your daily bicycle log

q, bikers: should i just fucking pull the trigger and get a workstand?

also: tips for working on bikes inside in winter w/o making a fucking mess? cardboard? tarp? i've got a second story apartment w/tiny kitchen and wood floors, halp

yes. dont think it matters what you put down as long as something is down, and dont go walking around the place with your shoes w/out inspection. chain/derailler black grease/gunk is tricky stuff, it falls off and gets on shoes.

so.....barefoot?

I am now wondering who I can pursude to take me xc skiing this weekend, I haven't done xc in years but there seem to be a bunch of great trails less than an hour from here.

do it!

if i had classic gear i could walk a block and get plugged into something like 15 miles of trails around the ~chain of lakes~

...but classic is trickier than skating (for me), and all my (borrowed) gear is skate, soooo

still: mpls is nordie heaven, and getting to the skate trails is still only a ten minute drive across town

gbx i wouldn't work on yr bike without shoes that seems wild
you will just have to wash yr feets when done, i think what hunt3r meant is just be careful and look over yr soles before heading off the tarp.

;-)

baby wipes with lanolin will remove bike grease/gunk from ANYTHING

i have totally fucct the commuter in an attempt to get home. it threw the rear derailleur into the back wheel!!

guys i have a v-brake question

fire away

I discovered last night that the pivot pin on my rear suicide lever had fallen out, given that I am riding high on the bars because of the weather I'm glad I found this out on the flat.

ok, so i just got out of morning class:

basically---mounted my new (used) v-brakes on the posts after much wailing and rending of garments trying to futz with installing the new brake levers (barend shifters complicate things...). thought things were hunky dory, but then noticed that, in the rear, there's like 2x as much rim/pad clearance on the non drive side as there is on the drive side. does this mean that the wheel is horrible off-center due to some other, lurking, scarier (frame) problem, or is this normal?

the result is that if i bring the pads to the rim, the arms end up like this

/_|

now i think that if i just switch the spacers around on the left brake pad i could mitigate the problem, but i'm concerned that it's symptomatic of something worse.

also, Ed: this is on my cross-check

That setup is very similar to my girlfriends bike. Have you got short pull V brakes or long pull levers because I had to adapt a a set of mountain levers to work with the moustache bars on the bike?

actually that us probably an irrelevant thing. I can have a look at the bike (Kona Jake) when I get home and see what it looks like, I can't remember.

no no, here is the thing!!!! this is BEFORE any cable has been run! this is just them sitting on the frame, untethered to anything.

i got fancy-pants Cane Creek drop-V levers and everything, but they're not connected to anything, they're just sitting there waiting for the stupid brakes to stop being retarded

hmm that does seem odd although I do recall them being very sensitive to pad position.

IIRC the surly has a 4 different positions for the pin that braces the spring in the brake and I have my front brakes pinned in different holes to ensure that they ride evenly, I always thought this was due to the aged brakes and crappy springs but maybe this is more common than I thought.

hmmmm....yeah, i just popped 'em in the center pin position (think there's just three). and while pad position MAY have something to do with it, i played with it a bunch and it was still waaaay over cammed on the left side. and the thing is: even if i adjust the springs, i'm not sure that will address the real issue? like, when the arms are slack, they are perfect reflections: \_/

it's the distance from the MOUNTING POST to the rim that (iirc) is uneven. not sure if this is a surly "fatties fit fine" geo quirk, or if i've fucked the frame up somehow (not out of the question, as the dropout on the drive side is already wonky and in need of cold spacing)

Are you pulling the frame in for 130mm hubs as well? This may be bringing fork legs in unevenly if there is damage. (I guess the same could be true if you are pushing them out to 135mm as well)

stock hubs, which are i think 135

other than the saddle/pedals, this is the first non-stock alteration i've made

the first thing to check is the pads positioning to make sure they are absolutely symmetrical, but i assume you've done that.

