IceToolz Cable Pliers

I never knew such a tool existed until I saw a video on brake adjustment on youtube. It's a Park Tool video (which have excellent tutorials on the subject of bicycle repair). After the Darjeeling trip my front brake was found to be a little misaligned. So I tweaked with it for a long time until getting it more or less fixed. 

This tool, I realised, makes the work convenient. Of course ParkTool makes it look like that. IceToolz obviously had a cheaper solution. Went for it. It cost me Rs 765 with delivery. 

Tweaked with the brake cable once again almost right away. It's a little tricky at first. You have to get used to using it. Once you get a hang of it, it's not so difficult. 

However, ultimately I realised the problem of my brake was with the barrel adjuster ;-) But I am super happy with this purchase. It's a very specialist bicycle repair tool. You cannot do anything else with it. It will be necessary to adjust brake and derailleur cables (if and when I learn how to tweak it).

As a side note, getting the brake callipers to move the exact same distance on either side seems to be some kind of black magic. Will have to learn it well.

Loctite 242 And The Story Behind Finding It In Calcutta

In Siliguri hotel, after our epic Darjeeling trip on cycles (read about the trip here) I lost one of the nuts of my SKS Bluemels mud guards. Even during the trip I realised a few nuts were coming loose. I had tightened them. But somehow this one nut got lost. I am immensely lucky that it happened in the hotel room after the ride. We searched the hotel room almost upside down but couldn't find it. The bolt was lying on the floor but the nut was gone. 

After some research I decided to go for Loctite on these nuts. I have also decided to use them on some of the nuts and bolts at home - particularly the handle in Mampu's cupboard. 

First I looked up Amazon. There it was available but I wanted to check if Chandni had them. In Chandni the nuts and bolts sellers seemed to have never heard about Loctite. I went to the Prinsep Street area. A small shop there sells various types of hardware chemicals. He had heard the name Loctite but tried to sell me something called Anand claiming it to be the same thing. I decided against buying it because I have no clue how strong it might be. 

When I told him about my doubts he said, these are used for truck parts and tractors etc for heavy duty stuff. He thought I would be impressed. It had just the opposite effect on me. 

My next stop was Bhanubhai Desai- a famous industrial tools shop from where I buy most of my tools. The owner there is a very knowledgeable person. I knew he wouldn't keep it but might know who keeps it. As presumed he told me where to find the distributor. It's some office just in front of AC Mohammad. 

I wasn't sure if I would find the office there. These commercial buildings have innumerable small offices and no one would know who there is the distributor for Loctite :-)

I had a brainwave. Went to AC Mohammad and asked the sleepy old salesman about Loctite. He needed to be explained what it was. I showed him the bottle of WD 40 in his shop and said - like that is used to open tight nuts, this is used to tighten loose nuts.

He immediately understood what I was looking for. He asked me for the model number and then told me to wait. He went out of the shop murmuring 242, 242, 242 .... 

I knew where he was going. He came back in 5 minutes and sold me the 50 ml bottle for Rs 650.

I am waiting for the replacement nut to arrive. Then I will apply it and see how it performs. 

Deuter Speed Lite 20

Yesterday I got for myself a Deuter Speed Lite 20 - a soft 20 litre back pack - for Rs 4000 from Nikita. I got it for myself for the upcoming ride to the mountains. The idea is to carry my basic stuff in it and carry it on the shoulders. I don't know if that's a good idea. But nothing stops me from doing an initial review of the bag. Whether I carry it on my shoulders or tie it on a rack can be decided later. 

The top notch Deuter quality is written all over. It has a separate chamber for a hydration pack. It also has another chamber for small this and that. There are two side mesh pockets for water bottles. There is a front mesh pocket for keeping a rain jacket or something similar. 

Yesterday I put all my stuff inside and they fitted pretty fine with room to spare. The problem with soft bags is that, if you fill it up completely the back of the bag bulges out like a ball and that can hurt your back. That's happening with my bag too. It's not a problem of the bag per se but the problem of stuffing it. If you put less items then it will not happen. So possibly I will take the rain jacket out from the main bag and keep it in the front mesh pocket.

But the back has a soft mesh kind of finish, which will possibly help when I sweat. 

The sack is not water proof. There is no rain cover either. So what I will do is stuff my items in the Sea To Summit dry sack and put it inside. 

The sack is incredibly light, 530 grams to be precise. But it has all the straps, particularly the four compression straps on either side. Only problem with the straps is that the loose ends dangle around and there is no mechanism to roll them up and lock them in. The straps in my North Face all have velcro tapes attached in a T kind of shape so that you can roll the loose end up and lock it. I think I will use rubber bands. Dangling loose ends of straps are not good for cycling. 

I love the finger pull loops attached to the zippers making it very easy to pull them. These are high quality loops. There also are four fixed loops on the four corners of the front part of the sack. I think they are meant for hanging solar charger panels. 

There is a loop to grab the bag or to hang it from a hook for storage at home. 

The colour red, when I saw it online, looked obnoxious. But it's not that offensive in real life. I am okay with it. It has 3M reflector in the front. 

Deuter talks a lot about its tapered shape. It indeed is a little tapered but not as exaggerated as they make it look in the pictures. But one good thing about the bag is it stands on its own when placed on the ground. Apparently the base is rectangular. 

   

Lowe Alpine Dry Sack

Got for myself a smaller dry sack from Lowe Alpine. This is a little smaller than the Sea to Summit ones I have, which are large at 20 litres. This is size S which is 7 litres. In it I intend to pack all my stuff that is meant for the handlebar bag. I think I am going to carry most of my non-clothing items in this - like medicines, toiletries, emergency meds etc. It cost me Rs 850 on Amazon.

