Biking: Catch-all

Well, I sold off my old road bike.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/iv1byHi.jpg)

Even though I prefer my Stanyan, I think that vintage of aluminum frames looks quite nice in its own way. I'm going to miss it, but there's no way I could justify keeping it.

Oy, the front hub on my Stanyan failed in a pretty fascinating way. It's a Mavic Classic Pro hub which uses straight pull spokes. The hub cracked at one of the protrusions (each of which connects two spokes) which completely broke off. Basically the hub is ruined now.

I'm not sure what a good replacement would be. I want something with classic appearances that matches the steel frame, but it should perform well and not weigh a ton. This is my road bike after all.

I'm not sure whether I should try to just get a hub and lace it to the rim I have (this was a complete wheel, it's also a Mavic Classics Pro rim) or whether I should just buy a complete wheel. I've never laced a wheel before but I'm always looking for excuses to learn how to do new things.

I initially looked at Velo Orange complete wheels (for the aesthetic) but all of their complete front wheels have 36 spokes, which seems like overkill to me.

Thoughts?

Jeeze, maybe I'll just order a pair of these. My rear wheel isn't great and they'd get me 11-speed ready too.

Nice to see that Shimano still makes stuff with subdued looks. I'd prefer shiny to black, but those wheels are so much better than what I have (look at that weight!) they're incredibly tempting. I'm not normally a weight weenie by any means but if I'm going to save it anywhere the wheels are a good place to do it.

Those are nice.

They all look the same to me.

Here's the bike.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/TgJumMpl.jpg)

I think something like this might actually fit the bike better, but I have no concept of how much I should be spending on what. The array of options for wheels is kind of dizzying.

Bike stuff be confusing.

That whole "it doesn't get easier, you just get faster" bit sure has some weight to it. I've got a benchmark climb on my neighborhood trail and every time I ride it I think I must not be recovered enough, or I drank to much, or the heat is slowing me down... and while I've had some off-pace days I've made some huge improvements on it this spring. I wish I had a record from prior to this year's training focus. Granted, I've got a long way to go still, especially compared to the monster riders around here. I'd have to get <11:00 to get in the top 10.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/vH9h3oy.png)

Oh, here we go. Here's a short climb that has always kicked my ass in the past. Today I even got complemented by a rider stopped at the switchback as I passed him.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/xaoYfgM.png)

It's true up to a point. It depends on how much you want to go. For my part, I've decided that going faster than 30 kph on most of the roads I pass would be irresponsible and unsafe. This is especially true for the multi-use paths where I have to think about the pedestrians. Hitting 30 and maintaining it is a breeze for me now unless the road is inclined up.

gore:

You'll probably just spend what you like, but I think the Shimano RS series wheels are a good benchmark of the minimum you could spend and still have the bike go relatively pleasantly. Anything above that is cake.

LarryC wrote:

It's true up to a point. It depends on how much you want to go. For my part, I've decided that going faster than 30 kph on most of the roads I pass would be irresponsible and unsafe. This is especially true for the multi-use paths where I have to think about the pedestrians. Hitting 30 and maintaining it is a breeze for me now unless the road is inclined up.

I'm in the MTB Clan though. Right now I'm focused on my speed on 10%+ grade climbs littered with loose baby head rocks or jagged face mangling rock gardens.

Oooo! Garmin/Strava gave me a birthday present (or at least a picture of one with a TDB deliver date...)

I mucked a bit with Garmin segments on my Edge 810, just to try it, and it's really neat but very limited if you use the required Garmin segments, or a hassle if you want to use the much more popular Strava segments. This sounds like just the automated sync I've been hoping for.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Oooo! Garmin/Strava gave me a birthday present (or at least a picture of one with a TDB deliver date...)

I mucked a bit with Garmin segments on my Edge 810, just to try it, and it's really neat but very limited if you use the required Garmin segments, or a hassle if you want to use the much more popular Strava segments. This sounds like just the automated sync I've been hoping for.

Real time segments have me considering paying for Premium. I have a G Watch R, and without Premium Strava just shows a basic HUD dashboard on the watch. Getting that kind of info on the watch might be actually worthwhile...

And, OK gear nerds, I need you to tell me: $240 for 5800 hubs laced to Open Pro rims, or $295 for 6800 hubs laced to Open Pro rims?

$50 more for current Ultegra, or save $50 for tech/quality that used to be Ultegra... Unless you're racing and/or trying to shave grams off your bike's weight, save $50 and get the 105 hubs. You'll very likely not notice the difference on the bike.

WipEout wrote:

$50 more for current Ultegra, or save $50 for tech/quality that used to be Ultegra... Unless you're racing and/or trying to shave grams off your bike's weight, save $50 and get the 105 hubs. You'll very likely not notice the difference on the bike.

