Front Derailleur Cable Tension Adjustment

This evening - Friday 25th September - I fixed the front derailleur of my Merida by pulling the cable and tightening it just a bit. The feeling of accomplishment and joy is incomparable to any other pleasure in life. It's a very simple thing to do when you think or talk about it. There is a nut that keeps the cable tight. A tight tension in this cable helps in precise shifting. You just take the cable out by loosening the nut. Pull the cable up to adjust the tension. Once it is taut, tighten the nut. Simple? Not quite when you try to do it the first time. Things go wrong and you end up making matters worse. Cold sweats develop. 

The problem that prompted me to try this in the first place was imprecise front chain ring shifting. If I tried to shift from the smaller chain ring to the larger (for going faster) I would need to keep the shifting lever pressed while still pedalling. Otherwise the chain wouldn't climb the bigger ring. Also when going down from the larger one to the smaller there were two clicks that were happening.

I had lubed the front derailleur last night in the hope that that was possibly the issue but it didn't help matters much. Today I wanted to tweak the tension in the cable. But before doing that I spoke to Someswar. He agreed that that was probably the cause and gave me the confidence to go ahead. He told me specifically not to play with the limit screws. Someswar is a knowledgable mechanic who I trust. 

Now the problem with this cable in my bike is that it is in a place where turning the hex wrench is difficult because the rear wheel is there. I used the smaller arm of the L hex wrench to loosen it. The cable suddenly came out, as if it snapped. I pulled it up with my hand and tightened the nut. Checked the shifting. Now it has become much worse. The chain just wouldn't go to the larger ring. It kept going back to the smaller chain ring. I realised that probably I had made the cable even more loose. 

Now, I used the 4th hand. It is meant for precisely this kind of applications. It's a special type of pliers that holds a pulled cable in its place when you tighten the nut. But using it itself is a challenge if you don't use it regularly. Somehow solved this challenge and then tightened the nut. Voila. The chain shifts perfectly now. I need not keep the lever pressed. 

There was another newbie issue that had to be solved. Between the nut and the surface on which it tightens there is a washer. Now whether the cable stays on this side or the other is something I didn't see when it came out. I did what my intuition told me to do. The flat surface of the nut, washer, cable and then the surface on which the whole thing was tightened. This was the order in which I did it. It's working. Therefore it must be okay. 

Barrel Adjuster - On the road last night (today is 26th) for a test ride I found the shifting was fine for the first few times and then it seemed it had gone loose once again. Today instead of pulling the cable up I tightened the cable through the barrel adjuster just a bit. It is working now. 

Barrel adjusters are very confusing little bastards. If you loosen them (lefty loosey) they actually tighten the cable and make them shorter. I did just that and it is now working fine. Let me see for how long. 

I used this video here . At around 6 minute mark the barrel adjuster adjustment is explained in very easy terms. 

Rear Derailleur - Today I also realised that my rear derailleur was also suffering from a slack cable tension. It was not climbing the first gear (largest cog). That's a surefire sign of the cable being loose. I turned the barrel adjuster a quarter turn (or was it two?) and now it's shifting much better and going all the way up. So adjusting cable tension is sorted for now. 

8th October 2020

After this initial success with the Roadie, I went ahead and adjusted the tension in my derailleur cables of the Surly. It also had front derailleur problem of a similar nature. You needed to hold the shifter while the chain moved from the smaller to the larger chain ring. After the adjustment it is working much better. Here the shifting is bar end and the barrel adjusters are near the down tube. Quite different from the Roadie. 

I have half a mind to change the shifters from the bar end to the downtube. There are braze ons and bosses there meant precisely for this. This change will remove some clutter from the handle bar. Two cables less and it looks like a less complicated system to shift.

K-Edge Mount

 

I had ordered for a K-Edge mount for the Garmin Edge 130 off Happy Earth and it arrived today. It's a Rs 2600 mount to be attached to the stem by removing the top cap of the head and then fitting the cap back with the mount on. 

