Over the last couple days have been upgrading a few parts on the Rush as it's hand-me-downs are going to a new build that's in the making.

The Rush got some Juicy Ultimate brakes (on special - couldn't resist), an XT crankset, Selle Italia SLR XC saddle and some Eggbeater SL pedals. As I say, the parts that came off are going on another build so easy to justify!

Apologies for the quality - left the real camera upstairs and the phone isn't so good in the dim light of our carpark.

Anyhow - you get the idea... Thule bike racks like this make a great workstand. See the Lefty there held in place nicely by one of the clamps - even better than most stands in that respect!

As is my way of recording small maintenance jobs...

The Rush's Lefty got a service this week and it got two new bearings in the headset.

The bearings gone at only 13 months old are a bit of a disappointment, but then again the summer's rain will not have helped.

Lefty was due for a service anyhow, but the damping wasn't feeling quiet right last few rides and I noticed some oil on the air valve. Turns out a seal inside had leaked allowing damping oil to get into the bottom air chamber, no wonder the feeling was off! One seal in a year's riding isn't such a bad outcome.

Today the Rush got... a tiny bit of bling... a Salsa seat clamp.

Then through necessity... new bottom bracket and a new Crossmark on the rear.

The rear tire was an absolute pain to get to seal this time. Grrrrrrr!

Another maintenance update...

After the filthy ride on Sunday I had feared the worse for the brakes. Once the pads get worn down leaving metal on metal action not only are you up for a new set of pads, but most likely a new rotor too. Rotors chewed up by this kind of stuff get so pitted and rough that they then chew through the replacement pads in no time - keeping them is a false economy.

Ooooh... bling!

This evening the Rush got new X0 rear mech, new PG990 cassette, two new FSA alloy rings (granny + middle), new HG93 chain. The chain will be lubed with White Lightening Wax for a while to see how it goes. Tried that before but think I shouldn't have been quiet so liberal with it so new regime will be followed.

Thanks to cupcake for the SRAM tuning tips!

Sorry, none of this is that interesting, save for reference later to see how long things last.

The Rush got a new Crossmark on the front just now (5 months, 900Km old). Annoyingly had to go to the servo to get it to seal. The rear won't be lasting too much longer, what with all the talk of Larson on the back maybe I'll try that when the time comes.

So, it's 4:23pm and I've been up since 6:30am, and all that has happened is:

- Have breakie, shower, dress, go for a ride.
- Come home, very quick snack.
- Strip & clean bike. It was filthy, even though it got a good soaking with clean water after the ride you could hardly tell.
- Rotate tires. Damn! These UST just won't reseal without a decent compressor if they aren't new... involved a trip to the servo.
- Shower & change again. Ahhh... human at last!

Whilst it is tempting to keep using those nifty connex quick links, you should bear in mind that they don't last forever. You can get away with using an old one while you go through a couple of chains, but leave it too long, and they suffer from metal fatigue.