More bike fettling

I spent Friday evening and Saturday afternoon in the garage prodding the bike. Following my bizarre off in Afan Argoed earlier in the week, my gear change has been awful. However, whilst I couldn't get it behaving properly, I couldn't see any signs of damage. I reckon I must have hooked the log in my chain rather than hitting the derailleur, but I dunno? I've come to the conclusion it's either mucky or corroded cable sheaths or it's wear in the jockey wheels causing the shifting problems. So - more bits to buy and more work to do!! I'll try regreasing the cables first. I know that's not ideal but, I've got nothing to loose.

I've had an on-going issue with my down tube bottle cage bosses having worked loose in the frame. I came across this cool way of fixing this problem yesterday, so I gave it a whirl. You use a wheel skewer and an axle as a riveter to pull the bosses tight again in the frame. You make the skewer fit the axle so it can pull the flange of the boss against the axle.



It worked!! I cranked the skewer tight and you could see the bosses flange press down against the tube.



Neat!

My efforts to come to a decision and buy a set of flat pedals and the associated parafinalia (shin gaurds and flat pedal shoes) nearly came to fruition this week. I bought a set of DMR V8's from the LBS but wasn't happy with the colour or the feel of the axle - gritty and uneven. I took them back and they refunded me. They're ordering new ones, but I may get too fed up of waiting (pure impatience on my part). Based on the reviews in MBR magazine and on the Chain Reaction Cycles website, I think I'll buy some Wellgo pedals. Like the rave reviews the cheapo 661 MXE leg pads are getting, so those will be my try-out pads. Picked up some cheap 20 quid Karrimor hiking style trainers from TKMax.