does the wheel look centered e? u know, between the chain and seat stays? because if the stays were bent, i think you'd see that deformation reflected in the alignment of the wheel itself. likewise, if the wheel where out of dish, you can see that pretty clearly too, obv.

checking rough frame alignment is not too hard, you can do it with string like:
http://yarchive.net/bike/frame_bending.html

i doubt the kind of misalignment that test measures would result in what you're seeing though. that leaves the fff anomaly that ed described (assymetrical frame flexion to accommodate hub), or...assymetrical placement of the brake posts?

weird. interested to learn the answer when u solve.

today: hard 82 miles, tempo to threshold. I'm nowhere near the fitness level to be pushing this hard but was rolling with dudes that are out of my league and was trying not to fred out on them. this was probably the longest ride i've worked in a pace line (6 riders) and felt really good about it. i tried to take pride in my pulls and tried to maintain my distance to the tire in front of me to a safe minimum, usually about 6".

speed was slow for a group ride: 17.2 mph but throw in over 4700 feet of climbing and being chilly and windy which tends to bog shit down.

stupidly i was underprepared nutritionally for this ride, had to stop by a bike shop about 2/3rds of the way thru to pick up some extra gels and bloks which i ended up needing to get home and keep up with those dudes.

strangely, i feel like i've turned a corner on this ride. we shall see what next week brings.

I've made the most of a week off work and done about 180 miles:
Sat - warmed up, raced at Hog Hill, punctured and retired early (22.7 miles)
Mon - ride in the rain in eastern Dorset (43.3 miles, 17mph, approx 400m of climbing)
Wed - Poole to the New Forest and back in chilly sunshine (48.8 miles, 17.3mph, mostly quite flat)
Fri - ride through the Weald in Sussex taking in the climb of 'The Wall'* in Ashdown Forest and lots of lumpy climbs that had me suffering on the way back - should have had more food (43.6 miles, 16.4mph, over 600m of climbing)
Sat - quick hilly training ride in the Weald in Sussex (19.8 miles, 17.6mph, 220m of climbing)

Back to work this week, and the forecast is rain every day, so I can't see myself adding to it much before my next race next weekend.

*aka Kidd's Hill, about 120 metres ascent in one mile with a couple of sections of 1:6.

(obviously not fit enough to ride with Steve Shasta yet)

120 metres ascent in one mile with a couple of sections of 1:6

*feels sick*

Welcome to Southern England. You don't get many long climbs but you can get some punishing short sections. Lots of areas are geologically similar to belgium, some bits are part of the same formations I think.

some bits are part of the same formations I think.

scanned as "some brits"

Well they are now thanks to a concerted ten year cycling performance development programme.

This isn't really the right thread, but I have a maintenance question. I want to clean the filthy chains on my two bikes. I had one of those things with an aerosol and brush that you clamp onto the chain and spray while winding the chain through it, but in the year or so since I last used it it seems to have mysteriously emptied itself. So I went to a bike shop to get another one, but they didn't sell them.

I spoke to the owner (who's been running the shop / doing maintenance for about 25 years) and he said to give the chain a proper clean you need to break it, take it off, soak it a mixture of cleaning fluid and hot water inside a big empty coke bottle for about twenty minutes, give it a good shake, then put it back together and on the bike and lubricate it. I bought some super-concentrated cleaning fluid, but not a chain rivet tool because I've still got one of them that I bought (and last used) about 20 years ago and SHOPMAN said that would still do the job because nothing has changed in the world of chains since then.

On my drive back to London my super-concentrated cleaning fluid escaped from its container and soaked its way over quite a lot of luggage (including most of my wife's clothes). This was unfortunate. I have no idea what it was made of (it was unlabelled), but I got the impression it was just like a powerful detergent. I hope so, anyway.

