Notes about cycling live here.
I've accumulated a fair number of Ultra-6 freewheels, and am ready to install a triple crankset on my Trek. Since the Trek is destined to be my office bike and will generally not be used for long rides, I've abandoned half-step plus granny schemes in favor of this:
14.0 16.0 18.0 21.0 26.0 32.0
52.0 100.3 87.8 78.0 66.9 54.0 43.9
39.0 75.2 65.8 58.5 50.1 40.5 32.9
26.0 50.1 43.9 39.0 33.4 27.0 21.9I expect to spend most of my time in the upper four cogs of the middle chainring. If I need lower gears for hills, I've got the lower five cogs on the granny. The upper two cogs on the big ring will be my tailwind/downhill gears. It's quite possible that there will be times when my best gear will be 54 gear inches (52-26) for a long enough stretch to justify finding it on the big ring.
The Trek's current Cinelli stem has a reach of 130mm. I have Nitto Technomic stems in both 130mm and 100mm reach. I also have a Brooks B.17 Standard saddle for the Trek. I will clearly have a higher bar and and shorter cockpit. We'll have to see which stem works out.
I need to find an appropriate bar. I'm not sure whether my Technomic stems are 25.4mm or 26mm (or one of each). I'm quite sure the Cinelli bar and stem are 26.4mm. The bar is almost surely more narrow than I prefer these days. I need to check the clamp diameter of the stems and then inventory my drop bar collection. If I have to buy a bar (another 44cm Nitto Noodle?) I should be able to sell the Cinelli bar and stem to cover the cost.
Dan took a "Chinatown" bus from DC to NYC and spent the long weekend with us. Great visit and Dan and I made good headway on my Atlantis To-Do list:
I'm going to ride the Atlantis for awhile with the bar un-taped to make sure I have the brake levers mounted where I really want them on the new Noodle bar.
Over time I've accumulated a number of wheels that have been filling up our back room and my RAV. It's time to take them to the storage shed.
This one is a possible rear wheel for the Waterford build. I have NOS Daytona 10-speed Ergo brifters and a new Miche 13-29 10-speed cassette.
Also a possibility for the Waterford build. Rear rim is a Mavic MA 40 and the front is a Matrix Aurora (they are visually similar). Front skewer is Campy; rear is generic Shimano, and needs to be cleaned up. 13-26 cassette and 700×25c tires (front: Vittoria Freedom Tecno Twin Tread; rear: Bontrager Race Lite Hard Case) included. I have two sets of Campy 8-speed Ergo brifters, one Chorus and one I'm not sure about.
Yet another possibility for the Waterford. Rear skewer is Dura Ace, no front skewer. Continental Grand Prix 700×23c tire on rear (no front tire). I have a set of like new Shimano Sora 8-speed brifters.
Generic skewer. I bought this wheel primarily for the rim. We'll see where it ends up.
My only current frame with 126mm OLD is the Maruishi and these puppies ain't going on that bike. Includes Vittoria Corsa CX tires (need to be reglued) and a mint 14-22 Dura Ace 7-speed freewheel. I gave $35 for this wheelset; I've always been curious about tubies and this was just too good a deal to pass on.
Dan, Dorothy, and Alexander were in NYC for the weekend and spent some time at our place on Long Island. Dan and I did a little work on my Atlantis.
I now have a cyclo-computer (with cadence!) and the N-Gear Jump Stop is installed. Dan also replaced a poorly positioned zip tie on my rear fender with two properly placed zip ties, and that fender is now much better aligned.
Dan did most of the work and I read instructions and handed him tools and held a light. Quite a role reversal from earlier times. He obviously learned a lot building up his Mother Trucker.
Tasks still pending:
The next time I visit my DC bike, I need to attend to a few things:
14.0 15.0 16.0 17.0 18.0 19.0 21.0 23.0 25.0
52 100.3 93.6 87.8 82.6 78.0 73.9 66.9 61.0 56.2
39 75.2 70.2 65.8 61.9 58.5 55.4 50.1 45.8 42.1
26 50.1 46.8 43.9 41.3 39.0 36.9 33.4 30.5 28.1
14.0 15.0 16.0 17.0 18.0 21.0 24.0 28.0 32.0
52 100.3 93.6 87.8 82.6 78.0 66.9 58.5 50.1 43.9
39 75.2 70.2 65.8 61.9 58.5 50.1 43.9 37.6 32.9
26 50.1 46.8 43.9 41.3 39.0 33.4 29.2 25.1 21.9Dan and I had originally planned to take five days to do the entire length of the C&O Canal towpath, but medical issues intervened, and we did a two day trip instead.