To my utter frustration I realised that the mount is not meant for the angled up stem of the LHT. It leaves a gap between the head and the ring of the mount. Reluctantly enough, I mounted it on the Merida, which has a flat stem. Incidentally I realised that the Merida head cap is quite different from what I have on the LHT and there the pinch bolts need to be loosened up first to get the head cap moving. Anyway, that's the subject for a different post.

What I discovered to my real dismay is that the LHT handle bar is a 26 mm one (the current models have 31.8), while all the K-Edge mounts are meant for the more fat 31.8 mm bars. Therefore K-Edge mounts cannot be installed on my LHT unless I change my handlebar or put a shim available on Amazon US. I even wrote to K-Edge if they had any solution. They immediately replied back saying no they don't sell any shim but there are third party shims available on Amazon. However, they also clarified that such a shim will void the warranty on the unit.

To hell with K-Edge :-) I put the rubber mount of Garmin back on my LHT. 

Le Tour de Canning

This picture was taken near a place called Kumrokhali which is less than 10 km from Canning

Last week my cycling friend Rana proposed a tour of Canning. It's a small town at the bottom of the state and gateway to the Sunderbans - the world's largest mangrove forest. We wanted to go for a pure adventure trip on Saturday. We calculated the total distance would be some 100 km and it should be do-able. Well we did it successfully. A circular trip of Canning from Calcutta. 

Of course, this being the month of Bhadra in Bengali, the sun was really strong. From around 11 am, when we were already on our way back it started getting really hot and from 12 noon with another 30 kms or so to go, the last 2/3 hours were very painful. If I am not mistaken the temperature around noon was 41 degrees centigrade. And the road didn't have any large trees to give us any shade.

But with the journey behind us it feels very pleasant and worth the effort. Rural Bengal is all emerald now. The paddy fields are all green, the ponds are full and dark. It's beautiful. You can see monsoon is going away and autumn is about to come. It's that transition period now. The golden tinge in the cloud is yet to take effect and the kaash flower is yet to bloom. But this late monsoon greenery is something totally fresh and different. 

I woke up at 3.30 am on the appointed day. I have never felt so alive in a long long time and that too so early in the morning. I was very excited. Rana was supposed to call me but after waiting for a few minutes I called Rana, who seemed to be still sleeping :-). Got ready with a cup of tea and Monisha made me some boiled eggs and a couple of cheese sandwiches and packed in a few sausages (this last box was never opened. If the climate was cooler I would probably have opened it). I had some dates in my pocket. I also carried my usual stuff like two tubes, pump, tyre changing kit, a rainwear and even a travel towel and a rag for the cycle not to speak of the toilet paper. Apart from the two 1 litre water bottles, I tied an extra 2 litre bottle filled with water on the rear carrier, wrapped in a Salsa net. I filled one bottle with Electral and carried another pack in the Ortlieb bag to be used after 50 kms to make another 1 litre mix for the return journey. 

I sweat a lot and keeping electrolytic balance at this age is very critical.

I started off precisely at 4.22 am from my house, headed towards Narendrapur via Tollygunge. It was all dark. I had all my lights on. One main headlight, a small white blinking light on the front and a main backlight in blinking mode. From Tollygunge Metro station the road became quite potholed. This continued till Narendrapur. In fact the road is so bad that at one point the rear bottle fell off the carrier. I picked it up from a puddle. Packed it again and off I went. 

I arrived a couple of minutes ahead of Rana at the Narendrapur Ramkrishna Mission gate. It was 5:04 to be precise. We agreed that the main road seemed to be really full of traffic and we should take the new road along the dead canal. So off we went. At Baruipur we came on the main road and passed through Baruipur bazaar which was chock a block full even that early in the morning. It was so jam packed near the level crossing, despite the train service being suspended now that we had to get off the bike. No one seemed to be aware that there is a legal requirement now to wear a mask and keep social distancing. I wonder if they know that there is a pandemic raging through the world in general and India in particular. No one could care less.

