For singlespeeders this can sometimes make achieving correct chain tension a trick. To do this you approximate the tension, then rotate the crank to find the “tight” spot, then set tension from that position.

However, this assumes you didn’t forget to center the chainring in the first place! I learned the hard way and didn’t think about it when I originally threw on the chainring (sort of a SS noob). The variance was too much, either it was too loose and bounced off, or too tight and would bind some with each revolution.

I dropped a chain again recently… finally got off my butt and took the time to better center the chain ring on the crank spider/mounts. Maybe its just Salsa rings, but the fit is quite loose and it took some trial and error to get it fairly center.

Good to go now though:

In this case “rebuild” meaning replacing the air-sleeve seals and new lube.

The last couple times we attempted this trail we started late forcing us to descend early due to lack of daylight.  We were again pushing it this time for daylight, yet crested the top just in time to catch the sunset.

BTW, other MBM postings are over at our still in progress project site: cotw.

Fortunately at the time we were close to the bottom, made a crude repair with a new tube and my handy athletic tape to patch the sidewall… good enough to get back to the car.

We laughed about the event saying “Man, that’ll never happen again!”  What are the odds of picking up a razor blade!?!

Yesterday was bike to work day in Fort Collins.  Yes, I biked to work…. took the road bike for speed (I’m always late).  On my way home, I was heading west on Drake between Timberline and Lemay.  I was heads down and cruising at a good ~20mph pace.  I caught the glimpse of two razor blades for a split second before POW, CLANK, Pah-CHING …  and quickly came to a stop.  A razor blade lodged in my back tire, hit the rear brake caliper and shot out the sided.  My sidewall was slashed wide open and it nicked the tube.  Fortunately I was able to patch the tube, had CO2 with me, and used the ‘ol dollar bill trick to patch the sidewall.  It was good enough to get home.

The amount of broken glass and goat-heads are bad enough in the Fort, now watch out for razor blades!

We rode the dirt road 7-8 miles or so to where we could pick up the Colorado Trail. Along the way, we goofed around a bit:

And saw this:

The Colorado Trail was sweet riding. In fact, I’ve almost covered the majority of the Colorado Trail now and its always good stuff. Here we are stopping for a quick breather:

I need to get a camera with higher ISO speeds for action shots, but was playing with taking shots while riding on the dirt road back to the car. Here’s one of the MTBNINJA in fighting form:

Over-the-shoulder shot of J:

Click through any of the photos to go to our flickr page. Cheers.