I am unofficially the worst mechanic ever, and that's only because I've never been certified.
Several months ago I had planned a day to convert last year's race machine to a fixie. Life intervened and the project sat, until last night. Optimism ruled the afternoon and I set up in the new downstairs to take a crack at the conversion.
An hour and a half later, I could still not get the powerlink to release off of my chain. How a person can be embarrassed while alone in a basement may be a mystery to some, but there I was, red-faced and pissed.
Jeff stopped by and had it off in 5 seconds.
I then triple checked my needed chain length, only to make it one link too short and that was it. Hands were thrown up. F-Bombs were dropped and I marched back up the stairs. Nothing has been touched since then.
When I was young, I nearly drowned while taking swim lessons at the Y. Apparently, I had snuck behind the instructor and was mocking and miming her. When she jumped in the pool, so did I and I sat on the bottom for a long time before someone noticed and pulled me up. Swimming was for the birds after that.
Post college, I decided I needed to move somewhere to learn to surf and therefore needed to learn to swim. I paid for a Y membership and went to the open swim everyday for weeks. I would grab a lane against the wall, rudely sometimes and paddle like some drunken carnie in a dunk tank until I would panic and grab the wall, then compose myself and go again. This debacle went on until I learned to swim.
I am sure this project will be the same way. The only difference so far is that I actually asked for help. I am sure there are people at the Lafayette YMCA still pissed off at the lane hog who can't swim.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
You should've just called. I would've thought about it for 10 minutes and you would've walked down to the basement and finished wiping down your new fixie.
I don't think that you have to be certified to be a good mechanic. I do think that like anything else you can get rusty. I bet you won't make a chain too short anytime in the near future.
no, but you can be certifiable.
How many times have I sat in the basement, cursing bikes, tools, bloody knuckles, the world in general? Many, many times.
Then I go upstairs, crack a beer, and reflect. Inspiration dawns, and I go back down. Twist, snip, snick! Problem solved, and it's time to pedal.
Or I break some shit and it's off to the bike shop. It's about a 50/50 chance...
Is it at least clean?
First, bend the links around the powerlink into a "Z" shape.
Then squeeze the middle of the powerlink, between the rivets, with a needlnose pliers.
Next, use a second, wide pliers to grab the ends of the powerlink. Each jaw of the pliers must only touch one powerlink plate, meaning that you are squeezing the link at a diagonal.
Also, when you squeeze the powerlink, make sure that the release holes are all lined up. There is a right way to do this, where it will pop apart, and a wrong way, where it will just sit there.
Done this way it takes me about 20 seconds. If I try to do it with my bare hands I can't squeeze everything the way I need to and it takes me a long, long time.
Post a Comment