After crossing Puratan Bazaar in Baruipur (the right turn goes to Joynagar) we stopped at a street side tea stall and had a small cup of sugared tea. Rana gave me some dates, which were of very high quality I must say. We kept pushing pedal. The town area of Baruipur continues for quite a few kilometers, at least on the two sides of the highway. After this rural Bengal comes out in its splendour in places when you can see verdant green paddyfields stretching right upto the horizon. In places you can see water bodies in the paddyfields that adds beauty and a break to the monotony of green. 

We crossed a few small hamlets with their morning bazaars and soon came to the town of Canning. It took us 3 and a half hours to be precise. After crossing the station area we cycled right up to the new bridge over Matla and found the distance was exactly 50 kms from my house. 

They have beautified the area before the bridge with a nice new road and some decorative benches where we sat. Rana's wife had made some delicious chhatu parota. I had one of them, which was quite filling. We had one boiled egg each also. Across the road there was a tea stall where we had tea. Again very sugary.

Rana had a long discussion with the tea stall owner about the route to take back. He was determined not to take the Baruipur route but explore the interiors of the district away from the highway. After much discussion about the route we started off again. I am glad that we took this route, otherwise the true splendour of Bengal wouldn't have unfolded in front of us.

The route we took does not have any well known small towns that a Calcuttan would know. So I will jot down the names of the apparently important places we crossed on the road. If you want to take this route ask people in Canning to show you the way to Chandkhali first, next place to ask for is Nagartala followed by Milanbazar and Chandaneswar. From Chandaneswar or thereabouts you hit a broad road that goes straight to Sonarpur to the left or Ghatakpukur to the right. We made a mistake here and took a right turn through a really deep village and followed a stretch of no road to go to Tardaha. This, I later realised was a mistake. We should have stuck to the Sonarpur route. That would've been much shorter. Anyway, since Rana had earlier come up to Tardaha (locally called Tarda) we went in that direction. It's a wide proper road devoid of any traffic. The road from Tarda goes straight to Ruby via Urbana. This is where urban civilisation begins in Calcutta.

It is really strange that places in these areas like Tardaha or Kheyada are so close to Calcutta in terms of distance yet are so very rural and devoid of civic amenities.

But the sun was really high up and it was really burning down everything, making the going tough for me. There was a dead canal on the side of the road. Dead with water hyacinth. Labourers were busy clearing it in places. I later learnt it was some 41 degrees centigrade. My speed slowed down. Rana had stopped for tea at a couple of places.  He was riding ahead of me, being much faster. I had already taken off my helmet and was following him slowly behind. I would have thrown away the gloves as well but for the fact that my palms sweat so much that my grip on the brake slips. My round neck T-shirt had no provision to pull the front zipper down. The deep ponds with their water were looking very inviting for a dip. I begged mentally for a sharp shower to cool things down but God was very unkind. He decided to test my mettle.

At the last tea stop we were told that Urbana is just 7 kms from there. Urbana is a new very large super luxury residential complex near Ruby. Rana stays just ahead of Ruby. I asked Rana to move ahead and promised that I would pull along slowly but surely and reach alone (my house is a further 10 km or so from his place). Rana was obviously stronger than me and wasn't as badly affected as I was. 

Mentally I told myself 7 kms is like a trip from home to office and back, which is not much. So I started seeing those short immediate destinations. Mentally I crossed Rashbehari, then Hazra, then Bhowanipore as if I was going to office from home. The meter was moving frustratingly slow. But I kept at it. Stroke after agonisingly slow stroke of the pedal.

There weren't too many tall trees to give any shade anywhere. The hot sun was reflecting from the black road. I was thinking what would happen if there was a puncture now. Luckily no such thing happened (thanks to my Schwalbe Marathon Plus and God) and after some time I could see the tall towers of Urbana. That seemed like a light house to a sailor in a typhoon. A very welcome sight in distress.

I reached Urbana and from there it was a matter of following the road home via Ruby, Gol Park and Southern Avenue. Rana spotted me crossing his house and shouted a greeting. I touched 100 km exactly on the top of Ballygunge bridge. This is my second century ride.

