October 23, 2004

Trek 5900 Headset Fix

David Diamond wrote me pointing out that the 5900s from 2000-2003 had a problem where the headset was not loctited down so they are sticky. Its a little complicated to fix, but he has the procedure. Trek will fix under warranty too apparently. Here are his fix-it notes or maybe take it to your local bike shop and print this out since I'm sure they won't have heard of this problem

Best to use a workstand for this operation. Obviously you have the fork out of the headtube. Clean the inside of the lower cup with acetone. Careful not to get any on finished surfaces (it will remove paint, etc.). Clean the outer surface of the lower bearing also. The outer surface meaning the flat metal area that is parallel to the headtube and steerer. Place Loctite 680 on the outer bearing surface and the same area inside the lower cup the Loctite on the bearing will come in contact with. Just apply to a Q-tip so you can get it just where you want it.

Carefully insert the fork up into the headtube and make sure it is seated all the way in. You have about 10 minutes to assemble the top
headset/compression ring and stem. Adjust it real snug at first to make sue that you're completely seated and the bottom and top bearings are parallel.

Now back off the adjustment a little so that you can smoothly turn the handlebars all the way to the left and right without any areas of
resistance.

Don't touch the bike for 24 hours as this is how long it takes the Loctite to completely cure. You should be good to go at this point.

Let me know how this works for you.

Posted by rich at 08:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 24, 2004

SR-520 BRIDGE OPPORTUNITY SLIPPING AWAY

_A quote from Cascade Bikes

The good news is that no matter how many lanes wide, the new SR-520 bridge will make room for bicyclists and pedestrians. However, if a few noisy NIMBY's get their way, getting to the bridge from the south won't get any easier.

For years, the State and other stakeholders have been talking about connecting the bike/ped lane on the bridge to a street-end in Madison Park. A connecter from SR 520 wouldn't just get people to the bridge - it would open up an easier north-south route between lake side neighborhoods.

Some residents of Madison Park, or the nearby gated-community of Broadmoor, have suggested they will sue on environmental grounds if the connection is considered. However, if there are any environmental impacts from connecting the ped/bike lane to dry land, the SR-520 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is
where they should be studied.

So, the State won't study this connection in the unless asked by the City of Seattle, and the City, under pressure, is letting our window of opportunity to close.

WHAT CAN YOU DO? TAKE ACTION TODAY!

Mayor Nickels needs to hear from you today. Tell them you want a connection between the new SR-520 bicycle/pedestrian path and a street in Madison Park in the SR-520 EIS.

Send an e-mail or call right now, before you forget, to Mayor Greg Nickels and Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis at (206)684-4000, or tim.ceis@seattle.gov. To email Mayor Nickels, go to http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/citizen_response.htm

If you have time, don't forget the City Council at (206)684-8888 or jim.compton@seattle.gov; richard.conlin@seattle.gov; david.della@seattle.gov; jan.drago@seattle.gov; jean.godden@seattle.gov; nick.licata@seattle.gov, richard.mciver@seattle.gov; tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov;
peter.steinbrueck@seattle.gov.

Posted by rich at 10:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Kryptonite locks are not...

I have one of these Kyptonite locks for my bike. How depressing when this happens.

Here net is from Kryptonite

Kryptonite U-locks with a typical cylinder lock can be opened in seconds with a common BIC plastic pen.

Videos of how to do it have been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times from websites in the last few days.
After inserting the open end of the pen where the round key goes, several wiggles pop the lock.

Kryptonite has moved quickly to supply a solution. If you own one of its many vulnerable U-locks, you can
get a free or discounted crossbar that isn't so easily picked. The details are at www.kryptonite.com

Meanwhile, the word is out. If you have a Kryptonite U-lock that uses a round key, don't trust it to protect
your bike.

Posted by rich at 10:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 14, 2004

Bike Fitting

I've had three folks in the last month ask me about how to buy a bike. Here are the three pieces of advice in order:

  1. Materialpost.com. John Gallagher runs this group. For $150, you will actually get a bike that fits you. Believe it or not, this is about 80% of the performance and comfort on a bike. So, you can have Lance Armstrong's bike and it won't help if it doesn't fit and a guy on a $200 20-year-old bike will whip you if his fits right. Give John a call, he'll do a fitting, adjust your current bike as close as possible and then sit down with you on the web and give you a list of bikes that will really fit like a charm. He's also a huge seller of custom bikes so you can get a custom made one.
  2. Gregg's or Montlake Bike Shop are two of the best dealers in Seattle. If you don't know much about bikes, you can go there and they'll take care of you. They charge a little more, but it is worth it if you aren't a do-it-yourselfer.
  3. ebay.com. If you are a do-it-yourselfer and don't mind the risk, then ebay is a great place to get a used bike. There are plenty of folks who will buy a new bike every 1-3 years or who own 4-6 bikes and are selling. Also, racers sell the bikes sponsors give them. The discounts are anywhere from 30-50% off, but it is caveat emptor. Still, if you don't mind setting things up yourself, not a bad option.

