Biking: Catch-all

Gah, I guess I don't have a track lockring tool. Seems like that's commonly on chain whips, but mine doesn't have one

I didn't see anything obvious in the headphones thread, but does anyone have recommendations for noise-cancelling sweat-resistant wireless headphones that would be good to use on the trainer? I'd love to be able to watch Netflix without having to turn the volume up to 11 to hear it over the sound of the tire.

Katy wrote:

I didn't see anything obvious in the headphones thread, but does anyone have recommendations for noise-cancelling sweat-resistant wireless headphones that would be good to use on the trainer? I'd love to be able to watch Netflix without having to turn the volume up to 11 to hear it over the sound of the tire.

Anything that goes in the ear is generally good at shutting noise out without carrying the price tag associated with noise cancelling.

AnimeJ wrote:
Katy wrote:

I didn't see anything obvious in the headphones thread, but does anyone have recommendations for noise-cancelling sweat-resistant wireless headphones that would be good to use on the trainer? I'd love to be able to watch Netflix without having to turn the volume up to 11 to hear it over the sound of the tire.

Anything that goes in the ear is generally good at shutting noise out without carrying the price tag associated with noise cancelling.

This - I use a pair of Sennheiser CX 500-B earbuds on the trainer to listen to spin-class podcasts (as well as myriad other sweaty fun things). They're affordable ($30), robust, block out a fair bit of outside noise, and have yet to be destroyed despite my being the sweatiest man alive when I'm working out.

IMAGE(http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q133/serengeti000/8dba8667-4ae1-42d8-9dde-2c83e129f584_zpse58a5d72.png)

Well, can't back out now!

Edit: I'm gonna need a new bike for this one too. My Trucker just ain't gonna cut it. I'm leaning towards a Pacer. Sure it's not as light as some other bikes, but for a 130 mile race up and down mountains, I think the comfort factor will be huge...

Yeah, for a ride like that the Pacer seems like a good choice. The alternative would be something like the Specialized Roubaix. And after the Trucker, the weight difference between the Pacer and a fancier carbon bike probably won't even matter

Woot!

IMAGE(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-EC4hfTX42AE/UqoHNBnKclI/AAAAAAAAREY/6lYoKgFhl7w/s800/IMG_20131212_114235.jpg)

1st order of business: Peel off those Alex stickers

That's rad that it arrived so fast! Have fun!

My husband got a set of studded tires for his bike for winter riding. He's managed not to crash horribly going up and down the street, so I think they are a success (except that there isn't enough clearance for the front fender, and I think he may have put a hole in the vinyl kitchen flooring while setting them up on the bike, because kitchens have a secondary purpose as bike workshops when it's below freezing out.)

I've been thinking about getting a pair, and really regret not getting some for my 29'er already. I wanted to ride today, we finally broke out of sub-zero and single digits and actually hit 50º, but all the snow is packed and there's a lot of ice out so I chickened out. I also didn't really have a good time window due to other stuff scheduled today anyway. I've probably got a week before the trails are good to ride.

Katy wrote:

My husband got a set of studded tires for his bike for winter riding. He's managed not to crash horribly going up and down the street, so I think they are a success (except that there isn't enough clearance for the front fender, and I think he may have put a hole in the vinyl kitchen flooring while setting them up on the bike, because kitchens have a secondary purpose as bike workshops when it's below freezing out.)

What a savage!

... I use the living room.

muraii wrote:

Disgusting.

Embedding for the lazy. This is insane.

gore wrote:
muraii wrote:

Disgusting.

Embedding for the lazy. This is insane.

Apparently Ashton broke his spine during a demo event between shoots for this film, and is now paralyzed from the waist down.

I finally got some Selle Anatomica Saddle Sauce, so I can finally install my new saddle and bar tape this weekend So excited!

WipEout wrote:

1st order of business: Peel off those Alex stickers

That's rad that it arrived so fast! Have fun!

Alex is quality! Bikes direct told me the wheelset alone is worth $300, I can't wait to show it off!

I got the thing together and did a quick shake down ride. Rims are slightly out of true but not bad enough for me to bother adjusting them. Only thing not stock now is the pedals.

I'm using the cog it came with since I don't have my lock ring tool yet. Luckily it came with the cog installed.

Oh, one "part" was missing: one of those little metal tips you're supposed to crimp on the ends of cables once you cut them. I covered one with rubber cement for now.

I'm impressed so far. This bike doesn't feel nearly as cheap as it is and BD got it to me well packaged and very quickly.

Initial thought after my test ride is that being unable to coast is way weirder than I expected. I'll ride it to work tomorrow on side streets. Not ready to face traffic with it yet...

