Soon....

Rest are here...

The inimitable Mr Curiak.

Mike Curiak made it to Nome along the ITI course, self supported. I'm going to say that again. Self supported.

Wow. The bar has well and truly been raised. See side bar for mike's blog, where i am sure he'll be talking some story soon.

Picture taken from Phil's (excellent) blog.

Riding the Spine.

Looks good. A book is in the works apparently.

And more.....

6 speeds.

(image credit: http://aroundtheedges.wordpress.com/)

Nope i'm not going to tell you how Sir Chris Hoy rampaged in the keirin tonight. 10th world championship! Awesome power - watching him kick then kick again to come round for the lead and then power on the gas for the win got me pretty damn goose pimply, i can tell you...

Anyway: 6 speeds...i've been reading around what folk have tried and it all seems pretty system dependent. We dont know how the 17-34 cassette is going to go on the back of the Vertigo just yet. the spacing has some leeway i would imagine because the spokes are so highly angled, the modded cassette can be moved in towards the middle of the wheel as well. The further away from the derailleur it is, the teeth it can cope with. This seems to be the stumbling block for some set ups. It also means you have to use lots of b-tension (which changes the arc of the top pulley compared to the cassette). Unfortunately, the more b-tension, the less smooth the shifts. There is also a minor matter of the limit screws being longer so the range of throw can be kept in check.

I want to use a saint mech, because they are tough. They are also shadow style mechs, which means they are tucked under the cassette further out of harms way but critically, closer to the cassette, decreasing their ability to cope with a 6 speed/large range set up. It is possible it aint going to like the 34 tooth low gear. Options: spacing the deraileur out from the drop out, sometimes by as little as 2mm can be useful apparently. Im not sure what i think about that...yet!

I could also drop the 17-34 modified cassette. The reason i am using that spread is primarily because it comes on an alloy carrier. The singlespeed cassette body of DT hubs is aluminium and individual thin steel cogs will chew it up for breakfast.

Other options. Use 18-32 xt cassette part. i drop a gear ratio, and get less useable range, but the 32 low gear may work. The xtr cassettes come on carriers and could give a similar range, but no real benefit over xt there.

I could also use a road cassette: in looking at the older style 9 speed ultegra 6700 i can use the two low gear parts - 21-24-27 on an alloy carrier and 17-19 pinned together. Then, because the pinned together bits dont have a spacer attached, (see the tech docs) a chris king cog should nudge up along side very nicely, maybe with a judicious 1mm spacer, to give me 15-27 6 speed. With the large range widget in place on the saint mech i reckon if the 17-34 doesnt work, this will. Only issue - the teeth on the 15 tooth king are likely to be a little taller, so the shifting onto and off may not be hugely crisp, we'll see if it is needed.

In that scenario, the gear development would change only very slightly if i use a 36 tooth ring. It is possible that this would allow me to put the ring in the middle position also - which MAY be better for chainline...we'll see.

With 36 tooth c'ring and 15-27 i get 121.5 to 218.7 development versus
with 40 tooth c'ring and 17-34 i get 107.2 to 214.4.

I could also use 35 or 34 if i needed more climbing gear.

Given the gear i run on the singlespeed (33-19) gives a development of 158.2 im pretty happy with this range.

Damn. My brain might have just cramped.

So once again, here is Hoy, on the BBC winning his 10th (!) world title...

Thats what im talking about.

Beauty school drop out.

Front end.

Clicky to make bigger.....and savour the flavour.

Veracity.

(image from velovert - a good french mtb magazine.)

This is going to be the first in an irregular series of thoughts on the thing that seems to be most lacking in the cycling press - both magazine and online - these days. Veracity.

One could arguably quip that this is a hobby and therefore the pursuit of the truth could be considered over extension. But i'd disagree. Look at the average age and wealth of the average cycling media user. It is the responsibility of the media to try (at least a little) to avoid dumbing down this 'hobby'.

Why? well for one, misinformation can lead you into some pretty dark places if you get used to it. I wont go off on a rant about the state of world politics, health or personal relationships - but i dont think you'd have to ponder too long to come up with an example of how misinformation led to a malodorous conclusion for you recently.

But it's a hobby right? yes. Just because it is a hobby doesnt mean there should be an omission of action to provide a reasonable level of technical accuracy. Or in the worst cases a commission of effort to mislead.

Enough with the lecture. If you want more and a much more considered opinion, id recommend cozy beehive.

So for this first effort we have MBUK: a test of the Commencal absolut titanium 4x. A pretty cool bike, developed for a pretty cool rider. Yes MBUK is aimed at a younger audience than most, but why not get them early? get them interested in actual mechanical principles and engineering rather than ridiculous photo angles and odd haircuts?.

To quote the review: "The entire frame has a special bead blasted finish that helps to increase both stiffness and overall strength."

I'm not sure where this claim comes from: a cosmetic finish adding to the strength and stiffness? i get the feeling that somewhere along the line there is an assumption that bead blasting confers some form of mechanical advantage in the way ball burnishing can. Either that, or the writer is mistaken and the frame is not bead blasted but ball burnished (or shot peened). The commencal website doesn't have any information obviously available, and i could find nothing on the web to clarify matters. So why did the reviewer say that?

I'm going to copy and paste a section from the independent fabrication website that will give some further information regarding this. This will be at the bottom of this blog entry. Bear in mind that most ti bike manufacturers are notoriously opinionated about the benefits versus harm of any surface treatment of ti tubing. Seven cycles have a retort on their website.

There you have it...or dont as the case may be.