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August 11, 2004

Campy Compact Cranks

Campy CT Cranks. These are compact cranks, so you don't need to get three rings in the front. Great for guys like me that don't need 53×11 big rings.

They are 50/34 rings vs. 53/39, so a little lowe4r range. Also, they are lighter overall apparently too, so that is even better.

Posted by rich at 11:06 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Klein Palomino

www.cyclingnews.com news and analysis . Well, there are sure a lot of great bikes now. The Klein got a glowing review from cyclingnews.com as did the new XT system particularly the cranks.

Posted by rich at 10:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 29, 2004

Tour de France Photos

www.cyclingnews.com presents the 91st Tour de France, 2004. Great photos from the Tour de France. The race may be over, but the memory lingers on.

Posted by rich at 08:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 23, 2004

Quote of the Day (Stage 17)

Tour de France - Daily Scoop (Stage 17). Those Texans can be so endearing

"I said to him, 'How bad do you want to win a stage on the Tour de France?' and he said, 'Real bad.' I said, 'How fast can you go downhill?' and he said, 'I can go downhill real fast'. He said, 'Can I do it?' And I said, 'Sure you can do it'. Then I told him, 'Run like you stole something, Floyd.'"

--Lance Armstrong, retelling the conversation he had with teammate Floyd Landis on top of the day's final climb, the Col de la Croix Fry.

Posted by rich at 07:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 22, 2004

Lance is a stud...Bike Lust continues

What about that Texan. An incredibly classy day today and I'm even more impressed with how hard those guys at the Tour De France work.

And, for those of us looking for the perfect mountain bike, perusing Cycling news gives us the new Klein Palomino XV based on the Tuner Monoshock.

Posted by rich at 08:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 17, 2004

Giant TCR Advanced

Jan Ulrich's Bike. This is a Giant TCR Advanced with an integrated seat tube so you don't actually need a seatpost or clamp.

That makes it just 900 grams and you save 125 grams on the seat post and clamp. Wow.

Posted by rich at 11:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Lance looks strong and Bike lust continues

Jen Voight's Cervelo. Now stock bikes are easily less than 15 lbs. Here's how:

Posted by rich at 11:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 08, 2004

Biking Identification

MILITARY STYLE SPORTS ID. No, not for your bike silly, its id you might want to carry if you are riding and get hurt. How many of us travel with ID (actually, I keep a business card, credit card, $20 and proof of insurance in my backpack, but I'm a nerd :-)

Here's a $8 solution. Just get a set of dog tags so they know where to call.

Posted by rich at 08:01 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

July 07, 2004

US Postal in 2004 becomes Discovery 2005

:: Discovery to sponsor Lance's team. I'm sure the US Postal service was amazed that they got Lance to sponsor. Kind of too bad, they could never take advantage.

The big boys are moving in though, next year, the Discovery Channel is sponsoring Lance.

BTW if you are wondering if there is a God, check out the Lance Armstrong Chronicles. 13 part series on Lance preparing. Just watched a segment, now I know why people buy Tivos. Wish I had one.

Posted by rich at 10:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 06, 2004

Tour de France Diaries

How do these guys have time to do it. Here are a collection of daily rider diaries from folks actually on the TdF:

Posted by rich at 11:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Bike Lust

After a few years of relative stability, the new bikes are pretty amazingly cool. Here are some highlights for lusting:

What do all those numbers mean? Just that the bike material is 50% lighter (55 vs. 110). Yikes, that's amazing. They also did a wheelset that is 100 grams lighter than ever. That's amazing.

Posted by rich at 11:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 04, 2004

Tour de France on the Web

OK, some amazing ways to catch the Tour de France other than on a TV:

Posted by rich at 06:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 30, 2004

Tour de France is here!

Well, its Tour de France time and the fever over here is high. Lots of bikers hanging out here. Here are some great places to look by google pagerank:

Posted by rich at 08:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 01, 2004

Mountain Bikes 2004

Now that my knee is better, time to start thinking about a great mountain bike. Some things have changed, but here's a quick review of bikes I've looked at:

Here's a list of key components. Again, its an update since 2003 when I last look at this:

Posted by rich at 11:48 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 08, 2004

Amazing Wheels

HeadAngle - And I thought my wheels were expensive.... I'm getting well enough to actually get on the bike again, so on to reading about more cool gear.