Always re-check factory-built wheels. Unless they're of super quality or repute, likely the spokes aren't properly/evenly tensioned and you'll find that once they fall out of true (or further out of true), one nipple could already be bottomed out while the next is barely threaded.

Otherwise, sounds like you've got a pretty good deal there! Glad it's working out! Oh! Also: make sure to check the tension on that lockring, as well. "Factory-installed" doesn't always mean "properly torqued." I found that out the hard way when I put my Steamroller together myself. Most shops would be cool with just checking the lockring's tension for you, should only take a minute to do.

Katy wrote:

My husband got a set of studded tires for his bike for winter riding. He's managed not to crash horribly going up and down the street, so I think they are a success (except that there isn't enough clearance for the front fender, and I think he may have put a hole in the vinyl kitchen flooring while setting them up on the bike, because kitchens have a secondary purpose as bike workshops when it's below freezing out.)

i use my living room

WipEout wrote:

Always re-check factory-built wheels. Unless they're of super quality or repute, likely the spokes aren't properly/evenly tensioned and you'll find that once they fall out of true (or further out of true), one nipple could already be bottomed out while the next is barely threaded.

Otherwise, sounds like you've got a pretty good deal there! Glad it's working out! Oh! Also: make sure to check the tension on that lockring, as well. "Factory-installed" doesn't always mean "properly torqued." I found that out the hard way when I put my Steamroller together myself. Most shops would be cool with just checking the lockring's tension for you, should only take a minute to do.

This is good advice. I was really glad I had a torque wrench for piece of mind.

I checked everything I could with the torque wrench cause I don't know how much I can trust the assembly. The brake calipers were a bit loose but the lock ring was aok.

I don't have a way to check actual tension on the spokes, is that just a feel thing? I also couldn't test the crank arms since my wrench doesn't go high enough, but they are on really tight as far as I can tell.

Blotto The Clown wrote:
Katy wrote:

My husband got a set of studded tires for his bike for winter riding. He's managed not to crash horribly going up and down the street, so I think they are a success (except that there isn't enough clearance for the front fender, and I think he may have put a hole in the vinyl kitchen flooring while setting them up on the bike, because kitchens have a secondary purpose as bike workshops when it's below freezing out.)

i use my living room :P

I use the dining room. But my living room, dining room, and kitchen are all one giant room. The dining room just offers the most space and non carpeting area.

The living room has also been used.

It's a little easier to clean up any grease or sweep up little bits of cable ends in the kitchen, though.

gore wrote:
WipEout wrote:

Always re-check factory-built wheels. Unless they're of super quality or repute, likely the spokes aren't properly/evenly tensioned and you'll find that once they fall out of true (or further out of true), one nipple could already be bottomed out while the next is barely threaded.

Otherwise, sounds like you've got a pretty good deal there! Glad it's working out! Oh! Also: make sure to check the tension on that lockring, as well. "Factory-installed" doesn't always mean "properly torqued." I found that out the hard way when I put my Steamroller together myself. Most shops would be cool with just checking the lockring's tension for you, should only take a minute to do.

This is good advice. I was really glad I had a torque wrench for piece of mind.

I checked everything I could with the torque wrench cause I don't know how much I can trust the assembly. The brake calipers were a bit loose but the lock ring was aok.

I don't have a way to check actual tension on the spokes, is that just a feel thing? I also couldn't test the crank arms since my wrench doesn't go high enough, but they are on really tight as far as I can tell.

Checking the spokes is sort of by feel, but you can also check them at the rim:

You can kind of squeeze two spokes together-- if one flexes a lot and more easily or just appears curved or bent, then it isn't tensioned as much as the others. At that point, check the nipples inside the rim, under the tape. If there's more spoke threaded into the nipples, then they are over-tensioned (probably to compensate for the loose one).

As far as crank arms, I believe 40-45 lb.ft. is the proper amount of torque, but that doesn't do you much good if you don't have a big-enough torque wrench

So I rode the Kilo WT to work today (BTW, this is a copy of the Surly Steamroller frame) - what a lot of fun! I specifically took side roads and went very slowly to be sure I wouldn't die if the thing fell apart underneath me. Being unable to coast is really weird! In fact a couple of times coming to a stop I was caught off guard and I nearly lost control due to it. And I definitely need to put a larger rear cog on there, I was able to do all the hills this morning but I'm not sure I can get back up a hill near my home - I may need to take the long way to avoid it

Oh, and I'm using my clipless pedals. I gave a moment's thought to putting on the flat clip/strap pedals that came with the bike for testing, but decided against it - I did loosen the cleat locking springs a bit to facilitate an easier bailout should things go tits up. Less margin for error to clip in when those pedals are in constant motion - you can't take a second to clip in while coasting! And it's a lot harder to position the cranks in the right "launching" position when you stop at a light, cause you have to lift the rear wheel off the ground to move them.

