Thought this sticker was hilarious given the Volagi/Specialized hooplah. Not my bike,but can appreciate the sentiment. I also think it’s funny that people who will talk your ear off about buying local, small,artisan,handcrafted,‘hate Starbucks because they are big’blah blah blah will also openly rep the big S like it ain’t no thang. FWIW I’d ride an Enduro or an FSR of some sort if it was free. In the end all this boycott talk will have zero change on their bottom line given the short term memory of consumers these days (anybody remember the old ‘boycott Burton cuz you can’t patent fun’movement?),but it’s nice to see a small minority keep the dream alive. Guy is lucky he didn’t use red stickers for that,would have likely been sent a C&D by big S. 
I’m currently rolling a low-end build (Rockhopper Comp 29er) as it was a cheap way to get back on the bike after my old MTB was used in one of those ‘guy who doesn’t know you borrows it long-term and without asking and oh yeah I’m borrowing your TV and shit rent to own without paying rent’scams. Had started to rebuild it as a sort-of-cross hack bike,but have now vetoed that build and am reverting back to OEM so I can sell her to fund a more lustworthy ride. As part of that process am giving her a lube/oil/filter/cable change so the next owner is good to go. As I know a lot of people don’t know how to swap out the cables on their shifters or are afraid they have to disassemble them to get at the cables I figured I’d throw a quick how to up. This process >>should<< be the same for everything X9 and below,but as the bike industry is keen on changing things every year to suck money from the sheeple on their quest for perfection you can look at SRAM’s service manuals if this doesn’t look like it’ll work for your shifters. Anyways,a good % of you are going to chuckle at this being a how-to,but it’s one of those things that sometimes you just think is going to be far worse than it is,involving cracking open the shifter body and weeding your way through springs and widgets and whatnots,but it’s not like that and if it enables someone to save some money and wrench on their own bike a bit more confidently I’m stoked. Step 1: Put your bike in your bike stand. If you don’t have a bike stand and are still using a wall,2x4s,or some other rigged method of keeping your bike upright for wrenching punch yourself in the nuts (or female equivalent for you ladies out there reading),stop reading and go buy a GOOD one right now –seriously don’t cheap out here,what’s an extra $50 amortized over the 10+ year life of a good repair stand? I went from an old hand me down POS Blackburn to a Spin Doctor Pro G3,pretty much night and day in stability,ability to have the bike at a decent working level (I’m 6’4 so that’s a nice back saving addition),etc. etc. Seriously,just do it and you’ll thank me. 
Step 2: Shift into gear 1 (front) or your highest rear gear (8-10) depending on which cable you’re replacing. Remove or cut the cable from the derailleur side. Next,look just behind the backside of your triggers for either a small,uncovered hole or a small screw that is covering the hole. If there’s a small screw,remove it,otherwise proceed to step 3. 
Step 3: Push on the cut end of the cable so that it comes out through the newly (or permanently) uncovered hole in shifter. If you’re having trouble getting it out give it a twist while pushing and it should come out.
 Step 4: It’s all downhill from here. Insert new cable through the hole the old one just came out of,feed through your housing and back to your derailleur,and tune as usual. Note that it may be a pain in the R’s to get the cable back through the barrel adjuster. Some people remove them for feeding through,I found I was able to feed the cable through by just playing with it for a second. BOOM! You’re done,pat yourself on the back and assume the victory pose  TGIF,awwwwww yeah it’s Friday. Monday thru Thursday bring nothing but love for cycling,today though it’s time to spew some hate! 1. The prices. On everything. You can get this for less than the price of this. As much as I know the R&D costs behind moving a chain with a few rollers and a cage pulled by a cable must take I’ve got to believe that internal combustion takes more. 2. The sheeple that buy the marketing hype. I mean seriously,I think cyclists buy into the marketing machine worse than junior high girls buying into the latest boy band. 3. Companies that switch their manufacturing overseas but still charge US made prices. Seems to be the rage these days,I guess,but I find it ridiculous. 4. Along those lines,companies that buy catalog bikes,slap on their brand,and sell them as something original. Seriously,GTFO with that crap. It’s one thing to so your own R&D and offload your manufacturing to someone else (like Specialized does to Giant,or just about anybody in the biz),it’s a whole ‘nuther level of ridiculous to just pick next year’s models out of a generic catalog and slap your labels on ‘em. 5. The fact that I don’t have enough time to ride as much as I’d like. Between trying to get a new startup off the ground,training muay thai,and just lack of focus/too many hobbies I can NEVER ride as much as I’d like to! Saw this on Bikeradar today. Worth the quick read as stats like ‘56 percent of cyclists ignoring stop signals or traffic lights compared with just seven percent of motorists‘are pretty amazing given our vulnerability on the streets. Thoughts? 
Was shopping around,looking for a cycling jacket for the ladyfriend. It looks like a lot of the model year changeovers are starting,saw a TON of stuff on sale,now that stuff that is WAAAAY over priced is approaching realistic prices. Check out here,here and here. I’d point out a few of the things I’m looking at,but there are only a few left so want to wait until I’ve bought my Christmas gifts! Some screaming deals on bikes,too. Yeti 575 for around $2k?? Whoa. 
Kind of new to me. Who knew that long hairs had to worry about getting it stuck in the helmet doohickeys,certainly not I. Preview of that Kali Protectives Chakra Plus coming soon! 
Want one? Ping me with your mailing address. All I want in return is a picture of where you stick ‘em! Oh,and if you’ve pinged me and I haven’t responded yet drop a comment here,my email seems to be a bit wonkified. 
(and you have no idea how many times I had to proofread it to avoid one of those ‘free deliverly’type gaffs) Playing around today….it’s like one of those projects people start when they are high or something…dunno if I’ll go all the way with this as I’d need either a new RD or new front brifter to make ‘er work (damn 1:1 vs. 1:2 cable pull)….on the bright side it’d be a disc braked ‘cross’bike 
So I entered this contest that iMapMyRide (btw,cool app,just sucks battery life like Jenna Jameson in her prime) and some others were putting on,where you use their app,ride your bike,and have a chance at winning prizes. Apparently due to my ohsofuckingincredible fitness,gazzelle like reflexes and deft bike handling skills was able to go Cadel Evans on that ass and win some yellow spandex to cover my man chesticles. Sadly though I don’t think you’ll see me out and about in this jersey as it doesn’t have nearly enough logos on it for my liking. Note that I’m putting a team together and taking sponsorship requests for my certain to be epic return next year. I’m hoping to secure a sponsor for SPD compatible sandals,a recumbant bike,and maybe a goofy little cycling hat sponsor to round out the look. 
Well here’s an unusual combination,Portland and bikes. Elly Blue is one half the Batman/Robin duo that put together this seen and has been known to espouse about the benefits of two wheels every now and then,so support what they are doing and pick up a few of these to comp to friends when they come to town. Don’t forget to check out their site and see all their PDX/bike related offerings because hey,it’s Friday,and you were looking for more ways to kill time at work anyways. 
Word. Get your long weekend on y’all. | |
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