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D.I.S.S. Is All Clean

Published January 1, 2009

Oury grip on the Bianchi D.I.S.S. after cleaning the bike and re-fitting them with isopropyl alcohol. Hopefully they will stay in place.

I spent a good part of yesterday and today disassembling and reassembling the Bianchi D.I.S.S. that I acquired on Monday. While it looked pretty good to begin with, the drivetrain (save for the chain) was actually pretty dirty. There was also a bunch of black dirt (chain lube / dirt gunk) hiding all over the frame and drivetrain. So, I took pretty much the whole bike apart, cleaned everything, then put it back together. (Here’s a photo of the shiny clean crankset, chainring, and chain.)

This included torquing everything to spec, re-seating the tires (with logos aligned, of course!), flipping the stem cap around so the logo faces the right way up, re-fitting the Oury grips, adjusting the brake levers, and all the other niggling things that are part of putting a bike together. The grips were fitted by first cleaning them, rinsing them with alcohol (99% isopropyl), then wetting them with alcohol and sliding them on. They appear to be drying nicely, although I’ve read that it may be best to fit them with either rubber cement or a spray adhesive. If this doesn’t hold, I’ll try another method.

It’s now all ready for riding, I just have to wait for a bit less ice on the ground and I’ll be able to ride. This bike might also be perfect for trying out the On-One Mary Bar which Bob loaned to me a few months back.

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100% Chick Designed

Published January 1, 2009

Bianchi's 100% Chick Designed logo on the bottom rear side of the seat tube of the D.I.S.S., indicating that this frame was designed by Sky Yaeger.

I spent lots of New Year’s Eve working on cleaning up the new-to-me Bianchi D.I.S.S.. As part of this involved removing the rear wheel I was able to take a photo showing off the “100% Chick Designed” logo which is placed on Bianchi frames designed by Sky Yaeger.

Yes, this is very much the bike version of a crotch shot.

Happy New Year everyone, and Happy Birthday !

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Woodpecker?!?

Published December 30, 2008

Sitting here at work is proving to be pretty quiet today, except for a few minutes ago when I heard a sound as if someone was rapidly banging on the window somewhere across the floor. When I heard the sound repeat, but much closer to my desk I got up to investigate. When I got to the window a woodpecker was sitting on the outside window sill banging away at the glass.

I tried to take a picture, but it flew away right as I got the shot framed.

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Bianchi D.I.S.S.

Published December 29, 2008

Detail of the Salsa seat clamp on the Bianchi D.I.S.S., along with the Cars-R-Coffins art.

I’d intended to hold off on purchasing a new bike for a while, but over the weekend Nick pointed me at this thread at mmba.org where someone was offering up a Bianchi D.I.S.S. (Disc Integrated Single Speed) with decent specs and in approximately my size (large) for US$300. It looked to have some good quality parts on it (including pedals which fit my current cleats), so I made arrangements to check it out and possibly buy it. Conveniently, I was owed just about the sale price by my parents so I was even able to purchase it without affecting CC or bank account balances.

Shaun (the seller) and I met up today and when I took a look at the bike it seemed to be just what I’d been wanting a few months back when I was considering a much more expensive Raleigh. It needed a bit of adjusting, but after tweaking the brakes, tightening the crankshaft, tightening up the chain a little, putting some screws in the bottle cage mount holes, and adjusting the stem it feels like quite a nice fit and was definitely a good buy.

The only thing I have left to do is reseat the rear tire (it’s a little off and has a slight skip) and possibly rebuild the rear hub (bearings are audible; or maybe that’s the freewheel). There is one non-fixable problem with it, as the tool surface for dust cap for the crank is stripped, but as the crank can still be adjusted it’s not an actual problem. I might replace the dust cap anyway, if I come across one.

Oh, and one of the best parts? Since it’s a single speed it has sliding dropouts, and these normally make it a pain to seat the rear wheel after removing it. However, this bike has a Surly Tuggnut on it, which doubles as a bottle opener. I don’t really have an interest in drinking and riding, but I did make a point of using it tonight, with nothing less than Arbor Brewing Company’s Tree Fort Beer.

Here are a couple more photos I took of the bike and its various bits tonight:

· Bianchi D.I.S.S. which I purchased for $300.
· Detail of the Salsa seat clamp on the Bianchi D.I.S.S., along with the Cars-R-Coffins art.
· Surly Tuggnut on the Bianchi D.I.S.S.. Yes, it is also a bottle opener.
· The dust cap on the crank set has been stripped. I’m not sure how this happened, but at least I can still remove the crank.
· Edoardo Bianchi badge on the head tube of the Bianchi D.I.S.S..
· My somewhat modified Specialized Rockhopper and Bianchi D.I.S.S., sitting side by side in my office.
· Bianchi D.I.S.S., photo #1 sent to me prior to the sale.
· Bianchi D.I.S.S., photo #2 sent to me prior to the sale.

