Lucky Saturday-7/7/07

OK, well, they say that this day is the luckiest of the century and it only occurs once. True enough that it only occurs once (as, by the way, does every other single day of a century). However, I submit that there is a luckier day ... namely (in the 20th century) July 7, 1977. Since years are generally represented with 2 digits, this results in the date 7/7/77. Again, it won't happen for another 70 years, so it's unlikely that I'll see it in the 21st century (but, I suppose, not impossible ... I'm sure they'll be able to rebuild me ... well, everything but my smile ... after all, how could you improve on that, eh?).

So, based on the preceding, on this *second* luckiest day of the century, I decided to do a total cleaning of my chain, off the bike. This means breaking the chain, of course. For the rejoining, I had previously purchased some KMC Super Link III quick connect pins (for 6.6 mm wide 9 speed chain) and those things really worked well. At any rate, I cleaned the chain by first dumping it in a plastic bottle of solvent and shaking it as well as letting it soak. By the way, I realized (again) that I need a shop apron to keep the oil off my jeans ... but too late for today (I ordered one for next time though). Next I got the chain out and used the solvent to also clean the chainrings and the rear pulley wheels as well as the cassette gears. Then I repeated the chain cleaning in the bottle and also spent time reaching inside the links to clean out stubborn grease. The reason for this really good cleaning job is that the lube I am trying (called Dumonde Tech Original) is a polymer based lubricant that bonds with the chain metal. But it cannot do this if there is any contamination (oil/dirt, etc.) at all on the chain.

Of course, I inadvertantly routed the chain incorrectly at the rear derailleur so I had to sacrifice a Super Link (they are not reuseable) and put it on again after correcting the problem. Fortunately, I'm luckier with mechanical things than with women (hehe) and so everything worked the second time and I'm very satisfied with the results. The chain and derailleurs are very quiet and smooth. I'll wipe the chain down in the morning but I don't expect too much excess with this lube (and I was careful to put exactly one drop on each of the 114 rivets). The goal is to have a quiet, well lubed chain that is maintained by simple soap/water cleaning (Dumonde recommends against using solvent as it defeats the polymer bonding process) and regular light lubrication (perhaps every 100 miles or so).

In other news, I stopped over at Pei's today and had lunch with my friend Bob (retired from the post office). He usually goes to a movie on Saturdays after lunch and today's choice was the new Bruce Willis movie Live Free or Die Hard. Of course, much of it was unbelievable, but it was a great action flick. After it was over, I gave Bob a ride home (he doesn't drive) and then started working on the bike. It was much more fun to work on the bike than to mow the lawn (which actually doesn't seem to need it) ... although it was tougher to *not* go play some golf at St. Andrews (where I have a free season pass but have only used it once this year). Well, maybe tomorrow ... when it will also be interesting to see how the bike holds up with the "new" chain. And if I really like this lube then I'll use it when I actually do put a new chain on the bike (not sure how soon that will be).

Thinking I might go out to sing tonight ... although I see there are dances at both Dubuque and Grundy Center tonight. Also, I have to look at re-doing my picture sometime tomorrow ... have to smile for that, eh? Well, tonight I think I'll celebrate 7/7/07 with a nice bubble bath soak by candle light.