Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Perils of the Pancake Brake

The clean-up..
Two days ago, my mother in-law came to the house with her part-time cleaners.
So far, they've done a decent job.
But of late, these ladies have shown their destructive powers.
First, one of them had burned a hole on my favourite Patagonia shirt.
Today, I found two holes on my Columbia shirt..

The bikes, stacked together
 When they cleaned my living room, the bikes were taken out to facilitate the job.
No issues here.
I snapped a shot of the bikes for my record and as soon as the pictures came up on-line, some dude had started to underwrite me.
"Want to sell ah?"
I find it absolutely annoying to receive questions as such..

The horror, the horror, the horror..
This morning, while I was arranging one of the bikes, I found my brake lever on the Ashima PCB brakes dangling.
Seem that one of the cleaners or more had broken it.
I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out on how to fix it. But it was in vain. 
To secure the lever on the brake fluid reservoir, a special tool is needed. 
Right now, the brake is fucking useless..

The broken lever
 The Ashima PCB system is one good looking system.
Its aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and the Air Rotors that came with it are the lightest in its class.
But, its also very delicate and sensitive.
Since I got my Dahon Jetstream EX last year, I've been plagued with brake problems.
The Ashima, although it was able to deliver, was prone to brake drag.
Pressure built-up in its hydraulic fluid causes the calipers to jam.
Each time I experience this, I bleed the brake fluid.
Now, the lever is completely damaged.
To get the Jetstream going, my choice replacement is the Shimano Deore XT M775 which is an older brakeset with long levers.
But, before I do so, I will bring it over to Johnny Ng's shop for a second opinion. If the levers can be fixed, I will ride it for a while till I find a replacement... 

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