Shot Peening? Why Do We Do It?
Shot peening has 4 major benefits in the crafting of titanium bicycle frames:

Fatigue life is enhanced significantly increasing the useful life of the frame
The frame is stress relieved so that all of the component parts work together
Surface hardness is enhanced increasing resistance to scratches
Provides an aesthetically pleasing finish
Shot peening is a cold working process in which the frame is bombarded with small spherical metal balls called shot at a precise angle. Shot act like tiny ball peen hammers and create a uniform dimpled texture on the surface of the frame. This compacts the outer layer of the material.

The processes of butting and welding titanium tubes to make a bike frame are known to create tensile stresses in the frame material. Tensile stresses make the area in question want to pull itself apart. This is a bad property to impart to a bicycle frame as any minor notch or micro crack in the frame will want to propagate and further compromise the material. The induced tensile stresses are most concentrated in the heat affected zone — the area of the welds. Thus, strength is compromised precisely where you would like it to be greatest.

Shot peening of a welded titanium joint substantially increases both fatigue strength and fatigue life as compared to the same joint which is not shot peened. Shot peening imparts what is called residual compressive stress which counteracts the residual tensile stress, which is created in the process of cutting, grinding and welding. Typically, fatigue strength of a welded titanium joint after shot peening is double that without shot peening. Fatigue life is enhanced by shot peening to an even greater degree.

By shot peening the frame after it is welded together, we are able to relieve the stresses in the material providing compressive qualities, which are known to reduce micro cracking and enhance fatigue life. Without stress relieving, each of the tubes will retain tensile stresses which tend to conflict with one another. Stress relieving allows the component tubes of the frame to work together as designed, acting as a unified structure rather than a collection of competing parts.

The shot peening process work hardens the surface of the tube, while giving it a finely textured surface. These two properties together create an attractive finish that is highly resistant to scratches. If scratched, the scratch is harder to see because the surface is textured. The textured surface glitters in the sun in a manner similar to that of a pearl paint job.

Some people may confuse shot peening with sand blasting or bead blasting. At IF, we use sand blasting on our steel frames to remove contaminants. We also use it impart a microscopic tooth to the surface of the metal to provide a mechanical bond with the paint. Bead blasting is used for cosmetic purposes to provide a uniform finish to the surface of the metal. Neither sand blasting nor bead blasting improve the mechanical properties of the metal.

Shot peening is used precisely because it improves the performance characteristics of the finished parts. It is used in the aerospace industry, in high performance cars and motorcycles, and in light weight bicycle stems and bars where light weight and high strength are performance imperatives.

What's the big deal? Don't a lot of frame builders shot peen their frames?
To the best of our knowledge we are the only titanium frame builder using the shot peening process. This process should not be confused with bead blasting, which is used to provide a cosmetic finish to ti bikes. Any company that claims to bead blast over a shot peened finish does not understand shot peening. Any type of finish polishing brushing or bead blasting applied after shot peening negates the benefits of shot peening.

See www.shotpeening.com for more info.

Who does the shot peening of IF frames?
We do not do the shot peening in house. We use Metal Improvement Company in Wakefield, MA, which specializes in shot peening high performance parts for the aerospace industry. At Metal Improvement our frames are peened along side of parts for the space shuttle and F14 jet engine rotors.

See www.metalimprovement.com for more info.

Why can't IF do its own shot peening?
To shot peen properly requires the use of very large, sophisticated, and expensive computer-controlled equipment, and trained personel. Shot Peening really is high-tech stuff, and it's tough to get right. We decided to leave it to the specialists. In addition, we are confident in the established leadership, reputation, and quality of Metal Improvement.

Someone told me that shot peening can tear the metal if the angle of attack is less than 85 degrees. Is that true?
No.

The shot peening flow at less than 85 degrees is known as overspray. This neither helps nor hurts the frame surface. It does nothing to a previously unimpacted surface and it does not detract from a previously impacted surface.

Why did IF decide to use shot peening on their Titanimum frames?
The primary reasons are that we are pleased with the mechanical properties we achieve with shot peening and we are delighted with the lustrous finish. The finish beautifully matches the painted panels we apply to our frames which often have pearl or metallic qualities, and it makes the frame stronger in the process. Another important reason is that we were not happy with the established ways of finishing ti frames. While these are less expensive, brush and polish finishes are purely cosmetic. In addition, applying those finishes is a dirty and possibly unhealthy job which no one enjoys doing.

Why not give the customer a choice in finishes?
While we considered offering bead blasting, brushed and polished finishes as alternatives, we became so convinced of the mechanical and cosmetic merits of shot peening that we concluded anything else would be offering less than the best.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to both shot peen and have final finishes employing these other methods. Shot peening must be the final finish with the exception of paint, as bead blasting, brushing, or polishing would destroy the mechanical benefits of shot peening.

TOO MUCH COFFEE MAN...

A man after my own heart attack.

Self harm.

So a report on radio 4 this morning suggested that the incidence of self harm hospitalisations had increased by 50% over the last 2 years. Conveniently, it never mentioned whether the ACTUAL incidence of self harm had increased - just that more people were going to hospital. Still its not good. Why would people want to harm themselves?

In the same program mention was made of a new gallic phenomenon - the French youth - some as young as 12 years old - taking up 'Le Binge' drinking. Copying the UK?

Why are the youth so visibly disaffected? Could it be (as reported)the growing number of websites looking at self harm with (gasp!) pictures and real life stories?

Lets look at the rest of the news this morning. The brutality of the killing in Nigeria. Biden (with no clear self consciousness) calling for the Palestinians and Israel to re-enter talks even as Israel plans and builds more housing in the occupied territories - despite impotent international condemnation. The refusal of the saintly Obama to recognise the 1915 Armenian Genocide (do you read robert fisk in the independent? you should - heres a quote thats worth chewing on "Perhaps it's worth remembering that in 1939, Hitler asked his generals – before setting off into Poland to murder the millions of Jews in eastern Europe – a simple question: "Who now remembers the Armenians?" Well, Hitler got the answer he would have wanted from Obama this week.")

