Brakes
So in my self supported ride I noticed by brake pads were quite worn out and my stopping power was rapidly dropping. Friday, on the way home from work I stopped by a bike shop to get some new brake pads. Turns out pads cost ~$20 per wheel. Well I didn’t really feel like putting down $40 when I wanted to get disc brakes at some point anyway. So instead of spending $40 I spent considerably more and left with a set of Avid mechanical disc brakes. Why not hydraulic brakes you ask? Everyone I have talked to says they’re harder to work on, they’re not a huge amount better, and the Avid mechanical brakes are awesome for the price. It took me a few hours to get the brakes installed, a bit more of a process than I anticipated. You have to custom size the break housing and trim it on a grinder to get a clean cut so you don’t crush the liner. I also had to install new brake cables. Turns out those things are rather hard to cut (i.e. cheap wire cuts won’t hack it). Not really a problem since I’ve got an air powered die cutter that will go through anything. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get the bike out on the hills soon and see what disc brakes feel like.