Reynolds has carbon wheels at $1,500. Campagnologo Hyperon Ultras are $3,000 at 1,345g per pair.

Interesting to see that the Topolino wheels are a relative bargain (if you can call it that) at $800 for a wheelset that's 1,420g per pair, so there is definitely diminishing marginal returns.

Posted by rich at 12:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 28, 2004

Bicyling in Hawaii

Well, I've been to Hawaii a bunch but never figured out how to really get a good ride in there. Here are some resources:

Posted by rich at 08:57 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

January 30, 2004

Polar Power s720i output meter is broken...

Darn it, I like the monitor, but thing has mysteriously died. I get heart rate and speed, but I don't get cadence or power anymore. Sent a note to the folks at Polar and they think:

_If the Power sensor shows green light, then cadence should work. Have you chosen the cadence ON (also power) in your wrist unit (options - bike set)? Other possibility is that the chain speed sensor or its' wire is broken (yellow led is not blinking). On that case you can contact your local distributor for further assistance, you can find the contact information at "Polar":http://www.polar.fi/polar/channels/eng/polar/contact.html_

So it has to go back to the shop. Too bad I actually like the thing and was just getting used to training by watts.


Posted by rich at 09:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 03, 2003

Dura Ace 10 for only $1600!

Motobecane for just $1700 with Dura-Ace 10. Hat tip to Joe, check out these new Motobecane bikes that are going for $1700. They normally cost $2700. Man, I wish I needed a bike. BTW, this is less than the kit cost of a Dura Ace 10 setup at Excelsports.com

Posted by rich at 09:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 29, 2003

2 Years Later: The USE Alien Seatpost

Alien Clamp Fitting Instructions. Well its been two years since I installed this. The reviews are right. It is super light (just 140 grams), but incredibly hard to adjust. When I sit my fat butt on the seat, it literally locks into place. When I disassemble pieces go flying.

The most depressing thing is that it uses 2.5mm hex key which isn’t standard on my little Park tool, so if it slips (when it isn’t tight), then it is a real problem on the road. It says it only need 11.5 inch pounds or 1.5 newton meters to tighten. Hmm. Mines needs much more to stay locked in. May be why the hex bolt is now stripped.

In any case, it is great, but just hard to adjust. Next one I try I might give up a few grams for easier adjustment.

Posted by rich at 02:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 28, 2003

Campagnolo Record Bottom Bracket: Use Phil Wood instead

Hat tip to the folks at roadbikerider.com for this one

Uncle Al’s Rant: Campy Record Bottom Bracket

Dear Uncle Al: Uh oh! I’ve read how much you don’t like the Campy Record bottom bracket. I have 5,000 miles on my 2003 Record Carbon crankset so would be interested to know specifically what’s wrong with it. — Larry S.

Uncle Al Fires Back: The short answer is that it’s the most over-designed bottom bracket I’ve ever seen. There are twice as many parts as needed, and many of them are made of
materials (carbon fiber and aluminum) that do not stand up well to the terrific loads we exert on them.

Trying to make a bottom bracket light with gee-whiz materials is fine when the design gives us something that is reliable and long-lasting. But my experience with Record bottom brackets is that they will barely last a season, let alone many seasons like I think they should.

The more surfaces that interface, the greater the chance for slop in the system, which accelerates bearing wear. In terms of added durability, Campy’s dual bearings on the drive side accomplish nothing that a well-designed, two-bearing cartridge system can’t.

I’ll bet if you pull both crankarms and turn your BB spindle by hand, you’ll notice it’s not very smooth after only 5,000 miles.

Solution? All three Phil Wood bottom brackets have a simple design that’s executed with extreme precision. There is no unwarranted movement, and under hard use they will last for many, many years. When play is finally detected, you can send them back for refurbishing for a nominal fee.

The stainless-steel Phil BB is as light as the Campy record at 192 grams. And it has a lifetime guarantee — an offer no one else makes.

If you want the ultimate, install Phil’s proprietary Ti/Magnium BB. At 135 grams, there’s nothing lighter or finer. Try one. You’ll never use anything else.

