four season cycling

Twin Ports Cyclery, my LBS, is helping me with my URF situation. The new rims came in today. Both rebuilt wheels should be done tomorrow. My bike currently sits in my home workstand completely wheel-less.

Here’s a tip if you have to have your local bike shop work on your wheels. Clean them before you take them in. When I got the call this morning the new rims came in, I put the bike in the stand. I filled a bucket with hot water and a mild soap. I cleaned all the salt, road crud and grease from the wheel. I wiped down the rims, tire sidewalls, spokes, and hub. Since the wheels are being rebuilt, I also removed the brake rotors (disc brake bike) and quick release skewers. And one last thing. Since I use a bike computer with a sensor and magnet, I removed the magnet from the front wheel spoke. This way it doesn’t get lost at the bike shop. Do you have to do all this? No. But I feel it’s a nice thing to do for the shop mechanic. That way she/he gets to start with a clean wheel.

In other updates: The Steel on Wheels Forum is seeing a bump in activity this week. This is a new forum for people who love riding steel bicycles. I urge everyone to check it out. Register and join in the conversations. I’d like to see the membership grow and form a wonderful community of like-minded individuals. I’ll continue to put reminders up on this blog.

Happy riding.