Hey! We're going to ride tonight (Monday). Of course it kind of looks like it's going to snow, but we're going either way. Come to the shop before close (6pm) for a pre-ride IPA, or meet us up at the Elena Gallegos trailhead (top of Montgomery) at about 6:45 ish.
Dang.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Every Monday it Snows
Well, since I invented the "Monday Night Bikeworks Shop Ride" it has snowed 100% of the time during our scheduled ride.
Last Monday Tony and I toughed it out, as it wasn't a legitimate snowfall.
But today was as legitimate a snowfall as we see in Albuquerque, except of course the storm that rolled through on Dec 29th two years ago, when it dumped over a foot all over town, which also happened to be my wedding day, which made things interesting.
So basically when I plan things, it snows. Lucky for us I'm not big into planning things, or we'd never get to ride our bikes.
Anyway, we elected to opt-out of the ride tonight. I'm assuming/hoping that those who had expressed interest also bailed as well, because it didn't seem like a good night to be up in the hills.
Not surprisingly on such a stormy day, things were slow at the shop. I had a chance to build a couple of bikes, such as the long awaited Rocky Mountain Hammer, a 29er singlespeed made of Reynolds 725 tubing, and very very good looking.
It looks better in person than this stock photo does. I didn't expect to like the baby blue / orange paint scheme as much as I do, but now I'm trying to come up with an excuse to own two steel singlespeed twentyniners.
This bike goes for $1600, is well spec'd and trail worthy out of the box, and a great way to get into 29er, or singlespeeding, or best yet, singlespeeding on 29ers, which I've recently learned is oh so fun.
We also got in a Giant TCX 01, that I ordered impulsively and which may or may not be my size.
We've been hearing rumors of a second 'Cross series being organized in Abq. If this does happen, and this beauty of a bike is still in the shop, I'm afraid I might just have to take it out and show it a good time. You know, because I really need another bike.
Much like the Rocky, this bike is better looking in person than this photo makes it seem. The tubing is impressively shaped throughout the bike, and the paint job and color scheme just do it for me. Also, with a 105 drivetrain, weighing just over 20lbs out of the box, and at $1400 retail, this bike is a screaming deal.
Bueno bye.
Last Monday Tony and I toughed it out, as it wasn't a legitimate snowfall.
But today was as legitimate a snowfall as we see in Albuquerque, except of course the storm that rolled through on Dec 29th two years ago, when it dumped over a foot all over town, which also happened to be my wedding day, which made things interesting.
So basically when I plan things, it snows. Lucky for us I'm not big into planning things, or we'd never get to ride our bikes.
Anyway, we elected to opt-out of the ride tonight. I'm assuming/hoping that those who had expressed interest also bailed as well, because it didn't seem like a good night to be up in the hills.
Not surprisingly on such a stormy day, things were slow at the shop. I had a chance to build a couple of bikes, such as the long awaited Rocky Mountain Hammer, a 29er singlespeed made of Reynolds 725 tubing, and very very good looking.
It looks better in person than this stock photo does. I didn't expect to like the baby blue / orange paint scheme as much as I do, but now I'm trying to come up with an excuse to own two steel singlespeed twentyniners.
This bike goes for $1600, is well spec'd and trail worthy out of the box, and a great way to get into 29er, or singlespeeding, or best yet, singlespeeding on 29ers, which I've recently learned is oh so fun.
We also got in a Giant TCX 01, that I ordered impulsively and which may or may not be my size.
We've been hearing rumors of a second 'Cross series being organized in Abq. If this does happen, and this beauty of a bike is still in the shop, I'm afraid I might just have to take it out and show it a good time. You know, because I really need another bike.
Much like the Rocky, this bike is better looking in person than this photo makes it seem. The tubing is impressively shaped throughout the bike, and the paint job and color scheme just do it for me. Also, with a 105 drivetrain, weighing just over 20lbs out of the box, and at $1400 retail, this bike is a screaming deal.
Bueno bye.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Riding
After last weeks whine-fest about how I've not been riding, I've been doing quite a bit better this week.
Sunday was a north and south foothills singlespeed day with Marc. As usual when riding with Marc, it was fast and painful, and probably the first of many such rides to come as we try to develop some fitness before Old Pueblo.
The highlight of the ride was having simultaneous double quad cramps, leaving me lock-legged, straddling the bike in the middle of the trail, whimpering for mercy from my traitorous muscles. Appearently, I need to hydrate better, and beer doesn't count. Then in the middle of my agony, an lovely lady informed me that I was in the trail, as she easily rode around me since the trail was very wide and actually took a couple of routes at that spot. Just one of three interactions I had on that Sunday that made me dislike other people. It was a beautiful day though, I couldn't believe how warm it got.