_Branford Bike or Phil Wood Online has these in stock, here are the prices. Amazing thing is that they’ll last 20,000 miles without maintenance. Wow, for me that’s about 8 years of riding, so although expensive, very economical with pricing and when it wears out you send it back to Phil Woods and he puts new bearings in for $30. The generic Titanium with the Alloy rings seems like the best buy:_

PartPriceWeightComment
Stainless Steel Campy$99198 gramsSame weight as Record
Titanium Campy$159137 gramsGeneric Titanium
Magnium Campy$249134 gramsSome magnesium/titanium composite
Teflon/Alloy Mounting Rings$3811 gramsBritish threads
BB Mounting Ring Tool$14n/aReally need two to adjust easily

Posted by rich at 09:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 27, 2003

Titanium Break-Away just a concept

Five components that caught Andrew’s attention. It’s sad that one of the top five things that caught Velonews interest is just a concept. I asked Johannes over at Ritchey Logic (a great guy btw, answers email very quickly and is approachable in the extreme) and here is what he said. Sad to me they had enough interest, but are too busy it sounds like to make it a product. Heck, maybe folks can lobby them at Ritchey

From: Johannes Schmidt
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2003 9:35 AM
To: Rich Tong
Subject: RE: Titanium Break-Away

Rich,

That bike was a concept bike and we do not have any solid plans for development. We did have enough interest to make the Ti bike a reality but at this time I do not have any time line or pricing available. Keep your eyes on the website for updated product info.

Regards,
Johannes Schmidt
Ritchey Design Inc.
860 Hurlingame Ave.
Redwood City, CA 94063
f. (650) 261-1317
http://www.ritcheylogic.com/

Posted by rich at 08:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 26, 2003

Supergo coming to Seattle

Mountain Bikes,Bicycle Parts, & Accessories from Supergo Bike Shops. Supergo is a discount bicycle store down in California. They are going to open up a store here in Seattle. Don’t know where yet, but nice to know folks like coming up here!

Posted by rich at 09:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 18, 2003

Ultra-lightweight Cyclocross

InterBike: Five of my favorite bikes Another amazing find at InterBike, a 16 pound cyclocross bike!

Moots PsychloX-SL
Even though it is a cyclo-cross bike, at under 16 pounds the PsychloX-SL may be the lightest bike in the Moots booth! The clean and elegant frame is welded out of Reynolds 6Al/4V butted titanium tubing. The bike hits its sub-16-pound weight equipped with Reynolds carbon Stratus deep-section wheels and carbon ‘cross fork, Campagnolo Record group, and (what else) hand-made Dugast tubular ‘cross tires.

Posted by rich at 09:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Bike Lust: Titanium Ritchey Break-Away

Five components that caught Andrew’s attention Here’s #5 that caught Velonew’s attention at Interbike 2003. Man what I wouldn’t give to have a Titanium Ritchey Break-Away with Dura-Ace 10 components and have it weigh 17 pounds

5. Ritchey BreakAway
Ritchey’s new foldable BreakAway bikes are full size, standard geometry steel road bicycles with 700c wheels, that feature a unique coupling system that allows the bike/frame to be quickly disassembled and packed into a 26×28×9” suitcase. The bike weighs 19 lbs and is equipped with Ritchey Pro and Shimano Ultegra components. Suggested retail is $2500 (includes case). A 17 pound prototype titanium version was shown at the booth and may or may not see production.

Posted by rich at 09:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 05, 2003

Intense Spider XVP Desire

Johnny Vanderlinden 20Lb. Spider. Well, Brad and I both agree the Intense Spider XVP is the bicycle to lust after. HEre is a one that is just twenty pounds.

The frames are super hard to get. List for $1950 and Brad says they are backordered 3,000 frames. All handmade in California.

The Santa Cruz Blur is much cheaper and the same basic design, but it is like comparing Porsche to Honda really. Great specs on this bicycle too:

Posted by rich at 10:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 21, 2003

Another Senseless Death...

Ken Kifer’s Bike Pages — bicycle travelogues, bike safety, bicycling advocacy, and cycling humor.. Sad to say, Ken got hit by a drunk driver while biking at home. An eclectic guy, sad to see. A great site he has/had.

Posted by rich at 09:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 15, 2003

Your First Road Bike: A Guide

I’ve got no less than three people asking me about bicycles to buy. Here’s quick list for Peter, Tim and Brad. First, here are the information sources to look at in order of importance:

  1. Road Bike Reviews. This is a site that doesn’t seem to have become polluted with biased reviews like C|Net. I usually look at the bicycles by most reviews and then scroll through the ones with ratings of 4.5 or higher and have 10 reviews or so.
  2. Bicycling Magazine. They don’t tend to do many reviews, but it is the biggest publication, so interesting to look at and compare with Road Bike Reviews. In fact most of the bicycling magazine don’t really review road bikes. Lots of mountain bike reviews though.

Decisions to Make

There are a couple of key decisions to make. I’ll divide it into a couple of steps that will tell you how much to spend, what class of bicycle to buy, what frame material and what component level.

