Cranks, Nuts, and a Tshirt

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This mornings ride was very low key because I can’t ride my road bike right now (see below) and because I’m taking it easy until my body readjusts to riding again. I took the hybrid out for a short three mile loop. I’ll ride the hybrid for a few more days until I get the Allez back from the shop.

Why I Have A Crank Problem

Yesterday you may remember that I had a problem with left crank arm again where it wants to come off during my rides. I’ve replaced both bolts that hold it on to no avail. Yesterday, while heading to Lowes (a local home improvement store) to get some Blue Loctite, I stopped into a local bike shop to talk to a mechanic about my crank problems (no jokes please). It turns out that I’m missing the compression nut that screws into the left-side of the crank arm. The mechanic says that without that nut I’ll never be able to keep the crank arm on. Here’s a diagram of what I’m talking about. The compression nut is part #5.

Dura Ace Crank Diagram

This particular shop would have had to order me a nut (no, my nickname isn’t Juan Pelota) because they don’t sale Specialized bikes. I left there and headed over to the shop that carries Specialized bikes to pick up the nut which was only $5. Today I’m going to take my bike back to shop #1 to have them overhaul my bottom bracket and put the nut on. Just so you know, that nut requires a special tool (TL-FC16 in the figure above). It looks like a large allen bolt but it isn’t. I went to Home Depot to see if I could make a tool using the nut and bolt trick but nothing fit (standard or metric). So, because I have to take it in to get the nut put on I’m going to have the bottom bracket overhauled at the same time. I’m taking it back to first shop I talked to because they are my favorite shop in the area. Even though I didn’t buy the part from them, I’d rather pay them to install it and do the maintenance. You can follow that shop on Twitter @bicyclesetc.

The Shut Up Everything T-shirt

If you follow professional cycling I’m sure you’ve heard of Jens Voigt. If not, he’s one of the most respected riders in the peleton and is known for his gutsy riding style and giving 100% effort all day every day. He’s also known for the quote “SHUT UP LEGS”. See the video below.

While typing up yesterday’s post, and thinking about how sore I was all over from my first ride in a couple of months, I thought of Jens and his ‘SHUT UP LEGS’ comment and mentality. If I applied that to myself at the time it would have to have been ‘SHUT UP LEGS, NECK, SHOULDER, HANDS, FINGERS, WRISTS, TOES, BUTT, ETC.’. I thought that might look kinda funny on a t-shirt.

Shut Up Legs Tshirt