This is on of those things you wish you had thought of first. This little piece of brazed on metal will be on every bike I have built or re-coated from this day forward.
It has been almost a year now since I received my Roadeo from Rivendell. When it came in from Waterford Mark called to confirm my choice of color, or lack there of. I asked if they could add a chain peg, and Mark told me I did not want one, what I really wanted was a Columbine Quikchainger. I had not really ever paid any attention to these before, and Mark assured me I would be much happier with one of these over a simple peg. If you have never used either the point of each is to assist with keeping things clean when the rear wheel is out of the bike.
For the last year or so I have figured that this metal widget had some sort of magic spell over my bike, I have not needed to take the back wheel off in almost a year of riding. I am doomed now that I put it in writing, but none the less, before Thursday morning of this past week the wheel had never come off since the original build last December. I thought I had everything ready to go the night before for my morning ride, and came down in the morning to find the rear tire flat. The thing is, I was actually excited to finally get to use the chainger.
It is so simple I could not really believe it. With the bike upright, you shift into the outermost cog, and remove the wheel as you normally would. But you do not have to lay a finger on the chain. It rests on the Quikchainger and is held cleanly above the stay. To reinstall the wheel I pull the derailer back a bit, slip the wheel in with the chain on the outermost cog. The distance between the rear dropout and the quickchainger exposes a bit of chain for this engagement. The only thing you touch is the wheel and the derailer, no greasy fingers from the chain. Absolutely flawless, so simple, yet works so perfectly. The pics give a step by step:
Thank you for Mark at Rivendell suggesting that I go with this, and the guys at Columbine Cycle Works for creating these.
Watching the sun come up over the strawberry fields, the smell of fresh food all through your ride is fantastic.
And on the way home, the siren song to the north
Some of you may remember my love of riding for wild or semi wild foods from my Walnut Ride. Time to enjoy the dry weather and the morning chill, and ride for the pomegranates I had seen a few weeks ago. No laws were broken and the trees are on public easement. Living in an area surrounded by agriculture it would be all to easy to just grab fruit from the end row of the farms and orchards, but that would kind of defeat the point, and I am pretty sure it is stealing. These particular trees are on the fence line of land grabbed by the water district when they built the Casitas damn. Many ranchers and homeowners lost land to eminent domain with this one, and there are quite a bit of interesting things tucked into the corners of this area without having to jump the fences lined with "No Trespassing" signs. This morning it was a truncated version of a favorite loop to get the quarry and make it home in time for baby duty. Having fresh fruit keeps you out of trouble when you are a little late.
I am looking forward to daylight savings time coming to an end, a little more morning light for a bit.
My default gofast bike is my Rivendell Roadeo. The frame and fork are from Rivendell Bicycle Works.Build:
Handle bar: Nitto RM013 Riv Dirt Drop
Levers: Tektro
Shifters: Suntour Barcon NOS
Cables/Housing: Jagwire Titanium Finish
Stem: Nitto Technomic Delux
Tape: Soma Thick and Zesty
Bell: Crane Brass (needs to go back on)
Headset: Stronglight A9
Brakes: Shimano Ultrega BR-B600 (KoolStop Shoes)
Seatpost: Vintage Shimano Dura Ace
Saddle: Brooks B-17 / Berthoud Touring
Bottom Bracket: Phil Wood 103
Crankset: Ritchey Logic Compact
Pedals: Sakae Low Fats (I have wide Feet)
Tires: Jack Brown Green
Rims: Mavic A117
Hubs: Phil Wood Rivy Freewheel
Freewheel: IRD 6sp 13-28
Bags: Acorn Saddle and Handlebar bag
Parts were a mix of deal hunting, stuff I had and some new from Rivendell. Some of you might even recognise stuff you sold me. I ride this bike for near everything short of technical single track and loads of stuff greater than 15lbs. After almost a year of riding I still love this bike. It has more than served its purpose and there is little I would change.
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