Tightening Up

In the world of insignificant (to you) but significant (to me) changes, I'm pitching the loose Allens in my Tülbag for some Original Fix It Sticks.   Why?

I'd like to claim weight as the reason, but even I'm not (entirely) that anal.

Claimed weight: 55 grams Actual weight: 51 grams

Little Hardware doesn't actually claim weights on their Allen wrenches... Actual weight: 56 grams

No, that's not my scale.  It's a never-used piece of equipment in the corner of our office at work collecting dust.  I've threatened to steal it, but horking something from work is considered a firing offense, regardless of whether or not anyone uses it (except for weighing bike stuff).

Anyways, why swap?

I still retain the 4, 5, and 6mm that I've always carried, but I gain a T25 bit.  The only time I've ever needed one was the Tahoe Sierra 100 back in 2008, when my four of my rear rotor bolts wiggled out (assembling a bike for a race while on the phone with a loved one hundreds of miles away is never a good idea).  I'm still going to retain the 8mm nubbin I keep on me in case a crank arm or pedal comes loose... not that it's ever happened.

Except now I'll keep it handy here, with the chainring bolt that is totally incompatibru with my Race Face Cinch cranks but with the spacer it can (and has) bail out a friend who's missing some of his/her bits (1x or other).

Another reason is that sometimes, I find myself fishing for the tiny Allen keys.   The Fix It Sticks are much easier to find and grab with gloves AND, since I'll always need two to make them work, I'll just grab them both.  They'll also be orange, so they'll be easier to find/harder to leave behind... like the time my 5mm (with the elusive 8mm bit) spent the night in the woods in the proximity of right here:

Something nifty I saw on the Fix It Sticks FaceBook page the other day was that soon this will be available:

"The product comes with one set of Original Fix It Sticks and the mounting bracket, and is regularly $24.99. Ship date is estimated to be 7/15/16. Pre-order special: 20% off of our Original Fix It Sticks with Mounting Bracket (with promo code: bracket)."

So you can't have it now, but if you're the type that wants your tools even handier... get it later. Myself?  I couldn't deal with my overwhelming desire to keep them clean over keeping them über-handy.

Anyways...

As always.  Busy time of year.  Mayor's Ride to Breakfast this morning.  Don't think I've ever missed one yet.  Tomorrow, I've got to try and get a big ride in before heading out to watch the Charlotte Criterium... and they're having a 2/3 Category this year at 5:00PM?  Gonna be hard to get back from a long ride in time to pregame for that.  Then it's the one week countdown to my favorite race of the year, PMBAR.  I CAN'T WAIT FOR ALL THE EXCITE.  Me, Watts and the woods for eight to twelve hours of biking, hiking, talking about our mutually shared sadness regarding the current state of affairs of all the things, and discussing whether or not Gordon Wadsworthless's mustache is real or a sad lip toupee.

 Obviously a lip toupee tho.