March: I love you or "manic depression, a frustrating mess"
Ok, so by the time I was ready to leave work, which was 10pm, the roads were in good condition. I doubt that the City of Saint Paul played any role in this as side streets are an afterthought at most. The March Sun probably had more to do with it. It never lasts long this time of year.
While making some "adjustments" to Pig, I noticed in the sunshine that the chain was looking pretty decent. I gave it a good hosing with WD40 about a week ago and I could see the lube glistening in the sun. I'm not sure why bike mechanics tend to poopoo WD-40. It works for me and it's cheap. I do enjoy my tube of Phil grease, so I'm not a total cheapskate. Let me correct myself, bike mechanics act as though WD40 is an insult to a $9 chain, or worse, it's as though the WD40 will eat at the molecular structure of the metal and then you know what you've got, a snapped chain at the worst possible moment. Actually, I'd love to hear from anyone who knows anything about the destructive potential of this lubricant. Seriously, I'm opinionated, but I do realize I may be off base here.
Soon it will be time to retire Pig for the warm season. He deserves some maintenance. I have enough choice in bikes to take my time and tear it apart. We'll see what kind of havoc the sand and salt have played.
I was in a fairly pissy mood over the past two days. Work has been pretty demanding. I stayed up working until 2 am on Wednesday in a misguided attempt at catching up. My wife calls that manic behavior. I call it I'm getting too old for this sh!t. I'm not in my 20's any more. Not even close. Enough of that. I've never had a job that didn't have its share of stress. I guess that's why they pay me and not the other way around.
I hope to take some better photos of my bikes and whatnot this weekend. I've got a decent camera and a tripod. You all would see some decent picts for a change if I get some time to put some thought and time into it. I've never had much luck producing a good looking full bike shot. Time to do a little research on eBay and the Fixed Gear Bike Gallery sites.
You have a great weekend.
editors note: you NEED to look at VelociPete's comment.
While making some "adjustments" to Pig, I noticed in the sunshine that the chain was looking pretty decent. I gave it a good hosing with WD40 about a week ago and I could see the lube glistening in the sun. I'm not sure why bike mechanics tend to poopoo WD-40. It works for me and it's cheap. I do enjoy my tube of Phil grease, so I'm not a total cheapskate. Let me correct myself, bike mechanics act as though WD40 is an insult to a $9 chain, or worse, it's as though the WD40 will eat at the molecular structure of the metal and then you know what you've got, a snapped chain at the worst possible moment. Actually, I'd love to hear from anyone who knows anything about the destructive potential of this lubricant. Seriously, I'm opinionated, but I do realize I may be off base here.
Soon it will be time to retire Pig for the warm season. He deserves some maintenance. I have enough choice in bikes to take my time and tear it apart. We'll see what kind of havoc the sand and salt have played.
I was in a fairly pissy mood over the past two days. Work has been pretty demanding. I stayed up working until 2 am on Wednesday in a misguided attempt at catching up. My wife calls that manic behavior. I call it I'm getting too old for this sh!t. I'm not in my 20's any more. Not even close. Enough of that. I've never had a job that didn't have its share of stress. I guess that's why they pay me and not the other way around.
I hope to take some better photos of my bikes and whatnot this weekend. I've got a decent camera and a tripod. You all would see some decent picts for a change if I get some time to put some thought and time into it. I've never had much luck producing a good looking full bike shot. Time to do a little research on eBay and the Fixed Gear Bike Gallery sites.
You have a great weekend.
editors note: you NEED to look at VelociPete's comment.
posted by Jim at Friday, March 17, 2006
5 Comments:
Dear Penthouse,
I gave it a good hosing with WD40 about a week ago and I could see the lube glistening in the sun...
;-)
Well said! Freudian slippage.
Either that or I'm just a perv. Keep on riding!
Howdy; I staggered in here from a link on Pete's blog. Since you asked, here's the skinny on WD40 as it relates to bicycle chains. I am not a physicist, but I do drink a lot of beer, so I think I have a reasonable position on this matter.
WD40 is a weird chemical. It consists of a solvent carrier, water displacing slime chemical, and a little bit of what could be considered a lubricant. When you spray it onto something, the solvent carries the other stuff into cracks and holes, and then evaporates away into the air (which gives WD40 it's distinctive smell).
WD40 is primarily designed to displace moisture. If you have some expensive machine part that got exposed to water, drowning it with WD40 will push the water out of the innards and crevices of the part, replacing it with WD40, which then evaporates away. WD40 is an awesome choice to clean a chain. It flushes moisture and grit out of the chain reasonably well and then evaporates, leaving behind just a little bit of slimy stuff. The problem is that this slimy stuff is a poor lubricant, so instead of cushioning your chains moving parts protectively from eachother as they move, it allows them to grate together, slowly eating notches in your chain's rivets and bushings over time. This leads to a "stretched" chain, that in turn wears down your sprockets much faster than an unstretched chain will.
Go ahead and soak the chain with WD40 now and then, but put some kind of lube in after it has dried out so your chain won't wear out so fast. It may not be so much of an insult to a $9 chain, but when that chain elongates and starts chewing up your sprockets, things get expensive in a hurry. At the very least, measure one foot of the chain witha ruler now and then. Each pin should land squarely on the 1/4" marks. If the chain is more than 1/16" longer over this foot, it is getting to the point where it will damage your sprockets and should be replaced. Park and others make fancy tools that simply drop onto the chain to measure what percent of wear has occured, but these will cost you another $9 or so, thus cramping your frugal style. ;-)
-Karl
http://www.basementfreaks.com/members/karl/
Kar-l! Kar-l! Kar-l!
But, um, what is Jim seeing glistening in the sun there, then? Or, maybe I don't want to know...
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