Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Tandem Maintenance

After Sunday's ride, I decided I would open my box of tricks and get this bike ready to ride 25 miles. I put on a new trigger shifter only to find it too was broken, or should I say worn out. I figured out what was wrong with the original one and mine, they are just worn out from use. So I threw on an old trigger shifter that I got from someone who always claimed it was a 9 speed shifter but I found that it was only 8. It worked perfectly and I threw on a little Avid Lever, too.

I found the diameter of the existing bars to me just a hair too big for some of my grips, so I switched out the bars for my FUBars! Threw on some ODI lock-ons and it looks pretty pimp.

Below is the shifter and brake lever. I think the lever is a BMX lever but it should do. I also replaced the brake cable up front, too.

I added a rack to carry my trunk bag. That will be nice to have for the Bloomin Metric to carry snacks and to hold any clothing that might be shed during the ride.

For Katie's comfort, I added my old set of Ergons and a different saddle. We'll know Tuesday if that makes a difference for her.


1 comment:

Greg Heil said...

Nice! My wife and I tried riding tandem for the first time last week. It is a lot harder than it looks! Of course, we were on singletrack. Nothing too steep, but some serious, narrow singletrack none-the-less. Steering that thing took a lot of concentration!

Have fun!