Another fixie ride...

... so I took my SS King rear hub to the local King guru, said the grease was in a bad state (hub's only 6-7 months old). I left if with Car!os to do his magic. I'm still not 100% certain on what I want to do rim wise, so another weekend goes by with the choice of no ride or take out the Franken-fixie. Second time to Madrone, and my speed was up a bit.... but I did have to slow the pace down to "finish" the ride. I ended up not being able to clean 3 sections, the first one was stupid just a little hill, but I chose the wrong line and paid the price with a heavy pedal strike that nearly tossed me. two and three where techy tight sections that I've been know to flop on even with the spinny bike, so I didn't feel too bad. All in all it was fun, not nearly as hard as I had imagined, pedal strikes were reduced this go around, but when I did have one it was very jarring.

In other news, yet another Audi breakdown. This the car started idling rough and then the check engine light comes on. The dealer thought it might be a bad coil resulting in an ECU override shutting down the engine. While it's a warranty item, it doesn't inspire confidence. This is the 4th time I've had to had the thing in the shop. First issue was an electronic control unit in the transmission which caused the car to stay in 2nd gear, next was a bad power steering line, next a bad wheel bearing, now the bad coil. I used to b!tch about my Xterra, and wouldn't want it back for all the tea in China, but the worst thing that I ever had with that was bad rotor's and a bit of engine knock. So now the dilemma is do I just go ahead and live with it, or just accept that the car is a lemon (47k miles)and move on. I really like having a station wagon and have been looking around. I like the looks of the Subaru's and with so many friends with over 100k miles and seemingly little to no issues I may be trading in on a Subie.

Cheers,

If it aint broke... fix it

So the rear WTB LaserDisc trail is done, mangled beyond reasonable repair. I'm in the process of deciding what rim I'm going to replace it with currently, but I'm left with a tough choice for the weekend. Don't ride, or take out the Frankenbike out for a spin. So far the On One fixie 96er has only had the duty of hauling the kid in her trailer back and forth 3 blocks to our pool, I haven't had the guts to try it off road. The Gunnar is in pieces mostly, so the choice is obvious, my first off road adventure on the Frankenbike it is.

Initial impressions were "Oh my fugg'n god, what was I thinking" as I did the first of many drops. After two or three it wasn't so bad. Amazingly I wasn't as out of control as I had expected. The one thing I did notice is that pedal strikes are your enemy, and momentum is your friend. The big 29x2.55 up front really soaked up the bumps, and the little 26x2.1 rear spun up real quick and climbed like there's no tomorrow. If I could change anything it would be to procure some 172.5 or even 170mm pedals, I figure with enough practice this will be a non issue soon enough. My beloved Madrone trail felt fresh as the first time we met, good lines were rewarded with ample flow and buttery smoothness, while brain farts and day dreams were quikly noticed through pedal strikes and bucking bronco like manuevers. I'm mentaly exhausted, I never paid so much attention to where I was going my whole life. While I didn't set any land speed records, I didn't go that much slower than on my spinny ride.

Hat's of to Steve, Ricki, & Joe W. for their fixie racing, don't know how you lads manage full on race pace while fixed.

In other news, been trying to get back in shape, the wife found a gently loved Precore treadmill on CL which only needed minor repair. I'm now running 15 miles a week, I'd like to step that up to 21 miles in the next couple of weeks. For now getting the fitness base up, running 3 days a week and biking at least 2 days should help to get me back in shape.

I'll post up pix of the Franken fixie in action some time soon.

cheers....

Missing home....

