Gift certificates, tool selection, toy selection [2nd try]

Strange, the post seems to have not gone through. It won't
show up in my newsreader, nor in groups.google.com. Okay,
this is the second try.

Long story short:
Pedro's HG cassette lockring tool: 9-speed specific?
Aerobars: How to decide betweeen two-piece straight and one
piece with the triangle-ish end?

Long story, not so short:
Recently had a birthday. Was given a couple gift certificates,
one to Dick's Sporting Goods and another to East Providence Cycle.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/
http://eastprovidencecycle.com/

So, I went to see what I might get at these places.

--
At Dick's, I bought some Pedro's brand tools, as my bicycle tool
collection is pretty lame so far, and I find I'm unable to do the
things I want to do for lack of tools.

First question: Pedro's has two HG cassette lockring tools; they
appear almost identical, but one says something like "optimal for
newer Shimano 9 speed cassettes". Is there really any difference?

I have a 7 speed cassette on my MTB and a 9 speed on my road
bike, and I bought the tool that I described above. I just tried
it on my 7 speed, and it fit fine; I have no chain whip, so I
didn't actually remove cassette, but it engaged perfectly and I
can't believe it won't work well.

Yes, I'm going to get (or more likely make) a chain whip soon.

I also bought a BB socket, a pedal wrench, and a 15mm cone
wrench (so I can attack wheel bearings on my road bike .
--

--
At EP cycle, I think I'm going to buy aerobars. My problem is,
how do I evaluate different bars to decide which I'd like
better? They won't let me return them once I've used them.

I'm deciding between something like this:
http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photos/small/PS-AZ2.gif
and something like this:
http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photos/small/PS-ALB.gif

I'm leaning towards the straight, two-piece one, but I can
see that my hands may possibly like the one-piece better.

How do I figure out which one I would like better? Any
input as to how they each feel, from experience?
--

TIA, Rick Onanian

"Rick Onanian" wrote in message
news

Long story short:

Aerobars: How to decide betweeen two-piece straight and one
piece with the triangle-ish end?

I've use the second kind (Profile brand, with flip-up pads). That style is
heavier, and I'm way less than impressed with the durability, so perhaps
simple is better. On the plus side, their customer support is good, and I've
managed to get it pretty well debugged now so that it doesn't rattle and
loosen itself up/shed parts regularly. I have my computer mounted in a little
cross tube that came with it, which is handy. I also use the "triangle-ish"
end to mount a little "4-AA" Cateye light. Handlebar real estate can become a
nasty problem once you set up a-bars.

(Jeff Starr) wrote in message
Hi Rick, how and using what, are you going to make a chain whip? I
know that I'm going to need one eventually.

chain whips are pretty friendly to make. take a bit of flat stock. i
used something like 1/8" x 1" x 16" steel, nothing special. possibly a
little thinner than 1/8", but i cant remember. cut an arc out of the
end so it seats better on the cog (optional, a la some of the more
expensive chain whips). then drill holes as appropriate, cut bits of
chain to length, and used my campagnolo hammer (ok, ok, so its not a
campy hammer) to hammer the pins back in. very, uh, precise.

works great. need to be careful with it when putting serious pressure
on not to twist it, but if you're careful, those 16" give you a lot of
power for stiff track cogs and the like. if you're just using the whip
for cassette removal, a shorter whip will be nicer as you dont need
16" of leverage and a shorter tool is less likely to twist under
pressure (i take it no ten minute chain whip will actually be made out
of high quality alloy.)

one word of advice- resist the temptation to use worn out chain for
the chain whip. then the chain wont seat well on teh cogs and it will
pop off under pressure. i found a used chain that was still in great
shape. if i were to do it again, i would join little chain bits lying
all over the place into longer pieces and use those. LBS will have
loads of them.


I like the look of the Ascent and Nashbar[the same?] tool kits, that
sell for around $45.

if you dont already have those tools, and you arent pro- great value.
kept me tinkering for a couple years, and some of the tools i continue
to use on a daily basis.

(Jeff Starr) wrote in message
Hi Rick, how and using what, are you going to make a chain whip? I
know that I'm going to need one eventually.

chain whips are pretty friendly to make. take a bit of flat stock. i
used something like 1/8" x 1" x 16" steel, nothing special. possibly a
little thinner than 1/8", but i cant remember. cut an arc out of the
end so it seats better on the cog (optional, a la some of the more
expensive chain whips). then drill holes as appropriate, cut bits of
chain to length, and used my campagnolo hammer (ok, ok, so its not a
campy hammer) to hammer the pins back in. very, uh, precise.

works great. need to be careful with it when putting serious pressure
on not to twist it, but if you're careful, those 16" give you a lot of
power for stiff track cogs and the like. if you're just using the whip
for cassette removal, a shorter whip will be nicer as you dont need
16" of leverage and a shorter tool is less likely to twist under
pressure (i take it no ten minute chain whip will actually be made out
of high quality alloy.)

one word of advice- resist the temptation to use worn out chain for
the chain whip. then the chain wont seat well on teh cogs and it will
pop off under pressure. i found a used chain that was still in great
shape. if i were to do it again, i would join little chain bits lying
all over the place into longer pieces and use those. LBS will have
loads of them.


