Sidi shoes vs Shimano cleats

Tricia wore out her beloved Sidi shoes. Too many miles and too many days just did them in. She's replaced the cleats several times, and even the wonderfully replaceable heal piece. But her ruby-red slippers at last came to their end.

We'd looked for perfectly matching ruby-shaded replacements, but I don't think they make them any more.  Tricia, a woman with white bar tape and a white saddle, decided she'd give white shoes a chance.  Sidi, of course. And they do indeed look marvelous.

It would be silly to get new shoes and not get new cleats, so she bought a pair of Shimano SPD-SL road cleats as well. I installed them to match the placement of her old cleats and figured we were good to go.

Nope.

They wouldn't clip in to her Ultegra pedals. I thought at first maybe they were new and just stiff, so I tried it. No deal. After much frustration, fussing about and looking hard it turned out the problem was the interface between the shoe and cleat. The bottoms of these shoes are more curved than her old shoes. Enough that the cleat bent when I tightened it down, making it impossible to click in.

As far as I know there isn't a custom titanium shim for $189.00 to solve this, so I used a couple of old zinc washers I had, installing them under the front bolt. It took two for each shoe. But it worked well enough that Tricia was able to wear her new shiny white shoes today.

Joyce has new shoes

Here's some news that might slay ya.
Joyce has shoes
that match her Orbea.
She clicks them right in
when she goes for a spin
Now on her bike she's really a playa

Just a small cog in a big cassette

A small job — Change cassettes from a Ultegra 11-23 to a 13-26.
Step 1: Remove old cassette. Oops. Parts spilled everywhere, but no worry, Shimino has a handy guide online for spacer and cogs. But wait, what are these small clips? American Classic, the hub maker also has an online guide explaining (sort of) the weird little clips. And explaining (sort of) the need for 0, 1 or 2 tiny spacers behind the largest cog. I think I get it...
Step 2: Thank the bike gods the new cassette went on easily and seems to work.
Step 3: Wait for the rain to stop before taking out the new bike.

More pieces

I came home Sunday to yet another package. This time: Shimano Ultegra pedals bought on eBay, but brand spankin' new. Yet another piece of the bicycle puzzle awaiting only a bicycle. It's so much fun to have a new Shimano box. I don't think I've ever had one before. The pedals themselves have the nicest sheen. It's true bike porn at it's most cool.
UPDATE: UPS Tracking says bike delivery is still on schedule for Monday!
Still under consideration: bike computer, handlebar tape, seat bag, pump
Days since bike order: 7

New wheels, gears

My new - new to me at least - eBay Mavic wheels arrived today. The cassette, chain and the tools I ordered arrived yesterday. I have way to much to do, so of course I immediately installed the whole mess.
Cassette: Easy.
Chain: Easy on. Whoops, missed threading it through a hidden part of the derailleur. Taking it off, re threading it and reattaching it was a pain. But it's all better now. It's shiny, quiet and shifts like a dream.
Now my Mountain bike is my fine commuter bike, at least in theory. Giddy up!