What else? The collapse of modern banking? The ruination of pensions? The lying and stealing of British politicians all to make a quick buck. Teachers who are members of the BNP and angelic Mark Owen admitting to at least 10 affairs despite having married the only woman for him. OMG - OMG!

So these young people who are drinking and fighting and hurting themselves - truly, is it ANY wonder?

What do they have to aspire to? The readily accessible stream of information and bullshit shows them, quite plainly, that no matter how hard they try the odds are high that their future holds nothing but financial worry, dishonesty and unhappiness. Perchance to dream...just as for Hamlet....where can one find the truth that justifies our actions?

I truly dont know the answer to that question. I dont think i ever will.

Burn those beards....

Someone needs to invent a nose plug.

First century of the year today, and apart from numerous mechanical issues - of which more later - my nose dribbled the whole damned time....

100miles. 6.5 hours. Tak me doon climb (ouchy) and some sketchy traffic in Airdrie on the way back....

It feels sore, but good to have turned circles for a while...but fitness is still a ways off.

Headset solution: xx 44mm trad.

This post has had to wait for me to have a little time to type it all up. Recently, i decided that my riding had become a little too limited. Singlespeed or fixed: rigid. All the time. No matter the distance or terrain. At first it was both interesting and enjoyable. A challenge to ride fast or far over sometimes difficult terrain with the simplest of bikes. But after several conversations with the chops optional and dan "damn he's fast" darwood, i began to question whether i was too *used* to travelling at a certain speed. The point was made that your vision for riding can be changed - you can get used to going faster. Sounds simple, and i kind of thought that maybe it would pull me out of the rut i had found myself in. I have also become a little bored with the diet of endurance races. There was a time when i rode cross country races, too. Yes i was a younger chap then, and i didnt have so much mass to move, but i used to quite enjoy it. i was also getting jaded watching the clock and the odometer, rather than the terrain and the view. i wasnt riding for enjoyment.

So i made a decision to buy a road bike, so i could more easily 'train' over distance, using power, and heart rate to see how i was going. In addition, i would ride my mountain bikes for (gasp!) fun! try to head places where i could ride in the woods, on technical terrain over rocks and roots. I also decided to explore the options of getting a geared, suspension type bike. With that, i would learn to read terrain differently and mix up the riding more. Perhaps even enter some enduro/megavalanche type races.

A few months of thinking, reading and asking questions. My initial thoughts were based around a full suspension 29er bike. I am so used to the bigger wheels now, that 26" just looks and feels weird. The options were somewhat limited - fisher rumblefish, superfly 100 (which is a little racier), intense tracer 29, turner sultan, or the one i was tending towards, santa cruz tall boy.

Then i got to thinking. Those were all a LOT of bike. They were going to be a big change: they also had shortcomings - for me at least. Geometry, material, components etc. i began to think i was perhaps a year or so ahead of myself. What i really needed was a hardtail. Ease myself into the whole gears and suspension thing. I havent ridden a geared bike for 10 years!

The canfield bros nimble 9 and the banshee bikes paradox were looking like just the ticket. Stout, and built for 120mm travel forks.

About 5 minutes after convincing myself to wait for the nimble 9 to appear, i started seeing all the things i didnt like. Material (steel is less scotland proof than ti) again, geometry (it could be lower, and slacker) blah blah blah. The other thing that just didnt cut it for me was the fact i couldnt run a tapered steerer. These are de rigeur as far as i am concerned for longer travel 29er forks. Bam! i remembered a thread where a custom frame builder had mooted a new headset solution, that would allow an aesthetically attractive way to fit a tapered steerer fork to a headtube designed for the zero stack/inset standard.



I rememebered seeing some of his other builds and decided to drop a mail, you know, just to see if it would be an option. Some of my other thoughts had centered around the tech being used in snow and downhill bikes: wider hubs and bb, offset seat tubes to allow shorter stays and more.

So i got in contact with sean chaney of vertigo cycles. With the speed of thought the frame was blue printed, and the components to be used sorted out. The head set was still embryonic, but the idea was clearly excellent. Singlehandedly, sean has created what i consider to be the most versatile headset system in the industry. i felt it was only a matter of time before it was picked up by a large component maker. I think sean thought it might take an actual bike to show people. My bike-to-be and a similar bike sean is going to make for himself were going to be the working prototypes. The lower cup was going to be made as part of a small run by a machine shop and the upper was going to be a slightly modified zero stack or inset.

Then cane creek became involved and all of a sudden it is a reality. Dubbed xx44mm traditional.





Hold on! i hear you say, dont we already have a 1.5" headtube and headset that can do all this? Yes. But its heavy, and ugly. Fine if you want to run a lefty, but i dont. The differences may seem small but they are important. The tube is 44mm inside diameter, making the outer diameter more in keeping with modern standard tube sets than the barrel used for 1.5". The upper bearing is fitted inside the steerer tube, giving clean lines, and minimal weight. The lower is an external cup with a 1.5" standard bearing, but a cup skirt to fit the 44mm headtube. Anything from a ~75mm length headtube and longer can be used, with any of the currently available (more on this in a minute) forks. Ti tube is available, and steel will be very shortly. Aluminium wont be far behind. Simple, and sensible. As an aside, this headset also means that if you have, say, a Giant trance, you can run this headset and fit a tapered steerer fork - with all the benefits that entails. Genius.

Cane Creeks press release:


About the forks. Niner have Fox forks with limited availability, there are some OE Rebas kicking around and there are Marzocchis. Trek/fisher are using forks but dont sell them separately. Although finding forks is tricky, its not imposible, and very shortly, i suspect tapered steerer will become standard.

