Tuesday, October 6, 2009

No Sleep For The Geek

Whoa. Despite my best efforts at dissuasion, you're back for more. Your life must be even sadder than I thought. But that's okay - I'm pretty pathetic myself. Maybe you and I fill gaps (I think I heard about that in a movie once or something). But anyway, since you're already here, you might as well listen to my boring story.

I have a numb right hand that's been getting a little but not a whole lot better, which has led me to the conclusion that I need to change bars to prevent permanent nerve damage which has in turn led me to try and figure out how to set them up which has led me to finally throw myself onto the frame geometry fire. I had intended to put this off forever.

Long story short, I'm gonna bolt these on:



They're called dirt drops or flared drops and while I've seen em, I never really knew about or understood em. John steered me to Matt Chester, the on-line dirt drop godfather, who set me straight. You know how to use google, if you want the dirt on dirt drops. Check this out if you want a more brief, non-techy synopsis.

I researched the different dirt drops available and settled on the On One Midge. I could write about that whole deal, but I never will, so trust me - this is where to start. You can't buy them new, so get your rear end over to eBay and pick up a set before they are collectors items. I paid $45 + shipping for mine.

I think that maybe measuring angles and dangles is a lot like how I've always felt about going to college . . . it doesn't make you smarter, it just trains you to ask smarter questions. Of which I now have a billion (funny how that word doesn't phase us anymore).

Yup, that's me trying to measure a bike frame with something a roofer would use. I have some better tools, somewhere, but I'll be damned if I can find em. This'll hafta do:



This scribbly mess is all I have to show for a coupla hours in the garage:



It's always darkest just before the dawn or some krap like that, so I hear.

7 comments:

Hank Greer said...

Um...uh...I was looking at your drawings. Eh...you are measuring handlebars, right?

Anonymous said...

Hank, I belive that is a diagram of Mr. S.'s spud gun. It is apparently smaller than he would have us believe. Blame the metric conversion--six centimeters is smaller than six inches, for example.

You should see his "big 29er." Munchkinland.

The actual size of the spud gun may explain the unusual and localized nature of Sally's injury. It must be hard to hold onto to that weapon, leading to cramping and numbness of the right hand.

I hope that helps.

Marksalot

Hank Greer said...

Marksalot,

That actually helped a lot. And it almost made me spray my iMac. No more drinks around the computer.

Spudgun. Metric conversion. Big 29er. Cramped right hand. Too funny!

Mike S said...

Thanks for coming to the meeting of your favorite bike club tonight Pat. Sounds like we've got some enthusiasm. 2010 here we come!

Pat S said...

Hank, for crying out loud! Don't encourage him. There is an odor of PaPaCaCa emanating from Mr. Marksalot's comments. My complimentary remarks regarding his superior permanence have apparently gone to his tip. Since you have become the unwitting intermediary, would you please remind him that his excellence in marking does not in any way translate to an inherent understanding of the science of measurement.

And on a related note, I gotta nip something in the bud: Let me assure everyone that my spud gun has a BIG 'ol grip. Nothing metric about it. Feel free to spread that around the interwebs. (Damage control is so tedious, but so necessary at times.)

Pat S said...

Mike, thanks for organizing. I've thought for a long time that a roubaix would be a much welcomed addition to the spokane racing scene and a great niche for SRV. So I was excited to hear that you are considering. Count me in on the work crew! I also really like the idea of promoting a couple of TT races or possibly a series.

We are eternally grateful to Baddlands for allowing us to piggyback onto their well-established series, but it may be time for SRV to take a step forward in establishing its own identity and these strike me as two really smart ways to do it without killing us in terms of expense or manpower.

My 2 cents says to ditch the state champ race - it burns us out and for what? We don't need to drag west siders over here to validate what we're doing. We have a great, unique local race scene here and I think SRV should focus on that rather than trying to turn us into an eastside racing suburb.

Hank Greer said...

A BIG ol' grip, eh? Well my spud gun is so big it needs a tripod.

http://www.shallowcogitations.com/2009/10/size-matters.html