Gear Update - July 12, 2021

In this post I describe changes I've made to my gear since those described in Gear Update - April 10, 2021.

See also Complete List of My Gear and How I Pack My Gear, both of which reflect all the changes I've made.

1. Bike and Accessories

Last December 10th I dented my seat tube by installing the rear rack below the bottom of a new, shorter, seat post. You can read about that here. That day I also discovered a crack my left seat stay. Although I could ride the bike with its damaged seat tube and seat stay, at least until the crack in the seat stay developed to the point of being dangerous, I started exploring options for replacing the frame, including buying a used frame or entire bike or having a frame built for me. I posted a message in several bike forums and received many responses. Some offered bikes for sale and others suggested frame builders. David from the Facebook group Steel is Real !!! wrote that he thought he could fix both the seat stay and the seat tube and asked me to give him the frame if I decided to scrap it. He told me how he repaired a seat tube that was damaged much worse than mine. When David inspected the damage to my bike he repeated that he thought could repair it, and offered to do so. Yesterday he made both repairs.

David repaired the crack by brazing it with bronze. Isn't it beautiful?

This is how the crack looked before the repair.

David repaired the dent in the seat tube by gently hammering steel rods of increasing diameter down the tube and tapping on the tube itself until it was again round.

Seat tube after being made round

This is how the seat tube looked after I dented it.

Now that the seat tube is again round I have installed the Cinelli Via Folli seatpost that arrived last December. The Cinelli seatpost, 50 mm longer than the Shimano Dura Ace seat post I've been using, will prevent any damage to the seat tube from the rear rack. It's also a perfect match to my Cinelli 1A stem. But it's unfortunate that this seat post has only a single bolt to secure both the fore/aft and tilt adjustments. The Shimano seat post has one bolt to secure the fore/aft adjustment and another bolt to secure the tilt. It's much more difficult to adjust the saddle with the Cinelli seat post. A more serious problem is that the saddle comes loose! This has happened three times, so I will find a way to replace this beautiful piece of garbage.

Cinelli Via Folli seatpost

As I wrote in Gear Update: Saddle, seat post, and cassette, one of the two parts of the seat binder bolt broke as I tightened it when installing the Dura Ace seat post last December. I couldn't find a replacement bolt in any local bike shop, but an M6 x 20 mm hex bolt from Home Depot worked perfectly, allowing me to complete the installation of the seat post. I then bought a Problem Solvers seat binder bolt that I had planned to use. But as I was about to install it today I realized that it requires a pair of 5mm hex drivers. While I carry two 5mm hex bits in my tool kit, I carry only one ratchet. So I'm going to continue using the unbroken half of the original seat binder bolt (which requires a 5mm hex driver) and the M6 x 20 mm hex bolt (which can be held with the 4-inch adjustable wrench I carry in my tool kit). But I might change my mind, because I could use my 4-inch adjustable wrench to hold the second 5mm bit.

I've been using the 4-bolt version of the Delta Post Haste rear rack (discontinued), but now that the Cinelli seat post was protecting the seat tube, I installed the quick-release version of that rack (also discontinued) for easier installation and removal.

Quick-release rack

However, as soon as I started riding with the new rack I noticed that my right thigh repeatedly made contact with the lever of the rack's quick-release mechanism. I have therefore reinstalled the 4-bolt rack I had been using and will return the quick-release rack to Cambria Bicycle Outfitters who will issue a full refund. I bought that rack last December, so I am glad for their 365-day return policy.

4-bolt rack

As you can see in the pictures above, the repair of the crack involved damage to the paint, as did the denting of the seat tube. I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with this damage, but I think I will do something that respects the concept of wabi-sabi, which recognizes the beauty of repaired items and accepts that evidence of a repair is visible.

A few months ago, when I saw that one of my water bottle cages had cracked, I repaired it with red tape so that the water bottle it held would be secure. The other water bottle cage had also become quite worn. In May I found a pair of new water bottle cages on eBay for just $18 each, shipping included. These cages, which I installed today, are the same red Specialized Rib Cages they replace. The water bottles I bought in April certainly deserve these new cages.

Specialized has discontinued the all-red water bottle cage. As I've said before, Specialized specializes in discontinuing or modifying excellent products in order to frustrate their loyal customers.

During my ride June 1st through the 4th I experienced a lot of clicking that seemed to be coming from the bottom bracket. After I returned home I opened the bottom bracket and found that both races of the spindle were pitted. I bought a used spindle on eBay in good condition and installed it June 16th. Since then there has been no clicking.

Old

Installed June 16th

I bought another spindle on eBay in even better condition. I like to have spare parts.

Almost-new spindle

Since November of last year I've experimented with a 24-tooth cog rather than a 23-tooth cog as my next to largest cog. Sometimes when the chain is on the 48-tooth chainring, backpedalling has caused the chain to jump from the 24-tooth cog to the next smaller cog. Since December of last year backpedalling had caused no jumping of the chain from the 24-tooth cog until I installed a new chain on May 8th, just as it did in November when I installed a new chain. There is now less jumping as the chain has worn. I'd love to find a way to avoid the jumping from the 24-tooth cog with a new chain, but I doubt that it is possible.

During 2020 I bought several NOS (new-old-stock) parts that I have not installed. As I wrote above, I like to have spare parts.

• Shimano Dura Ace BB-7400 Bottom Bracket
• Shimano Dura Ace BL-7402 Left Brake Lever
• Shimano Dura Ace PD-7800 Pedals
• Shimano Dura Ace RD-7402 Rear Derailleur

2. Tools, Parts, and Supplies

No changes.

3. Electronics

No changes.

4. Clothing

I've owned a few pair of size M Specialized Sport Gloves. When it came time to replace my latest pair, I ordered size M Specialized Sport Gel gloves because Specialized Sport Gloves were no longer available. Size M was much too small, so I returned them and ordered size L. Size L was also too small, so I returned them and ordered size XL. Size XL fits. I bought three pair so I won't have to deal with this nonsense for a while.

New M and old M

New L and old M

New XL and old M

Who at Specialized thinks it's a good idea to change sizes so that the old size M is equivalent to the new size XL? I consider this another example of Specialized specializing in frustrating their loyal customers.

The two pairs of shorts Miguel Llaguer Restituyo at Alteration Specialists made for me in May of 2019 have both stretched out a lot. I plan to have Miguel make me two more pairs and also a pair of lightweight tights.

Uriel Gurgov of Uriel's Shoe Repair Shop replaced the soles of my Softstar DASH RunAmocs. He did excellent work, as he always does. I've mentioned Uriel several times in my blog when he has repaired or modified my equipment. This is the first time I've had him do any work on shoes for a few years. He told me I'm his only customer who brings him work other than shoes.

5. Personal items

Along with Adidas Supernova sunglasses (now discontinued), I've also worn Adidas Supernova clear goggles (also discontinued). Unfortunately the goggles recently broke near the temple. I repaired the break with Bondic, but the repair has now failed. Dennis Anderson, who was one of my hosts on my 4,500-mile solo bike trip in 2019, told me about the goggles he wears. I bought a pair for $4, tax included. They're comfortable and appear to be more durable than the Adidas goggles which cost me about $100. Thank you, Dennis!

6. Camping gear

No changes.

7. Bags

My Ortlieb handlebar bag and top tube frame pack are both waterproof and made exceptionally well. Ortlieb also makes trunk bags, but none of them offer the organization possible with all the compartments of my non-waterproof XLC trunk bag. I plan to talk to Ortlieb to persuade them to make a trunk bag similar to my XLC bag.