Two Wheel Blogs

OK I admit it. I'm not the world's best when it comes to maintaining my bicycles.

First off, let me just say I'm not the world's worst when it comes to bicycle maintenance. I can change a tire as quickly as most. I can make most every adjustment my bikes need. I have tools and I'm not afraid to use them. Most of them I even know how to use. You might even say I'm fairly proficient at fixing whatever happens to be wrong with my bike.

But that doesn't make me good at maintenance, not by any means. See, I'm what you might call a "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." kind of bike mechanic. I need some kind of sign to draw my attention to what's wrong. I'm a firm believer in greasing the squeaky wheel.

Anyone who's ridden with me might know that before I start out I always give the brakes a couple of pulls. Always. I do it without thinking. I don't know where I got that habit, but as habits go I figure it's a keeper. After all every ride ends at some point. Even though I might not use them much during my ride I like knowing my brakes are working fine when my ride is over. Today as I prepared to push off I gave the brakes those ceremonial pulls and... wait, that back brake doesn't feel right. Kind of... crunchy. I think we have a squeaky wheel here.

It didn't take me long to find out what needs maintenance.
Before we go on, I want to give you fair warning. If you read on, the image you're about to see, if you decide to look, is not pretty. It is not for the faint of heart.

Disgusting, no? Right there under my top tube, out of sight, my brake cable and housing had come under attack and were losing the battle. The sweaty months of summer have been unkind. Pretty it's not. But it'll be a piece of cake to fix.