I've now been reading about removing chains and I'm getting MAINTENANCE FEAR again. It would seem that, contrary to SHOPMAN's advice, plenty has changed in the world of chains since 1990. In particular, since my bikes have 10-speed and 9-speed shimano gears, it sounds like this means they have special narrow shimano chains. I don't know for sure, because the chains are filthy (which is why I want to clean them). The book isn't completely clear, but it sounds like my old chain tool might not be appropriate. It also sounds like you can't just remove any old rivet, it's got to be a particular one, and you have to replace it with a new rivet, and it takes 'a surprising amount of force' to do this job, and it's rated as especially difficult.

My questions:
1) Do you think my old chain tool would work?
2) Am I right in thinking the downsides of me trying to do this job far outway the benefits (given that virtually everything I try to do bikes goes wrong and ends up taking five times longer than it should)?
3) Isn't there any reason why I shouldn't just use household detergent mixed with water?
4) Or should I just get another one of those aerosol-brush-clamp things so that I don't need to remove the chain?

an 8 rivet tool will not go with 9. i dont know if a 9 will go with a 10.

i just spray with simple green and a rag, rinse, lube, rag, relube, rag. i would never break a chain these days just to clean it unless i were using a sram power link, and then still probly not. i dont know about reg detergent, but i doubt its efficacy. the brush clamp things ime are useless unnecessary crap.

in the early days w/ six/seven spd chains, i would periodically remove chain, soak, and paraffin wax. those days are over.

NB my drivetrain is never award winning by even my own lax standards.

its snowing for the 4th time this week. cant face another day in gym, so im taking out the snowbike for a leisurely hour. i put studded on the front, but back is just knobs.

Start with OranjPeels or simple green, much stronger detergents than dish soap. Give it a good old scrub, do the cassette and rings as well. I then go for lots of WD40, which cleans, penetrates and forces out the residual moisture to a certain extent. Dry that off and then lube up.

http://www.eldukedegreaser.com/El_Duke_Degreaser_/Home.html

this stuff is srsly amazing ime

i have a horrible drivetrain at the moment, but if i ~were~ to clean it i'd go ahead and break the chain (tho curious as to why you're reluctant to, hunt3r?? yr makin me nervous that i've been doing bad things), plop it in a bowl of el duke, watch youtube, come back, wipe it off, put it back on, lube

TBH my winter routine is blast it with WD40 and put some lube on. I am due a new chain and probably a cassette when the snow goes.

oh i def need a new cassette. i replaced the chain a few weeks ago and all my shifting went janky because the cassette was "used" to the old chain.

i mean, plans for the spring include:
-- new wheels (105s to dt swiss 1.2s)
-- total drivetrain replacement: i've been sitting on 105 f/r derailleurs for like two years now. figure i'll pick up some new cranks/cassette, and just swap out the whole shebang. i'll stick with barend shifters, though, cuz i like 'em and brifters are $$$$$.

btw anyone wanna sell me a new crankset

This stuff?

that's the stuff, but I like this better:

http://www.pedros.com/oranjpeelz.htm

curious as to why you're reluctant to, hunt3r?

http://blogmay.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/sloth_in_a_box.jpg

i guess its no more likely to break at the special pin than a new chain, but w/e. is your chain THAT dirty?

four hours today and four hours yesterday. sun was actually out both days but boy was it windy. my poor face.

ddb rode with me yesterday and BONKED HARD

LOL

no biking for me this weekend - i dj'ed a party and took drugs instead

today, same ride as last week: hard 87 miles, vascillating between endurance to tempo to threshold depending on terrain... also a lot of regrouping due to crummy weather on the first half of the ride.

