The Marin Had A Visit From The Bike Gremlins.
There I was, enjoying the first ride of the year on my Pride and Joy - the mighty Marin, when I started on the first climb of the day's short ride, up to Four Turnings junction.
"whirr whirr... legs beginning to ache go for lower gear - snick... whirr whirr... legs beginning to ache again, go for another lower gear - snick... clackety clackety clack clack... woo ya basket, go for another gear - snick... clacka clacka clacka clacka... momentum diminishing... clacka clacka... Mayday! Mayday! Warp drive corrupt... abandon climb... abandon climb...
Oh fiddlesticks*
How is it, you can park a perfectly functioning bicycle in your house one day, then the next time you ride it, it is utterly hooper chooped?
The damned bike gremlins must've crept in through my letterbox (the Marin is a house bike, no shed for this baby...) and clutching various spanners, screwdrivers and allen keys in their little furry paws, went and gave me a constantly variable transmission. The little bast... the little tinkers.
Some speculative twiddling of the cable adjuster saw things clicking and whirring as they should do, but how the hell these things happen I do not know. All my bikes are always left on the smallest sprocket/chainwheel to reduce tension on gear cables, so how the gears went so far out of whack while just being parked in my living room is beyond me.
But it didn't spoil the ride, and the Marin remains a cracking bike to ride, so all is forgiven.
* Not my exact words.
The Marin Had A Visit From The Bike Gremlins.
There I was, enjoying the first ride of the year on my Pride and Joy - the mighty Marin, when I started on the first climb of the day's short ride, up to Four Turnings junction.
"whirr whirr... legs beginning to ache go for lower gear - snick... whirr whirr... legs beginning to ache again, go for another lower gear - snick... clackety clackety clack clack... woo ya basket, go for another gear - snick... clacka clacka clacka clacka... momentum diminishing... clacka clacka... Mayday! Mayday! Warp drive corrupt... abandon climb... abandon climb...
Oh fiddlesticks*
How is it, you can park a perfectly functioning bicycle in your house one day, then the next time you ride it, it is utterly hooper chooped?
The damned bike gremlins must've crept in through my letterbox (the Marin is a house bike, no shed for this baby...) and clutching various spanners, screwdrivers and allen keys in their little furry paws, went and gave me a constantly variable transmission. The little bast... the little tinkers.
Some speculative twiddling of the cable adjuster saw things clicking and whirring as they should do, but how the hell these things happen I do not know. All my bikes are always left on the smallest sprocket/chainwheel to reduce tension on gear cables, so how the gears went so far out of whack while just being parked in my living room is beyond me.
But it didn't spoil the ride, and the Marin remains a cracking bike to ride, so all is forgiven.
* Not my exact words.