Yes indeed, having returned
from another head-clearing blast along the back roads, I was gently sweeping my
Ilpompino back inside the garage when serenity was rudely interrupted by the
faintest sound of binding…
We hadn’t encountered any
holes or similar rim worrying phenomenon, so I presumed it was just a sticky
inner wire. Pumping the left Tektro lever saw induced a faint tinkling as the
tiny little pressed steel cable hanger expired, blowing itself into oblivion
and inducing that sudden, monumental loss of cable tension.
Stunned silence was replaced
by mild irritation-fettling aside; I’d literally engaged its rear stopper
three, maybe four times in the last eight years. Initial thoughts leaned toward
buying another Surly “braker” unit (as fitted to my Univega) but since the law
only requires fixed builds to run a single, lever operated brake, I decided
this presented the ideal opportunity to forgo it completely. Not so the
braze-on posts. Some folks love nothing better than taking a hacksaw to their
framesets but I like the option of reintroducing stuff should need, or fancy
take me. They might also make brilliant blinky mounts...
A quick rummage in the
spares drawer resurrected this resin Tektro stoker/dummy lever, some grey
primer and my long T handled 5mm Allen key. Despite being well maintained, I
was surprised at how arthritic the wide arm cantilever’s stainless mounting
screws had become and momentarily envisioned strip-city. Having bypassed this
grim narrative with a timely shot of release spray and severed the inner cable,
things breezed together pretty smoothly.
Despite being previously repatriated
and increasingly weathered, the Spa cycles leather handlebar wrap rewound sans
protest and having wiped the bosses clear of residual grease, it was a question
of either applying a thin, protective layer of polymer lube or, in this
instance a thin coat of grey primer topped off with some of this Sugru “form
& fix”.
For the uninitiated, these
are thin sachets of self-setting, flexible rubber that, until cured have a
texture broadly similar to play dough/plastercine and can be moulded in much
the same way.
Achieving smooth, even
effects takes literally forty seconds or so, though seems to require a few
hours unmolested to cure fully. Paint protectors are an obvious use, though
ours has also been employed as replacements for mudguard (fender) stay caps,
resealing electrical cables/dynamo wire etc.
Having double checked lever
symmetry, reinstated and sealed the cowhide wrap, taking this opportunity to
substitute the fetching but only moderately secure wooden plugs with some
tap-in composites On the home straight,
reinstating those canti-bolts with some Teflon prep the back door sprung open.
It was Joshua who, to my astonishment proceeded to tell me this Dualco unit
must be a “vacuum primed” design.
Upon my affirmation, he then explained the
mechanical principles behind them-correctly (!) Somewhat fond of deviating from
the stock strip when it comes to degreasers and similar grime busting potions,
I’ve just taken delivery of this three-litre dilute to taste concentrate from
chemicals direct.
Hmm, familiar orange hue,
“safe on all surfaces”, not for human consumption etc, interesting aroma
too…I’ve a few sneaking suspicions about its potential hostility towards delicate anodised
and indeed, flamboyant wet-spray finishes but let’s see how it behaves in
various strengths and contexts before passing judgement.
