I’m a sucker for winter maintenance when I start getting itchy to get outside.  This began a couple of weeks ago in earnest.  I’ve installed new chains on the good bikes, new cables and housings where needed, pedals are ready for action, wheels are good to go.  I’m ready.  Mostly.  

I’m currently working on my wife’s bike.  New carbon fiber 2 cm offset seat post (Ican – $35 [that’s right, $35]) – with her old, zero offset post, she was struggling on climbs because she was too far forward.  We wanted to set her back a little further so she could leverage the pedals a little better on climbs.  I tinkered with the fine-tuning of the shifting (it’s now perfect), and the fitting for the new saddle position happened yesterday.  For those not bike fit savvy, it’s very important to know that when a saddle is moved back significantly, more than two centimeters in this case, you have to lower it slightly as well.  In this case, I’ll start with a sixteenth of an inch and see how that works – it’ll probably end up being an eighth when it’s all done, though.  Finally, I replaced her old, gnarly, white bar tape last night with some amazingly price-conscious black S-Wrap Cork (her choice) tape.  So, her gravel bike is ready, and her road bike is in spectacular shape, now.

Dare I say, all that’s left is waiting for “Venge Day”…

Friends, up here in the north, the bike shops are still slow.  The weather breaks this week, though, so if you wait, you’ll be waiting for a week or two to get your bike back from its tuneup because everybody and their brother will flock to the store to get their bike done.  If you’re not going to do the work yourself, or can’t, now is the time to take it to the shop, not next week.  It’ll be too late and you’ll be sitting on the couch whilst everyone else is out riding!