I was a little skeptical whether I'd be able to climb the bridge - I was so tired. But I did. On Southern Avenue I think my speed was something like 6 km per hour. I stopped and finished off the last gulp of the Electral water and reached home at 2 pm. 

Suffering seems insufferable when you are going through it. Once over, it leaves a very sweet memory. It has happened to me in the past. This is what happened to me with this trip also. I thank Rana for selecting this route. Without him I wouldn't have perhaps taken this route and large parts of Bengal very close to my home would've remained unseen to me.

Too tired for a selfie

Velo Orange

Velo Orange is a relatively small French company. They make high quality cycles and components. Both are quite expensive. One of their famous products is mudguard. They make beautiful shiny stainless steel mudguards that are much coveted world over by cyclists who love the classic look. 

In India the only importer for these expensive mudguards turned out to be who else but Happy Earth. I bought a pair from them that got delivered last year (August 2019 for Rs 5600). These mudguards are not in regular supply. The moment they arrived I grabbed them. I wasn't cycling for the better of 2019. So I kept them unpacked in the box in which they came. Then I started cycling every day from this year and my installed plastic SKS were doing fine. 

I used to want to install the SS ones but would push back the idea thinking that I might go for a tour in the near future and will install them after this tour. Then I realised that such a tour might not materialise any time soon. And then I also spent considerable time with Mezda's mudguards. So the thought about the VO mudguards became top of the mind. 

Last evening after going back home I cut open the box for the first time. I was under the impression that I had the snakeskin version. I cannot remember why I thought so. When I opened the box, much to my delight I discovered that I had the smooth ones. This is what I like. I would have preferred a black one but they did not import and black mudguard. The pack contains all the hardware needed for the mudguard installation and the two stays. I need not worry about getting leather washers etc (I had even planned to make my own, if they weren't supplied). I did not cut open the packet to see exactly what was included because I do not intend to install them now. I will wait for the monsoon to be over. Perhaps another month or so. As of now they are back in the box. 

If I ever go for a tour where I take the bike packed in the initial transport sector I will take the SKS plastic ones along. These are apparently more scratch prone. But installation may not be a cake walk. Let me see. 

New Merida Helmet

Today I got for myself a new helmet from Exadsports in Pune for Rs 2241. My relationship with them being very old I buy stuff from them directly rather than through a dealer. When it started they did not have any dealer for cycling products in Calcutta.

It's a shiny black Merida. The precise name of the model is like this - Merida Helmet Slider II K60 Black Shiny 58-63 cm. This is the largest size. They have this in two other sizes, I believe. My head size is 58. 

My other Merida helmet has hideous green graphics on it. This thankfully is more dignified with the Merida branding being in white. I adjusted the strap right away and it fits me nice and tight. There is a dialling knob behind the head which can be adjusted to fine tune the fit of the helmet. 

The straps are thankfully black. This will hide the discolouration that happens in the other helmet's white strap  after two rides. 

The new helmet came with a hood which I took off promptly. Those are meant for mountain bikers. I don't need them. There are two inserts that came for this purpose. I put them in the holes on either side of the helmet where the hood was stuck.

The Merida helmets are all CE marked. So that ensures some minimum level of protection as per EU standard. I hope their strength is not tested ever. The following is written in the literature that came with the helmet.

Product confirms to regulation 2016/425/EU and standard EN 1078 : 2012+A1:2012 this is personal protective equipment category II.

When you ride every day in the heat and sweat of Calcutta it becomes very difficult to manage with just one helmet or gloves. If it is monsoon and it's raining, or cloudy, the sweaty straps don't dry up properly and they stink. You wish you had a second one to wear alternately. I normally let my helmet and gloves dry out in the sun so that they don't stink. But in the rainy season that is not always possible. This second helmet, hopefully, will mitigate that problem. 