Thats it for now.

Music to my ears.

Things.

Things have been sort of dense lately. Packed in. A lot of stuff with not much space around the side. Weather, work, riding, all sorts of things.

Anyways. I finally blew a fuse today on the way to work. All 1/4 of a mile of the journey. I drove to work today, as i was doing house calls. The roads are something i usually skim over rather than sit 'in' but thats the beauty of a bike eh?

Three times on the way to work i was exasperated at the selfishness of drivers. Aiming for that gap, even if it means others can't pass. Or pulling out of side streets whilst forcing anohter to brake hard to avoid a collision: "sorry! but i was in a rush!". Yeah. Right.

Then of course there is the classic amber - oonot quite its red now!- gambler. All to get stopped at the next light that is 200 yards further down the street anyway.

What the hell is wrong with these people? And that does nothing to explain the turmoil in the carpark at work. People parked on the grass, half way infront of others or completely in front of others 'because im only going to be 5 minutes'. Yeah yeah yeah. To gain what? a 50 yard shorter walk to the front of the health centre. Please.

Anyway, ill stop whingeing while im only slightly less than ahead...

heres an interesting read: Bohemian cycles on bamboo.

Heres another interesting read: a considered legal opinion of 'sorry, mate i didnt see you!": its not a defence, its an indictment. This needs shouted from the rooftops.

What else?

Cane Creek to make a headset that addresses a *lot* of issues for modern frames. My opinion: This headtube/headset interface will be the optimum choice for most bikes that are ridden off road from now on.

Token NAHBS pic? a really lovely Quiring. It hits the scales at just under 20lbs and looks fast. He can build as well as he raced!



Pic from a good gallery: from cycles deOro.

NAHBS

As ever, some beautiful...and odd... stuff beginning to come to your screen. I'd recommend a flickr search. From Bohemian cycles flickr, this is an ...interesting... one.

I'm liking the Vanilla cycles/Speedvagen/Pegoretticollabo track bike. Super clean.

(photo credit: blurringthelines)

Check out speedbloggen...

Anothr photo of that from adrianjm.


Track bikes, edge wheels and lilac are in ascendence...

Lots of happy birthdays: Shaggy, jac, darkmarquis and trina...

1'15"

The leaving test from the Keirin school is to do a km in no more than 1'15". Gear must not be bigger than 49:15. Thats pretty quick...Might break out the rollers and see if i can get close....then dwell on the fact thats without wind resistance....



Keirin tracks are roughened concrete, so that they are all weather. Thats going to smart a little.

What else? personal comms have suffered in the face of work. Im training to be a trainer. Scary thought eh? Anyway, its been a pretty interesting few days up in Stirling at the coal face. I did a section on ethics teaching. Ethics being the tool with which Moral Philosophy is dissected. Ive been all logical positivist recently. The great human experiment will lead to the right and the wrong becoming apparent, not so much basing things on some old, fuzzy list of moral duties.

Collecting a few bits for the skeletor. I'm liking the campag seat tube collar. It seems that a lot of eat tube clamps focus the force over a small part of the circumference of the tube in order to grab the seat post. The idea of the offset slot and bolt is to create more circumferential spread of force. Important with a sub 1000g aluminium frame in which i will be using a shim and a ti seat post. Probably.



We had a pretty interesting discussion on aluminium nipples for wheel builds between friends recently. Amazing the polarised opinions. I don't use anything else. why would you? Calls of corrosion and splitting have never been apparent in my experience. As an insightful birthday boy (happy birthday marquis of darkness!) pointed out i dont tend to keep the same wheels in use for very long, the longest running set at present is 2 years. But that is on the town bike, that is covered in road salt, gets used 5 days from 7 at least and hasnt been washed in 12+ months. I had a look. No corrosion noticeable and retention of good spoke tension, fwiw. Maybe if my bike lived outside (rather than next to a radiator in a warm house) my experience would be different. As its not, i have no reason not to keep using aluminium nips.

Jeff has a new video up. Check it out. Yes thats his trails from his door. Yes, thats a larry, and yes it works well. I might need to invest.

Parts are being collected for the Vertigo. I am really stoked on how this is going. My only concern is that i wont be rider enough for the bike. We'll see. At present, 120mm reba with tapered steerer up front, maxle to DT 440 dt supercomps Aluminium nips (!!) to stans flow. Headset, details tba. But it will plug into a 44 i.d headtube. Thomson stem, prolly jones bars, though i might use some Groovy's. Moving back, saint crank, 40 tooth e13 ring, with mrp chainguide (thanks to Adams tinkering) and a DT 440 rear with 6 speed 17-34 block, supercomps to flow, with a saint short cage doing shifting duty.

The bike will be stopped by saint hydros - a first toe dipped into the mineral oil bath of hydros for me. ESI grips of course, and xtr pedals. Rubber tbd. Thomson seat post, Selle san marco Zoncolan saddle.

It will rip. Its rider will bleed.

I'm still reading through Robert Fsk's book Pity the Nation (thanks Anja). It is an incredible, mind blowing, harrowing and enlightening read about the history of Lebanon, in particular the 1982 invasion by Israel. Massacres, infightoing, politics at its worst and war crimes. I was 9 when this was firing off. I do pity the nation. Israel, not so much.

Lastly, my sock guy socks arrived. The post office have been insanely incompetent. These socks were ordered to arrive for christmas. They were lost and more sent (thanks sock guy) and after 10 days of harassing the post office they finally delivered them today. Assholes. Good socks tho'.



Still, the sun is shining. I'm joining davechopsoptional for a farewell from Alpine bikes ride tomorrow. All is pretty good.