  1. How committed are you to the sport? $1,000 gets you a decent bike, $2,000 gets you a very nice one and $3,000-4,000 is ultra nice. I would say the sweet spot in terms of value for dollar is in the $2,000 range right now.
  2. What kind of riding are you going to do? Three choices here are: a) all out day racing so you want the lightest thing possible, b) a general purpose bicycle that can do a little of everything and c) something that is going to be comfortable and not fast, but general purpose.
  3. Where should you get fitted? A not very good bike that fits is going to be much better than an ultra-deluxe model that doesn’t. So, how do you get a great fit. The best option is to find a dedicated fellow who does fitting. John over here in Seattle does that. It is expensive. $150 or so, but worth it. He’ll leave you with the set of bikes that will work for you and consult with. An alternative is to go to a local bicycle shop (see below). Way too much to go into hear, but the key measurements are the top tube distance (determines how stretched out you are) and the standover (determines if it really hurts if you stop quickly and the top tube hits you-know-where).
  4. Where should you buy? Most folks should go to a reputable local bike shop that knows what they are doing. Here in Seattle there are quite a few, the best ones I know are Gregg’s Bellevue Cycle, Montlake Cycle (the original one in Montlake). I’ve also heard good things about TiCycles. ebay if you are roll-your-own kind of guy (ebay buying will typically get you 30-50% off compared to a brand-new bicycle but caveat emptor).
  5. When should I buy? The best time is right now in the fall. The new model year (2004) are coming in and most local bike shops are discounting 15-30% off of list to move out the 2003 models. Particularly for road bikes, things don’t change that much from year-to-year. So a last year model is a great thing.
  6. What particular frame material should I buy? This is a topic of endless debate. There are steel, titanium, carbon fiber and aluminum as the major flavors. I’ve pretty much tried them all and it is a matter of taste and how well the bike fits overall for me. The conventional wisdom is that steel is heavier but more comfortable and easy to repair (it gives more), titanium is has the steel ride but is lighter and very expensive, aluminum is the harshest riding but great if you are a heavy and it is inexpensive and finally carbon fiber tends to be the lightest but is expensive and feels deader. Try and see what you like, but generally, the big guys seem to get aluminum, if you are average then I see carbon fiber (because hey Lance uses it) and titanium if you’ve got the cash. There is quite a bit of fashion in frame materials. The latest trend for instance is titanium or aluminum with carbon seat stays. So you get the stiff aluminum and the compliance of carbon. I haven’t tried this exotica yet myself. Other trend is to a sloping top tube which is slightly lighter (like 2 ounces), but looks cool and more importantly from a bike manufacturer POV means you can make fewer sizes since standover height is less important.
  7. What level of components work for me? Besides the frame, the other important thing are what is the component level. Most folks will be getting Shimano components (they are the leader in the various bits and bobs you put on a bicycle like the shifters, gears, etc.). The main decision is whether to go Dura-Ace (best), Ultegra (better) or 105 (good). As with most things, Ultegra, the middle, is the best price-performance. For those who like exotica and impressing their SOs, you can also go to Campagnolo. They have a huge line, but the basic choice is Record (more expensive that Dura-Ace and there are endless debates about how good it is) and Chorus. Think of this choice as picking between Toyota and Ferrari. This is pretty much tied to the first question on what you want to spend. 105 equipped bikes are the $1K range usually, Ultegra are $2K and Dura-Ace $3K+. Second decision is whether to get two or three rings in the front. Two means a total of 18 gears (2 in front and 9 in back) while three means 27. If you are old and fat like me, get the additional gears, it makes a difference on those big hills because biking is a sport where you don’t want to “blow up”. Just 5 minutes of burning agony are the equivalent of 5 hours of easy riding.
  8. What about wheels and things? Most folks can use the standard set of wheels, but if you are a big person. Say in the 200 pound range, then you need to beef things up. That means much stronger wheels (ask for 3-cross, 32 or 36-hole, your bike guy will know what that means).

OK, so those are the main things. You should know have an idea of price range, type of bicycle, where you are going to get fitted and when and where you will buy it. Now let’s go virtual shopping for models.

