3 Good/3 Bad - Week One
4 October 2013 | By AngusMcIntoshSomething new to MoreDirt that we will be doing every week! Angus will be looking back at 3 things from the past 7 days that have been good and 3 bad!
3 Good…
Tools that have more than one function…
I’m not talking about multi tools here… I know that we all have one (hopefully) I have a Lezyne workhorse with about 20 functions that never leaves my back pocket on my jeans but this week has been made a whole lot easier with this tasty little number I picked up online here...
The Lezyne EXBBT-CLT is basically an External BB cup tool on one end and a cassette lock ring remover on the end. It was the same price as just buying the cassette remover alone at a very reasonable £12.00 and it kills 2 birds with one stone…
Lovely stuff!
Good Birthday Cakes…
It was my Birthday last Saturday and as always you can rely on your Mum to pull it out the bag with a masterpiece cake construction… This years choice? A mountain bike complete with preload and rebound knobs on the forks, a chain and liquorish for the brake hoses and coil shock.
It didn’t half taste bad either!
Some good music from the last 7 days…
I’m a proper music junkie and it plays a pretty big role in my life. I have a pretty varied taste when it comes to what I’ll listen to… There’s some hidden gems in this weeks selection and probably something for everyone so give it a listen…
Highlights from this weeks 10 tracks include some new music from a good friend of mine who goes by the name of Paper Anchor which is well worth a listen… If you like what you hear go and tell him what you think over on the Paper Anchor Facebook.
There’s some classics here to from Blue Oyster Cult, Toto and a cover of The Clash, Train in Vain. Something for everyone! If your a Spotify user you will be able to have a listen to my picks below.
3 Bad
That brings me onto the 3 things from the past 7 days that haven’t been as good!
Instruction leaflets supplied with products…
This classic came from the Shimano SMCD-50 chain device box. Now I know that not everyone takes the time to read the supplied instructions but there’s nothing more annoying when the ones supplied aren’t up to the job and don’t actually instruct you to do anything.
Is this really the best we can supply with new kit? The Irony of the user manual telling you to refer to the user manual gets me every time!
After some head scratching I found what I needed online on the Shimano site so why they couldn’t just include that in the box I’m not quite sure!
MTB Industry standards… Brake mounts specifically.
Not just exclusive to this 7 day period I am forever finding myself banging my head on the wall as I find something that uses a slightly different standard. Finding a brake adaptor to make a set of Shimano XT brakes fit onto a pair of Fox 40’s was this weeks headache with what appeared to be from the outside an I.S mount but actually turned out being something completely different. Should I Know better? Probably but the point remains the same… I.S should be International Standard and I.S only!
Other fine examples seen throughout the mountain bike industry include the I.S.C.G. (international standard chainguide) which we feel it necessary to have 2 of but I shall save that for another day!
The End of Summer.
Sadly as time ticks by this one has a certain air of inevitability about it… Summer 2013 is dead…
As the nights draw in and the weather takes a turn for the worse it could be about time to charge up the night lights, put your winter tyres and dream of spring!
So there it is... 3 good from this week followed by 3 bad! I'll be back next Thursday with more 3 good 3 bad shenanigans!
