The Honeymoon is Over

Okay, not really.
I mean I'm still digging the Bianchi, but I'm starting to find out some things about it that need my attention.
It rides great!
Even with them mini tires, it may be even smoother than The Flat Tire Nitro Flash.
Dare I say it might be faster?
No computer yet so I can't tell for sure, but seat of the pants says this bike flies!
Okay, the not so good.
In cleaning the chain today, I got the trusty ole Park Tool chain thingy and to no surprise, the chain is toast.
I could tell when I was applying the Chain-l No.5 for the small wheel thingys on the chain were like ready to fall out:



I got a spare chain here so I'll put that on tomorrow.
Or not.
The other thing I found was some frayed cable:



Not enough to cause me worry, but enough to make me want to replace all the cables including the brakes.
Which I had to adjust a bit, for the fronts were a little off center.
I'll tell you, I've been spending some time on these Campagnolo sites for this stuff is really different to me.
I mean it's like they made this stuff in a foreign country or something!
Everything is like, different!
You'd think that they'd have enough courtesy so that some of my Shimano tools would work on it too.
Noooooo, Campy has to be all unique and proprietary.
So, I got on order a lock ring tool and a bottom bracket tool.
Let me tell you, even the controls are all goofy!



The controls have a thumb lever to upshift, which is sort of good for you can grab/press like three gears at a shot. Going down, you can only grab two.
In the front, it's a little harder to figure out.
Same thumb lever and action, but it sometimes takes two hits on the lever to get that puppy up on the big ring.
You can also use the thumb shifter and lever to trim out the front.
I found myself doing that some as I took the bike out for a little shakedown cruise.
Now the bars:



Those bars make me feel like a very large person on a very small bike.
Reality is I'm a person of small stature on a small bike with small bars.
When riding on the tops, my hands are like six inches apart.
No, really.
I just need some PBR and a pair of capris and I'd be styling.
I also have a hard time reaching the levers from the drops, the bend just doesn't suit me.
So also on order is a new quill(for some rise) and some new bars(for the obvious), 42s.
Now I was reading this thing about handlebars on Bike Rumor! Apparently there are two schools on bar size, go small and go shoulder width.
Riding these mini-bars makes me think there's something to the small school. My back felt great after ten miles.
Longer ride tomorrow to further test this theory.
Now about all the wear and tear stuff.
The list of stuff I need to replace was getting sort of long and this Campagnolo stuff ain't exactly cheap.
I mean I like the bike as it is now, but it could be better.
So I'm giving it a boob job and going Campy Centaur ten speed.
I'll accumulate the parts slow like and in a couple of months I'll just take everything apart and smother myself in Bianchi goodness.
This should be fun for when it comes to Campy stuff I really don't know what the hell I'm doing.
All I know is that I'm going to try to do this on the cheap.
Evil eBay willing.
Yes dear, the honeymoon is over.