The "I'm an idiot" Thread

[Roxtar]

Last night, went to work on the bike and saw several gaps on my tool wall.
"Oh yeah, forgot to put everything back after last weekend in Salida."
Went to the truck to retrieve the tool box and...

OK, try the camper...

Nope.
Looked everywhere I could imagine.

Apparently, I donated a really nice set of tools to the next visitor at our favorite Salida dispersed campsite.

[EWG]

Last night, went to work on the bike and saw several gaps on my tool wall.
"Oh yeah, forgot to put everything back after last weekend in Salida."
Went to the truck to retrieve the tool box and...

OK, try the camper...

Nope.
Looked everywhere I could imagine.

Apparently, I donated a really nice set of tools to the next visitor at our favorite Salida dispersed campsite.

Now that sucks.

[XtrPickels]

Failed to mention, I did have a Houdini on the whole time, it was soaked through in the first 10minutes. Winter riding shoes would’ve certainly helped. I guess a win was the hood did warm me up quite a bit once I put it on.

I think I’ll still to fair-weather gravel riding, I find running to be much easier in regulating body temps in these conditions, plus less wear/tear on the bike.

Windproof (not resistant) is essential to have a chance of staying warm.
I've raided "Little Free Libraries" and done descents with an open book inside my jersey to block some wind...

[evdog]

Windproof (not resistant) is essential to have a chance of staying warm.
I've raided "Little Free Libraries" and done descents with an open book inside my jersey to block some wind...

Reminds me of a summer we did a big Palm Springs descent in summer as a night ride. No one would have been on the trail for months and catclaw and cactus overgrow the trail during this time. So I had warned everyone multiple times to bring hard shell full leg and arm pads. Guess what I forgot....

We got a motel room to avoid having to drive home at 2am. Only thing I could think of was to tear a thick sheaf of pages out of the motel room phone book, and I shoved half down my socks on each leg and duct taped them into place. It actually worked pretty well. The pages were shredded by the end of the ride but no blood except on my arms.

[EWG]

Reminds me of a summer we did a big Palm Springs descent in summer as a night ride. No one would have been on the trail for months and catclaw and cactus overgrow the trail during this time. So I had warned everyone multiple times to bring hard shell full leg and arm pads. Guess what I forgot....

We got a motel room to avoid having to drive home at 2am. Only thing I could think of was to tear a thick sheaf of pages out of the motel room phone book, and I shoved half down my socks on each leg and duct taped them into place. It actually worked pretty well. The pages were shredded by the end of the ride but no blood except on my arms.

Windproof (not resistant) is essential to have a chance of staying warm.
I've raided "Little Free Libraries" and done descents with an open book inside my jersey to block some wind...

There's a reason that the Tour guys back in the day would stuff newspapers under their jerseys for the descents.

As an aside, Gore makes a really cool windstopper vest cycling underlayer that works amazingly well. I've also used it for spring skiing with a long sleeve t shirt. Adds just a little warmth when you're not moving, but blocks the cold wind when you're flying downhill in between lift rides.

[Dantheman]

Last night, went to work on the bike and saw several gaps on my tool wall.
"Oh yeah, forgot to put everything back after last weekend in Salida."
Went to the truck to retrieve the tool box and...

OK, try the camper...

Nope.
Looked everywhere I could imagine.

Apparently, I donated a really nice set of tools to the next visitor at our favorite Salida dispersed campsite.

Duuuude....

[snowaddict91]

Last night, went to work on the bike and saw several gaps on my tool wall.
"Oh yeah, forgot to put everything back after last weekend in Salida."
Went to the truck to retrieve the tool box and...

OK, try the camper...

Nope.
Looked everywhere I could imagine.

Apparently, I donated a really nice set of tools to the next visitor at our favorite Salida dispersed campsite.

There are a few mags over that way, maybe one could take a look at the campsite for you to see if it's still there?

[sfotex]

There's a reason that the Tour guys back in the day would stuff newspapers under their jerseys for the descents.

As an aside, Gore makes a really cool windstopper vest cycling underlayer that works amazingly well. I've also used it for spring skiing with a long sleeve t shirt. Adds just a little warmth when you're not moving, but blocks the cold wind when you're flying downhill in between lift rides.

When I rode up Mount Evans I dug thru the garbage can at the summit and pulled out enough newspapers to keep me warm on the down.

[Thaleia]

Setting up a cheap Claris 2x8 bike for my trainer. I'm awful at adjusting derailleurs. Not even going to contaminate the expert thread with such a low level question..

On the front derailleur, I need to get the cage out a touch more outward away from the frame but the H screw goes to a point where it doesn't have any affect.

I assume in this case I need to add some cable tension, is this correct? And if so, can anyone offer any advice on how to find the right 'starting' cable tension? (this pos doesn't have a barrel adjuster) I've been down this road before things go south real quick.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Start with the cage in the low position and no cable tension. Adjust the low limit screw so the chain doesn’t rub on the inside of the cage and the chain doesn’t derail to the inside. Tension the cable so it’s just taut. Shift the cage to the high position and use the high trim screw to adjust so the chain doesn’t rub on the cage and the chain doesn’t drop off the outside of the chain wheel. You’ll have to fiddle with it a bit so you don’t get chain rub running through the cogs.


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[Thaleia]

Start with the cage in the low position and no cable tension. Adjust the low limit screw so the chain doesn’t rub on the inside of the cage and the chain doesn’t derail to the inside. Tension the cable so it’s just taut. Shift the cage to the high position and use the high trim screw to adjust so the chain doesn’t rub on the cage and the chain doesn’t drop off the outside of the chain wheel. You’ll have to fiddle with it a bit so you don’t get chain rub running through the cogs.