A friend here in Tejas is going to DC in a few days and asked for a little advice on where to stay, go, etc during her short visit. I jotted down what I thought would be a quick email straight and to the point, I had to stop myself after writing for 45 minutes and two pages. This got me thinking about my beloved city. How I miss you and your daily grind. How I miss the people, the energy, the "buzz", and the beauty and charm that is our Nations Capital. I miss my summer evening drives up the GW Parkway with no agenda, only an open moonroof and the howl of my roof rack. I miss your granite and marble tributes those who came before us with a dream and determination. I desperately miss your tall green trees and wild spaces only a stones throw from the hustle of the daily menutia. I took you for granted, I complained about your busy streets, and encroaching developement without understanding fully just how brilliant you really are. I want to feel your humid summer on my skin like that of a hot sweaty lover. I miss smelling autum in your leaves, and the crispness of your first snow. I miss you eternally my love and only wish I knew how to get back to your loving arms.

To all my chums back home, take an afternoon off and go downtown, explore what's in your back yard, visit a museum and enjoy a work of art, marvel at a city designed by a Frenchman long before the automobile and wonder how it's held up for so long. Take a weekend and get lost in the blue ride knowing you're only a short drive from everything, rent a cottage at the shore and gaze off into the Atlantic. You're luckier than you realize having such wonders at your becon call, take advantage of all your fine city has to offer, if not for yourself, for me.

Dialed in?

So after the shake down ride I had a few complaints, or rather my body did. The first thing I found was that my hands were numb pretty quick, I also had lower back pain the whole ride. I felt really goofy the whole ride. I got home and adjusted the saddle to more centered and level, this seemed to have eliminated my back issues on todays ride. The other thing I adjusted was my bar height. I have a Thomson 5* rise, and had read in a few places that most people have a tendancy to raise their bars when they experience numbness and this can often make things worse. I figured what the heck, and flipped the stem to a -5* and lowered my stem 10mm... two for two, no hand numbness on this ride. A final note, back when I was thinking about a custom build, I reached out to Joe P. for advice since I liked the look of his custom a lot. He gave me some great advice telling me to replace the stock M5 bolts on my Paragon's with some more sturdy M6 bolts from the hardware store. They're ugly as sin, but work flawlessly. They can be torqued nicely and have a larger surface area and deeper socket. Thanks Joe, you eliminated a problem I didn't have yet, and got rid of the squeeky sliders. Sorry, no pic's as I was leading a new 29er convert around my beloved trail. Always fun when someone new gives a "woohoo", really lets you know they are enjoying themselves.

For those thinking about an Optimus Ti:

The frame is nice, and not as noodly as I originally thought. Replace the stock M5 bolts with some deep socket M6 bolts (Lowes/Home Depot). Have plenty of Ti prep or anti seize compound of your choice on hand (bb can squeek if not properly lubed). The only misses I can see are: the welds are ugly, you know you bought Chi-ti with this bike. This is very noticable at the brake hose guides & water bottle mounts. I'm also surprised that a nice sterling headbadge is apparently attached with what looks like chewing gum... maybe the guy on the assembly line ran out of screws and decided his juicy fruit needed a good home... oh well, when my 2 years are up I'll drill the headbadge in place or replace it with something I design. Oh yeah, decals are a little shite, but all the more reason to remove them.

TTFN

FB

New whip....

So, after two years and many happy miles I decided to part ways with my Niner SIR 9 and go for a custom Ti bike (all the kewl kidz are doing it, doncha know?). I had narrowed down my decision to a builder, regrettably the builder got a little busy, and I began freaking out over delivery times (plus small builders had been dropping off the face of the earth with deposit $) and lack of communication and decided to scrap the custom thing and go with a stock frame. I chose to stick with Ti, and Paragon sliders as the EBB on the Niner, although functional, left a lot to be desired as far as fit/adjustment was concerned. Cue Vassago Cycles and their Optimus Ti for 2008. The price was great, although I'm not a big fan of Chi-Ti I liked the interaction with the company and they have a dedicated sales force unlike some of the one man shows I've heard nightmares about. The irony is that the wait time was about the same as if I had gone custom, maybe 2 weeks quicker.

The ride: So for the first ride, I always take the new steed(s) to the Madrone trail primarily because it's close to home, but it's also a wicked trail. It's a bit on the short side (but so am I) of course my current level of fitness doesn't encourage much more than this trail. The ride was very nice, the handling was responsive. I really could tell the difference in the shorter A-C fork, which was good and bad. There was a noticable creeking under load, I can't tell if this is a BB thing (Current Crank & BB to be replaced soon) or the chainstays being a little noodly, or the PMW's bedding in.