Things you must do (but won’t and regret it)

Here are some of the things that you won’t want to buy, but which will completely change your life if you take up riding in order of importance:

  1. Castelli Progetto Y2K Bib Shorts. These are outrageously expensive listing at $150 (although ebay has them for $120 many times). So, why spend 10% of the total budget on a clothing? Well, believe me when you put them on, it will make riding 50 miles seem like going 5. I know you won’t believe me, but it is true. This is one area where if you want to love the sport, spend the money. Really. BTW, bib shorts mean that they are shorts, but have these fishnet suspenders. They are the most comfortable because you don’t have a elastic thing crushing you when you are riding. Look dorky, but work great. Get a good wicking undershirt too while you are at it since the suspenders go over delicate parts of the anatomy (Defeet Undershurts are really great for that).
  2. Clipless pedals and shoes. You gain 30% more power by using these special clips. They really are easy to learn to use and make you more efficient. For folks starting out, the Speedplay Frog pedals with Sidi Dominator shoes seem like good price/performance.
  3. Brightest lights you can afford. The fact of life is that you are out there with folks driving 5,000 lb SUVs with one hand on their cell phone and the other holding their latte. The only real defense is being blindingly obvious (beside riding defensively). Ideally, you want a headlight on your helmet that would blind a driver in broad daylight. People don’t drive into something they can’t see and having it on your head makes it easy to point. Best lights in the business are the Light & Motion Cabeza HID for example. Heavy, but worth it.

Pure road bikes

To start the analysis, I took the top rated road bike from roadbikereview.com for the 2002 and 2003 and looked at those with at least 9 reviews and scoring 4.5 and above. Think of this as the elite mainstream list that roughly reflects popularity of geeks who ride. Here’s an analysis of these bikes by their product family. Most models are really just changes in components, so lets look at the super families that seem popular on roadbike review in order of number of reviews:

Other bicycles to consider that are off the mainstream. These rate highly, but I haven’t seen them around much here:

Touring bicycles

This class of bicycles aren’t going to go as fast as the bicycles above. They are meant more for touring for a day and can carry a pack. The ones above are best for a day out and about where you don’t need much stuff. These are more upright and comfortable, but go a slower. It’s my bias, but I find that touring bicycles are 1-2 mph slower. Doesn’t sound like much until you realize that after a 30 mile ride, you are going to be a mile or so behind the other guy.

Hybrid or comfort bicycles

These bicycles are closer to mountain bicycles and are quite upright. They are best for the casual rider I’ve found. Not someone who wants to go fast, but someone who wants to have a good hour or so riding. These are also called urban bicycles. They tend to have mountain bike handlebars and also some of the top end ones have disc brakes. These are good in the rain. If I worked in a bicycle shop, I’d sell these all day long to the people just getting into cycling who don’t want to be intimidated by the whole thing.

Posted by rich at 07:17 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 13, 2003

Santa Cruz Blur Fit and Build Kit Analyzed

OK, if Brad thinks the Blur is great, let’s have a look and see what I need:

Blur Sizing

I’m 5’ 10” to 5’ 11”, so the recommendation is medium with a 120 stem. The effective top tube is 57.7 cm (I usually ride a 56.1 cm and 120 mm stem on my road bike).

For 5’11” it is a large with a 100 mm to 120 mm stem. Effective top tube is 59.3 cm which feels long to me, but is geometry different for mountain bikes.

Intuitiion says something less stretched out would be better which is why I have looking at mediums.

Build Kits

Per Brad’s recommendation, I looked at the XT-level kit. The Super X with Disc brake option has:

Pricing

The list price is $1500 for anodized and $1350 for powder coated for the frame alone. List price with a Fox F100 RLC is $1975 for frame and fork List price for the above with the Super X disc brake option is $3435

Posted by rich at 08:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Mountain Bike Review

Been in brain lock about buying a mountain bike. My good buddy Brad finally gave me a push. Here are some of his words of wisdom below. There are quite a few Santa Cruz Blurs now on ebay as the early adopters are getting their next bikes. The powercoat lists for $1300 and the anodized for $1500, so if you can get a frame for $1,000 or so that’s a pretty good deal.

You should really buy one. they are so much fun. it sounds like you’ve done a lot of research. have you talked to the guys at downhill zone? i’ve found them to be the most knowledgable guys in town for mountain biking.

With this new vpp design and new shock designs (stable platform), there are new bikes coming out all the time.

i would think you want a trailbike with 4-5” travel. with the new designs, you can get a 5” travel bike that rides great, like a 3” bike used to. I don’t think you’ll be doing stunts or drops or jumps — which would steer you to a beefier, heavier bike (5-7” travel).

the bikes on my short list for a trail bike would be the blur with 5th element shock, an ellsworth truth (which I have), and a turner 5 spot. the blur is 4.5”, the truth 4”, and the 5 spot 5”.

i really like intense bikes too. the spider xvp though is supposedly more of a race bike than the blur. there was a head to head review in mountain bike action that i think i still have if you want. i heard intense is coming out soon with a more trail oriented vpp. but it took them so long to get the spider out, i wouldn’t hold my breath. the downhill zone guys though would know — they are well connected with intense (a few are sponsored by intense).

the intense tracer is nice but it’s only 3”.

for components, i’d go with xt, hayes hydraulic disk brakes, and either xt or chris king hubs. standard stuff that will perform great and is not too expensive. Mountain bike stuff wears out or you crash and break it, so it’s less appealing to go xtr to me (plus i’m undecided on the new xtr shifting). disk brakes are great — especially around here where it’s wet.

