I Can Fix Things

Andy gave me 24 hours of his time to teach me a ton of important bike mechanic/maintenance skills. It made him feel good to share his hard-learned knowledge with someone who appreciates it, and I feel better equipped to handle most failures that can happen on the road. Plus, I paid him with a few ridiculously good bottles of Stout, so it's a win-win! 

Awesome new skills: replacing a broken spoke, wheel truing, cassette removal, adjusting limit screws, adjusting gears with barrel adjusters, how to use a chain breaker, removing the master link and broken links, replacing brake pads, took apart the cassette, how to feel for loose bearings, and replacing brake and derailleur cables. I'm probably missing a few things, but we got it all covered. 

Did you know that when one spoke needs to be tightened, the two spokes directly on either side need to be loosened, since they are all working together to keep the wheel true? I didn't either. Even wheels have team work, how cool! 

Since I don't think Andy would appreciate me posting the photo of him sleeping next to his bike, I've decided to start a collection of him on funny bikes. Enjoy!