Conclusion: Overall it's tough to make any conclusions just yet. I still have a lot of adjustments to make, and I'm even thinking of getting fit properly to save some time and frustration as my freetime is limited for riding.

Stay tuned for more ride reports and developements, and more pix since I now have a dedicated biking camera.

Stans revisited!

First of all, for the 3 of you out there that stop by from time to time, sorry I haven't written in a while, I'll blame the usual lame suspects; work, wife, kid, yard, dogs, etc, etc. I'll try to post more now that I'm getting back out and riding more.

So, as the title implies my old friend Stan got me yet again. While I have to say that when the product works, it works extremely well, but when it fails it is the pits and set up (at least for me) has been an absolute nightmare. I've done the usual DIY w/out instructions and had to eat my words, but this was the final straw with directions followed to the letter. Sorry Stan, you're done!

The picture doesn't do it justice, trust me. Full story below.




So I take the new Vassago out for it's shake down ride. My test ground is the Madrone trail which has been causing me to get flats lately (because I'm fat) and this ride is no different. The good news was that I didn't flat until nearly the end of the ride, so I decide to just walk the last 100 yards to the car. I had run a tube because the Vassago wouldn't accommodate the 2.55 Weirwolf I was previously running and I didn't have time to stan the smaller Rampage.

Fast forward to today after work. I settle into the shop, remove the rear wheel from the new steed and proceed to remove the tube, re-install the stans strip, adjust, lube my tire, insert the liquid latex and start to pump like a fool. I can't catch a bead to save my life. So I go to my next trick which is a c02, immediately followed by pump... voila, beat catches and I begin to fill to the 40 PSI Stan would like when KA-PLOW blew the fugger right off the rim, stans all over me, the work bench, the ceiling, the new ride.... freaking nasty ass liquid latex everywhere. The sound was as loud as being in an indoor gun range with a .45ACP and no ear protection. Plus I got to enjoy liquid latex in the mouth, up my nose and in my eyes! As I finish typing this, I'm emailing my buddy at the LBS and asking him for a case of tubes. I'm done with Stan.....

"I've been to the desert on a horse with no name".....

Rode in the desert this weekend, didn't do the MOM race, but wishing that I had now. The camping, sweat lodge, and people were great. There's something wonderful about not being "plugged in" for a few days. Every article of clothing I brought out with me still smells of the campfire. The Chihuahuan Desert is an incredible place, and camping there with a bunch of other mountain bikers was a great experience. The days were sunny and hot, the nights crisp and cool. I can't say enough about this magical place, other than I will be back.



The ladies got lucky this day and got to ride with FB. ;o)

Remembering Sheldon Brown

A day late, but my thoughts are still heavy for the loss of a great man. Rest in peace my friend.



1944-2008 Sheldon Brown

What's with this guy?

Another Lance sighting (missed him again, damn ribs). This shot was taken at the Miles of disComfort Marathon Race held at Flat Rock Ranch, Comfort Texas.

Tour de Comfort?

With a couple of broken ribs, I couldn't make the ride. Now I wish I had. I know he's so 2 years ago, but he's still a champion, and how many can say they rode with the guy in such a relaxed venue? Oh well, next time I suppose.

Big Rocks + Little Wheels + Front Brake =

Needless to say, I can't wait to get back on a big set of wheels.

Deposit paid....

Spoke to Scott today, we chatted a bit, went over some details. I'm still waiting for his CAD drawings, here are the preliminary drawings I came up with. Only 11 weeks and 6 days left ;^)

Stans + New Rim or Ghetto tubless part III

In this episode of Ghetto tubeless (part III), our lovable fat boy follows the directions and finds himself as frustrated as ever.

