Dial in another link of glitch

I received an e-mail from UPS, via Rivendell. The replacement stem should be here on Monday.

As promised, I've assembled the drivetrain. Crank, derailleurs, shifters, cables, and chain. Everything is tuned nicely. I've also installed the seatpost.

Of course, none of this happened without a bit of a hitch. According to Zinn's, the proper chain length on a double chain ring is determined by putting the chain on the big chainring and the small gear on the cassette. When the rear derailleur jockey wheels are vertical, the length is right.

I thought I did this, and I broke the chain to what I thought was the right length. When I installed the chain, I realized I messed up by aligning the derailleur incorrectly, and the chain was too short. And I pushed the pin all the way out of the link, which would make it nearly impossible to push back in.

My bike building bible doesn't recommend reusing chain pins for 9 or 10 speed chains, or any Shimano or Campy chain. I thought I'd take a shot at it anyway and after about 2o minutes of positioning the pin, trying to fit it enough by hand so my chain tool could get a good grip and push...I finally was able to push it back in and got the chain back to it's original length. I broke the chain again to the proper length and installed it on the bike. It looked fine.

But would it work fine? I started thinking about snapping chains, smashing my wedding tackle against the top tube or taking a header over the bars. I posted an inquiry on the Rivbike Google group, and several members said no problem. Another member even kindly offered to send me another Powerlink (did I mention I was using a 9-speed SRAM chain?).

The worst thing that could happen is that I hurt myself on my new Ramby because I'd decided to skimp on a few dollars of chain. I decided to bite the bullet, stopped at the LBS on my way home from work and bought another chain. It was worth the extra $24 as a learning experience, and that sum is definitely cheap insurance and worth my peace of mind. I want to make sure everything is 100% right and safe!

BTW, there are new pics forthcoming. With all this free time on my hands, I just haven't had the chance to download them yet :>))

-Dwight