I woke up a bit earlier on Sunday and met Doog for a short 2 hour loop through LR. I felt pretty shitty when I crawled on the bike, yet my legs felt disarmingly good. I didn't have much more than 2 hours in me, nor did I have any efforts in the tank, but I felt okay after the ride. Sometimes I think you just need to rest a bit and ride easy to get stuff out of the system.
After I rode, I decided to get the bike setup for the 4th. I switched out the cassette to my 13/25 and it shifted like shit. I fuddled with it for 30 minutes and it got no better. I walked away...
Once I got inside, I realized that the 13/25 didn't require the spacer behind it. A visit to Shimano's website confirmed my failing memory. Back out to the ManHole, removed the aforementioned spacer and it shifted fine, but skipped in the 23 and 25!!! WTF!!!!
My chain had been on the bike for a while and the 13/25 had only been used once, so I figured they weren't quite on speaking terms. Upon checking my equipment log, I realized that the chain was well past it's expiration date. Shiny new chain = no skipping and no noise! Go figure!
I'm actually going to test ride the setup this year, to make sure the thing shifts. Last year, I threw everything on the night before and rode it up the street. That was all fine and well, but it didn't shift at all on the 4th ride...
Nothing like hauling 180 pounds up a few big climbs in the NC mountains with a drivetrain that won't stay in gear! It was either the 17 or the 25 on the climbs...no big jump there!
There are no open seats in the battle wagon for the 4th...sorry!
I'll see you at the crit Tuesday...
No comments:
Post a Comment