For fork, with a 4” bike you want a 100mm fork, like a fox or a manitou super air. I am not a huge fan of rock shox anymore. Marzocchi is also good but their best are more freeride oriented. the marathon sl is a good fork.

The best thing though is to talk to the dh zone guys if you haven’t already. they know their stuff and can help you pick the best frame and parts.

Posted by rich at 08:24 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 10, 2003

Beware! Time Monolink Stem Bolts can break

Time Sport USA. I’ve got a brand new Time Monolink stem. It is amazing. 125 grams made of carbon fiber. Unfortunately, while hammering up a hill, one of the titanium bolts snapped right at the head. Wow, I’m lucky I didn’t crash.

In any case, the nice folks at Time Sports USA actually answered my mail. Told me that they were switching from titanium bolts to steel bolts and sent me another set. If you have this stem, beware!

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September 04, 2003

ProLink Chain Lube Use

Hat tip to Roadbikerider.com newsletter on this tip about ProLink.

I can’t say enough about ProLink. It keeps a chain running clean, it lasts longer than any lube I’ve used, it seems impervious to water, and it increases chain life substantially. You can find our full review at ProLink

If you buy the 32-oz. size, you’ll save some dough and have enough to last a couple seasons. There’s no need to lube as often because this stuff lasts.

I know this sounds like an ad, but the guys at Pro Gold Products did their homework on ProLink, and then some.

A word to the wise(guys): Don’t apply ProLink or any other “dry” lube just before a ride. It’ll get slung all over the back end of your bike and the chain will vacuum up road grime.

A dry lube must be allowed to dry before you ride. If you can’t wait overnight, steal someone’s hairdryer to speed up the process. If you get caught, claim the devil made you do it and promise never again (with your fingers crossed behind
your back, of course).

Bottom line: More important than what you do to a brand-new chain, keep it clean and lubed throughout its life. Life ends when there is measurable stretch.

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Road Rides late 2003 and 2004

Well, it’s time to think about virtual next year. The summer is done, so what rides am I committing to and training for. Here is the list:

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September 02, 2003

Power Tools for Power Meters

Power Profiling. First set of tools I’ve seen for firguring out what all that wattage stuff means when you are training.

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September 01, 2003

Eurobike 2004

Eurobike 2003. More things to drool over in terms of biking hardware. Notable things:

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Rides around Seattle

Seattle has some really great road bike rides as well as close by mountain biking. Here’s a list of places that I go:

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August 26, 2003

Tyler Hamilton's Inside Story

Tyler tunes: Teamwork smooths out bumps in a tough Tour. The Tour de France is long over, but I thought this inside story on how it went for Tyler’s team (CSC) was pretty amazing. Shows how much suffering there is. Some samples:

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August 25, 2003

Trek 5900 Headset Problems

Replacement headset for Trek 5900. Great set of posts about the headsets in the 5900 vs the 5500s. A good discussion about the custom headset used in the 5900 frame that saves a few ounces and allows an a strong aluminum steerer rather than a carbon fiber one that will get destroyed if you over torque the stem bolt. Yikes, those things are delicate.

I’ve notice my own headset if pretty tight compared to say my buddies Cannondale CAAD7 with Campagnolo headset. Maybe the reason is this adjustment problem with their headsets which are apparently custom.

Mike Jacoubowski over at Chain Reaction Bicycles (the very first place I ever bought a bike 20 years ago!) says that you have to reinstall the lower bearings to get it smoother. Yikes, who knows how to do that. Maybe I need to call him. He says:

All you need to do is remove the fork, remove the lower bearing from the fork, reinstall the bearing and then reinstall the fork (with bearing attached). In 90% of the cases, that takes care of it. It doesn’t seem to be a misaligned cup, but rather an issue with how the lower bearing seats in it.

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August 08, 2003

FSA Carbon Pro Elite

FSA Carbon Pro Elite CranksWhen Tyler Hamilton crashed and fractured his collarbone in the final kilometer of the Tour’s first stage, many people felt that his race was over; there was no way a rider with a broken collarbone could tackle the big climbs that were to come. But we’d reckoned without Hamilton’s sheer determination, and a little help from component maker FSA. FSA supplied Hamilton with a special version of its new 515gram Carbon Pro Elite crank, with a 110mm bolt circle, allowing him to run a 36 tooth inner chainring with a 52 tooth outer.

