So, I went and (finally!) picked up my new Phil Wood cogs for the Pista Monday. The word “shiny” doesn’t begin to do them justice. Unfortunately, neither do photographs, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.
Stainless steel, polished to a mirror finish… they’re pretty enough to be jewelry, for cryin out loud!
Oh, so shiny!
So, back in February when I got the new wheels, I decided to pull out all the stops. To that end, I had Roger (at I-Pro) order me a couple of Phil Wood cogs, a 16 and a 17. As luck would have it, the 17 was out of stock, but they were just about to do a production run, so no worries. As the weeks rolled by, Roger was having a hard time getting any sort of time commitment from the folks at PW; or even getting them on the phone.
Finally this past Saturday I decided I’d had enough; gorgeous, shiny, and machined from stainless steel or not, I was sick of waiting. I intended to go by the bike shop after work Saturday morning and have Roger tell them where they could stick ‘em, and order some EAI or Dura Ace cogs from Euro Asia (which are decidedly less ‘pretty’) unless the Phils were either there or on their way. Naturally, I was exhausted when I got off work and went straight home and to bed.
When I got up there was a message from Roger on the machine. The cogs finally came in!
“Yippee!” I thought, “I’ll go pick them up Monday.”
The message continued… “that’s the good news, the bad news is, I’m going to be closed all next week, until the 17th.”
“Gee thanks, Roger.” I said to the machine, “The good news is, your cogs are here, the bad news is, you can’t have them!” I just had to laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole situation. Oh well, I’ve waited this long; another week won’t kill me… damnit!
So, I’ve had some Rudy Project ‘Ekynox’ shades for a few years now. Last night I somehow managed to step on them and snap one of the temples, right at the hinge. They’re amazingly well made and suffered no other damage. I did notice that the nose pads could stand to be replaced, too, though.
So I call their toll-free customer service number to enquire about getting replacement parts. Within moments I have an actual person on the line (Celeste, who really should consider working for Bianchi!). Total for the parts: $6 or $7 (I forget, it all happened so fast). My parts will ship no later than tomorrow and I do have a spare pair, so all is well.
For those of you wondering about my new wheels, allow me to update you. I picked them up last Monday. Unfortunately, over the weekend I also picked up a flu-bug (or something). I spent the week feeling crummy (to put it very mildly), went to the doctor Thursday, got antibiotics (for the bonus sinus infection, yeehaw!) and cough syrup, then spent this weekend feeling even worse.
So, anyway… I’ve now had the wheels for a week and I’m only just now feeling up to so much as mounting tires on them, nevermind the test-ride.
Here’s a photo of the new front wheel being protected by my ever-vigilant guard-cat.
So, I took a trip over to I-Pro today, to see if Roger had been able to locate any Dura-Ace high flange hubs for me. Turns out he had called a couple of suppliers with no luck, then gotten side-tracked and it had slipped his mind. Anyway… he called Euro-Asia and, eureka! They still have them in stock!
So it’s a done deal now, the hubs will be here by this time next week and then he can build the wheels. I hope I can contain my excitement until then!
In case you missed it, here’s the original post, complete with parts list for the wheels.
For quite some time, I’ve been using Torelli Extra-lite tubes (or Torelli Ultra-legere, if you prefer). Primarily because these were the only tubes at my preferred LBS which have smooth (unthreaded) stems, which I find to be a big plus. They slip into and out of my Silca Pista’s chuck much easier than their threaded counterparts, thereby lessening the frequency of the dreaded valve separation plus they don’t tear up the rubber washer inside said chuck. There were two problems with these tubes:
Anyway… I rode to the bike shop the other day to get some tubes (after my aforementioned Satanic tire debacle) only to discover that it was closed (apparently Roger was living it up in at Interbike in Las Vegas). So, I ordered some Michelin Ultralight tubes from Performance Bike. I must say, I’m pleased with these tubes. They have the smooth stems I value and they seem to hold air much better than the Torelli’s. They don’t come all nice and pre-talced like the Torelli’s, but that’s a minor point. All in all the “Michelin Road Ultralight Presta 700-18/23 Tubes” earn “Crazy Greg’s Seal of Approval”.
So, my Bianchi Pista came with 700×23 Continental Sport 1000 tires on it. Cheap, but they wore well and I never had any problems with them. Until I had to change one, that is. While airing them up, I managed to seperate the stem from the tube in my front tire, necessitating a tube swap. Normally this is a fairly quick process. Not with these tires, though, noooo… Nearly two hours of wrestling with it (and two more tubes with holes in them) later, I realized that it is impossible (for me) to change one of these tires without pinching the tube. They are just insanely tight on the Pista’s rims (I did not, nor shall I, try them on any other rims).
Disgusted, I finally gave up, snagged a spare wheel from the Fuji, and went for a ride. Then, at my earliest convenience, I swapped the sinister stock circles of Satanism for some new tires. 700×25 Continental Ultra 2000’s. I’ve had good luck with these in the past, I like mine with the kevlar bead; I find that in addition to the obvious benefit of making the tire foldable (and lighter), it seems to make them easier to mount and remove.
I wish I had made this swap earlier. I’ve never really ridden anything wider than a 23, but those 25’s really give the Pista a plush (for a track bike) ride. Not that you care, but here’s a photo of her wearing her new shoes.
Really I suppose it’s the problem with any sort of small gadget, gizmo, or doodad; they’re easy to misplace.
I’ve been meaning to take my ‘geared’ bike out for a spin. Since I got the fixed gear (11 months ago!?!), it’s the only bike I’ve ridden.
So, today upon getting home from work I decided it would be a good idea to locate the Fuji’s computer. I thought I knew exactly where it was, but of course, I was wrong. I looked everywhere I could remember ever having put it. I looked and looked and looked some more. Finally, after about an hour of tearing the house apart looking for it, I gave up, for the time being.
Within a few minutes of this concession, it hit me. I dashed into the living room and sure enough, there it was, sitting on the bottom edge of my music stand (I’m not sure why) concealed by various sheet music and such.
The good news, aside from the fact that I don’t have to buy a new bike computer:
The kitty enjoyed the whole process immensely. In addition to getting to play “smack the noggin” while I looked under the couch and such, “we” found a bunch of her toys which had been missing; great big fun.
