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[HTupolev]

Also, did a quick test run with my new shoes and cleats and I didn't notice much of a difference, maybe it will take a while until I notice it.

When you're at a steady cruise, you should have basically no difference at all in your pedal stroke.

Clipless pedals are nice in that you can confidently honk and sprint and shift etc without any fear of slippage. If you thought they'd revolutionize your cycling experience in some greater way, you've been duped by salespeople, and by people who have been duped by salespeople.

Not sure if you can see it, but these are the breaks. Tektros.

The link in the post above is good stuff. The quick and dirty answer though:

Turn these screws to change the spring tension in each caliper. Balance them so that they're centered and make them tense enough that the pads pull themselves off the rim when the brake lever is released.

Also, if it's a pulsing rub, make sure your wheel is vaguely true-ish.

 

[Gray Matter]

Thanks for the help guys, I'll try and fix them.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Got a fitting lined up for Saturday. Not sure if I definitely need it but wrapping the final few things will probably go a long way.

 

[Marky Mark]

Quick question if anyone is into BMX; I am just looking for a cheap-ish BMX to ride around the park with my nephew. He races BMX and so ideally I want to get something in my size that is also a race BMX so when he grows up he can just have it.

Does anyone know much about Avanti ABD bikes? I'm looking at some second-hand bikes and they seem to pop up a bit. What should I look out for in BMX bikes? If noboy races BMX I'll go find a BMX-specific site but I'm already signed up here so...

Ta.

 

[jakonovski]

All right, first set of tubeless done, now to see if it holds air overnight. I had Stan's tubeless rims but the tyres are not specified as tubeless ready. It was all quite easy, but I did blow out all the sealant once trying to get the tyre to mount properly. It was rather loud but I can still hear fine.

 

[Psychotext]

So yeah, don't ever try an FTP test if you're not feeling 100%. I spent the first three mins blowing up, 5 minutes trying not to puke, 10 mins desperately trying to recover, and the last 8 mins putting out no-where near the sort of power I can because I didn't want to feel like I was going to die again.

 

[jakonovski]

Sounds like good times.

Are you going by heart rate? I've been wanting to figure out my FTP.

 

[Psychotext]

No, virtual power on TrainerRoad.

...and you've got to be broken to actually want to go through that. lol

 

[jakonovski]

I know, it sounds horrible and super cool at the same time. I don't want to ride a trainer though, that sucks.

 

[Psychotext]

Would be extremely difficult to test FTP without it.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

There's methods based around HR or RPE but they're going to be very inaccurate. Virtual Power is also not perfect but it presents more constants than just HR

 

[teepo]

FTP is pretty useless without a powermeter

 

[Psychotext]

If you're talking about heart rate, yes, if you're talking about virtual power, no. Mine maps within about 2% of a powertap wheel, which is good enough for training purposes.

 

[HTupolev]

I thought at gif was showing somebody accidentally engaging their motorised real wheel before they'd mounted the bike.

I recently tried out a coworker's e-bike, which had throttle on the handlebar. I wasn't careful when I dismounted, and this is basically what happened.

That was a ~1hp motor, though. Completely ridiculous.

 

[Psychotext]

Bleh, just spent £150 (215 USD) on new gearing for my trainer bike. Does not feel like a good use of money.

Whilst I'm happy that I need bigger gears, I'm not convinced that these are going to be big enough (but they're as big as I can get without switching to a road bike). Have thrown a compact cassette on the back too as changing gear and maintaining the same power would send me from 80rpm to 93rpm... far too big a gap.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

I just bought two new pairs of bibs, bringing it up to six total, so I like to think that's a good use of money?

 

[Psychotext]

You not own a washing machine?

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

I do but hang drying takes too long!

 

[Psychotext]

6 days?!?

(Some of the guys I know that do ultra endurance will happily wear a bib for weeks at a time too. lol)

 

[jakonovski]

What's a little ass sweat?