The packed size is very very compact, as you can see in the picture to the right. It has a rectangular base, making storage easier when stuffed. I believe it is not submersible but that's fine. I am not going for any river rafting trip with it. My Sea to Summits are good for that. This will be used mainly for packing my medicines and toiletries in future adventure trips. Nice and handy size.

I just have to see how durable the material is and how it handles small sharp objects and the nicks and cuts. The Sea to Summit, for example, looks very vulnerable. In fact that is one of the reasons why I hesitated to use it during my Stok Kangri trip in 2018. This is way cheaper and I should not have any problem using it in rough handling situations like a cycle trip or a trek. Lowe Alpine is a good brand and I am glad that it is now available in India.

February 13, 2019

I opened the bag last night at home. It is no match against the Sea to Summit that I have. The material looks coarse and it is obviously not submersible. S2S can be made airtight and like a balloon. This is just a stuff sack that is water proof. But then that is what I was looking for. I think it will serve the purpose for which I bought it.

Sierra Designs Tuolumne

For adventures in the colder climes, I have a very basic and shockingly cheap Quechua fleece (actually I have two of them) and a decently nice 700 fill down jacket from Marmot. While one is just about adequate as a base layer of sorts in the mountains, the other is for seriously cold temperatures. There is nothing in between and I have often felt the need for one. I am hoping this Sierra Designs Tuolumne will fill that gap now. My nephew brought this for me from the US. I paid the rupee equivalent of $75, which is Rs 5400.

It's a synthetic insulation jacket. A concept that is just about beginning to, or at least it is supposed to, emerge as a serious threat to the supremacy of down as an insulation material for adventure wear. Marmot calls it "featherless". I have an ethical problem with using down. But then I am helpless to use it because they really work and they are really light and packable. Their only problem is they are affected by rain and the whole question of how down is gathered is rather sad. So I will be too happy to switch over to synthetic down. But I wonder how long it will take for down to be entirely replaced by such synthetic products.

Let me write down the product details from the REI page. The jacket is already unavailable. 

• Hypoallergenic FireBall synthetic down insulates even if it gets damp
• Stows into zippered pocket
• Droptail design provides extended coverage
• Soft bound interior seams
• 5 zippered hand pockets
• Interior kangaroo pockets
• Closeout
• Imported.

And the technical specs are as follows (from the REI website). The fancy name for the green colour is Pesto/alloy and I bought it in size L. 

Now, my impressions about the jacket. It feels very, very light. I don't know how much insulation it will provide. It does not provide any rating or comparison with down insulation. Right now in 12 degree Calcutta winter it feels very nice. I am hoping that I can walk in snow fall and/or light drizzle in the mountains, with this being the outer shell. I will have to see that. It does not have a hood, which is a disadvantage. 

The exterior feels really smooth and soft. So does the interior, like inside the pockets. I am not sure if it is strong enough to take the abrasions of a back pack. There are two zippered pockets outside to warm up one's hands. The end of the arms are elasticated. That gives it somewhat of an el cheapo feel but then if it gets warmer you can pull up your sleeves. The zipper is really thin, light and non-YKK and it shows. You have to struggle a bit to pull it up. But then at $75 you don't expect butter smooth operations. 

The fit is a little baggyish. But then there is a draw cord around the hem line. So it should not be a problem if it is windy. 

I am yet to pack it into its pocket. The jacket came folded. I don't have the heart to squeeze it inside its pocket just as yet.

Last night (today is 18th December 2018) I packed it in its own pocket. It is like a cushion that is 8 inches square or so. It does not pack down too small relative to its weight or thickness when worn. (I am comparing against a down jacket of similar thickness) But this is fine for my backpack. I also wore it to office today - a particularly chilly day with wind and rain. It's warm. But I missed the hood for sure. 

Adjustable Spanner

I call it an adjustable wrench. The official name, I guess is, water pump wrench/spanner/pliers. Whatever it is called, it is a very useful thing to have in the tool box. I had this before. But it is lost somewhere in the other house. One of the many tools I have lost due to there being no tool box. I am sure one day I will find it out and then I will have the luxury of having two spanners. 

It comes handy in plumbing kind of work. I have used it to open the tap in our Metro Park house. You cannot in fact open a tap without this tool. I have also seen cycle mechanics use it for attaching/removing pedals and other plier kind of jobs. It is certainly a versatile kind of tool. 

I bought this today from Bhanubhai Desai for Rs 330. Amazon charges Rs 348 plus courier. I had gone to R.N. Mukherjee Road. On the way back I picked it up for the new tool box.

I thought at Rs 330 it was a little on the expensive side. I asked Bhanubhai to show me something less expensive. But what they gave me didn't seem worth taking home. It would probably rust very soon and it definitely weighed a lot more. I kept it aside. 

Taparia Tool Box

Star keys and a black tape

The 16 inch box

Today I received the Taparia tool box from Amazon. Costs Rs 750 for size 16 inches. There are other smaller and larger options. But I guessed this would serve my purpose. And it does serve my purpose quite well. I managed to fit all my essential tools and some of the infrequently used ones as well. 

There are four chambers on the top for very small items. They recommend keeping nails and screws and other such small hardware. The main box has two chambers. Shallow on top like a tray and a deep one below. I have kept the bare essentials on the tray. The heavier tools are in the main compartment.

That's the shallow tray on top of the box under the main lid. It sits above the deeper chamber. It is more or less adequate for the most frequently used kind of tools and accessories. But it has a problem. There is a handle in the middle that you can hold to pull it out. When you do that, the back of the fingers rub against the slit plastic, which is very sharp. It really hurts and if one is not careful  enough, one might end up with a few bruised fingers.