More about custom...

An interesting read.

Bike fit.

I have just bought a new road frame. Yes, i only got the cannondale caad 8 a few months ago, but i knew at the time that it was very much a 'starter' road bike, and that if i liked riding the road, i'd want something perhaps a little tidier.

So a Spooky skeletor is coming my way. Anodised black, size 54 with compact geometry and an aluminium frame. Should be sweet. It's well priced and has garnered good reviews in terms of the ride quality. Initially i'll swap parts over, but there may need to be one or two changes. The tourery triple will be removed: i spend most of the time in the big ring, and no time so far in the granny, so a 53 on a standard double will be welcome. I'm going to use a shimano 105 - it is not high zoot, but it is very much more pleasing on the eye than the truvativ i have at present.

The wheels, at present will be an old dt 340 to dt R1.1, with the rear an as-yet-to be-decided-on build, most likely with the new version of the R1.1 - the R415. At present, the choice is between a DT 340, or a shimano 105 for less cash. We'll see.

The rest is getting swapped over from the cannondale. Maybe a different stem, and most certainly a different seat post. It's a shame that it wont be blacked out, but as time goes by i'll work on it. These are not mine, but they are close to what i'm going to aim for.





A few folk have commented on the fact that my road frame seems small for my 5'11" height. Yes and no. I tried out a few bikes, and different sized frames, prior to getting the canondale. As im getting more used to road riding, my ability to stretch out is improving, and i'm happier with the lower bars. Just took some time to get used to. Initially, i removed the stock anatomic bars in favour of some short reach and drop compact bars. Recently i have moved to a slightly longer stem, in order to get the front rear balance better, and the flats further away for seated climbing. The saddle was initially rammed forward, and i was considering an inline post, but gradually it has come back by about 4mm. The top tube on the spooky is 4mm shorter, and i will prefer the saddle being further back relative to the bottom bracket i think, so this is all good.

But again - its a small frame no?

I had heard about the bike fit system available on the Competitive Cyclist website through some chat on a bike forum. You need to be careful using a bike fit system, as individuals are never entirely equivalent. Fit is best done by either informed trial and error, or by a professional. On a mountain bike, i'm pretty clear about what fits. For road riding, where so much time is spent sat down, fit is both more important and new to me. However, i got to a point with the canondale where i was pretty certain what reach i needed. The other aspects of road riding fit that are particularly important are balance of weight between the wheels and steering weight distribution. Too short a stem or too high bars (or rarely funky geometry of the fork/head angle) can leave the front wheel grasping for traction on fast downhills. A short wheel base with good front centre will help the bikes handling and paying attention to reach and saddle set back will allow the legs and glutes to help the core in keeping the trunk low for wind resistance avoidance. Of course, you also want to avoid a numb wee man if you can.

So: as long as the frame is designed well, and your fit avoids overly pushed back/forward bars and saddle, it should be good.

My Measurements

Inseam 82 cm
Trunk 66 cm
Forearm 34 cm
Arm 60 cm
Thigh 60 cm
Lower Leg 55 cm
Sternal Notch 151 cm
Total Body Height 180 cm

Plugging my measurements into the Competitive Cyclist fit calculator was interesting, as it confirmed what trial and error had suggested to me - despite my height, i will fit best on 54cm top tube skeletor. It also suggests that at least according to some folk, my current ride position is reasonable.


The Competitive Fit

Seat tube range c-c 53.1 - 53.6
Seat tube range c-t 54.7 - 55.2
Top tube length 53.8 - 54.2
Stem Length 10.9 - 11.5
BB-Saddle Position 73.4 - 75.4
Saddle-Handlebar 51.8 - 52.4
Saddle Setback 4.4 - 4.8

The Eddy Fit

Seat tube range c-c 54.3 - 54.8
Seat tube range c-t 55.9 - 56.4
Top tube length 53.8 - 54.2
Stem Length 9.8 - 10.4
BB-Saddle Position 72.6 - 74.6
Saddle-Handlebar 52.6 - 53.2
Saddle Setback 5.6 - 6.0


The French Fit

Seat tube range c-c 56.0 - 56.5
Seat tube range c-t 57.6 - 58.1
Top tube length 55.0 - 55.4
Stem Length 10.0 - 10.6
BB-Saddle Position 70.9 - 72.9
Saddle-Handlebar5 4.3 - 54.9
Saddle Setback 5.1 - 5.5


Here, the Eddy fit (as in Merckx) is a slightly old school fit, higher front end and further back. The French fit is more of a touring type set up - higher again at the bar, and further back.

I suppose i'm probably aiming for a racing type set up for what i want to do on the bike - high output, mid-length rides with lots of climbing.

Once its built up and i've put a few hundred miles on it, we'll see if all that tape measure work paid off.

If you want to give it a bash, the fit calculator is here.

Red Breast.

Where have i been? Well, for starters - in London town visiting Gfunk and Hfunk. We had a top time, mostly food orientated but with a little culture thrown into the mix too. For starters we went to Terroirs, a very fine wine bar/restaurant where the wine is both unusual and beautiful. 100% Malbec was the order of the night, and we were joined by gerardfunk - it was great to see him also.



We made it to Moro, where yet again we enjoyed an amazing meal and fine food.

Next day we mooched at the Tate modern, then enjoyed an amazing stew and much mirth. An attempt at non-eating fun was made when we met the horse and made our way (via a dousing on the wet roads) to the Portrait Gallery to take in some views of some influential people. Yes the ballet dancer was ...



...average, the blood-head a bit strange, but the photography in particular was ace. On the way we did some bike spotting. Odd bikes.



Next stop was Soho for some veggie fun at Mildred's to round out the evening.

