Beer Snobs, Dot 4 Nightmares

Cruised over to Andrew’s house last night for some wrenchin’. This makes my life easier because he has a bike stand and proper tools.

If we had a LBS like ICS in town that offered “rent a bench,” I wouldn’t have to call on my friends in my time of need. Are you reading this Greenville? Simple idea, wonderful idea.

Back to the story, the entire reason I needed said stand and tools was to get my old Hayes off the Drunken Monkey and the new ones on. An especially good idea when a death march is planned for Saturday.

I also installed some new fatty oversized bars and a new stem on the DM too. Not too long after I had Catastrophic Failure on my front brake with the “new Hayes,” I took them into a local LBS to have the line fixed. This is where I am a eggnorramoose because I took them into a shop that doesn’t have the capability to bleed the Hayes. DUH!

So I recently bleed the brake and it seemed to be working well during a driveway test.

Well we were standing there admiring our handiwork having a Sierra Nevada out of Andrew’s new Kegorator when I noticed that there was some oil on the cable. It was seeping out of the connection where the brake failed last time. Not a lot but enough. The only way I noticed it was because I was squeezing the lever a bunch. CRRRRRAAAAAAPPPPP! Nothing you can do about that.

So we proceeded to take the faulty brake off and put the old one on. Now I have two different levers and brake systems on the front and back.

The good news, I have a great brake on the back and a functional bike with a new stem and bar that I think will position me perfectly in the cockpit. The bad news, I don’t know if I should take the brake back and say “Hey no fixie,” or if I should just suck up the cost and take it to another shop where it might not get fixed proper either. I guess I will give it a go so I can only be mad at me. Can I rent a bench somewhere?

Late Edition: I decided that I would take the brake by the LBS today. Said mechanic deserved a chance to right his wrong. After a quick analysis by him and myself we determined it was the fastener that holds the cable to the master cylinder through the lock on bolt. We replaced it and there was no movement so hopefully I can bleed it and replace it.