10th May: Shakedown

When I returned from my MTB session the other week I took the deliberate step of removing the pedals from my bike to avoid the temptation of getting on it again, with it now only fit for condemnation.I had a look at getting a new MTB, but the cost for what I was looking for would be at least £800, which is a lot of money for something that doesn't get used a great deal... So I had a look at what I already have and took a view.
 
The frame of the bike itself is sound, as too is the bottom-bracket - which is not that surprising as it has not done a huge mileage. The wheels are also relatively new having been bought a few years back when my previous rear wheel died.
 
When I bought the current wheels I made sure they were capable of taking rotors for disc brakes, which was certainly a wise move, and looking at the frame and the existing (and pretty knackered) shock forks, they had mounting points for disc brakes, so a decision was made: re-using the frame and wheels I would build a new bike around them.
 
Over the last couple of weeks the constituent parts have all arrived, and winning on eBay a set of Rock Shox 'Reba Team Dual' air forks I have a pretty good pair to mount on the bike.
 
So for the first time I have disc brakes (hydraulic), which meant I needed to get new gear shifters as the previous ones were units that combined brakes and shifters. The new brakes, levers and shifters were added with ease and minimal fuss, along with a new flat bar, stem, headset, crankset, crank arm, crank bolts (Alan key ones), and the forks.
 
So the only parts carried over from the previous iteration are the frame, wheels, hand grips, rear dérailleur and bar ends... So what is essentially a new bike with regards to the running gear (and stopping gear) has cost me in the region of £200 and a couple of hours of work to put it all together.
 
Chuffed with the new iteration of the bike, I roped Walshy in to accompanying me to Swinley on his MTB for a shakedown test.
 
Walshy is coming-off an injury when he came a cropper on black ice whilst cycling home from work back in Feb, so he was up for a roll of the blue and red routes as it would not be a flat-out throwing around of the bike and help judge if his body was ok.
 
Setting-out things seemed relatively fine on the new MTB, the shock forks responding beautifully to the terrain and the handlebar mounted 'pop-lock' being a great thing to have (it locks the forks so stiffens them if you are riding over fairly flat terrain) and the brakes were effective and responsive to the touch of the levers, something I have not been used to for a long time!
 
The only downer was the fact the rear gears were not shifting well, with the dérailleur refusing to shift downwards most of the time when it made its way on to the largest of the rear rings (it getting on to that ring when steep climbing was needed). I even stopped a couple of times to try and fine-tune the adjustment to improve things... I was just about coping when we managed to reach about halfway through the route, when the dérailleur somehow caught the wheel, bent, twisted round and sheared-off entirely.

The jockey-wheel holder.

The derailleur hanger... It was straight before.

The derailleur - you can see the sheared-off bolt.

I was left with no choice but to try and turn the bike into a single speed to limp back to the car park, but even that did not happen as the chain kept jumping down and off, so I had to push and freewheel all the way back to the start from - it would be - the furthest away part of the course.
 
At least with curtailing the ride Walshy did not put his back out or anything else, so by means of an apology I shouted him a sausage in a roll and a cuppa tea at the cafe before the drive home.
 
Sod's bloody law, the only part of the drivetrain I did not replace is the bit that failed, taking the hanger with it as well... As soon as I was through the door I was back on eBay to spank another £20 and the parts were on their way to me as I await attempt #2 at getting the effing thing to work correctly!
 
Eat pies.
Drink beer.
Run far.