After waiting forever, the Van Gogh's letters opened a new view on the prolific painter for me. I particularly liked the sketches he sent in letters to his brother Theo. A shame he ended it all by shooting himself in the chest - a brilliant and dedicated man indeed.

It was good to be back in Glasgow to see the P phone, though the robin we found cowering in the kitchen this morning reinforced the feeling that her hunting prowess is improving. Some how, despite heavy loss of feathers and a few bats around the kitchen as the 'phone was pacified, seemed to leave it only a little the worse for wear, and it flew off after catching its breath on the window sill.

Happy days.

Facebook?

Fuck it, i'm back in.

Glentress.

Despite the remains of the snow, chris and myself managed to get a ride in down at glentress on monday. With the crispy snow adding resistance the climbing was hard work. Balancing the required torque and the traction meant smooth riding was key. The downhills were ridiculous. At times dips had filled with snow, leaving you hub deep before you could say "oooof!". There's been the addition of some swoop to the lower sections of the red route - nice.



After 2 hours the build up of filth was a sharp reminder of what winter mtb is in scotland...messygoodfun. Yo!



The glentress huts are almost ready by the looks of things. Perhaps another jockstock is brewing?

Hotness.

Up near 11.

Entry.

entered so far:
Ae Avalanche Enduro.
Bristol Bike Fest.
Kielder Montane 100.

On the probably list:
Brighton Big Dog.

On the maybe list:
10 Under the Ben.
24 hours of Finale.
Skye Sportive.

Module.

You can read a little more about it here.

Metal work.

Been busy doing some more metalwork. That is an 11-34 shimano xt block. I have limited metal working tools, so i didnt do the cleanest job. It ain't bad though.

Initially i clamped the block lightly in my small vice, on the plate for my pillar drill. I'm not sure if it is just the quality of the tool, but it seemed to be very sensitive to where the end mill hit the alloy carrier as to how easily and cleanly it took off material. It slipped a couple of times, as can be seen from the scarring on the alloy carrier, until i hit upon the idea (d'oh!) of wrapping a section of chain around the teeth of the ring to allow me to hold the block more solidly. I then proceeded more easily.

Once i got close to level, i transferred the block to a bigger vice (thanks dad!) and used a dremel with a grinding head to take the carrier down to a constant level as best i could. I used the bevelled sections of the teeth that engage on the freehub as my guide. Its not perfectly flat, like you might get if you used a lathe, but it is pretty neat, and with a 2mm washer behind, and after some work with the file to reduce the height of the chain catching sections on the back of the 34 tooth cog, i have a pretty good 6 speed block.

Next time, i would need to pay more attention to how the end mill hits the alloy. I think it needs to touch it close to the edge, rather than centre onto it. Need to do some reading!



Fun. If you likethat sort of thing....

Wide-o.

My boys are in Strathpeffer. I'm building wheels...

Imelda May.

Going to go and check out the rockabilly songstress on 29th jan in glasgow....recommned checking her out. This is footage of her playing with acclaimed guitar tweaker Jeff Beck. Enjoy.

They see me rollin'

So, the snow melting followed by a further freeze meant riding today was not going to happen.

I hit the rollers again. 1st power test, after a warm up and a stretch was a 12 second max power output - my power meter goes up to 999 watt and my output was somewhere over that. After a recovery spin, i did my first 6 minute test. The idea here is to get some idea of velocity (which is estimated in this case from power) at V02 max. In other words, it is the max power output/velocity you can maintain without going anaerobic. Improvements in this = going faster for longer. The idea is to get this level higher as a percentage of the absolute V02 so that you become more 'economic' with your oxygen.

Waste not, want not. Much, anyways!

So for 6 minutes i punted out 365 watts. I think i could put out a little more, maybe close to 390 or maybe even 400 watts (see later). Which would be pretty good, really. Clearly, the thing that really matters here is the variance over time, not the actual numbers...which is good, because the power meter i am using is not super high tech. Having said that, in comparisons with SRM meters it was pretty good, so im happy to use it.

Later, i went back and did some 440 watt 3 minute intervals, with 4 minutes of active rolling in between. 5 times. The 4th hurt pretty bad, but otherwise it was ok ish....hence why i think i could do a little more over 6 minutes.

So where next? i need to do some more power tests: 3, 12 and 30 mins. Then a graded heart rate test. This will allow me to graph my *current* power outputs, and indicate my lactate threshold respectively (the point at which your heart rate jumps up out of sequence with increasing work).

From there i need to do exactly what i *didn't* do last year - climbing!

I did loads of miles, but in an effort to do different rides and not drive so much, and because its all relatively flat around glasgow, i never got the volume of steeper, off road climbs in that you need to do well at endurance races.

The future starts today.

950g

950g.

DT440, 20mm with supercomps, alloy nipples and flows. Yo. Bomber, wide and light where it counts. Disc side tension 98kgf. Variance is less than +/-4kgf. Thats pretty nice. The non-disc side is 81kgf +/-8kgf. Still within the necessary 10% for a good wheel build. Not sure why its more 'out'. Overall, pretty happy.

I'll build the rear tomorrow as we are still under snow and ice (its minus 8 degree c here) so riding is confined to the rollers.

Session 1: 15 min warm up, 30 minutes at 30kmh 180watts or so with a 30 sec interval every 10 minutes at >999watts up to 70kph (at which point a reverberation through the rollers made the floor boards hum). 'Distance' covered - 16.65km.

Session 2: 15 min warm up, then the same but ramped it up to 215 watts (i used a taller gear). 15 minute warm down. Distance (with 15 minute warm down) 22.2km.

Next i need to do some joe friel inspired 'tests'. A 6 minute max power trial, and max power achievable for varied time scales to get power zones, and a lactate threshold test. This is much easier to do with a geared road bike and rollers than a fixed gear on the road.

