Maintenance
The cog in my SS has been grinding lately, and it’s been getting worse, so I took it over to Broadway yesterday to see if there was anything that could be done about it. Not much, apparently, as it’s not really serviceable. Plus, he said the thing was only about $15-$16, so really, what’s the point.
I cleaned it off, and tried to flush out some of the (what must be) grit and sand with some Phil’s Tenacious Oil, and it’s 150% improved, but still grinds a bit. It will certainly get me through the winter. Trued up the wheels and tightened the brakes a bit as well at the same time. It was nice getting my hands dirty with something after all the crap going on in the last couple of weeks.
The front brake still squeals like a banshee. I don’t think that will ever change. Nothing I do seems to make any difference. I should just get rid of them and get a different style. These linear pulls always feel squishy. Maybe some calipers or something. But that will wait until spring. Hmm, maybe I could canibalize the old Mafac Racers of my Peugeot. Those always worked great even in spite of being 35 years old. OTOH, it does make people’s attention when they step off the curb in front of you without looking.
Stopped at the trucks at MIT for lunch for a very disappointing falafel wrap. Bleah.
One hour bay rental: $9.
One of the workers there drew the short straw.was, I suppose, tuning up a commuter bike while I was there. The brakes handles were wrapped in duct tape, the saddle was covered in several layers of shopping bags, and it was generally in a mess. She pulled out several lengths of some kind of (used) tissue from the handlebars. I asked her what was the likelihood of finding Jimmy Hoffa stuffed in there somewhere. She said it was probably pretty high.
