So I receive my brand new Colnago Master frame from La Bicicletta somewhere in Canada, and the first thing I need to do is cut the fork steerer. I perform the operation cleanly, with a fresh hacksaw blade even, and I end up with a nice straight cut...and a steerer that is too short to accomodate my Campagnolo headset. Instead of installing the fork and headset and then marking where to cut, I cut the steerer based on my calculations of the headset stack height. Boy, what a difference 5 millimeters can make.
Fortunately the shop was a large enough Colnago dealer, and the owner was nice enough, that he could trade my fork for a new one free of charge.
And then there was the time I was cleaning out my storage shed and I decided to throw out some empty Campagnolo boxes. Turns out they weren't so empty...fortunately I caught that one before it was too late.
Ray Dobbins Miami FL USA
John Betmanis <johnb@oxford.net> wrote:
At 10:01 PM 30/06/2007 EDT, DTSHIFTER@aol.com wrote:
>I thought this was interesting and would like to start a thread concerning
>what others might consider "rites of passage" regarding the "normal" types
of
>work performed, and or, attempted without success, which resulted in a "oh
no,
>what do I do now....." sort of response?
While I've never cut a hub out of a wheel without removing the freewheel, here's something I believe every one of us has done as kids before we knew much about how bikes worked. The first time I wanted to adjust the stem height (or maybe remove it, I can't remember) I loosened the stem bolt and wondered why I still couldn't budge the stem. After that I got a book from the library and learned a whole lot of tother mysteries, like how to remove cotter pins to get a crank arm off.
John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada