Ian H
Ancient randonneur
9-speed Ergos being more-or-less obsolete, I decided, reluctantly, to upgrade to 10. The Omega is now about12 years old and has been through several updates of the equipment hung on it. I sourced levers, cassette, chain and other stuff from various online shops (and my local shop), and these sat in a box for several weeks.
A week before the Mad March 200 I decided, the existing drive-train being decidedly over-the-hill, that the job needed doing before the ride. Then a friend gave me a wheel for an urgent rim transplant, so that came first.
So, the day before the event I stripped down the bike. The rear wheel bearings, cassette-type, were rough, so in went the spare set. I cleaned and re-lubed the freehub. The new sprockets went on one-by-one and looked very shiny (that won't last).
The bar-tape came off, then the levers. I was surprised at the tatty bits of foam under the tape (yes, I must have put them there). The new levers were levered on and set level with the aid of a metal rule. I rolled back the hoods, fitted the cables, and carefully taped them to the bars.
The cables had to be routed to brakes and derailleurs. Oops! Noticed the rear brake blocks were within a mm of worn down to metal. The rear mech was fairly new (and described as 10-speed) so I cleaned it in situ. The left-hand lever was of the newer, one-click-down type, so there would be a bit of faffing to get the alignment dead-right and no rubbing in any gear.
The chainset had to come off to replace the middle ring. I'd decided to go 2 teeth larger (38). One of the hollow bolts split as I reassembled it. Cue a search in the bits box for another.
Then on with the new chain, check length and shorten to fit. I have always joined chains the 'traditional' way, but decided to use the supplied quick-link on the 10-speed.
Adjusting the gears proved a lot easier than I anticipated. A few tweaks and it was clicking up and down sweetly.
On with the bar-tape. Why did I get blue? Perhaps that was what the LBS had in stock. Then finally, at dusk, a quick ride up and down the road, which revealed that the limit screws on the front changer needed tweaking. Other than that everything seemed fine.
The following day I was up at 6.20, pumped up the tyres and got to the start in time for a chat. My first 200 of the year.
A week before the Mad March 200 I decided, the existing drive-train being decidedly over-the-hill, that the job needed doing before the ride. Then a friend gave me a wheel for an urgent rim transplant, so that came first.
So, the day before the event I stripped down the bike. The rear wheel bearings, cassette-type, were rough, so in went the spare set. I cleaned and re-lubed the freehub. The new sprockets went on one-by-one and looked very shiny (that won't last).
The bar-tape came off, then the levers. I was surprised at the tatty bits of foam under the tape (yes, I must have put them there). The new levers were levered on and set level with the aid of a metal rule. I rolled back the hoods, fitted the cables, and carefully taped them to the bars.
The cables had to be routed to brakes and derailleurs. Oops! Noticed the rear brake blocks were within a mm of worn down to metal. The rear mech was fairly new (and described as 10-speed) so I cleaned it in situ. The left-hand lever was of the newer, one-click-down type, so there would be a bit of faffing to get the alignment dead-right and no rubbing in any gear.
The chainset had to come off to replace the middle ring. I'd decided to go 2 teeth larger (38). One of the hollow bolts split as I reassembled it. Cue a search in the bits box for another.
Then on with the new chain, check length and shorten to fit. I have always joined chains the 'traditional' way, but decided to use the supplied quick-link on the 10-speed.
Adjusting the gears proved a lot easier than I anticipated. A few tweaks and it was clicking up and down sweetly.
On with the bar-tape. Why did I get blue? Perhaps that was what the LBS had in stock. Then finally, at dusk, a quick ride up and down the road, which revealed that the limit screws on the front changer needed tweaking. Other than that everything seemed fine.
The following day I was up at 6.20, pumped up the tyres and got to the start in time for a chat. My first 200 of the year.
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