"Sir, we're gonna need a longer B-screw": Bike shop baffled by bizarre chain routing that left despairing mechanic with "absolutely no f****** hope"; Mountain bike world champ to target road races in 2025 + more on the live blog

"Even an Altus couldn't save them..."

 

 

 

 

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We haven't checked in with the Trench Tales Instagram page for a while. Beginning to crave our much-needed dose of mechanical misfortune, we looked and weren't disappointed. I'm sure some of my earlier chain routing attempts might have looked something like this... praise the lord that was quickly remedied via the proper route through a rear derailleur and a bike shop with a penchant for Instagram sharing never got a look at it.

"As always, there's absolutely no f****** hope," the mechanic behind the page concluded, finding some amusement in the very existence of the classic 'you bike shops are on the Shimano take' joke. 

We're kind of intrigued to see if it actually works as an inadvertent, overly complex and unnecessarily heavy single speed set-up. 

Trench Tales reckon it "ever-so-slightly-sorta-kinda" would work... "unless it didn't"

As ever, the comments section was a hive of helpful advice and back-seat drivetraining, one follower joking: "Just screw in the B tension and you should be good."

Another helpfully added: "Always aim for a clean chainline."

The page dedicated to showcasing life in the trenches as a bike shop mechanic, its undramatic bio simply "the abyss, gazing back" has a rich history of live blog gold, from battered rusty bikes that had the toughest of lives, to unbelievably worn tyres and drivetrains, Trench Tales has seen it all. Good motivation to get your chain checker out once in a while...

> "Just replace the chain, it'll be fine"

The genre of social media posts from bike shops and mechanics showing questionable maintenance was the subject of an online discussion the other month, one cyclist suggesting shops shouldn't be "shaming your customers on social media", that debate sparked after a California-based mechanic posted an image of a cracked stem with the caption: "Came in for new cables, leaving with a new stem too… #YourBikeHatesYou"

Some said that while these sort of posts can come across as elitist and may appear like they are taking a knock at those just taking their first steps in the home mechanic journey, but others argued that if done with no harmful intentions and more importantly, keeping the cyclist/user anonymous, it can be some quick insightful content in jest.

One person said: "How is this shaming? showing clearly worn out parts and showing that they look over the bike completely to make sure their customers ride safe?" to which the original poster replied: "It's the 'your bike hates you' hashtag. This picture with a different caption would be a lot more helpful."

Following in Tom Pidcock's footsteps, South African mountain bike star Alan Hatherly is coming over to the road next season and has signed with Jayco AlUla. The team says the 28-year-old — who won the Mountain Bike Cross Country World Championships in September and picked up bronze at the Olympics — will combine road racing with MTB in an exciting cross-discipline venture.

Hatherly's Olympic achievement made him the first African rider to win a medal in the discipline. He won't be a complete newbie to the road, having previously finished second at the South African time trial championships.

"I am incredibly excited for this new chapter in my cycling career and very grateful for the opportunity to ride for GreenEDGE Cycling for the next two seasons," he said. "I think now is the perfect moment for me to get out of the comfort zone and develop even further.

"Moving to a WorldTour road team is of course something totally new for me, it will be a steep learning curve, and I will be learning from the best. Combining road and MTB is new and refreshing and I am really looking forward to where this journey can go."