Monday 18 February 2013

Father, help me! I'm falling!!

I am vain enough to have a picture of yours truly as a screen saver on my iMac. Each time I turn it on I am greeted by myself in full flow at the Brompton World Championships, in my complete and rather fetching outfit. A few moments ago I caught sight of the many orange hues and it made think of the sun. This brought other images. Terrible images...

My early morning realisation that I had been responsible for the demise of my own gear hub, brought me to thoughts of Icarus and Daedalus. With Icarus it was melting wax caused by an arrogance to go too close to the sun which had disastrous consequences. For me it was washing grease away with a degreaser! 

Had Icarus made his escape on a Brompton (and I am sure you know exactly where I am going with this) I suspect he would have come a cropper with a scraping sound, because he too had done the same thing!

I have purchased a small tin of '3 in 1' oil this very p.m. and from time to time I will commit a few drops to the hub of my beloved Orange Brompton. Failing this, I will simply purchase a new wheel with said hub and regale people with the time 'a friend of mine' nearly ruined the hub on his Brompton. I can even hear the closing sentence..."and do you know, it was even an Orange Brompotn!"

4 comments:

  1. As they say in these parts

    "Muppet"

    : )

    hope you move quickly through the guilty stage.

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    Replies
    1. Mild hyperbole in this post of course and yes I am now past the guilty stage.

      Delete
  2. I like your blog! I run an M3L in black - sorry..
    Anyway for hub gears and chain lubrication I use Comma EP90 gear oil from Wilkinson's - under £3 for a litre and designed for internal gearboxes. 3 in 1 is not great as it contains additives which when in contact with moisture/water can gum up internal gear mechanisms. Gear oil on the other hand remains stable.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good to see this post & i like your blog.I also hopes that you move quickly through the guilty stage.

    ReplyDelete

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