Actually Worked On a Couple of My Bikes, Today

I have declared a moratorium on bike work, for the most part, as I work on my musical project.  But, occasionally, I will still help out a friend.  Still, my own bikes are suffering from a bit of benign neglect.  Today, however, I managed to do a little work to both the Handsome XOXO and the Salsa Mukluk.

My Handsome had a couple of problems.  The short cage on the SunTour XC Pro read derailleur allowed for too much chain slap, and that was actually affecting the shifting.  I have enough chain on the bike to allow the big-big combination on the chainrings and cogs, and the short derailleur couldn't take up enough slack on the middle ring.  It would actually ghost-shift when I hit a bump in the road (and sometimes when I was torquing up a hill or through an intersection).  Also, the locking mechanism in the kickstand had broken, and I had to strap the stand to the chainstay while riding.

So, I installed this long-cage LX derailleur on the rear.  I bought it a couple of months ago, and then promptly misplaced it in the shop building. (Those who have seen the state of the shop can understand how this might happen.)  I stumbled across it, today, and decided I should install it while I still knew where it was.

I took the broken kickstand off and replaced it with the two-legged stand which was on the RockCombo.  I just don't like to have a commuter bike with no stand on it...

While I was working, I mounted the front fender on the Mukluk.

It's not the best looking installation I have ever done.  I fabricated the lower stay from aluminum bar-stock, and it actually clears the tire by a good gap on the front, even though it looks awfully close in this photo.  The curve of the motorcycle fender doesn't quite match the radius of the bicycle tire, and I can't seem to alter it.  I have heated it and tried to flatten the radius of the fender, but it returns to its original shape when it cools.  It still beats nothing, by a long shot, though!

The rear fender doesn't really protect the bottom bracket/front derailleur area.  But, it should keep me and the bag dry. 

In fact, since I used a rack as the fender mount, I can actually mount panniers on the rear, when the time comes to commute on it.

In other news, I am playing another set at Poppies Restaurant, this coming Monday, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.  I am going to amplify the guitar, this time, and turn the PA up, just slightly, to carry the sound a little deeper into the bar.  The owner is nervous about the music being too loud but, as I pointed out to the manager tonight, I will still be quieter than the piano player who was there, tonight.

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