P-Springing My Way Down The Freeway.

Early last week, I called Cal Coast to ask about the P-Spring issue. The mechanic told me to bring the bike in and they would probably just swap out the derailleur and I'd be on my way. Well, since I was also having an issue with the handle bars coming lose on every ride, I thought I might as well have them give it a once over before I go to Moab. So, since I was going to be in the area from Friday night to Sunday evening, I thought I'd just drop if off at the beginning of my time in San Diego, and pick it up at the end of the workshop.

Well, the best laid plans are often ruined by other people, and in this case many different plans were sabotaged to the point of being useless. First, my carpooler couldn't make it early enough for us to get to the bike shop on Friday, so I had to take it in on Saturday. They took the bike in and sent me on my way, mentioning to stop in on Monday evening to pick up the bike.

So, tonight I headed down the freeway, ready to get my bike with visions of riding tomorrow evening after work because I wouldn't be able to commute on my road bike because I need to drop it off to get new tires. So, I skipped work about 20 minutes early and the freeway was empty. I dashed down to Adams Ave. in no time, walked into the shop and saw my bike still in the stand, the chain dangling from a string tied to the stem.

The bad news was relayed to me...They couldn't get in touch with anyone at Shimano because everyone was just coming back from Interbike. So, they had no authority to swap the part out as a warranty issue and weren't about to eat the cost of a new XTR Shadow rear derailleur if it wasn't covered. I was guaranteed that it would be resolved by Tuesday, and could I come back then...

What really sucked is that I was then right in the heart of rush hour, 25 miles from where I wanted to be, and I didn't have a gym kit or a book or a computer or anything else to occupy my time for 90 minutes. Then, to top it all off, I will need to go down there again tomorrow, which really sucks! Oh well, I just hope I don't get a call tomorrow telling me it's not covered! Then I'll really be pissed!.

17-August La Costa Technical Fiasco

It started off like a great ride. I got to the trailhead at about 4pm and was on my bike by 4:20 (Oh how I wish...) Anyway, video camera was rolling, the ipod was jamming and I was zipping up the hill with all my protective gear in place.

I made some of the switchbacks that usually have me pushing the bike and some of the steep loose climbs were easy with my Mojo SL. I had just made it around one of those corners and up a steep grade when I noticed I had some chain suck. I back pedaled and the chain fell out from between the cranks and the chainstay, but then I noticed that the chain was dragging on the ground. I looked back and saw that the lower jockey wheel was completely forward. I handled the Shimano XTR Shadow derailleur hoping that something would snap back into place or something, but there was absolutely no tension on the chain. A fellow MtB rider came by and offered about the same amount of assistance I was able to provide--pushing the jockey wheel cage backwards only to watch it spring forward.

Fortunately, the return to my car was about 98% down hill, so I coasted back, only having to push a few times. I drove home, put the bike on the stand and grabbed my favorite bike repair manual "Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance." I quickly found the page and discovered that there is a part in the derailleur called a Pivot Spring or P-Spring that puts tension on the jockey wheel cage, and thus, pulls the chain taught. This P-Spring was the source of my issues. I quickly disassembled the derailleur and found the P-Spring, put it into place and tightened everything up, but still no tension. So, it was time to read the manual a bit more closely. It turned out I needed to twist the jockey wheel cage around. But to do that I needed to remove a set screw that prevents the jockey wheel cage from spinning all the way around. I removed the screw, but discovered, to my frustration, that I needed to break the chain in order for everything to work right. I guess it was a good time to replace the chain, even though it was almost brand new.

The original chain was an XTR, which while a good chain, caused me some consternation in that I have been using SRAM 971 chains for some years and don't have any XTR links in the even that I would need to replace a few on the trail. So, with the added benefit of some over-zealous chain breaking, where I knocked the pin completely out of the link, it seemed like a good time to just put on the SRAM chain that I had sitting in front of me in the toolbox.

After breaking the chain, I once again removed the set screw from the jockey wheel housing, twisted the jockey wheel housing around, replaced the set screw, and voila, I had a derailleur that would tension the chain once again. I put on the new chain; tested the shifting, which worked flawlessly, and went about cleaning up my mess.

I'm questioning whether I should take the bike in to the shop to have them take a look at it, or whether I should just trust Mr. Zinn's technical explanation and give the bike a ride. I'll be leading two rides this coming weekend for the California Men's Gathering's camping trip to Mt. Laguna. I think I'll bring along another derailleur though, just in case.