I had some errands to ride today so I went downtown in the morning around 10AM. Both places I needed to go were closed but this time Midtown Bikes was open so I went in and hung out with Daniel for a while. (Did you notice him on the red Townie in the Urban Magnets video below?) After our visit I popped in to the first place, Havana Mix, to get a gift certificate for my friend's birthday (hopefully he doesn't read this!) I know it looks strange for a cyclist to patronize a cigar shop but even though I don't smoke cigars they have very beautiful art deco lighters and I just think they're neat. Anyways, the second shop wasn't open but by this time it was close to lunch so I headed back towards Midtown to meet Em. Headed North on Madison there was a tractor trailer blocking the intersection at Belvedere. In my head I'm saying, "Ha. Suckers hafta wait. I can just go around!"
You know how cars often drip oil and other fluids and it all kind of accumulates at a traffic light? Yeah. So I maneuver past the cars and am making my way around the trailer, cutting back onto Madison and the bike slips out from under me. I stood up and checked my wheels and gears, everything spun. I should have taken the time to realign my left shifter but I rode off. Pulled up to Kwik Chek, aligned my shifter there, grabbed some food and rode the few blocks home with no problems.
After lunch I make my way back downtown, do my thing, and coming back I heard a little pop as I pulled up on the shifter for leverage. Crap. I played with it a little and felt it move and heard it creak. I made it home, unwrapped the left side and didn't see a crack. I took it off the stand and applied pressure the same way I did on the ride. After I removed the electrical tape and shifter completely it was obvious:
It's up and to the right of the cat toy. Thankfully I have some FSA aluminum bars hanging out at home but I don't know how to wrap them. Let me rephrase that: I'm not sure with which tape I should wrap them. Help me decide:
SRAM Supercork White or Cinelli Jelly Ribbon (kinda clear). White hoods or black hoods? IsoGel or no IsoGel? If I go Cinelli Jelly what should I put underneath (stickers, pictures, words, nothing)? Leave it in the comments!
1 comment:
I haven't used the Jelly Ribbon but it looks cool. I like white bar tape and won't mention what everyone says about it. I also like the feel of the SRAM. I've wrapped countless bikes with it (under different brand names) and it wraps smooth and easy. I say go with the Cinelli. And I'm still leery of carbon bars because of stories just like this one.
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