Who loves ya, baby?

Telly savalas. Say it loud. Its black and its proud.

Give 'er.

Singlespeed worlds, rotorua, NZ.

Get some.

End of days.

Getting some riding in. Feel like a storm has been raging for a while. Maybe it will clear soon. Its heartening to spend some time communing with nature. Even if it leaves a tattoo on your shoulder to remind you of a bone shaking impact on a new trail...

R.A.W

Been talking to sean. Seems we have some numbers worked out...thanks to cy and dave for additional advice.

104Bronson.

If you are not already reading 104 Bronson, you probably shouldnt. But just in case....

Tinker.

Been tinkering. That there is a DT Swiss 440 freeride hub. But it is a little odd, not that many were made (apparently). For my uses it is damn near perfect. It usually comes with a 9 speed free hub body and needs some dish. This one has equal flange spacing (so no dished wheel). Hand serviceable and will take 6 speeds. It came as a 150mm wide 12mm axle. With a little tinkering, i now have it set up 10mm 150 RWS thru skewer.

Not bad eh?

Have i said before how ace DT stuff is? its all pretty much interchangeable in terms of end caps for 10mm or 9mm thru axle or RWS, quick release skewers or up to 20mm for the front, with adaptors for 15mm, and 142/12mm a la the Syntace system. All beautifully made with exact tolerances, durable bearings and quality finish.

Project Avalanche.

So i had a chance to have a chat with Sean Chaney at Vertigo Cycles. Looks like i have a project to work on. I have no expectation to see this within 6 months but its going to be a good one.

Concept: 29er am hardtail. Influences first and foremost my Jones. Basically i want the same ride characteristics with a 120mm fork. Use is going to be alpine and down grade looning.

83mm bb, with single ring to 6 speed rear on a 150mm bolted axle. I've picked up a hub that makes the whole thing click and allows a dishless rear wheel. (pic is curiaks, hub is the same)



There is a lot of details to sort out, but i'm aiming at a 20mm reba with 120mm travel at present.

For those about to rock....

Roady: tales of misadventure.

So i bought a road bike. After much deliberation and some sideways looks at ebay, i decided it would be best to test ride and then make a decision. With the help of Dave-chops-optional at Alpine Bikes, i was fitted tirelessly on several bikes and given the opportunity to ride them to check for fit and comfort.

In the end i went for a cannondale caad 8 Tiagra, size 54, with triple chainring. Having not had a geared bike for 10 years, and never had a proper road bike, i was impressed that a low-of-the-mid end bike could be as light, function as well and have as many features as it did. I guess thats progress for you.

I then decided to get out for a ride to check this road riding thing out.

Glasgow on a frosty morn led to views as i climbed out to Mugdock and then onto Aberfoyle. First mistake: there is no road from here west...when i have done this previously i have gone off road albeit on flat dirt road. Oh well, over the Dukes Pass it is.

Good climbing. Getting used to the short wheelbase (relatively) and the stiff bb area. I cant see me ever going into the small chainring tho' not in the uk at least. We'll see. It can't weigh that much...

Then click up into top gears and tuck for the decent. Weight distribution good. As was noted when i was trying them out, the 54 cannondale seems to have plenty reach and excellent steering and weight distribution for my size, even though on paper it seemed small.

The road past Brig O'Turk is partially flooded and there is a new trail following the road into Glen Finglas...Hmmm.....

Thence to Calendar, a quick sausage roll and irn bru (its very cold now) and onwards. My plan was vague, i wanted to duck off south back to glasgow shortly, but had forgotten the road that does so led straight back to Aberfoyle. So, onwards to Doune and Stirling. Would i have enough light? maybe....it was a clear day after all.

With a tail wind, the road passed easily as i sped to Stirling. I.m not sure normal reach bars are my thing. I like the length of the stem to the tops, but the hoods seem maybe a cm too far....and i'm not sure i want to move the saddle forward. We'll see.

At Denny it went dark like someone turned the lights out. Again, i had not looked in detail at a route, so even though i wanted to return directly to Glasgow, infact i had to go via Kilsyth. The roads i had been on for the last hpour and a half had been unpleasantly busy. I guess the M80 road works were responsible for the back-road traffic, but i wanted off. The road to kilsyth approaching rush hour, in the dark, with no pavement and lots of winding up and down was horrific. Yes drivers screamed at me with their windows down to get lights, get off the road etc, but what were my choices? i had made a mistake and just needed to bash on, pull off when it got too busy and just try and stay safe.

A puncture in Kirkintilloch as the temperature was plunging meant my plan to take the canal back to Glasgow, and thus be off the roads, was deemed insensible. "trina! help!" i tried to warm up in the Stables pub as trina rushed to my rescue, but i had to hide under the duvet to get my core temp up.

So: what did i learn. Road riding is more than just riding. Planning routes is going to be important.

75 miles took me way longer than anticipated. 5 hours in point of fact. Either my legs are slow, or the gears don't necessarily mean average speed is huge.

Heavy traffic and bad roads are not fun.

I think i want compact short reach bars.

There we go, it isn't straight from Roleur, but its the only tale i have - so far.

Kiwi fruit.

Go register at sswc10nz for updates.

Cold storage.

So last night we came home and the cat was chasing a wee wire coil around. It shot into the bike room and under a set of shelves. Attached to which there are one or 2 bikes i'm quite partial to. I noticed that the shelving was leaning over at a pretty messy angle. Ooops.

Seems as though my old ikea shelves are overloaded and it is time to research some better storage options. Fortunately, it seems to be a pretty good time to buy old warehouse stock...

Sprinter cut.

For those of us with LEGS.

Standing start.

Watch it.

Muso.

