Mechanical Failures

Been a while since I last updated this page, although I’m unsure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, I’ve been busy in the office and haven’t spent all that much time thinking about cycling, although I was thinking about it a lot the past hour as I was down in the basement working on my Jamis.

You know, a few weeks ago if you had asked me how I liked the bike, I would have said, “Love it.” Today, I’m not so sure and I say that as I’ve had mechanical issues the past few weeks including a Shimano 105 shift lever that only seems to want to shift eight times as opposed to the nine times (10-speed) it should be shifting.

When my shifting started acting funny a few weeks ago, I brought the bike home and started tooling with the barrel adjuster on the rear derailleur to try and get the gearing spot-on when the shift cable busted--at the end inside the shift lever. I changed the cable and got it working, but I’m convinced the metal end of the old cable is stuck in the lever and not allowing the shifter to shift nine times the way it should.

Oh well. That just means I can’t hit top gear and how often am I in top gear? Eventually I’ll get around to replacing the shifter, but no rush on that as those things are pricey.

(And I tried adjusting the H-screw on the derailleur but that didn’t help me at all.)

On top of that, I keep getting this loud clicking noise every time I stand up to sprint and I’m convinced it’s coming from the stem/fork. Everything’s tight when I do a check-up and I doubt it’s the crank considering I only hear the noise when I stand up and throw the bike side-to-side when I’m pedaling hard. I also hear a similar click when I hit a big enough hole, so I’m pretty sure it’s coming from the front end, but am I confident enough to take apart the stem and dismantle the fork from the frame? Not exactly.

Eventually, I’ll get that fixed.

And apparently, after having ridden the trainer a few times the past few weeks, the threading in my rear tire is now showing. I only noticed it today while doing climbing repeats at Bear Mountain and at first I thought it normal wear and tear, but after only 2,500 miles? It wasn’t until I had the bike mounted on the trainer tonight while I attempted to adjust the rear derailleur once more that I put the two together. This means I’m going to have to take apart the trainer and make sure that thing’s working the way it’s supposed to considering this never happened on my old bike (and the same trainer).

You know what I’d like? I’d like things to work the way they’re supposed to work. Is that too much to ask? Sheesh.