We spent most of Wednesday finishing the build on Mother Trucker, Dan's new Surly Long Haul Trucker that he's built from a bare frame and fork. Owing to mounting issues (since resolved, he tells me), he made the trip without a front fender, and owing to a lack of time, his bar wasn't wrapped. Other than that, MT was pretty much built as planned and ready for a shakedown cruise.
Most folks would have started with a ride around the block, but Dan and I headed out about 11am Thursday, hoping to make it to the last hiker biker site before White's Ferry on the C&O Canal towpath.
We made a quick stop when we reached the Capital Crescent trail for Dan to make an adjustment to MT's stem and bar. Later in the day he made a slight adjustment to his saddle position. That was all the TLC MT required on the trip. My Volpe lost a fender and rack mounting bolt near the end of the first day's ride. Fortunately, an unused water bottle cage mounting bolt fit, and that repair was quickly made.
We made it to our desired camping spot, pitched the tent, and then rode to White's Ferry to see what we could pick up at the store at the ferry landing. Slim pickings. We bought water and Gatorade and Dan bought some chips and I bought a couple of bananas. We got back to the campsite to finish our day's ride at about 6pm.
At the end of day 1, Volpe's computer showed 3 hours and 48 minutes of riding time, total mileage of 39.1, and an average speed of 10.2mph.
We finished setting up camp, had our evening snack, and were in the tent (sans fly, betting on no rain, because all that netting makes the hot, muggy night more tolerable) by 8pm. Uneventful night and Dan's Blackberry went off at 6am.
We broke camp, had our morning snack, and were on our way by around 7:30.
We took the ferry across the river and then rode a few miles on the road to Leesburg where we picked up the W&OD MUP. The paved path was a nicer riding surface than the crushed limestone (and rocks and roots and mud) of the C&O towpath, but we sure missed the shade!
Dan would have made much better time, but my butt was dragging, especially on any stretch of uphill in the sun (and there were plenty of those). We stopped in Herndon for bread and coffee, and made several rest stops along the path.
Our destination was the East Falls Church Metro station and we made it shortly after noon. We boarded Metro and I insisted on going all the way to the Woodley Park station since I felt in no condition to ride up 18th Street on the way to Dan's place.
We got back to Dan's around two, and the immediate order of business was a shower, a bowl of ice cream, and a nap!
At the end of day 2, Volpe's computer showed 7 hours and 23 minutes of riding time, total mileage of 75.1, and an average speed of 10.1mph.
On Monday Volpe I's new owner stopped by my office to take her new bike away with her. She's a Columbia grad student working in DC for the summer. She was planning on taking the Volpe to DC on a Chinatown bus. I didn't know that those buses would accommodate bicycles, but she told me that if you get there early enough they'll just roll it into the middle of the baggage compartment and pack bags on either side of it.
Lee and I had agreed to meet Bob at his house (where our tandem lives in his garage) at 8am and the three of us would do a relatively short "beat the heat" ride.
We got there only a few minutes late and after I had pumped up the Duet's tires and mounted the rack pack and water bottles we were ready to go.
On the drive over Lee and I had discussed how long this shakedown ride would be. I told her I'd be happy with 30-60 minutes of actual on-bike time. She said 20 minutes would satisfy her. We relayed the conversation to Bob and asked for route suggestions. He said we should ride about five minutes on the streets to get to a nearby park, and then ride on a trail in the park for as long as we cared to.
Sounded good, so we mounted up and off we went.
Very light street traffic on the way over. No real problems although Lee had some difficulty getting her feet comfortably placed on the pedals. Later in the park she would have trouble maintaining foot-pedal contact a couple of times. I currently have vintage road pedals on the Duet (without clips and straps). After today's ride I'm thinking the tandem is a perfect application for Rivendell's MKS RMX sneaker pedal.
The other thing we learned (we're both tandem beginners) is that I need to tell her sooner when I'm about to change something (from pedaling to coasting, for example). She did really well as far as being stable back there and there was no fighting me in the turns.
The trail in the park turned out to be not the best idea because it was narrow and had a few other users (both joggers and cyclists). Also, some ups and downs that we beginners might have preferred to deal with later on the learning curve. Lee got a little twitchy back there a couple of times, once at what seemed to her to be excessive speed, and once when I hit the pedals aggressively to crest a hill without shifting.
We spent a total of about 30 minutes riding and both deemed the ride a success. Hopefully we'll be back aboard for another tandem ride soon.
