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.