Saturday, May 05, 2007

Adding Parts


Hi All,
Before we get talking about bike stuff, please enjoy the lead photograph. The image is of the painting in the dome of the U.S. Capital. A lovely painting of George Washington surrounded by 13 maidens, representing the 13 original colonies and two other maidens depicting peace and justice or somesuch. I can’t remember, and with my hearing issues, couldn’t hear everything the guide said anyways! But, the guide was kind enough to let me stand at the center point and take the picture. It truly was an amazing piece of art.

Now, on to cycling issues; this past week, I made some minor changes to the Little Red Bike. I installed the new riser that I brought home from my visit to Barcroft Bicycles. The previous riser was a poor design that used two hex bolts that were screwed into a mutual sleeve. The bolts worked loose after about 200 miles of riding. Then, the riser would have some sideways flop and gave the bike a slightly looser feel at speeds above 30 mph. The new riser uses a quick release lever to tighten the riser to the handlebar stem. There is no flop, it is tight all the time and the bike just feels more stable when I am going fast. Plus, I don’t have to retighten it every 200 miles.

The new riser.

Stronger derailleur clamp
I also installed some new blinkies; one of which I liked because its mount has a dual pivot, and I can adjust the angle of the light to face towards passing cars. I replaced the Minoura light mount with a Terra Cycle mount, which is much more streamlined and lower and to the front of the bike.


The new Terra Cycle light mount.
And finally, I would like to send out a compliment to a small company. Princeton Tech. I purchased a Princeton Tech EOS Bike helmet light for my commuting and brevet riding. I was happily unwrapping the light and accidentally dropped the small helmet bracket. When I moved my rolling chair to reach it, I rolled the wheel over it and broke it! Bad words and stomping then followed. After I calmed down I called the company’s service desk and explained my stupidity. They were very nice, and offered to send me a replacement bracket free of charge. In fact he mailed it that morning. Wow! A real company that is nice to their customers. They gained a customer for life in me. Thanks guys! By the way, the light is great! I saw a review over at Alan’s Blog last year, and had wanted to add the light to my equipment list. I might even buy another!

See you all down the road.
Jim

1 comment:

Steeker said...

WOW !!! nice picture of the ceiling painting .. =8^)