Norm Samuels led a 25 mile ride starting from the Mt Sinai King Kullen. Halfway stop was at The Bagel Lady in Shoreham.
Total distance: 24.6mi; average speed: 11.1mph. And no, I still haven't installed a computer on my Atlantis; I asked one of the better equipped riders.
I was less wiped than last week. Norm moved the ride start from 9:30am to 8:30am owing to the weather forecast, and it was a good move. Any earlier and I wouldn't have been able to make it. Set my alarm for six, started loading the RAV at 7, on the road by 7:30, at the meeting place at 8:15. Since I get up at 5am nearly every weekday, I protest getting up earlier than 6 on a weekend.
This week I used two gears: 36×18=54 gear inches for nearly the entire ride; and 26×18=39 gear inches for one short sharp hill. The other hills were rollers and I managed to get sufficient momentum to power up them in my cruising gear.
Next flat ride I go on I'm going to try to graduate to 36×16=61 gear inches for my cruising gear.
Gordon Howard led a 23-mile ride starting at the Manorville King Kullen. Quite flat for most of the route (I only used a single gear, 36-18 = 54 gear inches, for the first 18 miles). The last five miles were rolling hills and I spent some time shifting gears. Not like the north shore, but a good workout. Average speed: 10mph.
In my current physical condition this ride was as much as I wanted. No distress, but it was enough.
I wore my Keens and had installed the used Mosh BMX pedals I had bought on eBay some time ago. Those pedals have 6 non-removable pins, three on each edge. I removed all the other pins. No issues with foot slippage. I did have to unweight a foot to move it on the pedal, but that wasn't a problem. Also, I developed a bit of a hot spot on my right foot. I don't know if that's Keen-specific or pedal-specific or just out-of-shape-fat-old-man-specific.
I recently bought a used Sugino triple 170mm crankset on eBay that I assumed was 110/74 BCD. When it arrived I was surprised to discover it was 94/58. I didn't even know Sugino made such a beast!
Shortly thereafter I scored dirt cheap NOS 46-34-20 chainrings. Look at the gearing that gives me with a 13-26 cassette:
13.0 14.0 15.0 17.0 19.0 21.0 23.0 26.0
46.0 95.5 88.7 82.8 73.1 65.4 59.1 54.0 47.8
34.0 70.6 65.6 61.2 54.0 48.3 43.7 39.9 35.3
20.0 41.5 38.6 36.0 31.8 28.4 25.7 23.5 20.8Close ratios where I do most of my riding and a 21 gear-inch granny/granny. I like it!
The other gearing I've been considering is this half-step plus granny setup:
12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0 21.0 24.0 28.0 32.0
42.0 94.5 81.0 70.9 63.0 54.0 47.2 40.5 35.4
39.0 87.8 75.2 65.8 58.5 50.1 43.9 37.6 32.9
24.0 54.0 46.3 40.5 36.0 30.9 27.0 23.1 20.2I like this even better, but I'm not sure the 39T middle ring will work. I'm just gonna have to try it.
Actually, after taking a good look at the two tables, I'm not sure I want to deal with half-step gearing. The 94/58 setup pretty much duplicates the available gearing with the half-step plus granny.
With the 46-34-20 and 13-26:
96 - 89 - 83 - 73 - 71 - 66 - 61 - 54 - 48 - 44 - 40 - 35 - 32 - 28 - 26 - 24 - 21With the 42-39-24 and 12-32:
95 - 88 - 81 - 75 - 71 - 66 - 63 - 59 - 54 - 50 - 47 - 44 - 41 - 38 - 33 - 27 - 23 - 20Upon reflection, the half-step plus granny is better, especially for touring. It gives me 9 steps between 44 and 75 where the 94/58 setup gives me 7 between 44 and 73. The 94/58 setup probably makes sense for Lee's bike, because she could just live on that middle ring (given the terrain she's likely to ride).
Pretty much a repeat of last Saturday's ride. Same route (as far as I can remember), same time, same clothes (and same amazing Icebreaker performance).
There was a pretty good south wind, but since most of my riding was east-west, I don't think it had much effect.
I did pay attention and noted that my gear of choice was 36×18, or 54 gear-inches. That's a bit of a surprise and indicates that I need lots more time on the bike. Spinner though I may be I figure I should be cruising on flat terrain in something between 60 and 65 gear-inches.
No pedal issues on this ride, but I was consciously paying better attention. I have another pair of (used) BMX pedals from which I removed all the removable pins, but which has a number of non-removable pins. I'll swap them onto my Atlantis for my next ride and see how they feel.
