trek portland update

bike is great. i love it. i took it on some errands around town in the snow/slush. bike handles fine in the snow. need to be careful with the brakes because it is easy to lock up the wheels in packed snow. the brakes are noisy when they are wet but that is to be expected. let me know if you have any questions about the bike

grip tape scraps

i save the bar tape scraps and sometimes i have a long enough piece to wrap around my tools. wrapped my breaker bar with some bar tape. makes laying down the power a little easier on the hands. i also wrap my headset wrenches with bar tape.

cheater pipes and extra leverage

yes i know better than to use cheater pipes. sometimes though the cheater pipe is needed for extra leverage and to get the job done. i have breaker bars and long ratchets but sometimes need more. i keep old steel seatposts around for this purpose. strong and designed to resist bending. pump shafts are good too but they get messed up easily. the walls are too thin but there is an almost endless supply of pump shafts in the scrap pile.

good shop scissors

i use these EMT shears in the shop. good for cutting handle bar tape. they are cheap to replace if they grow legs. they work well too. try them out if you need some new scissors.

put a magnet on your chain whip

put a magnet on the tag end of your chain whip. this will keep the end from flopping around and falling off when you are laying down some serious power. i used an old shoe lace and stuffed a small 1/4 diameter magnet in it. put a few knots it in and attach to the end of your whip. you will like this one

tube tip

i hope all of you carry a spare tube and tools while out on a ride. keep your spare tube in a old sock. this keeps the tube from getting holes and abrasion from rubbing in the seatbag with other things. the sock is for wiping your hands after you swap your tube.

identify the left pedal quickly

while i can identify pedals by looking at the thread there are other ways to identify them. most pedals are marked in some way. a quick way to identify the left one for most cheap pedals is to look near the wrench flats. the spindle with the stripes is the left one. so in my pic above the left pedal is on the left