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Monday, July 30

Srsly. Where was I?

For those checking in on the family time/running blerhg...

I did visit family over these past few days.

I did go for a run (or two) over these past few days.

For the others, I know that was difficult (like math) not hard (like rocks).  Now back to bike-related content.

The pile grows...

Buying a complete stock bike last year was extremely pleasant in its simplicity, sorta like ordering a #5 Double Quarter Pounder® with cheese, fries and a Coke (Super Size, natch).  The only problem being that I ordered with my eyes and not my stomach and was left with minor indigestion and some belly button-pondering regret.  My older (and equally refined and also asshole'ish) palate just prefers doing things à la carte.  What some call "picky," I refer to as "knowing what I like, so fuck off and eat a bag of dicks also."

When you own a single speed, there are so few things to sweat (drive train-wise), so why not over-scrutinize your chain line down to the millimeter?  With the Fibonacci Spacer Kit from Endless Bike Co, you can't get any more scrutinizery.   I've blerhged about these before in the past, but they're worth bringing up again.  A precise chain line will keep things as quiet as possible and help make your expensive (or not so much) chains, rings and cogs last longer.  It doesn't hurt that the anodizing is done in the same Easter egg dunking juice as Industry Nine spokes and hubs, so there is no better matchy-matchy bits for the discerning single speeder.  If you're the piss-up-a-rope kinda single speeder that doesn't give one piece of the most smallest rat shit about chain line, gimme a call.  I have a few decade's worth of collecting spacers from torn-down cassettes in various Ziploc bags... around here... somewhere.  I'm not kidding.

Call me.  Come over.  Bring a flashlight.

I also ordered some Gold(en) ano ti rotor bolts from TruckerCo, mostly because I couldn't halp myself.  I already needed to order more toobless juice, and with me, it's either on board (and also bored) or overboard with no life jacket and a Rum Ham.

Myself, I choose Rum Ham.

I'm too old to ride a bland bike, and when you don't have a shit ton of money tied all up in Eagling yourself, you too can focus on the little things. 

I also picked up a gold(en) AF bottom bracket from Real World Cycling.  A true testament to how much I love these things is that they are in no way, shape or form a "Dick Supporter."  I mean, technically Endless Bike Co isn't either anymore, but some things are just worth the money.  I've been using them for... I dunno?  Seven years.  All the way back to the one that is still on my Stickel beer fetcher right now.  Reasonably priced, easy to service, and the one that I got comes stock with Enduro(™) angular contact bearings.

Why angular contact bearings?

"Deep groove radial ball bearing cartridges are not designed to be "adjusted." Any inward or outward pressure on the inner races put them out of alignment with the outer races, forcing the balls to ride up the side of the groove and exerting greater pressure on the races. This results in increased friction and premature wear. Since almost all outboad crank sets exert some inward pressure on the bearings when installed, it only makes sense to use a bearing designed specifically for such loads. Angular contact bearings result in 100% ball engagement when properly pre-loaded."

This image (and some imagination regarding how bottom brackets bearings actually handle loads) should make that blather more logical:

Basically, angular contact bearings better align your balls with the double thrust. What's not to like?

I'm a bit bummed that I didn't order their Realube Bearing Compound at the same time I ordered my bottom bracket.  I really have faith in their products, but I still have a few year's worth of Park Tool PolyLube 1000 and a random tube of Manitou M Prep loaded in an old grease gun that I need to go through first. 

Yeth, piss away money on gold(en) ti bolts (knowing that I have at least 2-4 wheels worth of non-ano ti rotor bolts somewhere around here, prolly next to those cassette spacers), but keep squirreling away some Manitou fork grease that is definitely older than my daughter but not as old as the Bass Boost boombox in my bike room (that's not so much a room but a dark place behind the kitchen where I fix bikes sometimes and also keep outdated lubricants and ti rotor bolts).

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

are you scratching your ass/head yet over what to do to stay current 148 boost or super boost 157 for the normallacy or bikekind

dicky said...

regular old Boostiness with matchy matchy Boosty fjork and Boost wheels that won't fit any other bike I own right now.

TJ Morton said...

"100% ball engagement" is a good thing!