Tales from today's commute....

[HLaB]

Timed that well tonight. When I came out of the changing room it was torrential but I got held up leaving by a chatty colleague and by the time I got my bike out of the bike cage it was stopped and whilst things were quite flooded, I got treated to a very bright rainbow. The Camera doesnt do it justice.

On the train I managed to grab two of the three seats in front of the bike straps and the skies brightened up more and by the time I got off I was treated again (to a quite nice sunset).

 

[Poacher]

Timed that well tonight. When I came out of the changing room it was torrential but I got held up leaving by a chatty colleague and by the time I got my bike out of the bike cage it was stopped and whilst things were quite flooded, I got treated to a very bright rainbow. The Camera doesnt do it justice.
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On the train I managed to grab two of the three seats in front of the bike straps and the skies brightened up more and by the time I got off I was treated again (to a quite nice sunset).
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Even a faint double bow!

 

[Pgd]

An eventful week for me. I have an ageing Boardman gravel bike which is my do-it-all bike, including commuting twice a week from zone 6 into central London. The drivetrain had felt a little off for a while, so on a whim I decided to install replacement jockey wheels to see if anything improved. That was last Thursday. The next day, about a mile into my commute the derailleur hanger failed catastrophically, mangling the parallelogram and damaging the large chainring. Luckily (a) this was at low speed and with no other consequences, and (b) as i was parked a mile away in the London suburbs, I could simply walk my mangled bike back to the car and catch the train.

I think the hanger was already weak from previous incidents and corrective bendings. But I also suspect I'd over-tightened the new pulleys -- I'd read they should be tightened until resistance felt, but in hindsight should've just used a torque wrench...

Anyway, it's now back from LBS with a new chainset and rear derailleur, and a new BB for good measure, setting me back a fair bit of cash . But on the plus side, it's all nicely tuned up, so I'm clinging to the mantra that it's like a new bike but considerably cheaper. Just need to look after it better...

Finally: this week, while my usual bike was at the LBS, I borrowed my son's road-centric hybrid. Although the frame is too small for me, it's very light and nippy and rather good fun. Might borrow it again occasionally when it's nice weather. I've never owned a lightweight road bike but I can see why people do!