Go ride your bike!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

New Hotness

I've been lusting after a frame bag for some time now.  I tend to carry more stuff than I really need on bike rides, just to be prepared ya know.  And I get tired of always having to wear my camelbak with all that stuff in it.  One day while perusing different biking websites I stumbled up a nice looking frame bag.  It thought that would be quite handy.  I got to thinking about it and decided that it would be even sweeter if it was leather.  So I set out to make my own.  I went to the leather store and picked up a nice big piece of green suede.  I made a mock up of the bag in paper then cut the leather into the correct shapes.  My wonderful wife did all of the sewing work.  Admittedly the hardest and longest (and most frustrating) part of this was the sewing.  She did a great job and the bag looks great!  I'll be putting it through it's paces soon.




Monday, November 30, 2009

Turkey Day riding

I had a great time at the Turkey Day ride this year.  As always.  Almost 30 riders showed up on what was supposed to be a cold wet day.  The morning arrived and it was dry and warmer than expected.  We set out on the bike paths around town for a few hours before going home to stuff ourselves with Thanksgiving dinner.

Group Shot


 Track standoff

 

Water?





Black Friday turned out to be a good day as well.  I came upon a steal of a deal on new steel cross frame with disc tabs.  I had to bite.  It should be arriving shortly.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

New bike and Gnomes

If you've read my previous posts you know that I was hoping to get the replacement Gary Fisher Ferrous frame built in time for Gnome Fest.  I was waiting on the eccentric bottom bracket to arrive.  The good new is that it did indeed arrive last Thursday.  The day before Gnome Fest.  The bad news is I had to finish the build in a hurry.  However I was successful (thanks largely to the Rassussen crew being very helpful, patient and generally awesome) in getting it built and ready.  And here it is:


It turned out pretty well.  I was excited to get it to Gnome Fest and get some trail time with it.

Gnome Fest is a bunch of mountain bike riders, mostly single speeders, that get together once a year to celebrate Gnomes and mountain biking.  The crew from Des Moines was Cory Fallor, Brian Sheesley, Matt McCutchen and Melissa Crook.  We rolled out from Des Moines at about 7:30 on Friday morning.  The goal was to get camp set up and a ride in before dark.  The morning started off very foggy.  You can see Duggan the Gnome is having a hard time seeing.




The driving arrangements put everyone in the minivan in front of me.  While Duggan and my chocolate lab rode in my car.  Cooper is relaxing on the road.



It wasn't until we got into Wisconsin that the fog really lifted.  We were treated to good driving conditions and scenery.



We arrived early as planned and headed out for a ride.  I was excited to give the Ferrous it's first workout and the bike did not disappoint.  The steal of the Ferrous is quite different from the aluminum frame of the XCal.  It is much more forgiving to ride and really deaden's the trail vibration that cause fatigue.  I am very happy with the ride.  The night ended with the tapping of two New Belgium kegs.  Everyone was happy by the time the second keg ran out and we continued the happiness at our campsite.  Also worth noting is the campsite fire was started by Melissa.  Not one of the pyromaniac men.  She is very proud of her fire:



Saturday morning arrived and so did the blahs.  After breakfast the group split and Melissa headed out for a ride with the girls while the rest of us left for a ride of our own.  We didn't last long though(and by we I mean me) and before long we were back at the campsite hydrating and snacking trying to repair the damage from the night before.  We went out again in the afternoon with much better results.

We rode some really cool trails.  This section is referred to as Toad Road.



I don't remember which section this is, but the rock wall on one side and the downhill slope on the other was fun to ride.  There were lots of little sections like this.



We wrapped up Saturday by heading over to a near by campground which had showers.  After two days of riding a shower was very necessary.  Others wrapped up Saturday by renewing their wedding vows.



Gomez, I mean Gary, one of the patriarchs of Gnome Fest turned 50 and was in for a fat tire surprise.  He got a Pugsley for a gift.  Complete with custom color and stickers.




Saturday night ended in style with mini bike races.