So, yes, them crooked vultures album is out. It is good, but its a grower...


Then there is radio moscow who have a new album out - brain cycles. All good. Will be in europe feb ish?

And more...

Things to ponder...

From our Albert "If something worth living for is worth dying for, what about something not worth dying for?"

And Jean Paul "How do you really act in private?"

Not forgetting Franz "Without love, without people, what is a person?"

Do not go gentle into that good night.

What Dylan said.

It is about that time to make some sort of plan. Drifting aimlessly is only good for the none-sentient.

I've already mentioned my thoughts of doing something different on bikes. Those idyll dreams are beginning to coalesce. Saab Salomon Avalanche.

I have also had some thoughts on a bike to use. I'm blaming 2004 ssec champ Dan Darwood squarely, if not fairly for that. More on this soon.

What else? Apart from drowning in H1N1, anyway?

Cross racing is always hard. Perhaps one of the joys of it in Scotland has been the variety of the courses. The last race in Inverkeithing was for me a watershed. I'm going to have a break.

The course was very euro. Essentially an 80% grass, waterlogged loop, with 3 staircases thrown in for good measure. All corners were off camber. The bikes packed up remarkably fast (apart from those that fit fatties fine). With so many derailleurs hanging off i wondered if there would be a rush on singlespeed cross bikes, but with the pain in my arms from dragging my bike around in foot deep mud i doubt that will be the case.

This is all well and good if there is the resource and desire for second bikes and pit crews but for me it forms an impasse. No more for the moment. I'll have a week or 2 off and then re-assess.

And so much for that. Maybe i am weak, but i will not choose to be weak *and* unhappy.

The world continues to steam-roll towards doom, with china trying all sorts to block free speech and the mess in the middle east . Pathetic, isn't it?

Maybe it is truly time to throw my arms up in the air and go hide in the highlands. Who knows?



Meanwhile, it's a case of continuing to claw and scrape my way through the day to day, all the while remembering that which the existentialists held so dear: the challenge is to choose to live.

Kinda diggin' this now...

So: the new wheels dropped some weight. taking off one or 2 extraneous parts dropped a bit more. Then changing the Gore cables to nokon (due to the tight bends forced in the crook of the drops because they are both short reach and compact) improved the feel and dropped some more weight.



20.9 lb. But i guess the real story is that nothing is 'light' and it has bb7 discs. Rumours of bb9s abound, but whether there will be a road version or not is impossible to say. The cane creek short pull, scr 5(compact) levers are great - wide paddles, and the compact reach means a lot less bother in the drops. Better yet, the hoods are fatter and less drooped than the dia compe 987's so the comfort factor is better all around.



The cable routing worked out really tight. Smooth lines i can thank IF for. The steel conduit is carefully bent in 3 dimensions and all the joins are sealed with shrink wrap. Smooth.

It won't challenge for lightest cross bike, but i love it.

Not the way to go...

More on this shortly.

750g from 900g.

So, after a flurry of wheel building, i now have dropped 150 g from the front wheel on the cross bike, and 135g from the rear. stan's 355 29 rims (thanks raoul), to dt revo with alloy nips stuck in place with loctite, and a dt 340 front hub (centrelock) and a 240 ss rear.

Sweet. Rimstrips are Ritchey.

They were hard to build so that the tension average wasn't exceeded (80kgf with less than 10% variation)...i always tend to build to a much higher tension than that....We'll see how they last.

Vicious doldrums.

Here we are adrift in the doldrums of november, december and january. The weather has closed in, just as the light has faded. People are snarling at each other: using cars, or body language to assert their importance just as surely as it demonstrates their inhumanity.

The mast has broken off the vessel, just as much as the community spirit is being worn away by hard effort in the absence of reward, satisfaction or happiness. $10 million may, in time, become cheap at the price.

So we hunker down - holding on to whatever rock exists in our lives - waiting for that precious moment when the wind rises, direction returns and life has, once again, both point and serenity.

A verse from the rime of the ancient mariner:

"All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.

Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion ;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean."

(image pinched from here: see all the illustrations by gustave dore for the rime.)

If the shoe fits...

Make sure the cleat is in the right position.



(pic pinched from joe friel's blog - which you should read)

There is a growing body of bike-fit lore suggesting having the cleat further back than would be traditionally proposed is desirable.

Steve Hogg in cycling news makes a good point, and then there is the biomac mxc 2 shoe design. Joe Friel, who is arguably the most important cycling fitness guru on earth at present likes them.

Might be worth a try pushing the cleats a few mm back and seeing how things go...

700 posts, and still waffling.

Yup.

Anyway. Gretna Bikes have a product called a Rothrocker. I'm guessing this is named for the forest near State College, PA, that is home to some awesome trails.
The bike is basically a steel front triangle, with a carbon fibre rear stay assembly bolted on.

The twist is that the stay behaves a little like a leaf spring. It should offer good lateral stiffness, with a fair amount of bump absorption and as a bonus be easy to travel with ... cool eh?

Stupid.

So after losing 3 pairs of Oakley's that i left on the roof of my car (well, 2 lost, 1 pair driven over) you would have thought i'd have learned some sort of lesson. Nope. Rode today, a short technical slide fest somewhere slightly cheeky (that indeed had signs warning me away). Got in my car to head home. About 3 miles of driving later i heard a tell tale rattle from the roof.

Seems that despite saying "Oakleys" out loud as I put them on my roof to pack the car, I had forgotten all about them.

I have no idea how I drove over such a lumpy road for 3 miles with them actually on the roof, nay, balanced on top of one of the cycle carriers. But this time, someone somewhere was smiling down on me and I only sustained a small scratch on one of the lenses, out of the line of sight.

Stupid is as stupid does.