More New Stuff

I'm sure some people are getting sick of me talking about the merits of Dumonde Tech chain lube. "Dumonde this", "Dumonde that"... yea, I talk those guys up... and why not. Until I find a better lube, I'll continue to use, recommend and sell the full compliment of lubes these guys have to offer.

Hippies rejoice, I've been "field testing" their new Bio Green plant based lube for the past couple of weeks and must say, I'm more than satisfied. Like all Dumonde Tech lubes, this stuff works best when applied on a clean drivetrain and used sparingly. If your using Dumonde lubes and your chain looks black, greasy, messy or otherwise not clean.... you're using too much!! Save some lube, clean-up time and money and simply use less lube while applying to your chain. Dumonde Tech recommends that you use the chains' sound instead of how it appears as a guide for when to re-apply lube to your chain. Simply put, if your chain doesn't sound dry... it probably isn't. I did a post on how to easily clean your drivetrain a while back and there's a picture in there on how much/little lube I'm shooting for while lubing.

Anyhoo, I've got 2oz bottles of the new Bio Green in stock for $10.00... a full buck under retail. That's like a free doughnut!!

New Stuff

I finally got Tomi off his bike long enough to cut me/you some chainrings. I use and highly recommend Tomi Cogs Chainrings. Why? To start, you'll not find a more round chainring. Because of Tomi's anal retentiveness, you'll save yourself some time trying to find the "tight spot" while adjusting your chain... something every one speeder battles with. Second: Their strong... strong as steel. Probably because that's what their made of! Type 304 stainless. If a daily trip to WeightWeenies.com is what your intraweb surfing consists of, this might not be the chainring for you. But, if you want a high quality, long lasting chainring for your daily battle with the local single track... look no further. I've got common sizes in stock now. Custom options available. I should probably mention: Tomicog chainrings are one speed/downhill specific which means no shift ramps, pick up pins or beveled teeth to enhance front shiftie type bikes... I've got other stuff for that. $40.00 TomiCogs.com

Worlds Most Beautiful Bike Ride

Signed myself up again to do mechanical support for this years Worlds Most Beautiful Bike Ride. You see allot of interesting stuff, meet some interesting people and get to work on your productivity at this event as there's plenty to do. It all adds up for one crazy day.

Doing support for this event goes like this: You get to the rest stop early. Set up. Then you wait. The first few riders come through. They NEVER need their bikes worked on. They are clearly "winning". You wait some more. Riders continue to come trickle through... then come the masses..... all 3,000 of them. It starts with a cut tire, then a shifter cable, a spoke..... the list goes on. In a period of about two hours you work on countless bikes doing repairs as fast as you can. People are waiting. Most are cool. Like a receding high tide or the setting of the sun things slow down. There's no longer a line of riders waiting for this or that. Some stragglers come through. You wonder if they'll make the whole 100 miles. Then it's over. You pack up and go home.

Thanks to the couple from Philadelphia who shared their lunch of pizza and beers towards the end of the day. This couple won't set any speed records on this ride, but I guarantee they had the best attitude and a really good time on this ride..... just the way it should be.

all i gotta say is....

.... it's national doughnut day! better than christmas, my birthday or any other holiday i can think of.

i will be partaking.

see you @ The Treat Box.

thanx peoples!!!

Many thanx to anyone that voted for my friend Tomi Miller a while back for the chance to win a free trip to the Brek Epic. To re-cap, my long time riding friend of many-a-years ago on the east coast, Tom Miller, won a bloggers grant to enter the Brek Epic f-r-double-ee this year. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Tomi's got a free ticket for all 6 days and 40,000ft of climbing in high altitude at bea-u-ti-ful Breckenridge Colorado. I have no doubt of Tomi's ability to enter this race, finish and probably do pretty good in the grand scheme of things.... even though he's riding it on a fixed gear. Friggin' crazy bastard. Anyhoo, if your into some more bike dorkiness, check out his first two "requirement posts" and contest application (a must read) here.

While I'm throwin' out props, thanks to Monte Boyle at Sinclair Imports for finding me an Ultegra right side shift lever blade even when "the computer says we're out". Maybe those sprints running from his desk out to the warehouse, checking the actual inventory and subsequently running back to his desk/phone is how Monte gets so fast on the cyclocross bike every fall. Thanks man, my customer was back on the road in no time.

Last but not least, thanks to the LADIES!! Yep, all 22 of ya that showed up for the backcountry repair clinic at Alpenglow Sports in Tahoe City this week. I was overhearing the exchange of phone numbers for rides and sensing good camaraderie throughout the group. A sign of good things to come, I'm sure. Check out the ladies rides as well as all the other events happening in conjunction with Pedal There Thursdays.

The Van

Well, it happened. I did my last job in the truck and took a step back to get one last look at the "old girl" before pulling all the tools off the wall. Within' minutes, all the tools were in boxes and I was lying underneath the truck unbolting the bracket that holds the tool board in place. We had a good run ole' girl, but it's time to move on.