 

[Psychotext]

Funny thing is, I own four... and I don't even do road biking. They're literally just for use on the trainer. I've had more than that, but I got rid of a few because I didn't like the pads.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Hey man, I like my ass to stay clean and healthy. I've just been in situations where I wash them all, go to ride the next day and they're still soaking wet (hang drying only). It's also a matter of preserving the padding much longer.

I'm not so insane where I'm throwing each bib into the wash after one ride.

 

[jakonovski]

I put on the Vittoria Voyager Hypers at 35c width. Such a buttery smooth ride. I'll be riding these a lot!

 

[teepo]

i try to use each bib twice. it ultimately depends on the type of ride and the distance. no more than 100 miles, no less than 40 per bib

but the trick that i used when i had one pair, was to hop in the shower with it on after every ride. atleast it would wash away some of that stank. luckily i own four now

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

I put on the Vittoria Voyager Hypers at 35c width. Such a buttery smooth ride. I'll be riding these a lot!

I switched to Continental Sport Compact II 32-35c on my newer bike and it's been so nice. Road rides are soft and supple and I feel much better when I hit gravel paths. They require a little more power to turn over, but not enough to make them not worth it.

 

[teepo]

bought an aero helmet

next i'll start shaving my body hair and beard

Spoiler

not

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Must be nice to live in a climate where you can air dry shorts every night. It's so damn wet and rainy here that it would take two days for the pad to fully dry.

I'm beginning the planning for my touring that I'm doing this summer. It's amazing how every little thing I think of has so many steps to it: I need to figure out my route but to do that I have to figure out what the terrain is over the area and then I need to see if there are available campsites and so on and so forth. I need a notebook to keep it all straight.

 

[HTupolev]

Hmm, the local velodrome seems to have inviting programs. Maybe I should give track racing a stab this summer, race nights could be a good after-work activity.

 

[Psychotext]

First proper event of the year out of the way. Fitness has dropped a little, but that's not surprising as moving house has wrecked my training schedule.

Wasn't a bad ride, but holy shit was it muddy / puddly. After the first half hour I gave up on being dry and just started riding right through all the water filled ruts.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Anyone here use or used a Timbuk2 Seat Pack? Looking for something bigger than my Arundel Duel for longer haul rides

 

[Psychotext]

Just looking through some Strava segments and finding myself generally in the top 10% when I'm let off my leash (not riding slowly / waiting around for slower riding partners). Annoyingly though, I'm generally only in the top third for downhill segments... which is where good mountain bikers should shine.

I should have been a roadie, hungering after challenging climbs for my triumphs.

 

[HTupolev]

Turning a bike into a slightly different bike: Part Four: The Finale: WTF Is Bar Tape

It's been a long, epic journey. I've met two or three people along the way. I've learned many skills, such as how not to wrap bar tape, and how to stab a fender with a knife until it fits.

And now.

I have a bicycle that's a somewhat different bicycle than it was when I got it.

Front brake is working beautifully. More on that wording in a moment.

Clearance over the fender is poor, so a canti is being used instead of a v-brake. With some extra work I could probably move the fender down, but eh whatever.

"But wait," you say, "doesn't braking power sort of suck when you use a v-brake lever with a cantilever brake, due to the mismatch in mechanical advantage?"

Yes. Yes it does. You want a really hard stop with this thing, you've got to grip the lever quite hard.

It's still basically functional as a brake, though, working roughly as well as a vintage single-pivot caliper. I figure if I have to stop really hard, the front brake is going to be 80% of what matters regardless. Oh well. If I get really annoyed with it at some point, I can always lower the fender and chuck a v-brake on. Assuming this (or one of my bikes with vintage single-pivot calipers) doesn't kill me first.

I equipped the bike with Not SPD™ pedals.

Anyway, about that bar tape.

If you've been wondering "can HTupolev be trusted to wrap bar tape?"

Here's your answer.

