Remember a few years back when Slipstream showed up to change the world? Vaughters and Co.'s transparency and progressive style made it easy to want to be a fan of this team. Now that Felt is no longer partnered with the squad this F1 Team bike is a cool part of history. Felt F1 Frameset in team colors, Dura Ace 7800, Zipp 303's, Oval Concepts and Fizik finishing kit.
Let's tune it, shall we?
The first issue is with the front tire's valve extender. It was overtorqued and has cracked the the valve. This is a costly error from improper set up. Tyres are expensive after all. I have selected Vittoria valve extenders for this customer instead of reusing the Zipps. They work better with a multitude of pumps and function like a normal valve. This tire will be sent to Tire Alert for a new tube and fresh basetape.
Another Vittoria Corsa CX Tire will be used. If you have the means, I highly recommend them. So choice. This tire will stretch overnight on a spare wheel because its the right thing to do.
Shimano's chain-checker says this is a good time to replace the chain.
Why wear out a chain tool removing worn chains? Besides, this is way more fun.
All of the cable ends are clipped so cables and housing can be removed.
Note how the inner sheath of the housing is beginning to pull through the nylon ferrule that Shimano specs for its Dura Ace housing. When this fails, the bike may or may not be able to shift. The rider may or not be in a race or 50 miles from home. This indicates the ferrules compress under load, which sacrifices shifting accuracy. For this reason I prefer stiffer ferrules and higher quality housing.
Plus OMG the Jagwire machined ferrules and endcaps come in so many fun and super cute colors! I also use Jagwire L3 Lined Housing and Jagwire Stainless Steel Slick Cables for most Sram and Shimano Bikes.
This is what a ferrule looks like after a year of use. That corrosion eventually causes it to seize to the frame braze-on. Removal compromises the paint and possibly the braze-on. Replace cables and housing once a year for the heck of it, if not just to prevent things like this.
Bike is stripped of bar tape, cables and housing, and computer head. Time for a bath.
That's right boys and girls. Soap and water. You already have these things. A clean bike is a happy bike.
Here's the washing station I keep set up behind the shop in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. I can't cover all the details of cleaning, but I will say it involves soap, water, a bucket, degreaser, brushes, sweet loving, a sponge, and lots of experience. Care is taken not to violate the grease in bearings while cleaning.
I get the spaces in-between the spaces.
For what its worth I always wear these fireman's boots when I wash bikes. They're bad-ass (trust me).
Cleaned and ready for the real fun to start.
I remove the pedals, crankset and bottom bracket. My tune up more resembles what most shops call an overhaul. I'm ok with that. Most bearings are not serviceable. Modern parts are consumables that wear and get thrown away. Maintenance to a road bike has largely become cleaning and inspecting. It is vitally important that this is done with precision and adherence to manufacturer's specifications as parts are lightweight and fragile. Realistically, most customers have their bike "tuned" once a year-- and this is the service they actually need. I have honed my skill at the pseudo-overhaul on modern road bikes to be quick and repeatable.
Seatpost and seatpost clamp are removed.
Pulleys are removed from the rear derailleur. Cooper supervises.
Looking less and less like a bike.
Fork is pulled and steertube inspected for damage. This is too often overlooked. A good customer from a previous shop once lost a fistful of his teeth and required plastic surgery to reattach his face after a steertube failure on a damaged fork. I think of him every time I do this.
Little bit of grease on headset bearing races.
Headset bearings inspected and fork reinstalled in frame.
Barrel Adjusters removed from down-tube. That's how I roll.
Parts laid out in an orderly array. It helps protect my sanity by packaging the tasks that comprise a tune up into delicious bike sized chunks.
Entire frame gets sprayed and polished with Lemon Pledge. This is the best product to shine and protect your bike frame with. I also use it partially out of superstition. Props to SC Johnson Wax, a family company.
We're talking about one clean and shiny bicycle here.
A spot of lube on all pivots, or where it might be helpful.
Tacx Dynamic Carbon Assembly Paste applied to the steertube. If you are not familiar with this product, here's an review done by Competitive Cyclist. It has become a standard for high end bike repair, especially with carbon parts and frames.
Stem returned to steertube, with fresh grease on the clamp bolts.
Handlebar position marked with silver Sharpie marker, the 11th most useful thing in the whole world.
Carbon Assembly paste applied to clamping surfaces of faceplate and stem.
Fresh grease for the stem bolts. Handlebar reinstalled to exact position and torqued to manufacturer's spec with super fancy chi-chi accurate torque wrench. Don't hate.
Rear derailleur pulleys overhauled. I oil the innards and grease the bushings. Its all in the details.
Rear derailleur reassembled. Correctly. The two pulleys are different from one another you know?
The frame's bottom bracket dimensions are checked. Too far out of spec, or if the bearing surfaces are not adequately faced, and the crank and bottom bracket will not perform properly. Frame is faced and chased as necessary. Felt did a good job with this one.
Where metal contacts metal, there should be grease.
Torquing bottom bracket to manufacturer's spec. I'm not playing around with this torque thing. Its serious business.
Grease where it is called for on the Dura Ace crankset. For most Shimano parts I like using the authentic Dura Ace grease. You've got to think that Shimano uses this formula for a good reason? Something innate within me says its the right thing to do. Its the same voice that advises kids to feed grass to bugs inside glass jars. Its obviously their diet.
Preloading the bearing tension. Wait... is that possible? Why isn't it just called loading? Anyway this bad boy should be smooth and spin relatively freely. Stay tuned for an episode on ceramic bearing upgrades.
Tightening to proper spec.
Carbon paste in the seat tube is appropriate for the interface between a carbon frame and a carbon seatpost. Also a light layer of grease is applied under the seatpost clamp.
Cables housing is cut to length. Routing and proper length are vital for the bike to perform correctly. Tidy cable lengths are a big part of a road bike looking elegant. Make no mistake, a road bike should look elegant. The end of every cable length is ground flat with a Dremel Tool, cleaned with a dental pick, and injected with lubricant.
(gold ferrules)
All strung up.
New chain installed, cables tensioned and derailleurs tuned. This bike sings.
Fizik Mictrotex. There aren't many good reasons to use anything but this bar tape on your bike IMO.
I believe that the character of a man is judged by how he wraps handlebar tape. This lends to my delusions of grandeur and superiority complex(es).
Yup.
Torque applied to seatpost bolt.
How about we lose the corroded black bottle cage bolts and try these blue anodized alloy bolts instead?
Grease here too. Trust me I'm a professional.
I can live with that.
Reinstalling Speedplay pedals. These pedals may be injected with fresh grease through a port on the side of the pedal body. They do not require fresh grease at this time. Ordinarily I consider that service standard during a tuneup.
Dura Ace grease on all chainring bolts. Torqued back to spec.
Getting there! Mr. UPS will deliver the valve extenders in a couple of days so I can glue the tires and call this job done.
