I go where I'm thread.

Somehow, I think I knew this day would come. I do not believe it was by chance that I purchased a die handle and a 1" 24tpi die off of ebay a few months ago. I used them today to extend threads on my new fork for the Rockfish F-1 BMX.  The fork had 1.5" of threads already cut, but I had to extend them another 1.75" to make it compatible with my head tube. Park Tool's article on thread cutting was really helpful.

Fork prior to cutting more threads. I threaded down into the black painted area.

My awesome die handle.

1" steerer x 24tpi

Thread shavings. Clear these by spinning 1/8 turn backward every 1/2 turn.

First pass, super oiled up. Copious amounts of lube required.

First pass.

Second pass.

Third pass, all clean and all done!

All in all, it probably took me an hour of work and a lot of arm strength. I had to make several passes with the die set at slightly different diameters. During the first pass, the die is set quite open. The die is closed a little with each following pass to cut the threads a little at a time. I used almost all of my chain lube in the process.

The title of this post is a play on a lyric in a Silver Jews song - Pet Politics.

Hammering Bikes & Campagnolo Keychain

I've spent a lot of time working with the general public at Charlottesville Community Bikes. The scariest thing I ever hear while I'm working there is a mechanic "using" a hammer on a bicycle part. When this situation occurs, I immediately stop what I am doing and approach the culprit for damage control. By the time I arrive at the scene of the crime, the deed has usually already been done. I once heard it described, "An ounce of technical know-how is worth a ton of brute force. When you have an itch on your ear, you don't take a sledgehammer to it."

However, there are some (albeit few and far in between) times when the use of a hammer is appropriate in bicycle repair. Today I came across the perfect use for one:

The dented head tube on my Rockfish.

The head of the hammer just fit inside the head tube.

All it took was a little leverage action from the handle of the hammer. It rounded out the head tube easily. Pressing in a headset should not be a problem now.

Right there where the dent was.

As circular as it needs to be.

Also, Do Right Fear Not's Shifty Keychain post inspired me to snap a photo of my bike keychain:

An aluminum Campagnolo toeclip that snapped. Dremeled it smooth.