Then on Monday we had our innagural Monday night shop ride. After spending the day watching it rain from inside the shop, with the mountains totally socked in clouds, it was promising. I had to nearly pull Tony's teeth to get him to go, as it was looking pretty grim weather wise at 6 when we left the shop. But as we drove east, the weather just kept getting better and better.
We had a few different people say they might meet us, but I think the rain scared them all away. So it was just Tony and I for this one. We parked at the gate to the Embudito trailhead, and did the standard (to me at least) north foothills loop that does a big counter clockwise circle, leaving off the last out and back that takes you to the water tower. We forgot to charge Tony's light until about 4pm, which we found out wasn't enough time. So very quickly his light got so dim that he opted just to ride without. Fortunately it was kind of a bright night, and between that and Tony's mad skillz, it didn't slow him down that much. It was fun for me, as I savored what will likely be the one and only time that I kicked Tony's ass on a downhill. It wasn't close to being a fair fight, but I'll take my shots any way I can get them.
We'll be doing it again next week, 6 at the shop of 6:30 at Embudito trial head (top of Montgomery). Hopefully it won't be raining and a few of you will come out to join. If you don't like driving, I will have a few spaces in the battle wagon to drive people up with us. Then I'll be driving home after, I live near the shop so I can drop off any where around there, or maybe just back at the shop.
Last night was my big riding adventure, as I finally made it out to the BMX track for practice night. Danny made it to. As promised, it was a good time. Most of the people there were really just practicing their gate starts, and I quickly learned why. It is really hard to track stand on a little twitchy BMX bike up against one of those gates, while trying to watch the timing light. About half the time I would loose my balance right before the light turned green, and I'd have a foot on the ground when the gate dropped. This isn't the way to get the hole shot.
The track itself was nice because you can roll everything, which I did. Had there been any mandatory doubles to jump on the track, I probably wouldn't have shown up at all.
I was, however, starting to flirt with the idea of jumping one of the easier tables. I'm pretty sure I have the skill, as usual for me it's just a matter of sacking up and going for it.
I did several laps on Tony's 4x bike (26" mtn bike with gears), a Formula Cruiser (thanks Vince) and a Formula 20". After a couple of laps with the 20", I actually liked it the best, much to my surprise. Despite being much twitchier, I liked the acceleration of the small wheels, and the shorter wheelbase made it easier to keep the bike on the ground through the rollers and rhythm section, which was good since I was quite intent on staying on the ground.
The track is reportedly getting torn down next week and rebuilt, for I believe the first time since it was built. This will be cool to see. I'm glad I made it out on the old one before it was gone. Definitely planning on making it out again. As usual, I was nervous to try something new, and then once I got there, had a blast. If anybody feels like joining, practice is usually on wednesday nights at 6pm, and they have loaner bikes and helmets at the track. Just show up wearing long pants and long sleeves. The track will be closed for the next couple of weeks for construction though.
So I'm doing a little better at actaully riding bikes this week. I'm spending the weekend up in Santa Fe with my family, and I'll get some sort of a ride in there, depending on trail conditions. So if anybody wants to pedal around Santa Fe on Sunday morning (hopefully in the dirt) let me know.
Sunday was a north and south foothills singlespeed day with Marc. As usual when riding with Marc, it was fast and painful, and probably the first of many such rides to come as we try to develop some fitness before Old Pueblo.
The highlight of the ride was having simultaneous double quad cramps, leaving me lock-legged, straddling the bike in the middle of the trail, whimpering for mercy from my traitorous muscles. Appearently, I need to hydrate better, and beer doesn't count. Then in the middle of my agony, an lovely lady informed me that I was in the trail, as she easily rode around me since the trail was very wide and actually took a couple of routes at that spot. Just one of three interactions I had on that Sunday that made me dislike other people. It was a beautiful day though, I couldn't believe how warm it got.
Then on Monday we had our innagural Monday night shop ride. After spending the day watching it rain from inside the shop, with the mountains totally socked in clouds, it was promising. I had to nearly pull Tony's teeth to get him to go, as it was looking pretty grim weather wise at 6 when we left the shop. But as we drove east, the weather just kept getting better and better.
We had a few different people say they might meet us, but I think the rain scared them all away. So it was just Tony and I for this one. We parked at the gate to the Embudito trailhead, and did the standard (to me at least) north foothills loop that does a big counter clockwise circle, leaving off the last out and back that takes you to the water tower. We forgot to charge Tony's light until about 4pm, which we found out wasn't enough time. So very quickly his light got so dim that he opted just to ride without. Fortunately it was kind of a bright night, and between that and Tony's mad skillz, it didn't slow him down that much. It was fun for me, as I savored what will likely be the one and only time that I kicked Tony's ass on a downhill. It wasn't close to being a fair fight, but I'll take my shots any way I can get them.
We'll be doing it again next week, 6 at the shop of 6:30 at Embudito trial head (top of Montgomery). Hopefully it won't be raining and a few of you will come out to join. If you don't like driving, I will have a few spaces in the battle wagon to drive people up with us. Then I'll be driving home after, I live near the shop so I can drop off any where around there, or maybe just back at the shop.
