your daily bicycle log

steady on, good to hear

Lovely day out in the sunshine yesterday until the last climb, where E's rear mech sheared off at the bolt. Stupid italian rubbish. Luckily her gears aren't indexed so I can replace the mech with something a little more robust.

Cycled down from London to the leafy Kent, Surrey, Sussex border with my brother yesterday. Both on fixed wheel bikes, because my road bike is still hors d'action.

Died on my arse. Fine down through London to Herne Hill where my brother lives, fine from Herne Hill through Streatham and Purley Way, making very good time indeed. Hit a couple of hills outside Croydon, as a prelude to getting up on the North Downs, and it was like I'd ridden into a wall. I'd only ridden fixed in central London before and my legs had nothing in them.

My brother cycled back down (the bastard) to see whether I'd gotten off but I ground it out. After that, every incline was agony. Riding along the top of the Downs in thick, thick cloud, incredibly low visibilty, greasy roads, sucking my brother's wheel, snot dribbling down my face. Lovely.

Coming down the other side was just as bad, on the brake, sliding round hairpins, skidding for all I was worth, then my legs flying round at farcical speeds.

Felt great for it afterwards though. Had the best sleep I've had in ages.

From brother's to destination was about 1hr 15, 24 miles, 19.2mph pretty good going considering.

i like when you brits use miles ;)

Wait - did I do a mistake? No, I think that's right. Oh God, I feel like a dupe - we use miles, right? I think I'd better get back to the pub.

saw a funny newsblurb the other day about how some state (AZ?) finally got funding through the stimulus package to pay for the removal of metric highway signs on some stretch road. back to miles at last. i think it was all somehow jimmy carter's fault

I was pleasantly surprised that in MD grocery stores the per unit prices are in metric.

Cutty, we all use miles over here! You're confusing us with Europe.

Bout time we made the switch.

Back to pounds shilling and pence and a mathematically cogent system? Quite right. Mind you, my sense of distance is so screwed I have to measure out cricket pitches into the distance to work out how far away things are in yards.

Surely that's only good for estimating in chains.

Which last comment by association has had me fiddling obsessively with my chain (not a euphemism along the lines of pulling my wire) trying to work out whether it needs tightening or not.

If your chain measures 1 chain, it is time for a new chain.

what i am saying is, i like when you use miles because no one else does in europe, u dig?

speaking of miles, my odometer reads 11,210 miles since last april

how long is the earth at the equator?

what i am saying is, i like when you use miles because no one else does in europe, u dig?

― cutty, Wednesday, April 15, 2009 12:32 PM

Got you. Napoleon's fault, or at least the result of his absence on our shores, I believe.

25,000 miles xp

shit i haven't even travelled halfway around the world yet. next year, then.

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO NOON
MDT SATURDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM
WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO
NOON MDT SATURDAY.

ACCUMULATIONS FROM 10 TO 24 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON...WITH
THE HEAVIEST AMOUNTS ACROSS THE WESTERN SECTIONS OF BOULDER AND
DENVER AS WELL AS LOCATIONS SOUTH OF DENVER.

well this sucks esp as im south of denver

oh sweet berthoud will be ripping??

been lazy cuz i been watching school from home, but i ripped off a really short lap around lake of the isles this morning as a study break (it's like 3 miles), and that was nice

log of the guy i saw biking down the street:

today i rode on the sidewalk while carrying a canoe paddle. i stopped at the bar.

I could have done with a canoe paddle this morning. Filthy weather.

Could have done with a bar as well in fact.

My two weeks off work sadly comes to a close now, but I've managed to pack in 260 miles during that time.

Good going. How much do you usually cycle when you are working? Just for comparison...

Much less. I only live a mile from work and I often drive or walk so I don't get many commuting miles. I normally do about 40-60 miles at the weekend and 0-25 miles during the week.

OK, new wheels time, I am killing these rolf vectors with my fat arse and shopping baskets. I have a loose spoke on the front which is a big deal when there is only, what 12 of them, so the front wheel is all over the place and the back one is out of true. Worst thing is the nipples are hidden within the room so you can't do a quick tyre on adjustment. As I have already found out getting the tyres on and off is a bitch.

I am leaning towards dropping a bundle on Mavic Speed city wheels. Anyone got any good ideas for any alternative for heavy duty, pothole and load resistant wheels for my surly?

i assume the mavics are good--their shit usually is.

how heavy duty? i mean compared to the rolfs normal 32 holers with db spokes are stiff and durable. you could build your own for half the list of the speed citys. if thats not enough go 36 holes?

I could build my own, and I could go down to kraynicks to do it and he'd help, I even have the Jobst Brandt book, but finding the time is the thing.

i've been using a salsa delgado CX rim for my rear on my track bike for a couple years now and it's bomb proof. heavy, tho

This is another option. Mavic/Shimano mix

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile_combo.cfm?SKU=19730&estore_ID=&subcategory_ID=5320&CFID=29785550&CFTOKEN=79855973

Building my own I was wondering about using the Salsa delgado rims which look good, prowheelbuilder.com do them too. I was wondering about hubs, chris king or paul wood might be stretching the budget a bit.

if you build CKs laced to some delgados i am coming to pittsburgh and stealing them

prowheelbuilder tells me $537 so its unlikely.

I do feel there will be a distinct lack of nonsense with them, though.

How are White Industries?

high quality, from what i gather

might be getting one of their ENO hubs to put on my dad's old Trek MTB

just as pricey as phils, tho, from the looks of things

CK Classic Cross 36h - $330 Rear, $149 Front
PW Road 36h - $409R, $128 Front
WI M15 - $120 Front, $265 Rear

white Industries are teh shiniest as well.

you guys have some high standards for city wheels!

i have some white industries on a cx racing wheelset that has stood up very well to 4 full cx seasons and weighs in under 300g for rear, 93g for the front. theyre good.

It has to be an everything wheel because I don't think I am going to have another bike anytime soon.

well, its bontrager's mantra then: light, strong, cheap--choose any two.

This morning the mavics were looking like the expensive choice, now I am not so sure.

ive had ck hubset too, and they were great.

what do people think about the velocity rims that all the cool kids on their single speeds have?

I'm a rather large person and I bought a pair of Salsa Delgado rims (32 hole front, 36 back) with plain old Shimano 105s for like $250 from Universal Cycles in Portland last year. I've been totally happy with them, even if they are kind of heavy. They replace the cheapo Bontrager wheels that came with my LeMond and feel way more solid.

My defiantly un-hipster non-cool kid bike nerd friend has Velocitys on his Cross-Check commuter and really likes them, he's convinced they're more solid than anything else you could find.

what tyres do you run guys with the delgados. They seem kind of wide

anyone have any opinion on these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/NIB-Vuelta-Road-Bike-Touring-Wheel-Set-SUPER-TOUGH-700c_W0QQitemZ380115839966QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCycling_Parts_Accessories?hash=item380115839966&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

hmm, delgado + 105 is not a bad option