stop!

Stopping can be a good thing. Knowing you have the ability to ease up is especially comforting when cruisin at 40MPH+ down a mountain on the road. So, given that the Serotta hasn't gotten much love in a while as i'm been somewhat cross-obsessed, I decided to rehaul all of the cable and housing.

The brakes were the biggest concern as they involved unwrapping my bars. Leroy had showed me how just a few years back. So I was partially confidence, but still a bit unsure. Turns out the bars were the least of my concerns.

I unwrapped the bars -- done no sweat.
However, when pulling out the cable, parts came flying out! Turns out there are a few little pieces in the shifter that keep the ball rolling. They were rolling - just all over my garage floor.

@#$@#$@#$

Chaya left the room given my outburst.

So, i put it back together as best as i could given one broken and one missing piece. This required some serious precision as it kept falling apart and each time it split, pieces fell down into the base of the shifter and the only way to retrieve them was to turn the bike upside down and shake it all out. Strangely enough, it worked without the plastic disc. But I knew that part must serve some purpose.

The next day i visited my friends at FreezeThaw. I knew that Justin or Sparky would have the part I needed. Those endless bins of bolts, screws, washers and more have never failed me in the past when i've needed something random.

And ofcourse, they came through. Sweet. Or so i thought. I was like a kid in a candy store, stoked about my little bag of shiny new washers and plastic disks. I went home, pulled out the cable, released the little metal cable holder and tried to slip on a disk. only to discover the diameter of the disc was...

TOO SMALL

@#$@#$@#$@#$

Chaya left the room. Just my luck it wouldn't fit. I was frustrated and put it back together again. No sooner had i reinstalled the broken part, I had a glorious thought that involved POWER TOOLS.

YES! This project was becoming much more interesting.

So i busted out the Black and Decker and showed that plastic disc who's boss. (that would be me to clear up any confusion) I started with a small bit to open up the hole just enough to fit a larger bit in for smooth rounding.

Worked like a charm. Problem solved, cable holder (whatever it's called) returned into the shifter with ultra-precision, and the Serotta - as good as new.

Some new tunes that i've been down with lately:

Braintax -- listen or listen here (check out biro funk album)
Lootpack -- listen (not on last.fm in full :( -- entire album is awesome)
Eyedea and Abilities: Speed it up (check out the scratching).... then slow it down.