Last night was my big riding adventure, as I finally made it out to the BMX track for practice night. Danny made it to. As promised, it was a good time. Most of the people there were really just practicing their gate starts, and I quickly learned why. It is really hard to track stand on a little twitchy BMX bike up against one of those gates, while trying to watch the timing light. About half the time I would loose my balance right before the light turned green, and I'd have a foot on the ground when the gate dropped. This isn't the way to get the hole shot.
The track itself was nice because you can roll everything, which I did. Had there been any mandatory doubles to jump on the track, I probably wouldn't have shown up at all.
I was, however, starting to flirt with the idea of jumping one of the easier tables. I'm pretty sure I have the skill, as usual for me it's just a matter of sacking up and going for it.
I did several laps on Tony's 4x bike (26" mtn bike with gears), a Formula Cruiser (thanks Vince) and a Formula 20". After a couple of laps with the 20", I actually liked it the best, much to my surprise. Despite being much twitchier, I liked the acceleration of the small wheels, and the shorter wheelbase made it easier to keep the bike on the ground through the rollers and rhythm section, which was good since I was quite intent on staying on the ground.
The track is reportedly getting torn down next week and rebuilt, for I believe the first time since it was built. This will be cool to see. I'm glad I made it out on the old one before it was gone. Definitely planning on making it out again. As usual, I was nervous to try something new, and then once I got there, had a blast. If anybody feels like joining, practice is usually on wednesday nights at 6pm, and they have loaner bikes and helmets at the track. Just show up wearing long pants and long sleeves. The track will be closed for the next couple of weeks for construction though.
So I'm doing a little better at actaully riding bikes this week. I'm spending the weekend up in Santa Fe with my family, and I'll get some sort of a ride in there, depending on trail conditions. So if anybody wants to pedal around Santa Fe on Sunday morning (hopefully in the dirt) let me know.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Redefining "standard"
So it used to be that bikes had 68mm or 73mm wide bottom bracket shells. I know there were other standard before that, and Italian threaded bb's rear their ugly head from time to time, but for the most part, there were two "standard" sizes.
In the past couple years though, things have gotten a little stupid. With the proprietorizing of components that the big manufacturers seem so fond of these days, us lucky wrenches get to deal with the following ridiculousness soon:Here is a quick guide to a number of these new standards:
BB30, or 30 X 68 and 30 X 73mm bottom brackets, come in either 68mm or 73mm shell widths for road or mountain bikes. The spindle diameter is 30mm, and the 41mm-diameter bearings press straight into the BB shell and are held in place by snaprings. In addition to Cannondale (who named the system) and Specialized (which doesn’t call its system BB30), FSA and SRAM (TruVativ) make BB30 cranksets; Shimano does not, and Campagnolo makes press-in adaptor cups to fit its Ultra-Torque (and Fulcrum Racing-Torq) cranks to a BB30 shell.
Scott and Shimano came up with BB83/BB86, often called the “Shimano system,” but not by Shimano. It accepts a standard 24 X 90mm road or 24 X 95mm MTB crank spindle. The shell is 86.5mm wide with a 41mm ID. The bearing has a 37mm OD and is pressed into a nylon insert with a 41mm OD that presses into the frame . Each insert’s shoulder is 1.75mm wide, creating the 90mm width and hence the BB90 name. Shimano, FSA and SRAM offer BBs to fit this shell; Campagnolo makes press-in adaptor cups to fit its Ultra-Torque (and Fulcrum Racing-Torq) cranks to BB83/BB86 shells.
BB92 is the MTB version of the BB83/BB86 with a 91.5mm wide shell for MTB triple cranks. Again, the 3.5mm of the two shoulders add width to 95mm.
BB90 is Trek’s Campy- (and Shimano-, SRAM-, FSA-) compatible Madone system. The BB shell is 90mm wide by 37mm ID. The 37mm OD bearings (the same bearings as inside an external-bearing cup) insert directly into the carbon frame and accept integrated-spindle cranks.
BB95 is the MTB version of BB90 with a 95mm wide shell on the new Trek Top Fuel and Fuel EX carbon.
Wilier’s new system has a 94mm wide BB into which a Campagnolo Ultra-Torque (or Fulcrum Racing-Torq) crankset fits directly without cups or retaining clip.Lifted entirely from Velonews, courtesy of Lennard Zinn. Isn't that nice and straight forward for you. Odd of any old shop having the bearings/bb you need for the proprietary setup on your new Madone when you are on a road trip? Probably not too good.
I came across this just now, and hadn't realized how ridiculous this had gotten. How many of these new systems do you think will be around in ten years? Gonna be easy to replace that crank?
I better be careful, I'm going to start approaching "crusty old bike mechanic" status.
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