Monday, August 6, 2012

Bike maintenance update

Tonight I cleaned and re-lubed my bike chain. I got another 2000km on the previous lubing, thus bringing my total mileage for the chain to over 5000km with only two cleanings/lubings. (Is it OK to say mileage when using metric?) This is twice farther than I've gotten with any other chain, and my current chain shows little wear. So consider tonight's blog post another unpaid advertisement for Chain-L.

So now I'll claim to have conquered what were my two biggest peeves of bike maintenance:

  1. Too many flats

  2. Chains don't last long enough

The too-many-flats I fixed with Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. I have yet to get a flat tire in 8000km or so on my current tires, which is quite a feat in goathead-infested Phoenix. As for broken glass, I now ride right through it.

So what are my new maintenance peeves? Here are some candidates:

  • Bent rear derailleurs arms

  • Handlebars needing new wraps

  • Putting on and taking off fenders

  • Truing wheels

2 comments:

Bobby and the Presidents said...

None of your candidates seem very strong in that they're not nearly as annoying as the one's you've overcome. Congrats Sir.

That stated, aren't all stories better with a worthy antagonist? Yes, they are, so...might I suggest that you develop some serious distain for motorists? I think doing so would result in some very entertaining blog posts for your readers and unless you're a lot less sane than I ever took you for being I don't think you'll overcome motorists as thoroughly as you have your previous peeves, thus allowing for additional theme related blog posts forevermore.

Craig Brandenburg said...

Bobby et al.— I have firsthand experience knowing that some motorists, when provoked, will chase after cyclists. I therefore don't recommend provoking motorists.