after Saturday's mudfest, I needed to recable both bikes. We also had to get the bikes to Amtrak as fast as possible to get them on their way to Philly for the USGP next weekend. We were out of cables at the house and needed to move fast.
As usual, Sam came to our rescue.
We showed up at Rapid Transit at closing time last night and Sam hung around, working on the bikes with us, till 10pm. We replaced cables and housing for both shifters on both bikes, Sam showed me how to fix the ever-loosening hubs on Ben's wheels, and we took a minute to look everything else over.
Trying to pull the cable off the A bike's front derailer, Ben found a problem in the derailer. We had to replace it with what we could find in the commuter-centric shop- and the closest we could get to his ultegra double was a tiagra triple. Sam spent probably 20 minutes trying to tune it up to work right with the CX gear range on a double, but it's working. I just hope something doesn't go haywire this weekend since I'm not sure I have the patience to get it back in line. The setup is rather finickey.
I'm still sick, though, and faded fast as the night wore on. Having eyes looking over my shoulder I grumped out and shut down, walked away and let Sam finish the tuning. Sam's a bagillion times better at these builds than me- and a bagillion times more experienced- so no sense worrying about my work when Sam can just get 'er done.
Which brings me to my Commentary portion of today... It's hard to be confident when you're not matching the experience level of the other folks around you. I'm not a shop mechanic doing this stuff every day, I know how to do it but I'm not professional-fast, and I'm always finding myself somewhat uneasy about that fact. I'll settle in, in time, but for now... the mantra is "make it work, make Ben confident in it, do what it takes." It's funny. Ben totally trusts my work- I just project my self-doubt on him and assume.
Ridden and Reviewed Kona Libre CR
8 months ago
4 replies:
if Ben trusts you, then go with it Julie. Don't let your confidence go just because there are people who can get the job done faster. You are still getting the job done, Ben likes having you in the pit, and you make a good team.
Hope you feel better soon!!!
Hey, Julie, I hope you are feeling better soon! Considering that you don't do this stuff all day every day, it sounds like you are doing really well.
Hey - check your email
when i used to work the national scene i was so fast working on drivetrains. now i go in my basement and drop tools. it seems to take forever because it is. just keep doing it and you'll get better and faster.
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