The lower gears helped Hamilton stay seated on the climbs, and recover enough eventually to break away from the peloton on the first slopes of the Col de Soudet and take out a stage win.

And, this is really a good compromise between three rings in the front. It makes the range better for weak guys like to have 52-36 in the front vs. 53-39. Couple that with a 12-25 in back and you have a really wide range. Or if you have a 13-26 in the back, you can pretty much go anywhere.

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August 07, 2003

REviews of Power Meters

Bike.com - Power Meter Reviews. Basically this says that the Polar is the cheapest and least accurate. The PowerTap is probably the best value given its accuracy.

It does sound like his installation wasn’t quite right given the issues discussed about how wattage varied by gear.

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August 06, 2003

Wattage Training and Polar S-720i Installation and Comparison

I finally sprung for a bike computer with wattage in addition to cadence and heart rate. It’s a Polar S-720i and I’ve finally gotten it to work. Here are some tips and what I’ve learned so far about training with wattage:

Tips on using the Polar S-720i

After you follow the directions carefully, but it is a little flaky otherwise:

  1. Sandiway Fong on S-710i installation. This applies to the S-720i too. Wish I had read this before I installed it.
  2. Checking Polar installation. Here’s how to test the Polar to make sure installation is accurate. The main issue is that the chain speed sensor at the derailleur picks up interference. Main idea is move the chain speed sensor as close as possible to the chain. You also want the chain tension sensor as high as possible. It should actually hit the chain on the small-small gear combination.
  3. Ever so often the thing will go to zero across speed, cadence and wattage and beep twice. What has happened is that the watch is loose, there are two contacts on the back that have to be hard up against the bike mount. Jiggle the watch and it will slip in, beep twice and you are back in. I’ve found this happens no matter how tight the band is.
  4. When you start, you must follow the watch to record correctly: a) wet the heart rate monitor belt thingy, b) push the red start button on the watch and you must wait until you see a heart rate reading at the lower left (otherwise, heart rate won’t get recorded), c) push on the upper right button until you see the Trip odometer, d) hold the upper left button for 5 seconds to reset the trip meter otherwise, the distance won’t be right.

Chris Carmichael on Power used in training

Why use Power Meters. Watching your wattage during the course of a ride is not very useful. Wattage fluctuates quickly and often; heartrate is a much better gauge of workload during a workout.

Power becomes useful when you are sitting in your living room after the workout. I recommend purchasing a power meter that can be downloaded to your home computer. Downloadable power meters help you see how your power output changes with your heartrate, speed, and cadence during the course of a single ride, a few weeks, or several months.

Increasing your sustainable power output at lactate threshold is very important for improving time trial performance. The intensity level for these workouts is critical. They must be done very close to an athlete’s lactate threshold heartrate, but not above that heartrate. You want to ride at the highest sustainable workload possible without accumulating lactic acid, which will force you to slow down. One way to keep the intensity high enough without overloading the muscles is to keep the cadence for lactate threshold workouts above 90 rpm. The higher cadence shifts some of the stress of the effort from the legs to the cardiovascular system.

Power Meter Options

Meinnovations on Power Meters for your Bike. A good review of power meters here:

Training programs using power and wattage

Hat tip to the meendurance.com site for these references

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August 01, 2003

MountainBike on the Trek Madone 5.9

More Madone reviews and also a CAD article about how it was designed:

Mountain Bike - News - News. This is Trek’s first all new OCLV product in ten years and it’s a bike that Trek and Lance have been working on for the last year. The idea was to build a single bike that Lance could race throughout the Tour instead of having one bike for road stages and one for the climbs.

Besides, the “A-stay” seat stays, the new frame shaping is most distinctive on the lower part of the down tube and seat tube. The Madone I rode was outfitted with a slew of bitchen new Bontrager Triple X Lite road components that will be showing up in the fall. Besides the fork (Trek claims even with the alloy steerer the 110 OCLV fork is up to 50 grams lighter than a full carbon fork), there was also the new single-bolt clamp, infinite angle adjust seatpost and some of the new Bontrager wheels which have probably been the biggest labor for Bontrager over the last year. The carbon tubular wheels also use Trek’s own OCLV technology to come in at a claimed weight of 495g front and 695g rear.

Studiotools allows 5 months design time for Madone. The bike Armstrong rides in the time trial stages took Trek seven months to move from concept to reality in the year 2000. That was a remarkable accomplishment at the time, given that earlier bikes required 12 to 14 months to develop. This year the design team was able to break its own record, creating an all new peloton model, the Madone 5.9, in just five months.

The bike frame saved Armstrong 10 watts of energy, equating to a savings of an entire minute in a 200 kilometer stage race.

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