ENO No-Go? Oh, no! D'oh!

I have a White Industries ENO (read it backwards for more bike-biz cuteness) rear hub on the pink bike. The ENO's axle is offset in relation to the mounting bolts, producing an eccentric effect which allows one to take up chain slack on a bike equipped with vertical dropouts.

There! Does it make sense now?

To tension the chain, you snug the 6mm mounting bolts just slightly, then use a large open-end wrench (I use a 6" adjustable wrench) to rotate the hub body and adjust the tension. Then, you securely tighten the 6mm bolts and pedal merrily on your way. Life is but a dream.

I am finding that mine tends to slip just alittle as I ride. After a week or so of my commute, it loosens up enough that I have, on three occasions, tossed the chain as I soft-pedalled down a hill.

Three occasions before this morning, that is. The total is now at 5.

The first time it happened, this morning, I just reinstalled the chain and continued on. I figured I'd take the time to dig the tools out and adjust it once I got to work, as I had the first few times this had happened. Big mistake. A half-mile down the road and the chain jumps off the cog, and wedges itself into the space between the cog and the spokes. As I am extricating it, I notice that the spring-clip on the BMX-style master link is broken. Crap!

Luckily, I was only about a mile and a half from home, so I called work and left a message that I would be late, and turned around. I figured, and it turned out to be true, that I could baby the bike back to the house with the sorta-busted chain. I planned on replacing the chain, then trying again.

I got home, opened up the Annex and threw the bike up into the stand (not that I regurgitated it.. I just... well, you know what I mean). As I turned the rear wheel, looking for the master link on the chain, it became apparent that the chain was not the only thing broken.

Feh!

A broken spoke! And two or three more chewed halway through! Perfect. I have put about 950 miles on the pink bike since I converted it to fixed gear. Couldn't even make a thousand before I broke something...

So, I pulled the orange Peugeot down from the rafters, and transferred the rack/bag setup and the lights over to it. Then, I took off for work. Again.

Pepe Le Peugeot: It kinda stinks to put these heavy bags on such a nice-riding bike!

Even though I don't have to be at work until 7:00 AM, I usually leave at about 5:45 or 5:50. Many of my friends think that's weird, since it only takes 35 or 40 minutes to get there. Today, however, it paid off.

I left my driveway, the second time, at 6:31, and I was in the building at work at 6:57. Twenty-six minutes door to door is about 4 minutes better than my previous best time (also on this bike). I guess all of that spinning on the pink bike is paying off.

I no longer feel quite so guilty about having more than one, "do-everything", bike, though. If I had been a single-bike owner, this morning, I would have ended up on the motorcycle or the scooter. As is, my string of unbroken bike commutes, from May 1, is intact.

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