Sunday Final

The Pretenders.
Great band!
For some reason, I get sort of misty eyeballed and think of James Honeyman-Scott when I hear this:



Alas, not what this is all about.
Yesterday, I rushed to finish up the installation of the group on my bike for I wanted to get a ride in and had some dinner thing to go to.
Thus, I missed posting about a few interesting things, mainly installing the chain.
I was sort of nervous about the chain part, even though I had the Park Tool Industrial Chain Thingy(PTICT):



I usually do the SRAM chain with power links so all you have to do is remove the unwanted section, attach and go.
Now, I needed to carefully insert that pin into the link; one shot for I only had one pin.
The PTICT is great!
It seats the chain not vertically, like most chain tools, but flatically:



The pin thing is also replaceable, just in case you are like me and have a penchant for fouling things up, at least the first time:



Okay, maybe more than the first time, but I swear, it wasn't my fault!
Anyways, the Campagnolo chain pin comes with a guide pin thingy to help with the installation:



The chain pin is hollow and goes onto the guide pin. The guide pin is then inserted into the chain link to help well, guide the pin in.
As you can see, I sort of bent it, but it straightened out in the end.
The chain pin I mean.
This was all great and all, but when I read the provided instructions, I saw that Campagnolo's chain tool thingy looked pretty good:



There is a spring clip thing that locks the links on to the tool, making pin insertion practically Flat Tire proof.
I may have to look into it.
The tool I mean.
Campagnolo also has a different way of chain sizing.
I've always done the big ring, big cog method and never had a problem.
You, the reader, know what they say: when in Rome, do as the Romans.
Okay, I'm not in Rome, or even close to it, but I'm sort of there in my heart.
All this Italian hardware don't you know.
So anyways they, the Italian folks, measure it small cog to small ring:



Then hold the chain together and measure the clearance of the chain to the upper jockey wheel.
Seems to work pretty well.
Here's the what it looks like cross chained:




I'm running a 12-25, so I don't know if you'd have much more play if you were running say a 12-27.
If I was running big gears, I go with the big-big method.
I think for close ration cassettes, I'd go with the small-small.
Okay, there you go!
Italian chain lesson No.1!
Now, I gotta go see how much that Campagnolo Chain Thingy is going to set me back.