With Saturday in the bag we woke up early on Sunday to get a ride in before heading home.  Melissa again went off and joined the ladies to ride.  She was enjoying the conversations with the girls while out riding.  It was quite different for the humor us guys have.  Which I'm sure she had enough of.  Riding with the girls though she missed out on the group photo.  Here are the guys on the lookout point.



I'm working on adding her to the picture, but with the dark shading on us it's really tough.  Not too metion the strange pose she chose.




The rest of the Sunday morning ride was covering what we liked from the previous days.  We road Toad Road again where Brian thought it would be a fun place to crash. He went down right here.




Luckily though he was ok, nothing broken, and we continued on.  We wrapped up the riding and headed home.  We all had a great time and are hoping to make a return trip next year.  The trails at Levis Trow mounds are very fun.  There is plenty of climbing and downhill.  The trails are a bit spider web like so you can make a loop as long or short as you want with as much or little climbing and descending as well.  Overall a very fun place to ride.  I know I'm leaving a ton out, but for the sake of an already long post and to protect the innocent I will leave it at that.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Work in Progress

The Ferrous frame is in.  Unfortunately not all the pieces for it are.  Still waiting on an EBB insert.

I built the bike up on Tuesday evening as far as I could.  Which is surprising little without having a crank installed.  With any luck the insert will be here today and I can finish the build in the nick of time for Gnome Fest.  Otherwise it will be a singlespeed weekend.  Singlespeeding an IMBA Epic sound like fun?  I think I'll pack some ibuprofen.  Although the suspension fork on the Ferrous will be missed more than the gears.  Either way it looks like a fun weekend ahead.  Camping and biking with my best friend.  It doesn't get much better.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Cracked!

Goodbye X Caliber.










Hello Ferrous.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Summer meltdown or not

August riding is usually hot and lonely. Only the really motivated usually ride in the heat of August. This August however has been anything but too hot. With evening lows in the 50's and highs in the 70's it has been great riding weather. It feels more like fall than summer. With such great weather it's been very easy to get out and ride.

Saturday it was too muddy to ride off-road. Brian and I decided to hit the High Trestle Trail(A2W trail). He had never been on it and I had never ridden the whole thing. We started off in Ankeny at the sports complex. We rode out to where the bridge will soon be, to see the supports awaiting their new duty. It's a great valley view from the trail. It will complete a very attractive and probably very used trail. On the way back we took a detour in Slater to check out the trailhead for the Heart of Iowa Nature Trail. This is a crushed limestone trail that goes from Slater to Melbourne. It was in great shape and was just begging to be ridden. We decided we had time to ride to Cambridge and back. The trail was very much worth the ride. Without all the clearing needed for paving the trail seemed much more like you were riding through nature. Somewhat more mountain bike trailesqe than the usual paved bike path we have so much of. It was a very nice trail and a nice excursion. We ended the day back in Ankeny with almost 63 miles and a few extra hours of riding than we had planned.

Last night I made a point to get out and ride my mountain bike. Squirrel mowed almost the entire(Center) trail during the day. This is very exciting as it really cuts down on the itchy scratchy legs you get from hitting weeds at speed on the bike. Thanks for mowing buddy. I met up with Courtney and we rode a couple of laps. Finishing the last half lap in the dark. The trail was in tremendous shape. Too bad the rain is going to ruin it.

Friday, August 14, 2009

A "How to" for today

Due to recent mountain biking experiences. I thought it would be a good idea to dedicate todays blog entry to a little bit of bike setup how to. So if you have a problem adjusting your rear derailleur or your chain keeps getting stuck between the hub and the cassette, today's entry is for you.

Here is a direct link to the "How to".

Derailleur Limit Screws (H-Screw and L-Screw)

Rear derailleurs "derail" or shove the chain off of one sprocket and move it to another. The upper derailleur pulley (called the "guide pulley") pushes the chain to the next sprocket. A proper gear adjustment aligns the guide pulley under the sprocket.

Changes to the inner wire tension causes movement in the derailleur. The derailleur body is fitted with a spring that is pulled tight, or relaxed, by the inner wire. Pulling the inner wire moves the derailleur cage and guide pulley in one direction and tightens the spring. Relaxing inner wire tension allows the spring to move the body and pulley in the opposite direction.

