I was packing up the bike for Saturday’s Pineywood Purgatory and after removing the rear wheel I kept getting chain lube all over me. For sometime I have not been happy with the lube because it gets on everything and it is difficult to wash off. There are spots on the Stradalli that seem to be permanently stained black. I took the bike back out and removed the chain ( it has 4568 miles on it). The plan was to install the new KMC-11 chain I have had for a month or more. Installing the master link was fairly easy with the KMC Missing Link installation tool I bought a couple of months back. Now I need a removal tool when it comes time to wax the chain again.

Without the wheels on the bike it was difficult to remove the chain and install the new one. I got my ancient Blackburn workstand out to hold the bike by the seat tube. With the bike in the air I thought it would be easier and it was. Even with the old chain laying on the ground I still managed to put many black smears on the white areas of the Stradalli. With an old pair of underwear as a wash cloth and some strong perfumed laundry detergent I washed the black smears off. The new chain is now on the bike. I hope the old adage of not changing components before a big ride does not apply riding the Pineywoods Purgatory.

Now I tackled my Motobecane 700HT mountain bike replacing the very old Performance Bike pedals with Shimano PD-M540 ones. This went easier than the chain replacement. Next up I need to replace the cleats on my mountain bike shoes and change the tires. The tires on the bike are very knobby and I have some Performance tires that are not so knobby. This should help when I ride on asphalt and concrete which what I mostly do. As the weather cools I will ride my mountain bike more.