Monday, June 2nd, 2003
NOT FUCKING HAPPY
The apartment I was going to see tomorrow – I decide that since it sounds promising and there’s an open house sort of showing tonight, that I should go and take a look in case someone snatches it up between today and tomorrow. The neighbourhood itself is quite nice – quiet, kids playing on the street, great big trees providing shade and aesthetics. Nice. Never mind that it’s much closer to Dundas than to College, that’s hardly a deal-killer. However, when the property manager arrives and lets me in, well… the ad said “high ceilings” – high if you’re lying down, maybe. I’m not even 6′ and I had to duck to get through doorways. Give me a break. “Lots of light” – certainly not natural light. The windows were almost non-existant. To be fair, the place was in remarkably good shape and a good size (if not vertically). But definitely not something I was sorry about crossing off my list. The hunt continues.
Rehearsal was alright, mostly trying to get Kate and her cello integrated into things. Being heard was a bit of an issue since we couldn’t mic her up (feedback issues), but I think things sounded alright despite none of us really having any idea how to arrange strings. And now we have a week off while Brad returns to Chicago to visit the folks.
Someone really doesn’t want me to ride my bike. After yesterday’s excursions, I wanted to keep the cycling at a minimum so as not to utterly destroy my leg muscles. So what do I do? Cycle to work. Cycle home from work. Cycle over to Dundas and Beatrice to look at the apartment. Cycle to Front and Sherbourne for rehearsal. Cycle to Yonge and College (for non-Torontonians, this is a fair bit of distance to be covering in a short amount of time). Why did I stop at Yonge and College? BECAUSE MY GODDAMN BIKE CHAIN BROKE. Snapped right off. Not even a month old. I am fucking annoyed. Thankfully this didn’t happen yesterday, and I was only two blocks from home so walking it back wasn’t a big deal, but still. And to make things even better, when I got down to see if I could get it back together myself, I find that some of the outer teeth on the sprocket are either worn down or broken off completely. What the hell? I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a bike that’s not even a month old to NOT fall apart like this. I mean, this isn’t a cheap-ass K-Mart bicycle. Anyway, I will not be cycling to work for a few days till I get the shop to repair this, and you are damn skippy that it will be covered under warranty.
I am in a foul mood. Now is not the time to piss me off.
np – Velvet Crush / A Single Odessey
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6/5/03 10:11 pm
I’m in Southern California. Been in the bicycle business 24 years now. Broken chains on new bikes are clearly not normal, but aren’t unheard of either. Sometimes the little pins that hold them together aren’t pushed in all the way and under torque they give way. oddly enough, it’s really easier for this to happen on newer bikes with 27 speeds (9 sprockets on the rear). This is because those chains are super thin and the pins holding them together are shaved to be flush with the chain plates, no extra amount of chain pin sticks out at all. Completely unlike the old 10 speed chains that were thick and the chain pins are jutting way past the plates on either side.
Shifting more than 1 gear at time under load greatly increases the stress on the chain and flexes it enough to cause the chain plate to break away from the pin.
Don’t stop at the stop light in a hard gear and then shift it 3 or 4 gears at once with the chain and gears grinding while you are straining to take off. This kills chains dead.Breaks them too.
On hills, anticipate the gear you will need ahead of time and shift one at a time before you are straining under hard loads. This makes chains and gears last forever.
If you are already shifting lightly and anticipating your shifts and that chain busted, then you just got a bad chain right out of the box. Don’t take chances, have them put a brand new one on there and see if you can’t get an upgraded one for free for your inconvenience. I would do that for a customer to make sure they keep coming back. :)
6/5/03 11:11 pm
Steve, thanks for the education. I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt this time and this time only, but if it happens again you’re damn skippy I’m going in there to kick ass and chew gum, and I’m not even bringing gum. I can’t say that my shifting has been technically perfect, so I will try to be gentler on the gears as per your suggestions in the future, and hopefully this will be an isolated incident.