They are a blues band sort of like Blues Traveler but with an edge. Check them out if you get the chance. You can find them at CDBaby.
I was reminded of them while on my Sunday ride.
First, the Great Chain Lube Challenge(GCLC).
The Dumonde Tech didn't do so well. It was okay on the first day, sort of. I noticed some chain noise that made me play with the cable adjustment at the shifter until it went away. Then my shifting went south.
Actually, the shifting went south on the second day. No matter what I did to try and adjust, certain gear shifts became temperamental.
I also didn't like the consistency of the lube. It was sort of thin, thinner than the Progold I used to use. For me, it became sort of messy.
So today, I cleaned off the chain and applied the Chain-l No.5. I read all the reviews online and was impressed.
The Chain-l is seriously thick compared to the Dumonde Tech.
I mean thick.
You are supposed to clean your chain then apply a drop to each link and let sit. This sounds tedious but it actually goes pretty fast. Then again if you live in a colder climate, the lube will move like Heinz Ketchup(for those of you in the ketchup region), nice and slow.
Nice and slow see, that's the way to do it.
Like pork chops and apple sauce.
Or something.
Anyways, you let the lube soak the links then you wipe off all the excess.
I mean wipe it good.
It may be difficult for the lube seems to contain some binders or something that really make it stick to everything. So much so that if you don't wipe it well, you'll see some spider web like strands between your chain and rings.
Seems like dust magnet stuff to me.
Or not.
In the short time I had with it, I sort of forgot I was trying it out.
I guess that's a good thing for there was no noise or sticky shifting.
Links remained fairly clean.
The thing about Chain-l is that it smells suspiciously like 90w gear oil. Acts like it too. According to the guy that invented it, there are some chemicals in there formulated for bicycle use. I'm liking it.
Long range test tomorrow.
Weather permitting.
Speaking of chemicals, I came across this on BikeRumor a while back:
Bike Pure was apparently started by cyclists that got sick and tired of all the drug scandals involving professional cycling. You can read more about it here.
First of all, I agree with their premise.
Well, sort of.
Professionals are one thing.
Would I like a clean sport? Sure.
Will I see it in my lifetime? Doubt it.
Those guys get paid to win.
Now amateurs, that's a different story. Test them and if they are positive, ban them for life.
No second chances.
I mean if they dope, they can always turn pro.
Seeing as how I sort of support the cause, I was thinking about getting the jersey or shirt.
Wait!
I dope!
Three times a week I get my shot of Epogen.
I guess that means I'm dirty.
I'm certainly not pure.
I'm certain that jersey is out of the question.
I mean that would make me a hippopotamus or something.
Dirty hippo cyclist.
My bike and I got an early bath today as the sun turned liquid.
Liquid sunshine, that's what we call rain here.
I much prefer dry sunshine:
That was yesterday.
Today, everywhere I rode, it seemed the clouds were following me. I turned and headed on home only to have the rain catch up forcing me to clean my bike.
The rain followed me home.
Then it stopped raining and dry sun came out again.
The dark clouds though, seemed to linger above me.
Not a good Sunday.
2 comments:
Cyclists are funny about chains and lube, aren't we? I think when I was a kid all I did was squirt on some wd40 whenever I thought about it. But that's more or less considered a no-no by experts. By "experts", I mean people like you and me posting on blogs and forums. I think sometimes I also used 3in1 oil. If it got really gunky I squirted it with a hose.
Who had time for chain oil?
I was too busy trying figuring out how to attach my transistor radio to the handlebars.
Oh, and begging my mom to get me those tires that looked like slicks.
Post a Comment