Seems like the BMX pedals I have on Volpe II have only non-removable, but well-worn, pins. I'll check when I go to DC weekend after next. Those pedals are currently wearing Power Grips, which might go better with the pin-free pedals, should I decide to retain the Power Grips at all.
...took me 44 minutes. Call it 10mph average, because my Atlantis still has no computer installed.
Today was the first time in weeks that there was a confluence of a dry day and a pollen count that didn't completely debilitate me.
My Atlantis sports new Planet Bike fenders, Ciussi Elite stainless steel bottle cages replacing the no-name SS cages I had installed, and a new pair of Kona Jack Shit BMX pedals (with all the pins removed). My on-bike toolkit, spare tube, and emergency compass-mirror-whistle thingie went into my new Acorn small seatbag. Next time I'll add a pillbox with antacids and allergy pills.
I rode dressed in my new Icebreaker merino T-shirt, a pair of denim "cargo" shorts, and Keens with very lightweight SmartWool shorty socks. I took along two big cotton bandanas, one folded to wear as a head/sweat-band, and one for blowing my nose. My RoadID was on my ankle and my reading glasses in one of the cargo pockets on my shorts and my cell phone in another. That worked fine as Lee happened to call while I was riding and I had plenty of time to pull to the side of the road, stop, retrieve and answer my phone.
All went well. The jury is still out on the BMX pedals with all the pins removed. I did it because I don't care to tear up the soles of whatever shoes I ride in, but there were a couple of slippery incidents. I need to figure out whether that will get better with practice or if I need to strategically reinstall a few of the pins.
The Icebreaker T-shirt is the bomb! I peeled it off when I got home and my entire upper body glistened with sweat (it was 70 and sunny). The shirt was dry. I kid you not, it was dry. I never felt either too hot or too cold during the ride. Obviously, my sample size is tiny at this point, but I'm very encouraged.
It's Spring, time to sell some bicycles!
(Giant Sedona will have to do as office bike until Trek is ready)
I need to get on the Internet and see what's been scheduled, and where. I think his memorial service in Massachusetts is 02-Mar, which is a Sunday. 01-Apr is a Tuesday this year.
If I wanted to convert the Maruishi to a fixed gear on the cheap, say to ride in a Sheldon Brown memorial ride, what would I need to do?
16.0 17.0 18.0
39 65.8 61.9 58.5
40 67.5 63.5 60.0
42 70.9 66.7 63.0
43 72.6 68.3 64.5
46 77.6 73.1 69.018T is probably lower than I need. 17T should be fine, maybe even 16T. Many of the fixies being sold today are shipped with 48×16, which is 81.0. When I first bought the Maruishi it was a 52×17 (82.6) single-speed. It was OK to ride on flat Manhattan streets, but even short mild hills had me huffing and puffing. And I could coast!
40T is on the Shimano 600 crank now. I think I have a 130mm 42T. I know I have 39T, 43T, and 46T for a 110mm BCD crank.
Now to transport such a bike, what to do? Remove the wheels (which means remove the chain and put it in plastic bag). Remove the pedals and put them in another bag (or screw them back in from the wrong side of the crankarms). Slide the seatpost and stem all the way into the seatpost and headset (to minimize height). Turn the bar 90 degrees and tie it to the top tube with a toe strap.
Put a wheel on either side of the frame with appropriate padding, slide the whole thing into an appropriately sized and padded canvas bag, and perhaps I could take it on a Chinatown bus.
We had a high of 64 today, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get in a quick ride. I was off work but had a long list of Honey Do items, a couple of which were sacrificed.
My Atlantis was wearing its "club ride" wheelset, which I put on not too long ago, but have yet to ride. Today was no exception. Given the choice of adjusting the brakes to the MA2 rims or putting the T519-based wheels back on, it was a no-brainer. Much faster to swap the wheels.
I've got a set of Koolstop salmon pads for my Atlantis brakes, so sooner or later I'm going to have to bite the bullet and install them, and become proficient at cantilever brake adjustment.
I rode for about half an hour in the neighborhood. Looks like I haven't ridden since a club ride on 29-Oct. The Atlantis was fine, although I'm still sorting out gearing. Today I had 46-36-24 and 12-32. I found myself unhappy with the 36-16 (61in) to 36-18 (54in) jump. I'm sure if I was in better shape I'd be whining about a different missing sprocket, but I'm really disappointed that I can't run the 46-43-24 half-step plus granny (43 doesn't clear the chainstay).