Yesterday, after work, I comitted myself to the daunting enterprise of overhauling the transmission. To be sincere, the bottom bracket was calling for a new axle (with an insistent noisy squeak that disturbed my peace of mind every time the grade increased beyond a certain point) and with Brevets looming I prudently opted to keep ma petite reine in full working order. My concern now was my hability to replace the sealed cartridge since I had failed in my previous attempt. I'll stick up for myself: the frame was new and the threading needed to be rethreaded so I had no option but to swallow my (mechanical) pride and take the half-assembled bike to a mechanic. I would like to write that this time things ran smoothly but it would not be even close to reality. To make it short, at the end, and much to my surprise, I got through quite satisfactorily (stubborness, you know...). Of course, there's no need to mention here that it took me more than two hours and a couple of visits to the nearby bike shop (badly needed a huge wrench)