Merida makes very affordable accessories with acceptable quality. If I ever go abroad and have a lot of money I might splurge a bit on a Giro or Kask. For now let me wear these Meridas ;-)

The Most Unsung Component

Today I noticed a particular component on my LHT. Never knew it was there. Initially I thought it was a part of my front brake. It is attached to the steerer tube like a spacer, the front brake cable runs through it. I checked the Tektro website but it is not mentioned anywhere there as part of the brake. I checked Sheldon Brown's website for cantilever rim brakes. No mention of it anywhere in the diagram. 

Then I went for a close inspection on my bike itself and found the logo PS marked on the side. Is it a Problem Solver? I had read about the brand this afternoon in the aboutcycling website. I checked the PS website. 

Problem Solver is a smallish but specialised company in the US that makes this type of products that no one else makes. These are very practical, utility oriented products that solve a lot of practical problems for the cyclist. For example, on their site I found they have a strip that one can attach on the brake lever so that brakes don't slip out from a sweaty palm - or is it the other way round? The hand perhaps slips on the brake. This is my perpetual problem. I could certainly do with one for my LHT.

This particular item for example holds the front brake cable away from the frame and keeps it taut. Takes the space of one 5 mm spacer on the steerer tube.

Back to the product. The logo couldn't be found anywhere on their site but under the products section I found the part listed. It's called a Cross Cable Hanger. Check it out here .

I wonder if it is sold by anyone here in India. I don't know how people manage their cable with similar braking system without this item. Why is this not well known as a component? I have no clue.

July 19, 2020

Last night I had asked the owner of Happy Earth if he knew anyone who sold or stocked Problem Solvers in India. I had a feeling and I told him as well that if anyone at all did, it would probably be him :-) 

He replies saying he used to but they are very difficult to do business with as in they don't ever have stock of anything in ready supply. So sourcing their products from Taiwan doesn't make sense. They buy on individual customer requests provided there is stock in the US.

He told me one other interesting thing. It is a sister concern of Surly as are Issi or Salsa or Whisky etc. They all operate out of the same office. This was news to me. They are all part of the same QBP group. Check out their website here . The full form of QBP is apparently - Quality Bicycle Products. 

Adjusting A Mudguard

I belong to the old school. I call them mudguards (and not fenders) because that is exactly what they do, guard you and the bike against mud on a rainy day. 

Mezda's new bike came with a pair of unbranded plastic mudguards. Ritabrata had installed the rear one but found the front one fouled against the tyre. I had a feeling I should be able to fix it. So I brought it home and to cut a very long story short - I fitted it successfully today. 

Mezda came to my house with the bike and together we did the job over about an hour and a half. The stays were a little too long. And these are not adjustable stays like my SKS had. This is just one piece of a stay that runs from this side to that around the mudguard. It was longer than it should be by about 3 inches on either side. 

So what I did was to bend it like a bow and then fitted it. The precise amount of bend was calculated through eye estimation and a bit of trial and error after that. I did the basic bending by holding and pressing the stay over the wooden railing of our stair case. After that I had to do some fine tuning by hand. After a lot of trial and error it finally allowed the wheel to move freely. Oh what a relief when that finally happened.

A beaming Mezda after fitting the mudguard on his front wheel 

Mezda went for a short spin near our house. Found it wasn't fouling. And then he rode home without a problem. It's a distance of 5 kms (or perhaps 3.5 if you take the short cut through Mahavirtala). Hopefully the issue is solved once and for all. 

The tools needed for the job were these - Allen keys of 4 and 5 mm size, wrenches in size 9 and 10. The fender and the carrier (I do not call them racks) are perhaps the only two items in a cycle that require nuts. 

Incidentally I also had to adjust the pad fitment of the front brake. It was sitting on the tyre itself. This happened possibly because we had to turn the bike over a few times and also take the front wheel off and the manipulation one has to do with the brake - it's a linear pull rim brake. I once again noted the pathetic quality of the materials vis--a-vis my bike. I know this is an unfair comparison but I cannot help it. These cheap things work but working on them is very frustrating and difficult. 

Such small jobs done successfully give me a tremendous sense of accomplishment.