Gremlins

 Sometimes I am at a loss for explanations as to how things happen with bicycles. Take for instance what happened on Monday of this week. I was going to ride to work and had decided I'd use my Ti Muk 2, the Salsa Cycles titanium Mukluk I own. 

Immediately upon pedaling away from the house I felt like the right side pedal was weird. Like it was sagging. Bent pedal spindle? No.... That wouldn't feel the same way through the pedal's orbit. What the....!

Now I have to stop here to point out that I last had ridden the bike home from work. I felt nothing wrong at all. Everything was completely normal. In fact, I remember really cranking out some speed riding up the hill on West 2nd Street. No weirdness felt whatsoever.

Okay, so now back to Monday. I stopped a half a block from the house, looked down, and I could see the right crank arm was seriously loose. Like, not just a little bit. And when a Race Face crank set comes loose, the whole assembly can move laterally, and it was moving about a half an inch! 

Now, you tell me - This did not just happen all of a sudden - so why did I not notice something so awry as this the last time I had ridden it before Monday? 

These are the mysteries of cycling that may never be explained. And it didn't really matter how it got to that point, it needed to be fixed. So, I went back home, grabbed another bike, (the benefits of having several), and went on to work. 

The caliper had crept over toward the centerline of the bike.

When it came time to fix it, I found that it was just a loose crank bolt so I torqued that back on. I will just have to be more vigilant about checking that bolt from now on. But then I discovered my rear caliper was dragging on the rotor badly. 

Another of life's mysterious happenings. Creeping calipers! So, I had to reset that, torque it down, and then I noticed that the chain was a bit too slack. Now this one comes down to wear. No mystery here! 

The Salsa Mukluk has the v1 Alternator drop out plates and well..... I find the design a bit annoying in that you need three hex keys of different sizes to adjust it. 

I get the big six millimeter fixing bolt, because that is the anchor that holds everything in place. But could we have had the other two just be 5mm hex heads? Nope! The adjuster is a 3mm fitment. Anyway.... A minor gripe. Nothing to fret over. 

Then I found out that the adjustment to the chain tension threw off my brake adjustment and I had to do that again. A great example of how everything is not as rock solid on a bicycle as you might think. Oh, and working a post mount brake bolt that is inside the rear triangle and behind a rack stay is really fun. You should try it sometime! (I kid!) 

Then I took off the XT flat pedals because they have woefully inadequate pins and reinstalled my Fyxation Mesa MP's. Quite the work session! But it all came out fine in the end and all gremlins were eradicated.