I read the compatablility matrix:

Rim Type: WTB Laser Disc Trail 29er

Stans Strip: Plus Four

Directions: This rim has an extremely large rectangle drop channel in the center of the rim. Remove existing rim strip, use two layers of my 12mm spoke tape over the spoke holes. Then apply one layer of foam weatherseal 3/8 inch wide X 3/16 inch thick in this drop channel. Then install Plus Four rim strip. (Use Frost King foam weatherseal Gray item # V443 $2.00 for a 17' roll)

Check, check, and check (substituted brown for gray weatherseal, it's all Home Depot had).

I watched the informational videos:




After multiple shake,lay flat, repeats I finally got my tires to seal. Overall the process was a complete PITA. As I shook, soaped and repeated thoughts of changing to a different tire sent chills up my spine. Is this how it would be every time? What is the advantage really? I had heard hype from so many people, about years of not having issues, did they all go through this much effort initailly? IMO, changing a tube isn't really that big of a deal. I was hoping that going tubeless would mean lower pressure, but since I routinely run less than 30 psi in my tires, I don't see Stans as being that big of an advantage there. They will lower rolling resistance, so that's good, and it's nice to know that small holes, thorns, and bits of glass won't leave me with a flat. But concerns of sidewall gashes and trying out new tires has me wondering if I didn't line the wallet of Stans & Home Depot unnecessarily. Only time will tell.

Going custom

So after many months of thinking about it, and kicking the idea around with the wife, I decided to go custom for a new 29r. This was on the fast track as I had a huge commission that was supposed to pay out in February, however things didn't go as expected and the commission isn't going to be what I had expected. Looking in the garage, and talking to my CIO (wife) I've decided to sell off the old herd. I'm selling the SIR9 and the ti Kona... and if I get what I'm looking for, I might even sell the Gunnar, but I'm really having a hard time letting go of that bike... every time I throw a leg over it, I tell myself I can't part with it. Sentimental bike for me. So anywho, if you know anyone looking for a a small SIR9 or a groovy ti Kona in 96/26 form factor let them know. I'll post more details about the custom build as I get them. I'm working with a builder, and hope to have CAD drawings early in '08.

When all else fails read the directions.....

..... or watch the informational video.

If you've been following along, you no doubt know that I recently purchased a set of King Wheels for the new ride I'm planning (Thanks Joe P for the specs bro, talking to Scott about fit etc). I also recently joined the masses and tried out Stans Notubes latex system. While it worked great on my AC's it sucked on my older wider Crossmax. I figured I'd try it out on the Kings since they're new. The first go was tough, I couldn't get the bead to seat correctly and after about 40 minutes invested decided to toss a tube in and ride. Today I decided to try again. First I installed a tube to set the bead, once set I removed the tube while leaving one bead intact. Next re-install the loose bead leaving room at the bottom to accommodate a valve core and the liquid latex goop ... what a stroke of genius... sorta. This process worked w/o a hitch, but I found that the rim bed of the WTB Laser Disc is too wide, deep and has an ugly seam. In frustration I went to the notubes site to see where I had gone wrong.

Mistake #1 use the proper tape. I used the thin straping tape rather than the more dense yellow tape or rim strips.

Mistake #2 I didn't leave a tube in for an hour or greater to force out any air bubbles from the tape. Pretty important step apparently.

With those things in mind, I'm going to head down to my LBS to see if they have any of the yellow tape, and I'm going to pick up some epoxy or silicone to help seal the seam on the rim. I hope this will be a good solution, and if it holds up as well as it has on the AC I think I'll be pleased. I wanted to slam Stans for being too hype, but they have great detailed how to's on their site, and I really have no one to blame but myself.

Happy Birth-Chanu-Mas to me....

...'nough said

B!tchin' Camero....

My latest experiment had me swapping over forks from the Kona 96er to the Niner. There is a huge difference between the forks. The On-One is designed to be a suspension corrected fork for 26" wheels, a-c is 425mm. The Niner is a 100mm suspension corrected 29" fork with a huge a-c of 490mm!!! The resulting fork swap left me feeling like I was driving a soup'd up camero with the rear end jacked up and the nose scraping the ground.... very east coast.

