Confessions from the fuckwits

Did a bit of a fleet service today. Measured some chains and two of them, both 10sp, need replacement. No problem I have kmc x10, Shimano 10s and sram 10s in the parts bin. Decide to use the Shimano chain for the commuter since it's running Shimano and clever me has noticed that it's a directional chain. Smart boy. Chuck chain on. Logo side out spin it. Works. Genius. Next bike, and I Chuck the kmc on. No problems. So far so good.

Look at previous bike and wonder if directional also means the chain has a 'up' and ''down'. Look at logo and the Shimano is upside down. Wow I'm losing my mind. So shimano chains go have dinner/outer plates and and outside and inside diameter. Take chain off and flip it. What? The writing is still upside down. How the? Take it off and flip it again. Writing is upside down again. Lose my shit. Reach for sram chain. Notice sram chain has logo some facing up, some facing down. Go back to Shimano chain. It too has logos up and down, but seem to be in bunches. Swear.
 
This is a Shimano dinner plate:

shimano-xt-cs-m8000-11-46t-11sp-cassette-icsm8000146.jpg
 
The second hand bike I bought had had a bad stack, but the seller said he'd had it all checked and serviced at a bike shop so I didn't look too closely and didn't haggle much at all, and the frame was as described with barely a mark on it.

One of the pedals was stiff but that was just the usual Saint adjustments to bearings and it's much better now, likewise the fork which had scratches on the stanchions has come up a treat with the nail polish method.

The front disc is bent ever so slightly and 203mm Shimano rotors are hard to find right now so I'm living with it, completely not noticeable while riding.

The chainring was rubbing a bit on the inside of the chain guide and it looked like it was installed with one too many washers (it was) but also turns out the ring is bent! It took a gentle bump yesterday, but didn't feel anywhere near enough of a whack to bend it.

My guess is that the dude had an epic stack and the bike took impact on both sides and the top.

So either the bloke was being dishonest or he uses a fucked bike shop. Lesson: check everything you can think of. I would have totally knocked a couple hunge off if I spotted those issues, which were not really noticeable pedalling it around the front street for 5 mins.
 
Grr. Rode yesterday, shit felt a bit weird in the back, sloppy. Turns out the top pivot bolt loosened of a few threads. Haven't removed but will tomorrow as I reckon it got installed with grease on the thread instead of loctite.

Back wheel nut also came loose. Tightened everything up. Shock bottom mount has play! Thinking the loose pivot fucked the plastic spacers.

Nothing ever came loose on the Trek in 3 years. So referring to my comment above as this bike was built and serviced by a shop I'm getting the impression it was a shit shop.

Where do I get the shock spacers?
 
This goes here...

I lent my Transition TransAm to a friend.
Bike is back, I never really checked and after changing a few parts and getting ready to ride, I try to raise the saddle only to find out the dang seatpost is frozen solid into the seat tube.

Thomson on 4130. I remember that seatpost being a 410mm (or maybe a 385mm) and the bottom of the seatpost should be RIGHT at the point where the seat tube flares DOWN to a smaller diameter to connect to the BB shell.

Tried penetrating oil, twisting the saddle with an old handlebar and no joy. It may twist a couple mm and that's it.
Next step is taking it to a friend with a bench and twist until something gives up.
 
Turn up at the trails today, unloaded the bike out of the back of my ute, helmet on, grab my gloves, you Fuckwit I put two left hand gloves in the car.
 
Warp said:
This goes here...

I lent my Transition TransAm to a friend.
Bike is back, I never really checked and after changing a few parts and getting ready to ride, I try to raise the saddle only to find out the dang seatpost is frozen solid into the seat tube.

Thomson on 4130. I remember that seatpost being a 410mm (or maybe a 385mm) and the bottom of the seatpost should be RIGHT at the point where the seat tube flares DOWN to a smaller diameter to connect to the BB shell.

Tried penetrating oil, twisting the saddle with an old handlebar and no joy. It may twist a couple mm and that's it.
Next step is taking it to a friend with a bench and twist until something gives up.
Click to expand...
Pull the BB out and give a liberal squirt of penetrine while upside down...if that doesn't work, caustic will get it out.
 
Bought a set of Crank Brothers Mallet Es about 12-18 months ago, to try clipless on the mountain bike. Had been riding clipless for years on the road bike, never had any issue getting out of them in a hurry. Was really struggling with Crank Brothers, had a number of tumbles (10+) when I stalled on steep climbs and couldn't unclip. Difficulty was if the crank wasn't at the top of the stroke, the toe of my shoe would hit the crank and I couldn't twist far enough to get out. Plan was to get a Long Spindle kit to create a bit of space. Had a spare pair of new cleats lying around so decided to fit the new ones. Was then that I realised that they are a reversible design. I'd been running them at 20 deg release angle. Changed back to 15deg and haven't had an issue since. Suddenly so easy to eject.

TL;DR: installed cleats wrong, fell over lots still clipped in.
 
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