I definitely learned my lesson from last week and ingested one banana, 2 bars, 1 clifblox, 1 hammer gel, and one large mocha, 3 bottles of sports drink and 1 bottle of h2o over the course of the 5+ hours.

we had a lot of rain yesterday which flooded out part of the bayshore that connects Sausalito to Mill Valley, so we got creative and opted to take the shoulder of California Highway 101:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4003/4394386486_678c7be2c8.jpg

def. not the safest way to travel but worked in a pinch.

avg speed was slower than last week: 16.9 mph but the conditions were pretty bad for the first half and we did a little more climbing than last week (5100 feet).

once we got about halfway the weather really turned nice and we got a good paceline going again which helped cut the gusty winds:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4394386628_f93d3e9647.jpg

dude in front is a monster from northern germany who chose to wear shorts, short sleeve jersey and windbreaker for the ride (42-51F + rain/wind). i'm second from the right. dudes in 2nd and 3rd are 125-135lb cat 3/4 racers who bound up steep grades w/o breaking a sweat (dude taking pic falls into this category as well).

I def feel super drained. back of left knee feels sore, possible cramp or just weird pain, hard to say. taking it easy tomorrow on an easy recovery ride.

Alleycat fixed-gear/single-speed race round the parks of Glasgow yesterday afternoon.

We had 43 riders turn out. I placed 11th. A wonderful finish at the high point of the Glasgow Necropolis.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2800/4393587908_896543444b.jpg

Isn't it snowing in Scotland?

solo ride this morn: home > one (1) lap of the boulie > back home. 30.6 km, 1.19.35, avg 23.1 km/h @ 69 rpm & 159 bpm. max 50.5 km/h, 193 bpm, 199 (!) rpm.

34 miles 91 minutes on tt bike testing positions and dialing it in. theres a tt about 1.4 hours away next sat, but i dont think im willing to spend that time and effort.

there really arent too many tts on the co sched. beyond the 7 race series (one of which will prob be a snow-out), i think 3-4.

What kind of format do time trials take in the USA?

In Britain they're a bit weird, a legacy from decades ago. Basically, some time early in the 20th century cycle racing was banned from the roads and was only allowed on tracks. They came up with time trials as a way of getting past this ban: if the riders were let off at one-minute intervals, rather than in one massed bunch, then they could claim not to be in a race. Obviously the police weren't quite that stupid, so the time trial organisers went to the further trouble of scheduling every race at the crack of dawn, of making the riders dress from head to toe in black, and of identifying each course solely by a secret code. Even now, long after all this became unneccessary, some of this persists - lots of races start at 6am or 7am and the course descriptions are still basically a code and an extremely minimalist account.

The vast majority of time trials are over fixed distances (10 miles, 25 miles, 50 miles, 100 miles) or fixed times (12 hours, and 24 hours for the complete nutters). Because of this, a lot of riders are obsessed with getting a fast '10' or '25', rather than with getting a fast time for a particular course or beating other people over a particular course, so that they can get a new personal best. This means lots of riders flock to fastest time trial courses, which are nearly always very flat and straight dual carriageways with lots of fast-moving traffic and sliproads and a big roundabout where you turn at the halfway point (there is a rule that the time trial has to finish within a mile of the start, I think).

Does America have the same obsession with times for a particular distance and riding on unsafe roads? Or are time trials over more challenging routes with odd distances?

yeah i've read that uk has some sort bizarro racing history and a cultural tt fetish. in the us, there seems to be emphasis on 40k for district titles, but im not aware of other distances. i mean, you see centuries, but they never seem to be promoted under any of the standard racing federations.

you just have a permitted course with cones on the side of the road, some marshall's at the turns or turnabout, you line up at your start time, some schmoe holds you, and beep beep beep go! the series im doing is on open roads inside a pay-admission state park. traffic is light, but ive actually had a couple altercations in there. you've not lived until youve leaned into the passenger window of some mercedes bitch who blared the horn at you for like 30 seconds and yelled "YOU. ARE. IN. A. FUCKING. PARK! CHILL!"

tbh, most racers i knew considered emphasis on tts a pretty damn dorky way to race a bike. you might enter states every year, but otherwise they were just one part of a stage race, and in the lower cats you dont do too many of those.

yeah, I'm no racer or involved with it bt I've always gotten the impression that TTs stateside weren't valued v highly at all.