Interesting enough, I didn't crash once on my test trail although some drops made me pucker pretty tight. The handling was razor sharp, dare I say I felt like a Dr. with surgical tools in hand. The slightest hint of a turn and the bike shot in that direction. I was diggin' it until I hit the drops, where I felt the roll out nose wheelie action a little too long and felt more like an up side down weeble woble. Needless to say I don't think this experiment is going to stay as is. If I can find an inexpensive disc fork with an a-c more in the middle maybe there will be hope for the niner.

Ghetto tubeless part II

A little over a week ago I decided to convert my 96r to a ghetto tubeless set up. I had heard a lot of hype about how good it was, but I just wasn't convinced it was for me. I learned a very important lesson this week. Older rims + new tires + stans = not compatible. The first night of stans in the 26" rear left the tire flat. I was able to keep the bead set and just pump up the tire. After a week of being in the stand flat, this was not the case, I couldn't catch the bead with my floor pump, nor could I catch it with a compressor. Being in a hurry to make the post turkey day ride, I chose to go back to a tube in the rear.... what a mess it is cleaning up that junk. I can't say I'm all that impressed, and had this happened trail side it would have been ten times worse. Ironically the front is holding up just fine, but now the fear of a sidewall gash or too little psi and losing the bead are stuck in my head.

* I didn't get pix of the stans cleaning process. I think it took about 20-30 shop towels to clean it all up. Special thanks to Fern for his help cleaning it all up.

More new things.....

For the last few years I've been pretty happy to stick to the SS scene, but since I've been off the bike so much lately and I've been playing around with the Kona, I thought I'd try out some new things.

One of the things that has been an issue for me is pinch flats. Since I'm a rigid rider, I tend to make up for suspension or cush by running the pressure in my tires pretty low. When I was fit and had some skillz this wasn't really a problem, but pushing clyde weight and having the finesse of a bull in a china shop, I've had my share of pinch flats lately. I've decided to try out some ghetto tubeless. My Canuk chum Aaron hooked a brutha up with some "Stans" and his special secret sauce to make it all work. Rode Government Canyon today with almost no issues. The only minor thing was my phatass came down hard and off center on a rock and the rear wheel let me know by blowing what I've dubbed a "Stans fart" (three actually. Much to my surprise (pucker factor 10+ as I thought I blew the tire) I didn't lose all that much air, just sounded the part. First ride with Satan, I mean Stans and I have no complaints. I've resisted so long, could I have been wrong all this time? Only several rocky thorny rides will tell.

The next thing I got, was an uber wide bar. I've been riding a Jones for a couple of years now, and really like the hand position, but wanted to try a flatish bar. A quick search on ebay found a gently loved On-One Fleegle for next to nothing, how could I resist. This bar is W_I_D_E, if I were back east I'd hook every tree in sight, good thing I'm in the wasteland know as TX... not much for trees, pretty wide open. I have around 3-4 rides on the bars, and I'm really digging the leverage I can get out of them.

some pix for your viewing pleasure.

OUCH!

So the 96er experiment has been in full swing for half a dozen rides. In theory this is the perfect solution for a shortie like me. I fit a full on 29r ok, but stand over even with a sloping top tube leaves a little to be desired. One of the biggest things for me on the 29r is that I notice that I can't "flick" the bike like I could on my 26er's. The 96er gives me the ability to maneuver and use my body english more (flick), but I've been crashing left and right and couldn't figure out what was goind on. The HTA was a concern of course, but after speaking to several builders, it looks like I didn't take "trail" and "rake" into consideration. One of the builders was good enought to get technical with me, but mostly what stuck was that I would continue to experience the dreaded "washout" that I've been experiencing. So with that said, looks like I'm back to the drawing board. I'm wondering if going with a 650b wheel would change geometry enough to make a difference.

Anyone got a 650b wheel lying around you don't need ;o)