***UPDATE: Problem solved, the cogs were worn. Used a brand-new cog and no skipping.***
Since characterizing fire trucks as “undercover villains,” the livable streets movement continues to win over the hearts and minds of the public:
By next year you can fully expect a tweet about how if Hochul hadn’t paused congestion pricing 9/11 would never have happened in the first place. See, it’s the reason for absolutely everything these days–in addition, of course, to your delayed train:
Indeed. Over the past week I myself was subject to two serious transit delays. One was because a passenger on the train ahead of ours had had a stroke and needed medical attention, and the other was because someone was struck by a train. Certainly neither of these things would have happened if only congestion pricing had been implemented, and I only hope emergency responders didn’t arrive in a large truck.
Hey, I’m not sticking up for Hochul, all I’m saying is that things aren’t so simple. Hochul made your train late… Migrants are eating your cats… Climate change is causing an epidemic of home runs… We are a deeply addled nation, but fortunately we have social media to offer us important perspective and to calm us down:
Anyway, further to yesterday’s post, immediately after typing it into the computer I went back to work on the Roaduno. The first thing I did was change the chain, because why not? Wondering if maybe some extra width would help, I tried this baby which I received awhile back in a care package from Classic Cycle:
I also tried a different derailleur:
It skipped.
Next I tried a brand-new derailleur, in case my old ones were bent or something, as well as a 17-tooth Shimano freewheel to see if an extra tooth might help. Here’s how it looked in the big ring:
And here’s how it looked in the small ring:
Pretty good, right?
It skipped.
Up ’til now, I’d had the best luck with the 8-speed chain and the Ultegra short-cage derailleur. So I went back to that. I also left the 17-tooth freewheel on there, since it seemed to me the more teeth the better:
It skipped:
Common sense would dictate that the thing to do now is simply go back to a one-speed setup, since not only is it foolproof but I’d been greatly enjoying it that way. However, if there’s one thing I lack it’s common sense. Also, I really want that climbing gear!
I’ve since checked with Rivendell, who confirm that Shimano freewheels do work in this application, so I’m pretty certain now that the problem is I’m using a cog that’s more worn than I think it is. So as soon as I get my hands on a new one I will install it. Odds are that’ll take care of it, but if for some reason it doesn’t then I’m blaming Hochul. It’s the reasonable thing to do.