A brief update that the pigeons are still performing very well. I have yet to swap out the 23t rear cog for the 25t, though Joe Bike was most gracious in hookin’ me up with a pair for the tomato-twins.

Several weeks ago I installed a Mr. Tuffy tire liner on Goliath’s rear wheel, to help ensure that my wife and daughters don’t wind-up stranded due to an unfortunate encounter with any of a myriad of potential tire dangers. Last year I installed a rear tire liner on Keri’s Nexus-powered Bianchi Milano and believe it to be an excellent investment –in peace-of-mind alone. I still need to add a liner to Goliath’s front tire as well, but the rear wheel is higher priority due to the fact that it’s never simple to fix a tire on an internally geared rear wheel.

Installing the tire liner was an excellent preemptive strike –I only wish I would’ve taken the time to do it on both tomatoes! As not-so-good luck would have it, I got a flat rear tire on Big Beef yesterday about 10 blocks from my office. Luckily I already dropped off Ev at pre-school, so I was cruisin’ solo, and the walk to the office was pretty quick. It was definitely a good learning experience, but I’m going to take advantage of the opportunity to take care of three things:

1. Add a tire liner!
2. Swap out the 23t cog for the 25t
3. Replace the drum brake arm (which I busted –Sturmey replaced for free in just two days)

I packed my toolbox on the bus this morning with all the necessary gear for the job. Thank you Tri-Met for stopping 50 feet from my house. I’ll hopefully get to making these mods on Thursday or Friday of this week. I miss my pigeon!