The thing came with 700x32 tires, which are about as big as I'd ever run on a road bike, and it does feel a little sluggish because of them. I think I'll ride them for a while though, having a smooth ride isn't the end of the world, and maybe I'll try fire roads and stuff too.

WipEout wrote:

Checking the spokes is sort of by feel, but you can also check them at the rim:

You can kind of squeeze two spokes together-- if one flexes a lot and more easily or just appears curved or bent, then it isn't tensioned as much as the others. At that point, check the nipples inside the rim, under the tape. If there's more spoke threaded into the nipples, then they are over-tensioned (probably to compensate for the loose one).

Ah OK, well I did give em a good squeeze and nothing felt too far out of wack. They're true enough that my brake pads don't rub so it's definitely not awful. I've certainly ridden my commuter with less true wheels. Truing wheels is one thing I am really not good at though, so maybe I'm just deluding myself to avoid doing the work

As far as crank arms, I believe 40-45 lb.ft. is the proper amount of torque, but that doesn't do you much good if you don't have a big-enough torque wrench :P

I googled up something like 40-45 nm. I set the wrench to its max (25nm?) and they were definitely beyond that. They felt really tight to me. I don't think they're going anywhere.

Given the relatively high values here, is this something that's even actually possible to over torque with a normal wrench?

Oh wait-- yeah, I meant 40-45nm. I kept thinking in terms of my big torque wrench I keep for my wife's car wheels

And yeah, you'd be surprised how easy it can be to over-torque something if you're not thinking about it... I used to do it all the time on cars Honestly, though, if you checked at 25nm and they felt tighter than that, I bet you're okay. Maybe just doublecheck them next time you do a full teardown/repair/tune-up.

My kinda wreath (gotta love my bike shop)

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BbfkVQzCQAA6fWp.jpg:large)

This is what I have in my living room instead of an xmas tree.
IMAGE(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7329/11201007675_ffcc339976.jpg)

Switched the cog from 16 to 18t today.

It was trickier than I expected. The lockring was on there seriously tight. I needed somebody to help hold the wheel while I wrenched the hell out of it.

I got it all back together and took it for a spin. It's definitely a small but important improvement and I imagine my commute tomorrow should be much easier.

So back to the "normal" route to work today - that is, the one with more hills and traffic.

With 18/48 it's still quite a workout! On this route I did run into the negatives of a lower gear ratio too - spinning out going down a hill. I don't mind that since my commute is short and I'm not in a rush (and this only happens in a couple of spots).

Good news is that the bike seems to be holding together just fine. I ordered a torque wrench for the higher torques which I can't check with my current wrench (specifically: crank arms, rear hub bolts) because uncertainty makes me nervous. New cog seems to be doing just fine.

I'm still caught off guard sometimes by the inability to coast. Probably the most dangerous time is when facing patches of rough road at high speed, where I'd normally just coast and stand to avoid the bumps in the rump. I'm taking it relatively slowly for now to avoid this, because standing up and essentially running in place on the pedals seems like the only way to avoid road shock with your legs at high speed. Oy.

EDIT: also, as directed by WipEout, I have removed those alexrims decals. I don't want anybody spotting those logos and deciding to swipe my sweet rims.

Here's a cell phone pic of the thing assembled:

IMAGE(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-velRz7boikc/Uq8971PTWDI/AAAAAAAARHU/upb_xTLpi0Y/s800/IMG_20131216_122733.jpg)

Looking good!

On a side note, I finally got around to installing my Selle An-Atomica Titanico X saddle last night. Rode to a friend's place last night and to work this morning and it is super comfy. I'll try to remember to snap a pic on my way out of work later.

We've had several days with the weather improving, leading up to hitting 60º today, so based on a test of the dirt in my backyard I figured the trails would be okay. My ascent up the southern facing slope certainly reinforced that, but things were a mixed bag afterward. It was good for the most part, just a couple of low sections or parts in the shade were muddy. I had a few snowbanks try to send me over the bars but I shrugged them off and then on the final run toward the house I hit a surprise patch of mud that wasn't noticeable and also on a slope. Instant washout.

[Edit] Guess I smacked harder than I realized. I thought it was more of a slide, even though I was going at a decent clip, but post-ride I started getting a headache and now I've got some decent body aches.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/GdxxoH8.jpg)

gore wrote:

I'm still caught off guard sometimes by the inability to coast.

Is there some reason you can't drop a coaster hub on the bike?