SS reborn

Thou shall not start nor end bar wraps ever with sticky adhesive tapes. Same goes for cheap plastic stock plugs.

Must have broken a record in shuttling to bike shops this week... 4 times to be exact.
The inverse SOMA Urban Pursuit lever just didn't fit with the VO Porteur bar and with some after thought that I might lace up a geared hub later on, the bar end would be good for a barcon shifter.

Made the swap today for a pair of SOMA Urban CX instead.

Fretting over the cables as the old but still very good Goretex might not be long enough! Guess what...both front and rear was in perfect symmetry once installed, crossing right at the centerline of the bike. Much better than when they were on the old rando bar.

OK, maybe it lacks the retro "big arc" look that would go with such a setup, but then I'm never a fan of excessive cabling on a bike.

The Tange lugged stem has always presented a problem in that the 26mm bar clamp is a single bolt utilizing a pinch to grip the bar. The old Randonneur and the current VO are both 25.4mm. On clamping hard-- the metal piece on the stem will ovalize and never clamp sufficiently. With these kind of bars where the weight is pressing forward and down... it would just keep rotating forward.

Bad idea when u have to suddenly stand up and punch your way out of a situation and suddenly your bar start having ideas on its own!

Time to apply good old Coke can shimming. Gave me the excuse to get a can... Haven't drank that toilet cleaner shat for the longest time...

Works? Yup, nice and tight. Nuthin moving whatsover...

If there is one thing that really makes my analness shine... it has to be bar-wrapping. It can never have any of those disgusting adhesive tape provided with every bar wrap purchase usually emblazoned with the brand's logo... and we all know, that poo never last. It will start unwinding itself and next would be the wrap itself coming loose. And oh... what's with all those crappy plastic end plugs. . I mean here you have some $60 leather wrap (ok the ones bought today was $5 a pop cork tape on a firesale at Entro) and you round up your product with a piece of plastic. Hello to the brands out there...yooo hooo ya you... if those tapes look anything half decent- -the damn plugs will be screaming MIC from a mile away.

No I'll have none of that and before the leather Brooks end plug arrive-- I'll make do with some DIY wine cork instead. Maybe even just keep them there...

All's finished for now... short ride, feels good and back to Google to search for the right racks and fenders...

Back from morning test ride to "test-drive" an e.kickscooter