And that's basically it. A 1984 Specialized Stumpjumper converted from mountain bike to... well, I'm not sure really. Gravel bike? Whatever.

Handling is sort of weird. It's very nimble in the center of the turning range, but doesn't want to corner sharply at speed.
It's a very smooth ride. Haven't taken it off-road, but I rolled over some nasty beat-up pavement that can rattle me pretty badly on my road bikes, and it felt about as plushy as on my hardtail. Yay 2" tires.

I still need to do serious maintenance in the realm of the rear wheel hub, it's "usable" but sort of high-friction and crappy. But I won't bother posting about that unless the process winds up fascinating for some reason.

 

[Psychotext]

If you've been wondering "can HTupolev be trusted to wrap bar tape?"

Here's your answer.

So... no?

 

[Aiustis]

Got a new bike. pictures when it arrives. Wasn't the bike I planned on getting but couldn't pass on a steel frame.

 

[Psychotext]

This shit seems to be happening more and more lately:

http://www.moredirt.com/article/Barbed-wire-found-stretched-across-Kent-cycle-trail/6005/

 

[Aiustis]

This shit seems to be happening more and more lately:

http://www.moredirt.com/article/Barbed-wire-found-stretched-across-Kent-cycle-trail/6005/

Gaah people are messed up.

 

[Psychotext]

Teeny tiny cassette for my trainer bike (11-25):

 

[Psychotext]

Hmm... so this is strange. Supposedly the mountain bike cassettes and the road bike cassettes are interchangeable, but for whatever reason I'm not getting good changes on it no matter what I do.

Not really sure what's happened here.

 

[Darth Pinche]

Assuming that they are the same number of speeds, could your chain be worn? Chains and cassettes tend to wear into each other.

 

[jakonovski]

Derailleur body is too low maybe? The road cassette is smaller so sits further away from the upper pulley.

 

[Psychotext]

Derailleur body is too low maybe? The road cassette is smaller so sits further away from the upper pulley.

It's basically this. Because the MTB dérailleur is built for a much bigger range, the b-screw adjustment can't get the jockey wheel close enough to make the shifts properly. Choice is either living with the crappy changes, or buying a road dérailleur.

 

[jakonovski]

Why not just buy a longer screw? It should be a standard size, just find out which and then off to the hardware store.

 

[Psychotext]

You don't make it closer by screwing it in, you make it closer by loosening it. It's already at the max looseness.

 

[jakonovski]

Well that sucks and I'm out of ideas.

 

[Psychotext]

Thanks anyway. I'll see how it goes, hopefully it wont piss me off too much mid intervals!

It's not crazy expensive to stick a road derailleur on it, so if I have to, I have to. Just would rather avoid spending the money / taking the time on it.

 

[jakonovski]

Just take it as authentic extra suffering!

 

[HTupolev]

Use a friction shifter and manually overshift.

 

[Karakand]

LttP, but Tinkoff choking by single seconds in not one but two World Tour races last weekend was magnifique. Hope they keep it up in MSR!

 

[HTupolev]

Thoughts after one ride on the frankenbike:

1-Couldn't get the rear wheel completely good without putting more into repairs than it's worth. Oh well, I guess I'll ride it until it craps out.

2-Heavy bike with heavy wheels takes a while to bring up to speed. Although, there's something oddly satisfying about having all that momentum.
By the way, my not-weight-conscious choices brought the total to 33 pounds. Nearly as heavy as my hardtail, lol.

3-These DOUBLE FIGHTER IIs feel good on gravel, great grip and they just fly.
On pavement the bike feels in the middle between my hardtail and road bikes.

4-24T chainring makes you look at steep hills differently. Hills that would send out of the saddle and/or zigzagging on some bikes are zero-effort spins.

5-The drops are REALLY low. Useable, but not for long-distance cruising. It's a good thing the hoods wound up super comfy. And that I didn't go with the first stem.

 

[Psychotext]

Sounds like a reasonable enough N+1 then.