May 8, 2015
Final Bike Prep
When I took my bike to one of the local shops to ask for help with the shifter, the mechanic made an observation about the way the bottom bracket and crank were assembled. Co-motion had shipped the bike with the bottom bracket installed (at my request), but the shop in Fort Collins had set up the crank and belt drive.
Pardon the dirt. There are a lot of puddles and mud these rainy days.
Yes, "It looks like plumbing". I brought the bike back a week later, after looking at it carefully and comparing with other bikes, to ask if they thought it was safe and reliable and whether they could make it look less like plumbing.
There should have been spacers between the frame and the bottom bracket, and the shop had kludged it together with (as we saw when taking it apart) headset spacers between the bottom bracket and crank. Maybe they hadn't wanted to remove the already-installed bottom bracket in order to add the spacers. Honestly, when I ordered the bike and Ethan the sales guy and I were talking about whether I should try to assemble it myself, I asked about setting up the chainline and how to decide on spacers. Ethan told me that the bike wouldn't need any! It's all confusing, but the lesson there is, I guess, to talk with a mechanic about mechanical things, not to salesmen! I wonder who at Co-motion actually installed the bottom bracket.
It does baffle me that Co-motion installed the bottom bracket for me without the required spacers, and that a reputable shop in Fort Collins, actually a Co-motion dealer, did not correct the error and installed the crank in a manner that is not consistent with manufacturer's (both Shimano and Co-motion) specs!
The mechanic in Colorado Springs initially proposed removing the headset spacers and adding proper bottom bracket spacers. However, the stack of spacers did not leave enough threads on the bottom bracket for the frame. The mechanic then suggested a combination of bottom bracket spacers and spindle spacers, but promptly called Co-motion to discuss it. After a bit of back and forth, they decided that the chain line wasn't quite right and added a spacer on the drive side, which then left enough thread for the spacers needed on the non-drive side. Thank you, Dave at Old Town Bikes! I appreciate your diligence in making sure the bottom bracket and crank are set up correctly!
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2 years ago
Next, I re-wrapped the handlebars. When I swapped out the brake levers, I had re-used the same wrap even though it had torn a bit when I removed it. This time I used some thin Fizik tape with a good texture that I had previously bought on sale, and wrapped it on top of the old wrap so there is some extra padding. My weak point in bar wrapping seems to be tucking in the ends of the wrap at the ends of the bars. Hopefully this effort will stay put and be comfortable.
I also attached the 3rd water bottle cage, under the down tube. I wanted to make sure that it wouldn't interfere with the cables. The cables do rub on the bottle cage, but they still move freely, so I think it's okay.
Lastly, I transferred the bell (which is mounted on a headset spacer) from my old bike to this one, so that I am fully compliant (to the best of my knowledge) with the safety regulations in the countries I expect to cycle.
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