53. UPGRADES!

What is it? 4 weeks and bits are already falling off?

Pfft to the very suggestion. This is in fact my recently removed front chainring which, after several rides (and then a few more just to make sure....and then a couple after that while I waited for the new chainring to arrive in the mail) I decided to swap for one with 2 more teeth.

What does that get me exactly (besides an excuse to get another package in the mail)? It gets me slightly more speed when combined with the smallest ring on the back wheel (generally on downhill or flattish bits) with a corresponding hit to the Granniness of my Granny gear (the really low gear that is being employed by the rider you see going up a hill very slowly while spinning his or her legs very quickly).

The new one looks like this....

It's a Renthal....which is just massively credible....trust me. So far I'm liking the change and haven't yet felt the need for a gear lower than that still available to me with this set-up, though I have been studiously avoiding some of the more ridiculous hills available to me in the local area (hills mind you, I couldn't grind up with any of the 21 gears available to me on the Mongoose so just DON'T JUDGE ME ALRIGHT!).

Also - It is significantly harder to keep the front wheel on the deck when climbing up steep hills due to the shorter backend and higher front end aaaaand it came to my attention that I had not routed the front brake cable correctly...

....running the cable on the outside of the fork (picture A) is incorrect. Snaking it around the back (picture B) is in fact the correct method.

Which is why I changed it.

You should all take note of this for reference in the construction of your own bicycles.

Carry on.