I like the look of the Ascent and Nashbar[the same?] tool kits, that
sell for around $45.

if you dont already have those tools, and you arent pro- great value.
kept me tinkering for a couple years, and some of the tools i continue
to use on a daily basis.

"Peter Cole" wrote in message

The other DIY "tools" I have made include a bolt & washer collection to fasten
the BB tool to the BB spindle, and a similar set to remove BB cups (see
Sheldon Brown's site).

yes. super useful. especially for working on old bikes with seized
('winterized?') bottom brackets. the thread pitch is 8mm x 1.0mm
(metric M8 fine thread) if youre looking for them. home depot type
places generally have these bolts as long as 40 or 50mm long. when
that wont work, ive also found an old stem wedge bolt with the same
threading. no broken bb splines anymore, no matter how bad the seize,
or how weak the plastic. and i can crank just as hard as i want on the
BB tool.

"Peter Cole" wrote in message

The other DIY "tools" I have made include a bolt & washer collection to fasten
the BB tool to the BB spindle, and a similar set to remove BB cups (see
Sheldon Brown's site).

yes. super useful. especially for working on old bikes with seized
('winterized?') bottom brackets. the thread pitch is 8mm x 1.0mm
(metric M8 fine thread) if youre looking for them. home depot type
places generally have these bolts as long as 40 or 50mm long. when
that wont work, ive also found an old stem wedge bolt with the same
threading. no broken bb splines anymore, no matter how bad the seize,
or how weak the plastic. and i can crank just as hard as i want on the
BB tool.

Rick Onanian wrote in message

I also bought a BB socket, a pedal wrench, and a 15mm cone
wrench (so I can attack wheel bearings on my road bike .
--


if your bike is pretty standard, you might also consider a 13mm cone
wrench for the front hubs. in fact, two 15s and two 13s woudl be
super, IMHO. park, and most likely other companies, make combination
cones that are great for hub adjustment when you arent really cranking
on the cones. a 13 and a 13/15 combo would fit you out nicely.

--
At EP cycle, I think I'm going to buy aerobars. My problem is,
how do I evaluate different bars to decide which I'd like
better? They won't let me return them once I've used them.


I'm leaning towards the straight, two-piece one, but I can
see that my hands may possibly like the one-piece better.

ive used the one piece version of the profile aerobars. the 'century'
model where the pads do not flip up. i am very glad that they do not
flip up, as i do not have to futz with teh pads using my forearms
trying to wrestle them down. ive heard that the flip up feature is
overrated from a few who've used it, though in truth i havent myself.
also, the basic century model has less bits to break, and they're
cheaper.

then again, i dont use the tops of my bars much (not on that bike,
anyway), so i woudlnt really want them to flip up anyway.

YMMV,
anthony

Rick Onanian wrote in message

I also bought a BB socket, a pedal wrench, and a 15mm cone
wrench (so I can attack wheel bearings on my road bike .
--


if your bike is pretty standard, you might also consider a 13mm cone
wrench for the front hubs. in fact, two 15s and two 13s woudl be
super, IMHO. park, and most likely other companies, make combination
cones that are great for hub adjustment when you arent really cranking
on the cones. a 13 and a 13/15 combo would fit you out nicely.

--
At EP cycle, I think I'm going to buy aerobars. My problem is,
how do I evaluate different bars to decide which I'd like
better? They won't let me return them once I've used them.


I'm leaning towards the straight, two-piece one, but I can
see that my hands may possibly like the one-piece better.

ive used the one piece version of the profile aerobars. the 'century'
model where the pads do not flip up. i am very glad that they do not
flip up, as i do not have to futz with teh pads using my forearms
trying to wrestle them down. ive heard that the flip up feature is
overrated from a few who've used it, though in truth i havent myself.
also, the basic century model has less bits to break, and they're
cheaper.

then again, i dont use the tops of my bars much (not on that bike,
anyway), so i woudlnt really want them to flip up anyway.

YMMV,
anthony

On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 00:24:08 -0500, A Muzi wrote:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...t/CHAINSTK.JPG
In Explorer the photo shrinks and the detail is lost.
In Netscape it's clear

In Opera, it's clear and I can zoom in and out with a
single keystroke or ctrl+mouse_wheel.

Anyway, that's a pretty nice one. What kind of stock is
it made from?

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
--
Rick Onanian

On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 00:24:08 -0500, A Muzi wrote:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...t/CHAINSTK.JPG
In Explorer the photo shrinks and the detail is lost.
In Netscape it's clear

In Opera, it's clear and I can zoom in and out with a
single keystroke or ctrl+mouse_wheel.

Anyway, that's a pretty nice one. What kind of stock is
it made from?

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
--
Rick Onanian