out tire, broken spokes, and more.
On the other hand, I can see some major benefits to starting a 1200k with most parts in nearly-new condition.
Froinlavin is currently somewhere in-between. Feeling Froinlavin's rims, I need to start thinking about wheel replacements in the near future. I put on fresh tires this spring, and a fresh chain and cassette, and also a fresh saddle, but I need to allocate time for fresh bar tape, and I might also go for new chainrings ahead of traveling to France.