After getting home with the bike I put Roxie in the car, locked myself out of the house (thankfully my parents happened to be near by and helped me out), then drove over to Fraser Bicycle & Fitness and picked up a bike stand, floor pump (because the SKS Airworx one I got before doesn’t work right), and some spare bottle cage bolts. Roxie loved the ride.

Continue readingBianchi D.I.S.S.
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Roxie Is Needy!

Published December 28, 2008

Roxie likes it when I lift the blinds up so that she can look outside.

Having Roxie around my house requires that I make some special accommodations for her. Along with keeping food out, making time to play with and walk her, and carrying plastic bags for the collection of poop I also have to lift the blinds enough so that she may look outside.

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Chestnuts Roasting Near A Gas Flame

Published December 28, 2008

Roasted chestnuts, showing how the skin peels back after being slit cut with X pattern and roasted.

Danielle purchased a large handful of chestnuts for me a few weeks back and tonight I finally got around to roasting them. Per the directions I found online I slit them (all but one) with an X, put them on a pan, and roasted them at about 425° for 15 minutes or so.

When they were done it wasn’t difficult — just a bit hot — to peel the skins off exposing the meats of the chestnuts. The only difficult part was opening the non-slit one, as cutting it caused a burst of steam to come out and burn me. Whoops! I was hoping that it would explode as the pressure built up, but alas it didn’t.

I’m not sure what I think of the taste of roasted chestnuts. They seem fairly good, but mentally I keep putting them somewhere between edamame and soft walnuts because of the soft texture, bean-ish flavor, and brain-y appearance. Here is a photo of the peeled chestnuts.

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Considering Wide Open West

Published December 27, 2008

For years I’ve had Comcast for data services here at my house. I’ve had few problems with them, my IP rarely changes, and the service seems decent. However, I’m trying to figure out a few things about it and searching at Google isn’t providing many results, so I’m hoping that some of you can help me.

I currently pay $62.95 for just data from Comcast. In researching getting a better deal I came across a package from WOW! with 2Mb/sec uploads with digital cable for $99/mo. This package is WOW!’s Xtreme Turbo 15Mbps (2Mbps Upload) Internet and Digital Value Cable Bundle:

WOW! Xtreme 15Mbps Internet is ideal for online gaming, video streaming, downloading large photos and accessing video-rich website content, and includes 5 e-mail accounts, 3 IP addresses and 10 MB of web space. WOW! Digital Value Cable delivers your local broadcast networks and Basic Cable, with an on-screen Interactive Program Guide, 45 channels of commercial-free CD-quality digital music, multiple channels of your primary premium services, expanded pay-per-view selections and access to WOW! OnDemand, our Video OnDemand service with a continually updated library of over a thousand titles including movies, kids’ shows, sports, music, and events.

· How do you like the service overall? What sort of problems have you had? Is the HD content decent or degraded ala Comcast?

· In this it says that I’d get three IPs, but do any of you know how those are allocated? Does the modem (or upstream stuff) just hand out that many, or are they statically set?

· If addressing is done via DHCP, what’s the lease time from WOW!?

· WOW!’s Additional Services & Equipment page lists CableCARDs as costing $3.50/mo. Do you know if this is an M-type? I’m needing to put this in a S3 TiVo, so it’ll have to be either an M-type or I’ll have to get two S-type.

UPDATE: I just signed up for WOW! with an install date of Monday. I was told the first CableCARD is free, and is an M-type. Installation is free, and the referral program should get $25 for both my aunt and I after a couple months. All three IPs appear to be allocated via DHCP, so it’ll take some fancy stuff to have multiple IPs on Trashwall, but I’ll see if I can do it. Ideally everything will be natted via main IP except the Xbox 360 which will be binatted to a second IP to get around Xbox Live / NAT issues.

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Dog Walking

Published December 26, 2008

Taking Roxie, Danielle's dog, for a walk while I watch her.

Danielle is heading down to Florida for a vacation with some friends, so I’m watching her dog Roxie. She’s a really great dog, but being big and yellow I have to take her outside for regular long walks. Running around indoors is not a sufficient amount of play for an animal of her size.

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