Welding inside the van is both scary and exciting. Scary with sparks and smoke but exciting as things progress and ideas come to reality. The bracket that held the tool board in the truck was modified to work in the van. It also got "beefed up" a little bit as the tool board is going to be a bit bigger/heavier. After the welding, it was time to get some sleep as the next two days would be "full on" trying to get things in order so I could actually fix some bikes out of the thing. After a 10 hour day Wednesday and a 15 hour day on Thursday, the van was good enough to work out of. Completely done.... not even close, but workable.

Easy Drivetrain Clean

"What do I need to do to take care of my bike?" is a question I get asked quit a bit. Having a clean and lubed drive train on your bike is important for good shifting, makes for a smooth feeling bike and will extend the service life of your chain, sprockets and chain rings. Cleaning the drive train is pretty easy to do, only takes a few minutes and is oh-so self satisfying when you're all done.

Supplies needed: A wire brush, lube, rags. That's it! As you might guess, I have the afore mentioned supplies all wrapped up in a handy dandy kit for sale for your drive train cleaning pleasure. Email me for details. 2 bottles of lube?? Yep, 2 bottles. The Dumonde Tech (the green stuff) is really, really, really good on chains. The TriFlow (black bottle) is a slightly better penetrating lube for derailleur pivots as well as a kitchen sink full of other uses both on and off the bike. Additionally, TriFlow comes with a handy dandy extension tube that fits into the end of the bottle making the job of getting lube into all those "hard to reach" spots an easy task.

Start by holding the wire brush on the inside of the chain and back pedal that thing until your hearts content. Keep some pressure on the brush/chain as you do this to really get in there and get the crud out. No, the wire brush won't hurt the chain. That chain is one tuff customer... trust me.

Next, move to the outside of the chain. To make this easy, shift the chain onto the big chain ring. Again, back pedal while holding some pressure on the wire brush.


To finish the chain, brush off the side plates. Don't forget the back side!


Next, clean the rear derailleur pulleys with the wire brush. Again, you're back pedaling the bike to do this. Go easy with the pressure of the brush so you don't bind up the drive train which will cause the chain to fall off.


Go back to the chain rings and give em' a scrub. It won't take long to get the grime off the rings.


As you get more comfortable working with the brush, you'll learn little tricks on where to hold the brush and angling the brush to really get into all the nooks and crannies. At some point, you'll have to shift the chain into a different chain ring to allow you to get all three chain rings. (or however many you happen have).


Next, go to the cassette and get to work. If your bike is in a bike stand, pedal forward slowly and move the brush to different areas of the cassette. Be careful not to get your brush/hand/fingers tangle with the spokes of the wheel as it's spinning. If you're working on the bike on the ground and can't pedal forward, patiently use the brush back and forth to clean things up. Again, you'll have to shift the chain a few cogs to clean the entire cassette. At this point, you're done with the wire brush.


Get in your kit and grab a rag. Use the rag like dental floss to get in between the cassette cogs and make em' look new. The first few times you do this, it will feel (and be) a bit cumbersome. In time, you'll be a cog flossing pro and "wowing" you fellow riding partners with how clean you bikes' drive train always seems to be.


Move down to the rear derailleur and clean up the jockey pulleys. Use light pressure with your fingers and back pedal to clean the pulleys.


The rear derailleur has 10... count em'.... 10 pivots on it! Get in there and clean them up as best you can. You won't get them perfect, but that's OK. Just try and get the majority of "gunk" off. While you're at it, clean up the pivots on the front derailleur as well.

Now you're ready to put some lube on there. BUT... before you do, take a minute to visually inspect the chain, chainrings and cassette cogs for anything out of the ordinary like bent teeth or twisted links on your chain. Problems are easier to spot when everything is clean and much nicer to fix as well.


Take the TriFlow and lube all of the pivots on the rear derailleur. You only need a drop or two on each pivot.



Same thing for the front.


Next, take the Dumonde Tech and lube the chain. I like to lube on the inside of the chain because that's where the chain is coming into contact with the chain rings and cassette. Use the lube sparingly. You really only need a little bit on each roller of the chain. How much is a little bit......

..... it's about like this. You're trying to avoid getting lube all over the side plates of the chain. An over lubed chain will just attract dirt and grime making your next clean-up more tedious than it needs to be.


So, at this point, you've got lube on the chain, and all of the derailleur pivots. Slowly shift through all of the gears. This helps to work the lube into the chain and derailleur pivots. The more you do this the better. It's best to let the lubes "marinade" a little while. A few minutes is adequate. To finish, wipe off the excess lube from the chain and derailleur pivots and GO RIDE!!!!

Chain rings before.

Chain rings after.

Jockey pulleys before.

Jockey pulleys after.

Cassette before.

Cassette after.