Sunday, February 1, 2009

New upgrades for the New Year (31 January 2009 )

After a long wait, the new items I bought finally came in and I collected them from Kerry. They cost me a good $145.20! Here are the goodies:

1. Shimano Deore XT M760 RD
2. Shimano Hone M601 FD
3. 4 x Fibrax V-Brake Pads with refill
4. Knightlite Micro Rear Light

I spent Friday night fixing the FD and RD. It was not difficult to cut the chain, dismantle the old FD and RD, and install the new ones. Yet, there just had to be complications. I was only partially done with the tuning but it was already 2am in the morning when I retired to bed.

The following day, I rushed with the tuning. The FD was fine but the darn wire was too short and my pliers were not sharp enough hence I made a mess out of the cable housing. I managed to get it to work perfectly but I guess it has to be changed once the frayed cable starts to weaken. As for the RD, it was a headache. The tuning was perfect but I believe the problem lies with the replaceable frame hanger for the RD. The screw thread was not straight hence the RD hanger was slanted, resulting in poor shifting accuracy.

After lunch, I departed for Yio Chu Kang Sports Hall where I met up with Zi Kai, Xin Yuan, Pin Yuan and some of his friends for a squash game. It was my first time and getting a hang of it was difficult. When I was riding my bike some time later, a naughty boy threw a big piece of rock at me. It hit my spokes with a loud clank. Man! If that had been a road bike, it would be a goner and the owner will strangle the culprit! Luckily for me, a double-walled rim and reinforced spokes can take some beating.

I met Bro and 5pm and we headed to Lim's place for his CNY steamboat dinner. It was fun and it was already 10pm we started heading back via Seletar. what a day!

Total distance: 38.4km
Money spent: $3
Participants: LSH, Bro

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