Marvelous, thank you!

We'll know. And be judging.

That's always been the nice thing about Shimano, in my opinion. They almost always trickle down their tech when they've introduced a new model. So basically last year's Dura-Ace becomes this year's Ultegra, Ultegra becomes 105, etc. It's only once you get into the more entry-level groupsets like Alivio that they start replacing materials with cheap plastic bits.

Also the Mavic Open Pro rims are always a solid choice, the only way you could go wrong with them is a sub-par wheel build, which would be the builder's fault and not the rims' anyway

LiquidMantis wrote:

Oooo! Garmin/Strava gave me a birthday present (or at least a picture of one with a TDB deliver date...)

I mucked a bit with Garmin segments on my Edge 810, just to try it, and it's really neat but very limited if you use the required Garmin segments, or a hassle if you want to use the much more popular Strava segments. This sounds like just the automated sync I've been hoping for.

Cool news! That will make me consider Strava premium as well.

Man, what a rough day for a ride. Pouring rain the entire time.

I'm glad for fenders... I guess. Didn't stop me from getting soaked, but at least I wasn't covered in road grime.

Hells yeah!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/Ov4voq6.png)

Shakedown ride before our bike tour today. Discovered small list of things we didn't pack, and started our ride with a failed valve... which led to discovering we had the wrong replacement tube. Cleverly, we started 100 feet from a bike store, and were easily able to replace it.

In other news, if you read Bicycle Quarterly (or the editor's blog), you may find some humor in the parody blog, Quarterly Bicycle: Competitive Randonneuring and Commuting.

So... hydraulic disc brakes.. any way to get them unseized short of having them bled and refilled?

Seized how? Were they worked with the wheel out and are fully extended? If so you can carefully pry them apart, taking care to not damage the pads. You might be able to pull the pads out then push the pistons back in, again being careful to not damage them.

If they're truly seized, you'll need to replace the calipers. Otherwise, go with LM's advice.

Hmm, one of the pistons was jammed, wouldn't move at all. I wound up bleeding them and forcing the pistons out so I could clean and lube both. Not as bad a job as I was fearing Thanks for the tips!

OK, got me some wheels a coming. Now I guess my Stanyan will be complete (I knew I'd need wheels eventually...)

Good thing too... no money left

I realize I should probably be degreasing and lubing my chain more then I do (which is never). I know I have to get my hands on a chain cleaner and some degreaser but does the type of chain lube matter? Or can I jsut use any type?

billybob476 wrote:

I realize I should probably be degreasing and lubing my chain more then I do (which is never). I know I have to get my hands on a chain cleaner and some degreaser but does the type of chain lube matter? Or can I jsut use any type?

People get religious about that stuff. I use Boeshield T9.

Well, we've got the blood sweat and tears portion of the bike trip established. Managed to fall over getting on my bike in the parking lot and skin both knees and knock my left pinky out of joint.

Onward we go!

gore wrote:
billybob476 wrote:

I realize I should probably be degreasing and lubing my chain more then I do (which is never). I know I have to get my hands on a chain cleaner and some degreaser but does the type of chain lube matter? Or can I jsut use any type?

People get religious about that stuff. I use Boeshield T9.

That's good stuff. I use Tri-Flow, it's also a really good year-round lube.

If you want to get super technical about it, you'd want to consider what your local weather is like, the amount of dust your bike collects on a given ride, the type of riding you're doing (MTB, road, etc.). All these factors would go into figuring out if you would benefit more from a dry lubricant, or something wetter or more viscous. See Rock 'N' Roll Lube for chain lube nerdery. I do like their Gold lube, though, to be honest.

Yeah, this

WipEout wrote:
gore wrote:
billybob476 wrote:

I realize I should probably be degreasing and lubing my chain more then I do (which is never). I know I have to get my hands on a chain cleaner and some degreaser but does the type of chain lube matter? Or can I jsut use any type?

People get religious about that stuff. I use Boeshield T9.

That's good stuff. I use Tri-Flow, it's also a really good year-round lube.

If you want to get super technical about it, you'd want to consider what your local weather is like, the amount of dust your bike collects on a given ride, the type of riding you're doing (MTB, road, etc.). All these factors would go into figuring out if you would benefit more from a dry lubricant, or something wetter or more viscous. See Rock 'N' Roll Lube for chain lube nerdery. I do like their Gold lube, though, to be honest.

Yeah, that's what I was wondering. I figured chain lube was equivalent to waxing cross country skis, different lube for different conditions but there are some decent "general purpose" options.

This is for my road bike, so generally the dust level is pretty low aside from a few spots where traffic can kick some up.