It is normal for a chain to make some noise during a shift. The shift may appear subjectively "noisy," "loud," or "rough". Factors like the type of chain or sprocket, the wear on each, and the amount and type of lubrication will affect the noise a chain makes during shifting. The limit screws typically can do nothing to affect the noise during a shift between cogs. Noise from the chain as it rides on the sprocket is, however, a useful symptom. There is for any given bike a "base level" of noise from the chain as it passes over the sprocket teeth. When the derailleur jockey wheel is out of alignment, the chain may make excessive noise. To demonstrate the "base level" noise, shift the bike to the second sprocket by pulling the inner wire. Continue to pedal and move the inner wire slightly to hear changes in the level of noise. The quietest level of noise may be considered the base level for that bike.

Derailleur pulleys are limited in both inward and outward motions by using the derailleur limit screws. Properly set, the derailleur will shift to both the extreme outward sprocket (the smallest in size) and the extreme innermost sprocket (the largest in size). The limit screws do not control the derailleur on the sprockets between the two extremes. These are set using the barrel adjuster and tension on the inner wire. The limit screws are usually marked "H" and "L". The "H" controls the outer most limit of the derailleur, and the "L" controls the inner most limit.

Using the shift lever to adjust limit screws can cause confusion and problems because it tends to focus attention on the inner wire tension (indexing) rather than limit screw settings. Instead of using the shift lever, pull the inner wire with one hand to simulate shift lever action. This will help eliminate confusion between indexing problems and limit screw problems. With the bike in a stand, practice shifting with this method before adjusting the limit screws.

Turning the limit screws adjusts the limit of travel of the pulleys. Tightening restricts the travel, while loosening allows more travel. The purpose of the following procedure is to find the tightest H-limit screw setting that will allow a good shift to the outermost cog, and the tightest L-screw setting that will allow a good shift to the innermost cog. The location of limit screws on the derailleur body may vary between manufacturers. Always look for the "H" and "L" marked adjacent to the screws.

H-Limit Screw
# Shift chain to outermost (largest) chainring. Shift chain to outermost rear sprocket (smallest sprocket).
# Check tension on rear inner wire. If inner wire appears to have any tension, it may interfere with the H-screw setting. Turn adjusting-barrel clockwise to eliminate inner wire tension. Proper cable tension (indexing) will be adjusted later.
# Pedal bike at a quick cadence, approximately 60 rpm or more.
# Pull inner wire to shift derailleur one sprocket inward. Adjust pull on inner wire until chain rides quietly on second sprocket. Release inner wire quickly to shift back to outermost sprocket and note shift. When adjusting the H-screw, be concerned with two situations:

1. The outward shift from the second sprocket to the outermost sprocket.
2. How the chain rides on the outermost sprocket.
3. Do not be concerned with how the chain rides when it is held on the second sprocket.
4. If the shift outward seems acceptable, tighten H-screw 1/4 turn clockwise and repeat shift. Even if shift appears acceptable, continue tightening H-screw by 1/4 turn increments and checking shift until shifting is slow or hesitant. Another symptom of a too tight H-limit screw is when the chain is on the smallest cog but makes a rattle from rubbing the second sprocket inward. View this last symptom by looking under the rear sprockets where the chain meets the sprockets. The inner plate of the chain will rub against the next sprocket inward making the noise.

5. When symptoms of a too tight H-screw appear, loosen H-screw 1/4 turn and check shift again. Repeat process of shifting and correcting by 1/4 turn increments. When too tight symptoms disappear, H-screw is at tightest acceptable setting, and limit screw setting is done.

NOTE: "Rapid Rise" or "Low-Normal" derailleurs use a reverse spring application. When the inner wire tension is completely relaxed, the derailleur sits on the inner most sprocket, which is reversed from other common derailleurs. When adjusting the H-limit screw, it is necessary to pull the inner wire until the chain is in the second to outermost sprocket then pull hard to shift to the outermost sprocket. The same concept is used to adjust the Shimano® "Rapid-Rise" or "Low-Normal" derailleurs. You want the tightest limit screw setting that allows good shifting to the extreme outer and inner cogs.