Monday Blues: But for the Want of a Derailleur

Turns out that front derailleur that I was going to move from one bike to this one, requires a different size diameter seat tube. I will be trying to round one up this week before declaring the Hakkalugi rebuilt. Even with that lacking component, and mismatched wheels, I was able to put some miles on the tires, dust up the paint. It meant riding it as a 1x10; I actually felt a connection to those old time Tour de France riders, the ones who competed during the era when changing gears meant getting off the bike to flip the wheel, or move the chain by hand. That is exactly what I did - from one chainring to the other as conditions demanded. It would not have worked to my advantage to race that way. 

That was probably a good thing too, because there were tweaks to work out, adjustments to be made, things that can't be noticed when the bike is on the work stand. As you would expect, it has a slightly different feel than either of the other bikes I ride on a regular basis, and the first corner I took as I rode over to Bonelli Park, on Sunday morning for the mountain bike race, was a little too sketchy. The second corner I figured the handling out, and after that... it was one sweet ride. 

I suppose this wasn't a complete case of the Monday Blues after all. True, no racing, the real test. Otherwise, it rode better than I could have hoped.

Once I get my hands on a derailleur there will be a final rebuild post with specs.

Blue: A color, a mood or emotion, a genre of music. Tune in each Monday for another installment of the Blues, with a cycling twist.