So this AM was cool and very wet with thunder, lightning and hail. A good day for the annual chain replacements.
Removed the originals chains and cleaned and lubed the rear derailleur and the chain ring.
On the Vados I installed 126t Shimano CN-HG701-11 chains shortened to 120t with their matching master link. Made sure to match the alignment graphic on the inside of the chain ring to get the chain correctly aligned with the wide/narrow teeth. Their master links are a bit of a challenge to get them to snap closed. After checking with my consultants (MTBer sons), I positioned the partially closed master link at the top of the chain, pulled hard on the rear brake and pushed on the pedal. The link clicked closed after applying more pressure on the pedal than I would have thought necessary, but, hey it worked, with no special tools!
On to the cassette. I have cleaned this in place several times over the past year but after ~1,000 miles it was ready for deep cleaning. I was surprised that it breaks down into 16 pieces when removed from the wheel
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I made sure to keep all the parts in their relative reassembly order, observing front/back for each cog as well. This pic was after cleaning and wiping down with a WD40 soaked rag. Here's the grime that came off;
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The fluid in the bottle was what it was like before cleaning the cassette
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Reassembled the cassette on the hub with a bit of anti-sieze compound on the splines.
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Reinstalled the tire with the new thorn strips, cleaned the rotor, blowout the brake caliper and mounted the wheel.
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Shiny and ready for another year..
Repeated 3 more times. Who says you can never have too many bikes
Done. It must be beer-30 somewhere.
Hey, the sun came out! Spring in the Sierras.
Tomorrow will be a great day to ride...