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Oh man sincere thanks. I'm on to a different project but will get back to this later tonight. Thank you so much for taking the time to write that up.

[XXX-er]

There's a reason that the Tour guys back in the day would stuff newspapers under their jerseys for the descents.

Back in the day for the motor cycle riders it was stuff a life magazine inside yer leather jacket , the magazine was big & thick with thick glossy pages and the pictures of Marilyn Monroe were just the bonus

[Eluder]

Last night, went to work on the bike and saw several gaps on my tool wall.
"Oh yeah, forgot to put everything back after last weekend in Salida."
Went to the truck to retrieve the tool box and...

OK, try the camper...

Nope.
Looked everywhere I could imagine.

Apparently, I donated a really nice set of tools to the next visitor at our favorite Salida dispersed campsite.

That just sucks, been there with different items before. I left my camp grill once… I'd be more bummed to leave my tool roll though… shitty deal..

[Thaleia]

Start with the cage in the low position and no cable tension. Adjust the low limit screw so the chain doesn’t rub on the inside of the cage and the chain doesn’t derail to the inside. Tension the cable so it’s just taut. Shift the cage to the high position and use the high trim screw to adjust so the chain doesn’t rub on the cage and the chain doesn’t drop off the outside of the chain wheel. You’ll have to fiddle with it a bit so you don’t get chain rub running through the cogs.


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Hey thanks again! Took awhile because I not smart good but I think I've got this as dialed as it's going to get. Virtual fist bumps!

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Hey thanks again! Took awhile because I not smart good but I think I've got this as dialed as it's going to get. Virtual fist bumps!

Happy to help.


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[John_B]

Why did I wait until 20 minutes before legal sunset in my dark ass gravel carport to decide I should take my sticky brake lever off the brake body to clean it? That was 45 minutes of failing to get the spring lined up correctly, dropping my shit in the gravel, crawling around looking for the spring, cursing my stupidity and being too lazy to walk back into the house to get new batteries for my dim POS headlamp because "I've almost got it so I'll just try one more time before I swear I'll go get batteries".

Because I'm an idiot and knew I shouldn't try to rush through that but did it anyway.

[Roxtar]

There are a few mags over that way, maybe one could take a look at the campsite for you to see if it's still there?

Actually, I called Shawn Gillis from Absolute Bikes. He went out there to look around.
There was a vehicle in my space and no tool box to be found.
Final bit of suckage was the really nice Pelican case everything was housed in.

First camp trip of the year and didn't have the routine down yet.
Rookie move - Forgot the post-camper-move site walkdown.

[grskier]

Actually, I called Shawn Gillis from Absolute Bikes. He went out there to look around.
There was a vehicle in my space and no tool box to be found.
Final bit of suckage was the really nice Pelican case everything was housed in.

First camp trip of the year and didn't have the routine down yet.
Rookie move - Forgot the post-camper-move-site-walkdown.

We have the antisway bars for our camper, I forgot the hook stick at the campsite once, wasn't far away, but was gone by the time we got back. Very easily could have been on the tailgate/tongue area.

[Boissal]

My front brake lever was pulling a bit closer to the bars than I like on the previous couple of rides. I finally got to it a couple nights ago, cleaned the sticky pistons, realigned the calipers so everything was real nice, and decided I could get away without a bleed cause usually just actuating the pistons a few time does to trick on Hayes brakes. I get the bike off the rack on Sat and the first time I use the front brake the damn lever goes almost to the bar. It felt nice and crisp when I finished working on it but sure enough it's all kinds of messed up now. It's the only time I have to ride until who knows when so I roll with it. It got progressively worse throughout the ride until the lever was actually touching the grip right as the brake got to full power. Got a sketchy PR on a loose trail thanks to it, not sure it was worth the potential digger into pointy rocks and scrub oak...

[oftpiste]

Rookie move - Forgot the post-camper-move-site-walkdown.

Whenever I go anywhere I do the walk down. Of course it's OCD. It's called an 'idiot check' in our house. Gotta make sure you don't forget any idiots.

[Roxtar]

it got progressively worse throughout the ride until the lever was actually touching the grip right as the brake got to full power. Got a sketchy PR on a loose trail thanks to it, not sure it was worth the potential digger into pointy rocks and scrub oak...

Like I always say, "Brakes are over-rated, they just slow you down."

[Andeh]

I offered to help a buddy install my Vorsprung Secus on his 38, after I took it off my Zeb to sell. I have the tools & oils to service a 36 from when I owned one, but didn't have the Fox 38 air shaft bullet tool. He wanted to fully clean the 38 air shaft of excess factory grease, and didn't want to wait for the bullet tool to arrive. So we bodged a plastic pick end on the end figuring it was just a guide tool. Nope, fucked up the quad ring and oring on the air shaft sleeve. Now the fork is at a proper service tech to get the air shaft serviced/fixed, and I've got the tool in question on order so I can help buddies running 38s out on fork services.

[Meconium]

Wife and kid are out for a bit, it's raining out. Plenty of time for bike maintenance and domestic duties. I'm laying in bed staring at my phone. Fucking dumb.

[VTskibum]

^^ usually the root cause for many of the items in this thread, including todays.

Got my suspension serviced over the winter, tech asked if I wanted to new brake pads. I said no since I had some, fast forward a few spring rides and felt horrible today. Come to realize about mile 10 that my rear brake is dragging pretty badly. Had been riding my hardtail mostly and only a few rides on the trail bike. No wonder I felt like shit. Frame has inside the rear stay brake mount which makes it near impossible to loosen caliper bolts w/o taking wheel off. Got it sorted at home, but that was dumb


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