3.08.2024 XLC Dropper Post fixed!

 ~o~

  Saturday 3rd 62F/17C [8.00] Bright sunshine.

 Up at 6.00 after a reasonable night. Lower back pain. Needs a walk.

 I tried replacing the XLC dropper post, handlebar lever and wire clamping screw. Even from brand new with an unopened dropper post the wire clamp was stuck open. Using a high quality hex key did not help. I shall have to go to a bike dealer and ask if I can buy another kind of wire clamping screw. A centre pull bridge brake bolt clamp might do the job. 

 The dropper post was fine until the cable clamp started slipping. Now it is absolutely lethal! I can't safely reach the ground from the saddle when dismounting. Nor throw my leg high enough to go over the raised saddle. Having given away a lifetime of bike shed spares I have nothing left. So I'll have to go back into town in the car! There are no local bike shops left. There were three village bike shops not long ago.  

9.00 66F/19C. Bright sunshine. Back from my walk. I wore shorts to try to stay cool in my thin cotton jacket. It didn't work. The air reeks of perfumed pig's diarrhea! A giant muck spreader was just leaving in a cloud of brown dust. No doubt gone for a refill. Screeching gulls flocked out on the tortured earth. One prairie is harvested. Another awaits the tender mercies of the huge harvester resting against a field hedge. A hare dashed away as I paused to photograph the scene.

 My neighbour continues to disturb the rural peace. With a cylindrical tiller [?] drum roller pulled by a farm tractor. It looks like a cylinder mower but  consists of straight blades. No cutting. It just rolls across the ground. He seems to be roughing up the surface of his new pasture but what do I know? No doubt it will improve the posh horse grazing. Or smooth out any bumps. Destroy any weeds without chemicals. No doubt we'll see the results eventually.

  12.00 72F/22C. Hot sunshine. I have returned from town with some bits and pieces. Hoping to get the XLC dropper post working again. One obvious problem is the reversal of the inner wire of the XLC actuating cable. The nipple is on the dropper post end. The cable wire clamp [nipple screw] is at the lever end. This will be difficult to overcome with a lever using the reverse arrangement. Though I am going to try. I bought a lever from another type of dropper post and three sizes of nipple screw.

 It could be lethal to have a malfunction of the dropper post in traffic. The saddle is far too high on my Moustache e-bike to get a toe on the ground in an emergency stop. As happened to me at a red traffic light. I literally fell backwards onto my bum in the middle of the busy traffic lane! Fortunately the lady in the car behind me was worried about my fall. She got out and asked if I was okay. Luckily I was still able to get back onto my feet, remount and ride away. Red faced, but still alive.

 The 5mm plain barrel, nipple screw fitted easily into the XLC remote handlebar lever. This provided a firm clamp on the inner wire. Something XLC seems unable to provide. A 6mm Ø nipple screw would have done the job even better. Those I was sold as 6mm were oversized and bulky. The levers I had bought, to potentially replace the XLC remote, proved to be lockout levers for hydraulic forks. So wouldn't have done the job anyway. Though they were much smarter. Being compact and all black instead of huge and bright stainless steel. 

 Dinner was fish fingers with oven baked chips and peas. The blog editing is up the creek again.

 

 ~o~