Well, since I am writing bike blog posts I will update on the squad.
Leann's old Specialized Hardrock Ultra is sold. Since I bought her the Cirrus I knew she would not be riding it any longer, and the geometry I never cared for so I was not planning on riding it much. $60 to some craigslist random.
The BMW R1100S is sold! I will miss this bike as it was incredible the few times I got to ride it. Unfortunately I recognized that it was simply taking up space and being a resource sucker. I sent it on to the next, hopefully, happy owner. A younger guy from St. Cloud that is into bikes and had other projects. $2000 in the pocket. Time to find a nice DH bike... :D
happy pedaling!
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Fun with chainlines and building trials bikes
More old draft posts that I am coming back to so that I have more content! yay.
So as readers will know, I ditched the rear wheel that came on my $180 Trials bike in favor of some new trials oriented parts. I kept the Alex DX32 rim but threw out the crappy hub and spokes.
I purchased a used Echo 135mm trials hub and some DT spokes from pricepoint.com and dove into my first adventure with wheel building. Lacing is easy I figured out. I followed the Sheldon Brown article about wheel building and had no real problems.
Where I ran into problems was trueing and tensioning. I now own a Park Tool TM-1, and am looking for a second had dish gauge or might build my own soon. Ultimately I corrected the dish of my rear wheel just using the frame as a guide and it has not given me any problems. At least not in terms of the wheel construction! :)
I also put a FFW crankset on the bike at the same time to facilitate the rear wheel. This gave me heartache because I had purchased the wrong bottom bracket and thought all my chainline spacings were messed up. As it turns out I simply put things together wrong.
I was trying to use an Echo 18t bashring under my Echo Freewheel on a set of Brethe bike cranks. The problem I did not notice the first time around is that the crankarm and bash ring were interfering with each other causing everything to bind up and look crooked. I put the bashring in the mill and shaved a channel into it and everything fits fine! The bashing was on $20 used of of OTN, for the record.
Thats all for tonight. happy pedaling!
So as readers will know, I ditched the rear wheel that came on my $180 Trials bike in favor of some new trials oriented parts. I kept the Alex DX32 rim but threw out the crappy hub and spokes.
I purchased a used Echo 135mm trials hub and some DT spokes from pricepoint.com and dove into my first adventure with wheel building. Lacing is easy I figured out. I followed the Sheldon Brown article about wheel building and had no real problems.
Where I ran into problems was trueing and tensioning. I now own a Park Tool TM-1, and am looking for a second had dish gauge or might build my own soon. Ultimately I corrected the dish of my rear wheel just using the frame as a guide and it has not given me any problems. At least not in terms of the wheel construction! :)
I also put a FFW crankset on the bike at the same time to facilitate the rear wheel. This gave me heartache because I had purchased the wrong bottom bracket and thought all my chainline spacings were messed up. As it turns out I simply put things together wrong.
I was trying to use an Echo 18t bashring under my Echo Freewheel on a set of Brethe bike cranks. The problem I did not notice the first time around is that the crankarm and bash ring were interfering with each other causing everything to bind up and look crooked. I put the bashring in the mill and shaved a channel into it and everything fits fine! The bashing was on $20 used of of OTN, for the record.
Thats all for tonight. happy pedaling!
2009 Specialized Cirrus
Well, again I started this post a while back when we picked up the bike but had not had a good chance to update it and finish typing.
So I bought Leann a road bike. She has long complained about how much she wants a road bike so that she can go on rides form the house. I see no problem in hoping on a MTB and adding some air for a nice recreational pedal around the park, but women think differently.
So I did a little craigslist browsing and VIOLA! or something.
a very nice condition Specialized Cirrus in 54cm size. nice metallic white in largely original condition.
First things first: get rid of the crappy changes that previous owner had done and make it more suitable for biking 150 miles. Remove and discard old MTB seat and install Leann's body geometry seat. remove crappy walmart plastic flat pedals and install simple VP clip-ins. Remove and discard squishy grips and install some decent modern clamp-on grips.
I also did some easy maintenance. Popped the pedals and bottom bracket out to clean and regrease threads. a few squirts of lube into the brake and shifter cables. Clean and lube of the chain.
And that is it. so far Leann has got one flat on the front after we went for a ride, luckily Pricepoint.com had recently had a sale and I stocked up on 700 tubes!
And that is it so far. Leann seems to enjoy it and we go out for rides. happy pedaling!
So I bought Leann a road bike. She has long complained about how much she wants a road bike so that she can go on rides form the house. I see no problem in hoping on a MTB and adding some air for a nice recreational pedal around the park, but women think differently.
So I did a little craigslist browsing and VIOLA! or something.
a very nice condition Specialized Cirrus in 54cm size. nice metallic white in largely original condition.
First things first: get rid of the crappy changes that previous owner had done and make it more suitable for biking 150 miles. Remove and discard old MTB seat and install Leann's body geometry seat. remove crappy walmart plastic flat pedals and install simple VP clip-ins. Remove and discard squishy grips and install some decent modern clamp-on grips.
I also did some easy maintenance. Popped the pedals and bottom bracket out to clean and regrease threads. a few squirts of lube into the brake and shifter cables. Clean and lube of the chain.
And that is it. so far Leann has got one flat on the front after we went for a ride, luckily Pricepoint.com had recently had a sale and I stocked up on 700 tubes!
And that is it so far. Leann seems to enjoy it and we go out for rides. happy pedaling!
Bike MS150!
Hey everybody!
It is that time of year again, just like on NPR, where I come out and ask for a few of your hard-earned dollars to support what I believe is a good cause. This is the second year that I am riding for a cause and I hope that readers will at least consider making a contribution: Even if it is not to me! Be grateful for what you have and generous with the resources you are blessed with. Whether it is a monetary donation to a campaign like mine or helping an elderly neighbor with their yard-work; be a better person this summer.
thank you,
Gabe Johnston
It is that time of year again, just like on NPR, where I come out and ask for a few of your hard-earned dollars to support what I believe is a good cause. This is the second year that I am riding for a cause and I hope that readers will at least consider making a contribution: Even if it is not to me! Be grateful for what you have and generous with the resources you are blessed with. Whether it is a monetary donation to a campaign like mine or helping an elderly neighbor with their yard-work; be a better person this summer.
thank you,
Gabe Johnston
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