Clean The Machine

Cleaned up and ready for its close up, Mr DeMille!

I got the WTB Riddler 37's the other day, and I purposed to mount those on the Black Mountain Cycles rig using the Velocity USA A23 wheel set I have. No big deal, right? Just get it done. Wealth of bikes and first world problems aside, I had to do some cleaning of the beast, because I had "ridden it hard and put it away wet" one too many times. The old steed was in desperate need of a good, thorough cleaning.

The bike was last extensively used during the Winter and early Spring testing of three or four different tires. That meant I had done some muddy rides. I had to practically do an archeological dig to uncover the bottom bracket area! Besides that, there had been contact with oil, road spray, and whatever else one might find on city streets, so there was quite a lot of "elbow grease" applied while the cleanup continued through the mid-afternoon yesterday.

The old Bontrager bar tape was also pretty grungy, so I had this Origin 8 bar tape to try out, which is pretty close to "Safety Green". It's really comfortable and grippy, but I'll have to see how it holds up. The "Hi-Viz' thing is not really me, but hey...... I was given the stuff to try out, so I ain't complainin'! I'm sure after a few sweaty, dusty gravel rides it will tone down a bit. After that was put on, I was almost done. Two hours later! I still have to clean up the drive train some more and perhaps put on a new chain.

Then it will be time to give these Riddler treads a go. Stay tuned.......